Going backward in time

My favorite movies include a weird mix of extremely violent fare, a broad spectrum of comedy, and some kids' movies.

Whether it's because of nostalgia over movies I enjoyed as an actual kid, or the catharsis of feeling innocent and/or youthful for a few hours and laughing at very silly moments, I really appreciate well-done kids' movies. And I think that some of the most poignant stories told in recent years have been done in the animated medium and at a G or PG rating.

In this category of awesome falls nearly everything Pixar has ever done, my particular favorites being Wall-E(96% on the tomatometer) and UP (97%). It's kind of cliche at this point to drool over Pixar, but I truly do think it's a wonderful thing to accomplish what they do - create films that nearly anyone from any background or age could enjoy.

When I was a legit kid, I was pretty well-satisfied with most of the Disney Princesses collection of movies, but there are a couple of animated movies that I still get a kick out of watching for one reason or another. The entries in the "pure and simple nostalgia" category include Mulan (87%), The Little Mermaid (90%), and Sleeping Beauty (90%). When I've watched those recently I've kind of relaxed back into a heightened stage of appreciation for 2D hand-drawn style animation with a goofy "Awww" expression on my face most likely for the duration of the movie. Another movie that I loved so much I actually wrote a paper on it in high school (and still adore) is Chicken Run (98%). I actually argued that this movie was a model for Joesph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" and that each of the twelve stages was apparently visible in the movie. Not to mention the fact that it's got some great lines that I still quote in my head, if not out loud, mostly because I feel that most people wouldn't remember the reference.

Over the weekend I saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (85%). First of all - best animated 3D movie ever. Second, I thought there were a lot of really cool messages in the movie for kids and adults alike, but they weren't played in an overly schmaltzy way that would make me want to vomit my popcorn and Icee on the family in front of me. Not to mention it was actually really funny! There were some obvious laughs, but a lot of random subtle things that you had to pay attention to see that were also very funny. I'd really recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of weekend escapism and reclamation of childlike glee.

And as if that weren't enough looking back fondly for the weekend, I went back to the Gamma Phi house for the last day of rush (admittedly rush not always such a fond memory) to see my sister at Preference morning. She'd been rushing all week and giving me updates every night about how things were going, and it was like vicariously being back in college for a week and experiencing the madness. (In case you haven't noticed, even though I'm still a student I'm really yearning for undergrad back big time.) It was really precious to see my little sis Hyter preffing my actual younger sister Shannon/Punk, and it made me really appreciate how far Gamma Phi came in the years that I was there.

And afterward, Punk took me on a date to Covel for dorm brunch omelets. Sweet.

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