Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Toy Story 3 ::
by William the Bloody
The inevitable has happened and little Andy is all grown up. His beloved childhood toys have been in a trunk and unplayed-with for ages now. Andy is seventeen years old and going to college this Friday. His mom has given several boxes and trash bags with the task of dividing up his possessions: take to college, pack up to the attic, donations, and trash. Andy sorts through his belongings and eventually comes to his old toys. He decides on bagging them up for storage in the attic, all except for Woody, that is. Woody was his favourite toy since as long as he can remember. He just can't leave Woody behind. In shuffle of stuff, however, Andy's mom mistakes the bag of toys for a bag of trash and sets it by the curb. Woody sees this mistake and rushes to the side of the road to help his friends, only to find that they have already helped themselves, by loading up into the donations box. Better a donation to a day care center than the dump. Woody tries to explain that they weren't supposed to be trash and that they were meant for the attic, for when Andy comes back for them, but their minds are made up. After all, they are toys and only want to be played with again.
The Good: Can I marry Pixar, or would that be weird? You have to admit that just about every Pixar movie to date is something special, and Toy Story 3 is no exception. It's still all the old characters you know and love with some new ones to also know and love (or despise, as the case may be). And these characters, as always, are simply great. Our old favourites find strength with each other and stick together like a family even in the face of adversity. Many of the new characters are good ones: the Ken doll at the day care, young girl Bonnie and her toys, and of course Lots o' Huggins Bear. Of course many of the new toys are voiced by celebrities, but they are well directed for their parts: Michael Keaton as Ken and Ned Beatty as Lotso Bear were PERFECT. Who knew Ned Beatty had such vocal range? As for plot, it's pretty solid. The toys still love Andy, but he no longer plays with them. They are afraid for their future. Only Woody refuses to give up on Andy, believing solidly that their place is to be there for Andy no matter what or when or how he may need them. But, pretty much it boils down to growing up and letting go. Andy couldn't let go of Woody, and Woody couldn't let go of Andy. They both had to make the hard decision for what was best for the both of them. The thing of it is, though, that it feels so genuine. It really gets to its and your heart.
The Bad: When you're a Pixar fan, sometimes you can get so involved at scrutinizing the backgrounds and every little incidental thing just looking for fun references and goodies that you may miss out on, you know, the ACTUAL MOVIE. This installment really took the toys to an intense place for a children's movie. I really didn't expect it to get as "scary" as it did, but it worked.
Overall, I really liked it. It had some good laughs (Spanish Buzz!) and a strong yet sincere message. It can tug at even the sternest of heart strings. If you liked the other two Toy Story films, you shouldn't miss out on this, the next gem!
A
