Alternative to What: "Up" (2009)

Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified. 

THIS WEEK:

Up (2009)
- Alternative To -

Inside Out (2015)

When it comes to new Pixar movies, it is hard to not just go with a default choice for Alternative to What. Basically, if you like the new film, you'll like any of the dozen other titles. In fact, that is the challenge when approaching this week's entry. What do you go for, and do you go thematically similar, or do you go with something more clever than that? Well, in this case it feels like the safe and obvious bet is to go with the thing most people don't consider: how about just choosing the same director? In the case of this week's Inside Out, it feels like a good time to look at Pete Docter's previous entry that is arguably another high point in the studio's already impressive history.

If one wanted to judge, Docter may be responsible for two of the studio's best films and presumably a third this weekend. With his debut, he reinvented the idea of monsters. With Up, he found a way to turn geriatric attitudes into an action adventure film that is not only fun, but also full of the whimsical and dark charm that the studio perfected around this time. With Up being the ninth film, it feels like the studio was only starting to get really interesting with their work. For a story that was based largely around the idea of a man flying his house with thousands of balloons, it really does capture something more thought provoking about society and how we relate to each other. As a whole, it is just an ambitious experience that doesn't immediately seem like a success on paper. Then again, that's what the studio did best.

It could be at the center of it all is Ed Asner as Carl Fredericksen. After an iconic opening, the story falls immediately into bitter territory and explores a man in his autumn years. He doesn't want to have fun, but decides to escape it all when the world becomes too much for him. He does it for his deceased loved one. He does it because he has nothing to lose. What he finds at his destination is something that opens his mind to something far greater and interesting than he could ever imagine. For the sake of surprise, I will not say what that is.

The world of Up is definitely one of the more abstract ones that the studio has visited. While an old man may not be as abstract as monsters or robots, it does rely on a lot of real world physics breaking. It helps that for an animated film, it manages to never draw attention to any of this and ends up creating something far more compelling and creative. Most of all, it is one of those films that strikes a perfect balance between light and dark while getting to the root of something more complicated about the human condition. Also, it helps that Carl is one of the few elderly characters in Pixar that actually is worth something more than his initial curmudgeon of an appearance. 

So what is in store with Inside Out? I am not entirely sure. However, I think that Up is a good indicator that something positive is to come. If we can buy an old man wandering around in a floating house, then we'll be able to buy into a film that is full of characters representing blatant emotions. With many hailing it as one of the studio's best, it only raises intrigue for what is hidden away from the marketing materials and is located deep within the film. Is there the heart and complicated story that made us love Up and everything else? One can only hope. While I suggest watching this one, I don't think that you'd go too wrong watching too many of the other entries. They're all going to get you in the right mood.