Pixar's "Inside Out" Is a Great Idea (And a Great Movie)

Over the past 20 years since the release of Toy Story, Pixar Animation has taken us on many great adventures, from the oceans to outer space to the monsters living inside our closet.

It's newest release Inside Out, takes us on a journey through the thing that has puzzled humanity for most of our existence on Earth: that of the human mind.

The 15th film from the Disney-owned Emeryville studio begins with the birth of Riley, which causes her emotion Joy (Amy Poehler) to come into existence. But she is soon joined by Sadness (Phyllis Smith) right when Riley starts crying. Later as Riley grows up her emotions begin to include Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling).

Everything in Riley's life seems perfect, until her family suddenly moves from their home in Minnesota to San Francisco where her dad creates a start-up company. Being in a new home and going to a new school causes Riley's emotions to fight against one another, the main conflict between Joy, whose top priority is to make sure Riley is happy all the time, and Sadness, who Joy tries to contain as best she can. But once Joy and Sadness accidentally get sucked out of headquarters and have to find her way back, Riley is left with her three other emotions to deal with, causing her to become a moody preteen and run away from home.

Of course the film comes with a happy ending, as you would expect from a Pixar movie. But what makes this one different from all the rest is that there's no clear-cut villain. Sure Joy and Sadness come across a scary clown that is a part of Riley's biggest fears, but other than that there's no antagonist throughout the whole picture. That is because the movie's entire conflict exist within Riley herself. Inside Out deals with her thoughts, her emotions, the choices she makes, her deepest, darkest fears, and what means the most to her.

When I first heard of the movie's plot I was a bit skeptical, but once again Pixar has pulled off the impossible brilliantly. Riley's mind is a world of it's own, a visual wonderland that you can get lost in. There's imagination land with enormous french fries, Dream Productions that produces her dreams, and other parts of her brain and subconscious. There's also Riley's train of thought, which is actually a literal train.

The movie's message is a surprising one, that the emotion of sadness is actually a good thing and can be beneficial to our lives. This message may be somewhat confusing to younger viewers, but will certainly resonate with parents and older moviegoers, especially those who have dealt with depression in their own lives. The film reminds me of The Simpsons episode Lisa Sings The Blues where Lisa is sad for the most of the episode until Marge tells her that sadness is ok and that you don't have to pretend to be happy.

Some of the best moments in the film are when we go through the emotions of other characters such as Riley's parents (moms and dads will get a kick out of Riley's dad replaying a game he saw on TV in his head during dinner while his wife is talking to him). Poehler and Smith make a great pair, with Joy's bright, sunny personality contrasting with Sadness's sad, downbeat demeanor. Sadness's morbid sense of humor is also fun to watch.

While the film deals with some complex emotional issues, it shies away from including characters who have any sort of mental illness, treating everyone's mind as if they are all the same. What about people who are Bi-polar, have post traumatic stress disorder, or any other sort of emotional issue? How do the emotions within their minds interact? As the writer of this blog who has Asperger's surely knows, not everyone's minds works the way Riley's does. As the issue of mental issue has become more prevalent in our society, I'm hoping that if there is a sequel it will deal with some aspect of this. Still, Inside Out is a cinematic delight and another win for the studio that brought you Woody and Buzz. 

15 years after "Titan A.E."

15 years ago today saw the release of perhaps one of the most underrated animated movies in the history of cinema.

The film I am referring to, Titan A.E., is a visually stunning thrill ride for anyone who enjoys science fiction but ended up being a huge box-office disappointment, losing 20th Century Fox $100 million and essentially shut down the studio's animation department.

This however, doesn't necessarily mean that Titan is a bad movie. Most of the blame for the movie's demise had to do with it's botched marketing campaign, which couldn't figure out whether to target children or teenagers. Luckily I was one of the few people who saw it in theaters, and it was a blast I will always remember.

