Toy Story 5 - Another Win for Disney Pixar with a Relevant Story to the Recent Condition

When I saw there was going to be another Toy Story movie, I was kind of surprised as I thought it's already concluded. But since I love their films, I did not hesitate to see this latest one in the cinema. It was available for advance ticket sale since last week, so my wife and I bought them for yesterday's show. All right then, why don't I just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

After the events of Toy Story 4, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears - General Hospital TV series etc) was still playing with her toys who were now led by newly appointed Sheriff Jessie (Joan Cusack - Working Girl, Nine Months etc) and her Deputy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen - The Santa Clause, Last Man Standing TV series etc). When Bonnie's parents bought her a new tablet called Lilypad, Jessie was worried that the tablet Lily (Greta Lee - Tron: Ares, The Morning Show TV series etc) would make Bonnie completely ignore the toys. 

Hoppers - Funny & Entertaining With Simple Enough Story But Still Have Plenty of Heart Warming Moments

This week there were a lot of new movies released in Indonesian cinemas. I think since the operators wanted to focus on local films starting from next week as it is nearing the biggest holiday season in Indonesia, they opted to show them now while international movies will be available in 2 weeks time. My wife and I had another movie marathon yesterday and saw this one first. OK I'll just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda - The Wretched, I Didn't Do It TV series etc) had been living in Beaverton since her childhood years and loved all animals especially the ones in the glade. However when mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm - Transformers One, Baby Driver etc) decided to build freeway passing through the glade, Mabel was adamant not to allow it happen as the animals had to move out. When Mabel found that her biology professor Dr. Sam Fairfax (Kathy Najimi - Sister Act, Veronica's Closet TV series etc) was conducting science experiment that would allow a person's mind to be transferred to an animal-like robot, she somehow got herself to be part of it and hopped to the body of a beaver. 

Elio - Another Wonderful Work from Disney Pixar Studio with An Unconventional Setting but Still Provide Meaningful Story

As my wife and I would not be able to see any movies this weekend since we would be going out of town, we decided to watch this new film yesterday on its first day of release. It was very convenient for us as it played in the cinema walking distance from our home, so we could make it just nicely after I came back from work. OK, let's just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Elio (Yonas Kibreab - Sweet Tooth TV series etc) was a young kid who had difficulty in fitting in and always felt lonely. Despite her effort, Elio's aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana - Avatar: The Way of Water, The Adam Project etc) was unable to keep him really happy. After finding out about an expedition space ship to find life outside earth, Elio had been trying to make himself abducted by aliens so he could live with them. And somehow his dream came true and he was really taken by various aliens who lived in one location called Communiverse.

Inside Out 2 - A Wonderfully Animated Sequel to the Beloved 2015 Movie with Awesome Story and Full of Emotions

This was one of the movies that I was quite eagerly waiting. It appeared the cinema chains knew there were a lot who wanted to see it first by having a special screening on Wednesday before its full release on Friday. My wife and I saw this on Saturday as the second of our movie marathon day. Without further ado, let's get on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Riley (Kensington Tallman) who had just turned 13 and her 2 best friends Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin) were invited to join a hockey summer camp. Joy (Amy Poehler - Movie, Duncanville TV series etc) and the rest of the emotions inside Riley's head, Disgust (Liza Lapira - The Equalizer TV series etc), Anger (Lewis Black - The Last Laugh etc), Fear (Tony Hale - Clifford the Big Red Dog, Toy Story 4 etc) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith - The Office TV series etc) were very excited with Riley's experience.

Elemental - A Lovely and Pretty Engaging Romantic Love Story from Disney & Pixar Studio

The trailer to this movie had been shown so many times in the cinemas that I practically already have a picture on my mind of what the story would be. Nevertheless, I am still interested in watching as it is from Disney Pixar studio. Yesterday there was a special early screening of the movie in certain studios but only for 1 show. Luckily my wife and I still got our favorite seats in the theater not far from our home. OK let's get right to it now.

Brief Story Line

Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis - Nancy Drew TV series etc) was the daughter of Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Ommi) of fire element who had been living in Elemental city where there were other elements of water, wind and earth. Bernie opened up a convenience store and wanted to pass the store to Ember once she was ready. As time passed, Ember was looking forward to take over but there was always something that made Bernie decided not to.

Lightyear - An Entertaining Space Adventure Movie with Amazing Animations Sadly Hindered by Controversy

As a fan of Pixar Animation Studios animated movies, I was actually looking forward to see this one in the theater. But unfortunately due to some reasons, it was never shown in Indonesian cinemas. Luckily though, we are able to see it now that it was already released on Disney+. My wife and I immediately watched this yesterday once it was available. OK, let's get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

The movie focused on the character Captain Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans - The Gray Man, Avengers: End Game etc) who was a space ranger that was stranded in a faraway planet together with Commander Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba - Mrs. America mini series etc) and other crews of the space ship. 

