The Stranger

In a few minutes of wordless montage, Carl Fredricksen--a bumbling, chubby 8-year-old we met only moments ago--grew up, then met, fell in love with, married, and lost the love of his life, Ellie. Now, after spending 70 years with her, 78-year-old Carl sits alone in the big house they built together. So the mourning Carl ties thousands and thousands of helium balloons to his house and floats it off the foundation, across the city, and through the sky to South America, so he can give Ellie's memory, Ellie's house, at least one good adventure. But he's not alone. Russell, the roly-poly and clueless neighborhood Wilderness Boy, was on the porch when the house took off, and now Carl's journey has turned into something completely different. Ultimately, Up is as weird, fantastic, and random as Alice in Wonderland was the first time I saw it when I was a kid, and it's Pixar, so of course it looks fucking amazing. By Megan Seling

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