Set in the year 3043 A.D., 15 years after Earth was destroyed by a sinister alien race called The Drej (who were obviously inspired by the aliens from Independence Day) Titan finds a young man named Cale (Matt Damon) who discovers that the ring his father gave him before Earth was blown to smithereens contains a ship called the Titan, which has the ability to create a planet and give the human race a new home. Together with pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore) and her ships's captain Joseph Korso (Bill Pullman), Cale sets out on an adventure through different planets in order to find the Titan, but not without a few twists along the way.

The movie's biggest strength are its visuals, with Roger Ebert citing one sequence as demonstrating "what live action can do and animation cannot". Made by the same team who made 1997's Anastasia, Titan combines traditional 2-D animation with amazing computer generated effects when needed. Together they create a movie that is just stunningly beautiful to look at, and along with its always-moving story and great soundtrack, Ttian is one of those under the radar films that is worth checking out.

"Jurassic World" Debuts to Biggest Opening Weekend Ever

Jurassic World took a huge chunk out of the Box-Office this weekend.

Not only did the fourth entry in the Spielberg franchise debut to $208.8 million, surpassing The Avengers to have the biggest domestic opening weekend of all time, but it also grossed more than three times all the other movies played this weekend COMBINED.

That's insane.

So what led to the T-Rex size turnout that led the T-Rex size opening weekend? A lot of it certainly has to do with audience's nostalgia for the first movie, and the witty banter between Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard didn't hurt. Nor did the performances of Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson, who play two brothers. And although this is only the second film directed by Colin Treverrow (and the first that cost north of $100 million), Worlds opening has  turned him into an A-list director overnight.

But I believe the biggest reason why this movie did so well and far surpassed expectations is because it took us back to the Jurassic Park franchise but with a twist. How many times have we seen someone being eaten by a dinosaur, chased by a dinosaur, or trying to hide from a dinosaur? What we haven't seen before, what makes this movie seem new and exciting, is that we've never before seen a fully operational Dinosaur theme park filled with actual theme park goers. It's as if we finally get to see what John Hammond's vision was when he invited Dr. Grant and everyone else in the first movie. That is what led people to flock to cinemas this weekend.

Jurassic World's Box-Office record might not end with its opening weekend. There's a chance the movie could also surpass Avatar's $760 million gross to become the biggest movie in U.S. Box Office history. To do so, World will have to gross 3.59 times its record-breaking opening weekend, which would require it to have strong legs in the coming weeks but is not entirely out of the question. Inside Out opens this Friday, but that may end up being more of a counter-programming option for families who didn't want to see dinosaurs maul people. And while Ted 2 might hurt it's chances depending on how well the Seth McFarlane flick does, World's biggest competition may be in three weeks when it faces Terminator: Genysis. 

Hillary's Elecotral College Edge

Hillary Clinton's announcement Sunday that she is finally entering the presidential race means that she is not only the inevitable front-runner for the Democratic nomination, but that she has a very good chance of actually becoming the first female President. 

That is because of her advantage when it comes to the electoral college. Since 1992 when her husband was first elected to the presidency, 18 states and the District of Columbia have voted for the Democratic nominee for President in each consecutive election. These states plus D.C. now have a total of 242 electoral votes-just 28 votes shy of winning The White House.

The "Blue Wall" includes California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4) , Illinois (20), Maine (4), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Michigan (16), Minnesota (10), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Pennsylvania (20), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Washington (12), and Wisconsin (10). 

New Mexico narrowly went for Al Gore in 2000 and for George W. Bush in 2004, yet in the last Presidential election the state and it's 5 electoral votes were uncontested and ended up being won by Obama by 10 points, putting it firmly in the Democratic column and giving Hillary a base of 247 electoral votes. A recent poll from September shows her leading Jeb Bush there by 14 points. 

The midwestern states of Michigan and Pennsylvania used to be considered battleground states yet Obama won both last time around without even campaigning in either one. The state the GOP might have a shot at breaking the blue wall is Wisconsin, but it's highly doubtful since Obama won the state by 7 points despite the fact that native son Paul Ryan was on the GOP ticket. 