Turning Red - Hilarious and Heart Warming Beautifully Animated Comedy Movie

The other film that was released yesterday was this computer animated movie which I had seen its trailer one time and was immediately interested as it looked hilarious. Originally my wife and I wanted to see this today, but as we finished another movie before 8 PM, we thought it would be nice to watch it then, rather than wait for the following day. Anyway, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set in Toronto, Canada in the year 2002, a 13 year old girl named Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) was an over achiever student and best friends with Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan - Never Have I Ever TV series etc) and Abby (Hyein Park). Mei was living with her high demanding mother Ming (Sandra Oh - Raya and the Last Dragon, Killing Eve TV series etc) and calm father Jin (Orion Lee) and did not have lots of spare time to have fun like kids her age.

Luca - Another Lovely Piece from Pixar Animation Studios

Yesterday I got notification that a new Pixar movie was released on Disney+ that I have been eyeing for quite some time. So I decided to watch this one first as it was interesting for me. Without further ado, here's more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set in the coast of Portorosso, a small city in Italy, a young sea monster named Luca (Jacob Tremblay - Good Boys, Doctor Sleep etc) was living under the sea with his very protective mother Daniela (Maya Rudolph - The Mitchells Vs. the Machines, Life of the Party etc), kind hearted father Lorenzo (Jim Gaffigan - Tesla etc) and grandmother (Sandy Martin - Napoleon Dynamite etc). Luca had always been interested in the outside world, but her mother was against it as the towns people always tried to capture sea monsters.

Soul - Another Beautifully Animated Movie from Disney/Pixar though Hardly the Most Memorable & Touching on a Personal Level

Yesterday this highly anticipated movie from Disney Pixar was finally released on Disney+, and as a fan of their works, I was definitely going to choose this one to watch despite there were other new movies available on different streaming platforms. Anyway, let's just get on with it.

Brief Story Line

When a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx - Project Power, Ray etc) somehow gotten the gig of his lifetime to perform in a quartet with the famous jazz musician Dorothea Williams (Angela Basset - American Horror Story TV series, What's Love Got to do with It etc), he was so excited despite the disapproval from his mother Libba (Phylicia Rashad - Creed 2, Good Deeds etc).

Onward - An Amazing Tale of Adventure with Truly Heartwarming Story

I did not really know about the existence of this movie until I saw its trailer 2 times last week. And personally I was not that interested at first until I saw that it was a Disney/Pixar production which had brought us many wonderful beautiful animated movies. So when it was announced there was advance ticket sale, I urged my wife to buy the tickets for last night during its wide release. OK, will go straight to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set in a fantasy world where various magical creatures live together, a young elf named Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland - Spies in Disguise, Dolittle etc) was given a gift by his mother Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus - A Bug's Life, Seinfeld TV series etc). It was a wizard's staff from Ian's late father which could bring him to life for 24 hours.

Toy Story 4 - One More Heartwarming Story in this Lovely Series

My wife and I were looking forward to see this movie and we even purchased the tickets for last Friday's show when it premiered during its Advance Ticket Sales event. But as we were invited to the special screening of a really wonderful South Korean movie, winner of 2019 Palme d'Or, we opted to see that one instead and passed our tickets to my wife's nephews. Since our weekend was already filled with various activities, we only got the chance to see the film last night, at the theater near our home. Anyway, I should go on with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

Set few years after the events of Toy Story 3, Woody (Tom Hanks - Sully, Sleepless in Seattle etc), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen - Home Improvement TV series, Galaxy Quest etc) and the rest of the gang were now living happily with their new child Bonnie. One day, Bonnie brought home a new "toy" that she created from a spoon-fork and was called Forky (Tony Hale - Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Veep TV series etc). It was challenging though for Woody as he tried his best to convince Forky that he was fortunate being a child's toy.

COCO - A Lovely Family Movie (Disney Pixar Done It Again!)

Yesterday, this movie premiered in Indonesia and I urged my wife to see this one immediately. It was a Disney Pixar movie and I believed it would be a good one so I definitely would want to see it at the earliest. We went to see this at Lotte Avenue and the theater was not too full, but almost half of them were children. Well let us move on to the movie.

Brief Story Line

Miguel Rivera (voiced by Anthony Gonzales) was a 12 year old Mexican boy who lived in a small village and was really into music and he wanted to be like his idol Ernesto (Benjamin Bratt - Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs etc), who was the greatest musician in Mexico. However, he came from a family who honored tradition but totally hate music since it was believed to have ruined the Rivera ancestors. Miguel had to conceal his dreams in front of his family, especially from his grandmother Abuelita Elena (Renee Victor - Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones etc) who was the daughter of Mama Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía). 

