Toy Story 3

Some Highlights from Daniel Terdiman's take on an advanced screening of Toy Story 3.

Pixar's 'Toy Story 3' a very big winner | Geek Gestalt - CNET News

Let me just say it now: "Toy Story 3" is fantastic. I saw an advanced screening Thursday night, and going back over the notes I took in the dark theater at Pixar's headquarters here, I find this that I wrote about a third of the way into the film: "I already know it's a BIG hit."

At Pixar's request, those of us in the room for the screening are constrained about what we can say. Director Lee Unkrich, who spoke prior to the film along with producer Darla Anderson, pleaded with the audience not to reveal anything about the plot and to "preserve the specialness" for the rest of the world to discover for themselves when "Toy Story 3" opens on June 18.

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In one scene, a horde of small children at the day care center burst through a door and within seconds absolutely overtake our toy heroes. In my notes, I wrote, simply, "One of the best chaos scenes ever!"

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"Toy Story 3" seemed like it would be a natural stumbling moment. After all, as someone wrote me on Twitter this evening, "When was the last time (was there a last time) when any movie [with] a '3' at the end was great?"

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A convert
Now, after having sat through "Toy Story 3," albeit a version that's not 100 percent complete--Unkrich, Anderson, and their team still have about five weeks to work on it, after all--I can say without reservation that I am a full-on convert. They hit it out of the park, and as a viewer, you know that's true within minutes.

How? Well, through great storytelling, through finding the exact right way to send Andy off to college, and yet still leave room for a "Toy Story 4." By keeping us on the edge of our seats with great drama and by really making us care what happens to these, well, toys. Again.

I can be emotional sometimes, and I'm not ashamed to say that the end of the movie made me cry. I know I'm not the only one because I heard someone in the row behind me say to their friend when it was over, "stop crying." But how could I not? Pixar, yet again, has managed to turn animated silliness into top-tier filmmaking that tugs our heartstrings, that makes us laugh time and time again, that gives us white knuckles, that will appeal to kids and their parents--and even those without children--and yet, unlike most of its competitors, manages to do so without stooping to scene after scene with little more than tired scatological jokes.

Pixar makes movies that you can watch again and again (ask my husband) and still be entertained. They have some of the most creative people in the world working at the company. It just amazes me how they haven't run out of ideas.

I can't wait to see this movie!!