This doesn't necessarily guarantee Hillary will win the presidency, but it does give her a substantial edge over the GOP-nominee-in-waiting, who would have a base of 191 electoral votes. For example, the GOP nominee would have to win either Ohio or Florida to win the election, yet Hillary could conceivably win without winning either of them, as long as she held Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire from the last election. 

The odds are supposed to be very much against any Democrat being able to win the White House next year. Since World War II, only once has the party in power been able to extend their control beyond two terms (in 1988, when Vice-President George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan). But given the electoral college edge Hillary has, the odds against her don't seem so bad. 

Movie Review: The Duff

Very rarely will you come across a movie that is not only great but also speaks to you on a deeply personal level. 

For me The Duff is that movie. 

Though it has only grossed $31 million in it's 28 days of release, that's more than three and a half times the Lionsgate/CBS Films co-productions $8.5 million budget. I not only consider it my favorite movie of 2015 thus far but also the best movie I have seen in years. 

Luckily I graduated from high school right before "cyberbullying" started. Yet anyone who was ever picked on in school would almost certainly resonate with the main protagonist and what she has to go through. 

That protagonist is high school senior Bianca Piper, played by Parenthood's Mae Whitman (even if you have never seen Parenthood you most likely seen her before as the President's daughter in Independence Day). A cult-horror film fanatic, Bianca is not your typical high school teenager. One night Bianca and her two best friends Jess and Casey (played by Skyler Samuels and Bianca A. Santos, respectively) go to a party thrown by reality-show wannabe and Queen B of the school Madison Morgan (Bella Thorne) who views people like Bianca as inferior to her. 

During the party, Bianca runs into her much despised next-door neighbor Wesley Rush (Robbie Amell), Madison's boyfriend and a star on the school football team, who explains to her that she is Jess and Casey's "Duff"-their "Designated Ugly Fat Friend", the friend who is not as popular or attractive as her friends, therefore making her the person can ask questions about them before making their move. 

This revelation turns Bianca's whole world upside down. In addition to having a falling out with Jess and Casey after finding out that she is their "Duff", Bianca reluctantly enlists the help of Wesley to make her less "Duff" like in exchange for helping him pass chemistry so she can win the heart of her guitar-playing crush Toby Tucker (Nick Eversman). In one of the comedic moments of the film, Bianca and Wesley head to the mall, where she tries on new clothes and pretends that one of the manequins is Toby, confessing her love and pretending to make love to it. This gets secretly filmed by one of Madison's friends, gets uploaded on YouTube, and causes the entire student body to make fun of Bianca. 

The scene where she cries in the school restroom is one of the very few times I have sympathized so deeply with a character on film. Although I graduated from high school in 2007, a time when high schoolers didn't have smartphones and the term "viral video" didn't exist, like Bianca I was picked on for being "weird" or "different", for not being a "normal" person like everyone else. It is the kind of experience that feels like hell at the time but that makes you a stronger person. 

Wesley tells Bianca not to let the video get to her and be straight up to Toby about her feelings for him. I'm not going to say what happens next because it would spoil the whole movie, but I will say there a few surprising twists and turns in the last half hour or so of the film. 

Major props go to Whitman, who essentially helped carry the entire film and not only made the character of Bianca fun and enjoyable but also someone you can root for. If director Ari Sandel had chosen a less capable actress the movie might have ended up being boring as hell. Liking The Duff rests entirely on liking the character of Bianca, and Whitman does such a superb job of making the character likable that you end up wanting to watch her journey on screen. Though Whitman has been mostly under the radar save for people who have watched Parenthood, she has the capability and potential to be a leading comedic actress in the vein of Tina Fey and Melissa McCarthy. 