Cars 3 - A Wonderful Third Installment of the Cars Series

Yaaaa, this movie was a bit late coming to Indonesia. It was already playing in US theaters from mid of June, and we only got the chance to see it since mid August. But the good thing was that the movie still played here rather than being skipped, so we can still see in the large screens. As I mentioned in my previous post The Hitman's Bodyguard, I went to another movie marathon with my wife yesterday. This was my second movie of the day and we saw this one in Kuningan City at 5PM where due to the Independence Day holiday, all the school kids seemed to be somehow watching the movie together with us (even including some toddlers where the parents left their stroller in front of the cinema). Anyway, let us move on to the movie.

Brief Story Line

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson - The Royal Tenenbaums, Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Noon etc) was a legend in the Piston Cup racing. However, in the latest season, he got a very strong competition from a rookie car Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer - The Lone Ranger, Mine etc) who was using a new technology to practice and increase his capability. With more and more of these younger generation racers, the more veteran ones were slowly being replaced by them.

Finding Dory - A Wonderful Sequel to an Outstanding Original

At last, after 13 long years, the sequel to 1 of the most outstanding Disney-Pixar animated movies Finding Nemo finally materialized. And what better way then to put the spotlight on the partner of Marlin, our favorite blue colored fish with short term memory loss, Dory with her iconic saying "just keep swimming"? As my wife and I already committed that we shall see this movie together, we wait until both of us are available which happened to be just last night. We decided to watch in 3D and using a promotion from a bank where we could buy 1 free ticket for purchase of 1 ticket, we could sit in a very cool cinema with only 15 reclining seats in 1 theater. As usual with all Disney-Pixar movies, there was a short movie before the movie starts titled Piper about a very young bird learning how to look for its own food in the beach

Brief Story Line

Movie started with young Dory who was being taught by her mom and dad never to get caught up in the short wave of the ocean and also how to locate their house in case she forgotten by following the shells which would lead her to her home. Dory as a cute small fish with her very big eyes and cute voice was very worried if she forget her parents, but they assured her she would never forget. One day, Dory was somehow separated from her parents and she was stranded by herself. Panic and could not remember, she anxiously ask every other sea animals around her about her parents and her home. Due to her short term memory loss, she later would forget what she was asking and the other animals could not help her. She did this all the time until she was mature (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) and met Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks - The Simpsons Movie, Drive etc) who was looking for his son Nemo. You know the rest of that story.

Story moved to current time, where Nemo and the younger children were learning from Mr. Ray about fish migrating to their home town. Dory started to have memory of her home and decided that she would look for it. Nemo encouraged his father to assist Dory in finding her home which she remembered somewhere in California. With the help from turtles from the previous story, they reached California where Dory because of her excitement of sudden memory recollection of her parents, started to shout their names and resulted to them being chased by a large squid. Marlin scolded Dory because of the danger she brought on to Nemo with very strong words that made Dory felt guilty and wandered by herself. She was caught by some people who were working in a marine life institute nearby.

Dory was being tagged in the institute where she met a seven legged octopus named Hank (voiced by Ed O'Neill - Modern Family tv series) who was hoping to get tagged so he could be sent to Cleveland where he would be staying there without ever being put in the ocean. But Dory who just realized that the institute was her home, asked Hank to help her find her parents before she would agree to give her tag. Hank who was rather desperate finally agreed to help Dory.

Meanwhile, Marlin who felt guilty after being highlighted by Nemo that his words were very hurtful to Dory, were confused where to look for Dory. They finally met 2 sea lions who suggested that Dory would be brought to the marine life institute and advised them to look for Dory there.

So Nemo and Marlin would embark their journey to finding Dory. While Dory also embarked on her own journey together with Hank to locate her parents. Can Nemo and his father find Dory and can Dory finally meet her parents? And if Dory indeed find her parents, what would happen to Nemo, Marlin and Dory's relationship? Find them all in this lovely adventure movie. 

End of Brief Story Line

I really enjoyed this movie, and my wife especially loved it. There were many touching moments in this film and the story was very lovely. It was a simple enough movie, no need to over think how fish or octopus or any others could do the stuffs they did in this film. Just enjoy them and feel those loving moments.

There were some new characters that were also quite fun to watch such as Destiny a whale shark with near sight problem (voiced by Kaitlin Olson), my personal favorite: Bailey, a beluga whale with specialty of ecolocation (voiced by Ty Burrel) and of course Becky the bird. The 2 sea lions also have some noteworthy parts in the movie (voiced by Idris Elba and Dominic West). 

This is certainly a movie of all ages. Young children would love the colorful ocean, the fun adventure, the cute fishes, while the more adult can just enjoy the drama and learn a thing or two perhaps from Dory's parents' unconditional love. This can even be recommended as dating movie.

Last but not least, please do not leave your seat till the very end. There was a funny scene after the end credit completed, which would be too bad to miss.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars