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As an adult I feel a bit silly saying that Toy Story 3 made me cry, but as a fan of the films since I was a child it’s completely understandable why Pixar would be able to tap into my emotions and use a product and characters I had grown up with in a poignant way.

This adventure for Andy’s toys revolves around the fact that Andy is no longer a child, he’s going off to college in a week and though Buzz, Woody and most of his childhood toys are still around they don’t know what their fate will be. When Andy’s Mom accidently donates the toys instead of storing them in the attic they assume Andy wanted to throw them out and refuse to follow Woody home in time to see Andy leave. Buzz, Sally & the rest end up trapped at the Sunny Side Day care Center under the eye of Lotso – a toy bear who rules the day care with an iron fist.

What I appreciate about the Toy Story series as an adult is that each film is a metaphor for a stage of life. The first film was about accepting a new member of your family, the second about a midlife crisis, and the third installment is about aging – they’re a beautiful message about family and love. I could write pages about the layer of meaning and metaphor in the films, and I do believe Pixar is able to pack so much meaning, fun and emotion into every film simply because of the way they make their films – doing draft after draft of visual and story before the final animation process ever begins.

While Toy Story 3 didn’t make me emotional the same way the story of Ellie & Carl did in Up there were two definite moments in the film that got me. The first was near the beginning when Woody and the toys discuss their missing friends; Woody claims they’ve gone on to new homes at garage sales, but any viewer who’s paid attention knows they are actually characters whose voice actor has died. The second emotional moment, that did make me tear up, occurs in the last scene of the film. I won’t discuss it here as it would be a spoiler but it has to do with Andy not being a kid any more.

I still can’t believe that I’ve literally grown up with Toy Story. It seems like just a few years ago I was a kid going with my brothers to see the first movie, but here I am now, a young director trying to make movies that impact others they way movies like Toy Story have impacted me.

Director: Lee Unkrich
Writers: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich
Woody: Tom Hanks
Buzz Lightyear: Tim Allen
Jessie: Joan Cusack
Lotso: Ned Beatty
Mr. Potato Head: Don Rickles
Ken: Michael Keaton
Rex: Wallace Shawn
Hamm: John Ratzenberger
Mrs. Potato Head: Estelle Harris
Andy: John Morris
Barbie: Jodi Benson
Bonnie: Emily Hahn
Andy’s Mom: Laurie Metcalf

Sergeant: We've done our duty. Andy's grown up.
Soldier: Let's face it. When the trash bags come out, we army guys are the first to go.
Buzz Lightyear: Trash bags?
Woody: Who said anything about trash bags?
Sergeant: It has been an honor serving with you. Good luck, folks.

I’ve read the first three Shopaholic books and I love them. So when I found out Becky Bloomwood was coming to the big screen I was excited. However, while I was disappointed that the take of Becky Bloomwood from Sophie Kinsella’s books was not on the big screen the version of Becky Bloomwood that did arrive was an enjoyable romp.

Central to Kinsella’s books and the Bruckheimer version of Confessions of a Shopaholic is the relationship between Becky and Luke Brandon an American, London-raised playboy who somehow develops eyes for Becky even with her flaws on display. While I enjoyed the chemistry and cuteness on screen between Luke and Becky I do have to say that like so many other romantic films Shopaholic committed the cardinal sin of putting the lead characters in a relationship without proper motivation – there was simply the motivation of the writers/director to move the story to the next plot point so the characters have one moment then they kiss and badda-bing – relationship!

I loved Isla Fisher as Shopaholic’s Becky Bloomwood. She was cute, fashionable, bubbly and clicked with the Americanized version of the story. Isla’s personality helped the jokes to flow and provided the emotional crux of the movie.

While I was disappointed that the film wasn’t what I read in the books I still think that the movie was absolutely adorable. Confessions of a Shopaholic is Shopaholic for a American audience that wants to see a bubbly version of Sex & the City.

Director: P.J. Hogan
Writers: Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth & Kayla Alpert
Rebecca Bloomwood: Isla Fisher
Luke Brandon: Hugh Dancy
Suze: Krysten Ritter
Jane Bloomwood: Joan Cusack
Graham Bloomwood: John Goodman
Edgar West: John Lithgow
Alicia: Leslie Bibb

I am not ashamed to admit that I watched Ice Princess yesterday. I am not ashamed because it was on the Disney channel, and I was straightening my hair so it’s not like that was my purpose.

I do like Michelle Trachtenberg as I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and she played the only series late comer in TV history that I actually forget is not in the first few seasons of the show, and I enjoyed her in Euro Trip, so I was interested in seeing what she’d do in another harmless kids movie.

This is a very odd movie in concept. Casey (Trachtenberg) is a high school senior interested in getting into the physics program at Harvard and with some encouragement from her uber-feminist, college professor mom begins a scholarship project where she’ll break down the physics of figure skating. In a desire to make what she’s learning personal Casey begins to take classes herself only to uncover a hidden talent that she must hide from her mother who thinks that figure skating is an affront to feminism.

Perhaps the oddest thing to me in this movie is Tina Harwood, the ice rink owner, former figure skater turned coach played by Kim Cattrall. This character is Casey’s encourager until she nearly bumps her daughter out of regional’s so she sabotages her by tricking her into wearing new boots on the ice and mangles her feet causing her to take a spill mid-program. Then after Harwood’s daughter drops out of figure skating out of disgust with her mother and desire to pursue something she actually likes Casey asks Harwood to coach her.

All in all, I know this is a movie I would have loved if I were a kid still. It would have filled my head with fantasies and I would have thought about it every time I managed to go ice skating. Despite the oddness of the story, it isn’t a bad movie, it’s just not that entertaining if you’re over the age of 11 – or a boy.

Director: Tim Fywell
Writer: Hadley Davis
Casey Carlyle: Michelle Trachtenberg
Joan Carlyle: Joan Cusack
Gen Harwood: Hayden Panettiere
Tina Harwood: Kim Cattrall
Teddy Harwood: Trevor Blumas

Tina Harwood: Look, I'm sorry, but when the CIA wants to learn new dirty tricks they observe figure skaters and their moms.