The Duff will not end up being one of the top 10 grossing movies of 2015 or even the top 100 grossing movies of 2015. Upcoming blockbusters like The Avengers: Age of Ultron will certainly surpass the films entire domestic gross in just one day. But if you've ever been made fun of for being quirky or different, seeing The Duff while it is still in theaters is an experience worth having. 

Neil Patrick Harris Bombs as Oscar Host

Neil Patrick Harris gave a very un-wait for it-legendary performance tonight as host of the 87th Academy Awards. 

I expected a lot better from the guy who gave the world Barny Stinson. If Harris's performance were a suit, it would be the plainest, dullest suit you had ever seen. The jokes fell flat, some parts were incredibly boring (especially when he's in the audience talking to the Oscar sitters) and the whole bit about guarding his "Oscar Predictions" was incredibly lame. When he said "Oscar Predictions", I thought he meant the predictions about who was going to WIN. But instead, it was predictions of stuff that absolutely made no sense. Oh, and the whole titie whitie bit didn't impress me either. 

When I first heard that Harris would be hosting the Oscars I was excited, for I am a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. He will always be Barney Stinson to me, the guy who wears suits and teaches everyone how to be awesome. If Harris had given at least half the effort and dedication into his job as host this year as he did in HIMYM, this Oscars might have been very memorable. Instead, his time as Oscar host will be long forgotten, like a suit hanging in a closet, gathering dust. 

Why Philadelphia is an Awesome Choice for 2016 Democratic Convention

In picking the city of Brotherly Love to host its next national convention, the Democratic Party has chosen a symbolism of patriotism as a way to propel their next presidential nominee (most likely Hillary Clinton) to the presidency. 

Although it beat Columbus, located in the most crucial battleground state besides Florida, and Brooklyn, which would have had no problem raising money for a convention bid, Philadelphia was widely seen as the front-runner among the three finalists. The 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland made it harder for Columbus to get the bid because it would have had a tough time competing for donations. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, champion of progressive politics he may be, has become a polarizing figure nationally, criticizing police officers who turned their backs on him during a cops funeral. The tension between de Blasio and the NYPD may have caused concerns regarding security for the convention (another, though not often talked about reason for not choosing Brooklyn, is that it would have highlighted Mrs. Clinton's ties to Wall Street as she is trying to make income inequality a central issue of her campaign). 

Philadelphia is no stranger when it comes to hosting political conventions, having held either party's conventions a total of eight times. The last time it held a major party convention was when it held the gathering for the Republicans back in 2000, when it nominated George W. Bush for the first time. The last time the city held a Democratic Convention was in 1948, when President Harry Truman was nominated to a full term. 

On the surface, Philadelphia may seem like an odd choice. Pennsylvania has voted Democratic in each of the last six presidential elections, and Democrat Tom Wolf's victory over an incumbent Republican governor was one of the very few bright spots for Democrats last November. But whatever Philly lacks in swing state status it more than makes up for in terms of it's history. It was in Philly, of course, where the Liberty Bell is located, where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, and where George Washington served as our nation's first President. With Mrs. Clinton almost certain to become the first woman to the be the presidential nominee of a major political party, it makes perfect sense for the Democrats to hold their convention in the place where American History was born. 

The city could also help with a party message of equality. Even if the Supreme Court rules this summer that gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states, the rights of gay couples to be wed will certainly be a part of the convention platform. The Democrats will also for sure put in their platform a call for all employees nationally to not be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation, which, quite surprisingly, is still legal in some states. This could in turn help drive millennials, a key part of the Obama coalition, to the polls. 

For decades, the GOP has successfully established itself in the minds of many voters as the party of patriotism and American values. By choosing Philadelphia, Democrats have a chance to show the nation that love of country and the American Flag do not belong to one political party. Rather, that they belong to all of us-all races, all creeds, all religions, and all sexual orientations. 

And what better way for Mrs. Clinton to open her convention speech by saying, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men-and women-are created equal?"

