Let's talk about Pixar for a moment. They are a special thing, one of those rare entities that everybody – everybody – seems to love, regardless of age, gender, or position in life. They made history way back with Toy Story and never quit (except with Cars, which was generally considered lackluster, and I never bothered with the sequel). Currently, Monsters University is in theaters, and though I've not seen it, I've heard good things. Pixar produced one of my top-two all-time favorite animated films: Wall-E. This is a seriously beautiful film, for a plethora of reasons. It was sad when it came out that the Oscars committee was not in the habit of nominated animated films for Best Picture; they tried to make up for it the next year with Up, but it's just not the same.
(Interestingly, my other favorite animated film came out the same year as Wall-E: the Israeli-made pseudo-documentary Waltz With Bashir, definitely a movie for adults, which got robbed in the Best Foreign Film category by the Japanese Departures, which was certainly very good, but unworthy in the face of its competition.)
I mentioned Cars as lackluster, but there was one other which was good, but not quite up to par. That film is Brave, and as I write this it occurs to me that that is probably not the best introduction for a film whose screening I'm here to promote. Merida is a Scottish princess who doesn't want to just get married and further her kingdom's traditions. She has passions and aspirations of her own and wants to be her own person. She attempts to take her destiny in her own hands with the help of a witch and ends up in a bear of a mess (ha ha). Can she make everything right again while still maintaining control of her own fate?
The University of Louisville presents a free screening of Brave tonight, Friday, as part of its Cards Under the Stars film series. Festivities begin at 6:30 with inflatables, mascots, and other family entertainment. (Remind me to tell you sometime of my phobia of mascots. Seriously, this is a thing.) The film begins at sunset and will be shown on the lawn by the Natural Sciences building on the south end of campus. Full details can be found at the U of L events page.
Image: Internet Movie Database
