I spent the first half of Away We Go, trying to decide if the film is a chick flick. I think maybe its themes are too mature for the typical drag your guy to the theater kicking and screaming date movie, but it might qualify for the see it with your sisters while the guys go see Watchmen or Star Trek type chick flick.

The indie-feeling “dramedy” stars Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live fame and John Krasinski of the American version of the Office in the most serious roles I’ve ever seen either of them play. While the film features hysterically funny moments, I was impressed with the skill both actors displayed in performing the more dramatic material.

They play a couple expecting their first child who come to realize they have nothing tying them to their home and decide to hit the road in search of a new one. In reality, the couples’ tour coincidentally leads them to encounters with different styles of families as they try to figure out exactly what type of family they want to build for themselves.

On the way we get a funny and way over the top performance from the late Rachel Dawes, a terribly sad scene in a club in Canada, and a hysterical little kid discussing what he knows about babies. Actually, I may have been the only one laughing at the kid, but I thought he stole the movie.

In the end, the film made me laugh, made me feel selfish for like ten seconds, and made me want a kid for like half a second… That’s more than I can say for most flicks.

This is the greatest video I have ever seen on the internet to date.  Now if only we could get a copy of our wedding video….Where in the world is Matt Johnson?

Brian & Eileen’s Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

Another batch of great images for Marvel’s 70th Anniversary variant covers have been released over the past few months and I thought it was worth posting an update.  While these covers are really cool, I’ve come to discover that they are incredibly difficult to find since my last post.  At least this seems to be true in Philadelphia as I’ve come across only one shop that regularly has them in stock, Brave New Worlds on 2nd Street.  This is by no means the fault of local shop owners, that blame falls to Marvel for using their ridiculous order minimum system to allocate these books.

I’m surprised I’m the first MLDer to write something about UP. I would have thought with the rate at which the other MLDers seem to see movies, I’d be merely joining THEIR conversation. As it turns out, I’m first. Yep, I have a short memory. Angie was INDEED first, and it seems I’m echoing her feelings!

Pixar is the best animation studio out there, in terms of consistent hits. It’s not just the excellent CGI/cartoonistry, it’s the solid story writing and perfect casting. It isn’t all princesses and heroes. It’s small stories, small people/things/toys/animals writ large, speaking to the universal person in all of us. Pixar doesn’t deny the existence of sadness and death, either. Even though UP, and the other Pixar films, are animated features, there’s a lot more reality to them than even live-action movies anymore.

I don’t want to give anything away about UP, but I have to say I fought back tears several times during the film, especially during the opening 20 minutes. Masteful mix of backstory, montage and segue back into present day that didn’t feel hokey and easily sold me on the emotional merits of the film.

And honestly, I also like the film because when my hair grows in, I look a lot like the chubby Wilderness Explorer Russell. Also, I’ve wanted to hang out with Ed Asner since I saw reruns of FISH when I was 6.

Go see UP.

Did you know this existed? It seriously does. Look it up.  There are even “swap meets” for it.  Incredible.  You can write to car manufacturers, get literature, and then sell it.

Look it up.