"Project Almanac" is a time-traveling thrill ride

If you're a time-travel nerd like myself, Paramount's Project Almanac is the move you should definitely go and check out to tide you over until the new Terminator movie comes out this summer.

Produced on a $12 million budget, the movie has already surpassed that in it's first two weeks of release. Shot as a "found footage" film (much like 2012's Chronicle) Almanac tells the story of high school senior David Raskin (Johnny Weston) an aspiring inventor who dreams of going to MIT. His dream finally comes true when he gets his acceptance letter in the mail, yet his whole world comes crashing down when he only receives a $5,000 scholarship instead of the $40,000 he was hoping for. In order to help her son pay for his tuition, David's mother (Amy Landecker) decides to sell the house. While going through the attic with his sister Christina (Virginia Gardner) in order to find something their late father (Gary Weeks) might have left in order to help David get another scholarship, they both come across a video camera showing footage of David's 7th birthday. Surprisingly, David finds what appears to be a reflection of himself in a mirror within the footage.

Along with David's friends Adam Le (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner) the four of them find blueprints in David's basement for a "temporal relocation device" (AKA Time Machine) that his father had worked on before his death. When David's long-time crush Jessie (Sofia Black D'Elia) goes to a party in the neighborhood, David and his friends use the battery pack from Jessie's Prius to charge the machine and successfully they transport a toy car back in time by a few weeks. Eventually they are caught by Jessie, who decides to join the group.

After naming their experiment Project Almanac and laying a few ground rules (i.e. no one travels alone), the five teens have a bit of fun with their time-traveling device. My favorite time-traveling experiment of all in this film is when Quinn, who failed a chemistry presentation and is doomed to repeat his senior year, goes back to the day of his presentation over and over again until he finally passes. Another really fun moment is when Christina goes back to get back at a few girls who bully her at school by purposefully bumping and spilling drinks on them right after they made fun of the "present day" Christina ("I'm everywhere, bitch!" is the best line of the whole film). The gang even goes back a few months to check out Lallapalooza ("old" VIP passes were just five bucks each on E-Bay) and they event go on to win the lottery, which helps David pay for his college tuition and helps his mom keep their house (as a car fanatic, I love the part when Quinn checks out a Maseratti convertible on the show room floor).

Things start to go disarray, however, when David goes back in time to Lallapalooza by himself (essentially breaking one of the ground rules that he himself created) in order to make him and Jessie a couple. The plan works, but it also creates a ripple effect that causes a plane crash that kills over 700 people. Every time David goes back to try to fix it it causes another ripple effect that causes another terrible thing to happen. This is somewhat similar to The Butterfly Effect in which Ashton Kutcher's character travels to the past several times to correct things over and over again.

In an age of ever-constant superhero movies, Project Almanac is a breath of fresh air of originality. The movie is downright fun, and it's hard not to root for our five heroes whenever they succeed in their time-traveling experiments. Yet because the entire movie is shot camcorder style like the Paranormal Activity movies, the film can sometimes feel a little too jerky and cause a little bit of sickness, especially during scenes when their are running involved. Despite this, however, Almanac is the kind of time-traveling movie that time-traveling nerds like myself really need right now. 

Obama No Longer the Boogeyman

President Obama has a lot to smile about on the day of his sixth State of the Union Address. His approval ratings have hit 50% for the first time in two years. Unemployment is at it's lowest level since he took office, and is continuing to drop. But most surprising of all is the bipartisan praise the President's nominees for Attorney General and Defense Secretary have received in the Senate, making it almost certain that both of them will be confirmed.

Just a few short months ago this would have been a fictional reality what with the GOP obstructionism the President encountered ever since he took office. But the midterms changed all that. Now that the GOP has control of both houses of Congress they can no longer be the party of no. Instead they have no choice but to govern with the President in order to have any chance of winning in 2016, which is why you see Republican Senators such as Jeff Flake of Arizona publicly supporting the administrations move towards normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba and other Republican Senators like Bob Corker of Tennessee supporting an increase in the gas tax to help with infrastructure improvements. 

