1. Did I enjoy it: YES
There is a wonderful alchemy at work in film, especially the Pixar films. A story told in the right way can slip past all your emotional barriers and bring out all those buried emotions. Or at least bring on that sensation where your heart expands in joy pushing out the tears. Tears of joy as they used to call it. Such an odd oxymoronic concept. I count myself lucky any time a movie can make me cry. Lucky and fortunate.
There was a period in my life where I could not cry. It was miserable. I would feel the sadness welling up, and instead of being released through tears, my body would clamp down and nothing. The sadness remained just sitting there, like a weight. I do remember crying as a kid. Mainly from when report cards came home. Once I hit fourth grade, this was a time of terror for me. It became routine even. The report cards would arrive and my parents would yell at me for not getting good grades. A's were the only grade good enough. How I needed to do all my homework. How I needed good grades because Mom and Dad would never have the money to send me to college and I needed a scholarship for college because if I don't get a good education I'll starve. How I was wasn't living up to my potential. Then the waterworks would start.
How I hated report card day.
I still remember the day I stopped crying. It was my birthday during my freshman year of high school. My first order with the Science Fiction bookclub had arrived and my parents got Little Ceasar's pizza. Everything was going fine till the food poisoning set in. I never vomited that much in my life. That was the last day I cried, and incidentally vomited, for about ten years.
Over time I came to realize how precious crying was. It is very important to our well-being and should never be viewed as weak. The act of crying serves as a pressure release valve to a build up of negative emotions. The body is forced into a reaction and uses up all its energy, thereby not having the strength to put into whatever foolish coping patterns you were engaged in. Tired and exhausted, we have a chance to choose a new path in life.
So here I am in Toy Story 3 watching as these characters I have grown with, have grown to love, deal with such sour notes and still have the capacity to love. I am moved. Deeply moved. I let the hot tears roll down my cheek. I hug Felix. I hug Suzanne. I would of hugged my dog had she been there. Toy Story 3 slipped past my adult cynicism and defences to remind me of the preciousness of life. And with each tear, I am thankful.
2. Would I watch it again? YES
This movie basically summed up everything I can think of as important in life. Stuck inside the furnace, our heroes are going to die. What do they do? They hold hands. They decide to spend what short time is left enjoying each other's company. That is a simple yet powerful message. One I, and probably others, could do with reminding.
I never will. What Nolan does so well is that he tells a great story while dazzling us with great special effects. That is never more apparent than in this film, where the topic of entering people's dreams allows computer technology to have a field day making these imaginative worlds come to life. Then we get into dreams within dreams. Everything goes much faster the deeper you get, allowing for certain ideas to be implanted into one's mind without the dreamer noticing these are not truly his original thoughts.