The obstruction and attacks made by the Republicans in Congress over the past six years mostly had to do with them not wanting this particular President to have a legacy. But very soon the party of Reagan will face an electorate that is much more unfavorable to them, with more minorities and young people and other democratic constituents expected to vote in higher numbers in 2016 than in 2014. So therefore they must do everything they can to show that they can govern if they want to still be a major presidential party rather than just a congressional party in Washington. 

But there is more than just the GOP's desire to occupy the White House again that is creating an atmosphere of cooperation on Capitol Hill. It is also the reality that, with only two more years left in office starting today, President Obama is no longer the political threat to the GOP he once was. 

The 2014 midterms were the last in which the GOP would "run against" President Obama. Now moving forward, with the next Presidential Election on the horizon, the Republican Party is now setting it's sights on running against the next Democratic nominee for President, presumably Hillary Clinton. Therefore the GOP will focus more on attacking the future leader of the Democratic Party rather than the current occupant of the White House. 

This current dynamic of cooperation makes it possible for Washington to actually get things done. Let us hope the GOP finally works with the President and help get done as much as possible over the next two years. 

Why The Real 2015 Is Better Than The Back To The Future 2015

If you're a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy, 2015 may seem like a real letdown. We have no flying cars, no hover boards, we have no automatic size-adjusting and automatic drying ja

ckets, no power laces, and there is no weather service that can predict the weather within seconds. Despite those prognostications from Bob Zemeckis and his producer/partner Bob Gale, I would actually rather live in the real 2015 than in the BTTF 2015. 

Back to the Future Part II was filmed just a few years before the public availability of the internet, so the BTTF 2015 acts as if the internet never existed. Nobody in that 2015 have an smartphone, and it doesn't even seem as if the McFly family has a computer in their own home, something that is the universal norm for every family in America nowadays. Marty McFly Jr. was even seen in the film walking into a phone booth, whereas in the real 2015 if he wanted to call someone he would have just flipped out his iPhone or Android or any other smartphone people use nowadays. 

Although many have believed that we would have flying cars by now, the cars in the BTTF 2015 are simply horrendous. They have no sense of style, no sense of design, and no "wow" factor that makes you desire to get one someday. They are basically just boxes that can fly through the air. Come to think of it, living in a universe where we have flying cars can be quite dangerous, because what if a car runs of gas or electricity or whatever they run on and they fall to the ground? (see my other article, "Why We Don't Have Flying Cars") The result would be total catastrophe, with nobody daring to go outside for fear that a car would fall on them and crush them to death. The Airline industry would also be in turmoil since there would be the risk of a fluing car crashing to an airplane. Despite the plane crashes that happened in the past year, at least we don't have to worry about an airplane running into an oncoming car. 

While I get very annoyed when I see kids as young as 3 watching videos and playing games on an iPhone, young people these days are a lot cooler than the kids in 2015. Who would in their right mind think that "wearing clothes inside out" would be considered cool? And why would anyone call something where you have to use their hands not cool because it's a "baby's toy?" Well,. how else are you supposed to use something? 

But perhaps the thing I dislike the most about the BTTF 2015 is that all lawyers have been abolished, which means that my fathers hard work getting through law school and his long nights studying for the Bar Exam wouldn't have meant jack squat. It is actually a scary reality when a judge can just sentence someone to 15 years in prison within two hours without a jury, a fair trial, and a lawyer that can assist in representation. It is also a scary reality when The Supreme Court can just rule on what it wants without having lawyers from both sides arguing their case. Obviously both Bobs didn't think about that when they made this movie. 

Hoverbards, power laces, and automatic drying jackets are all things that I hope will become universally available within my lifetime. But despite not having any of those right now, I would much rather live in the real 2015 rather than the one Michael J. Fox visited any day.