The Movie Nut

“Up” Rated: PG

Old Man Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) lives alone, a new, complicated world sprouting up around him. About to be unceremoniously shuffled off to an old-age home, Fredricksen decides on another fate. Tying thousands of colorful helium balloons to his house, he lifts off, floorboards and all, to embark on a lifelong dream to see Paradise Falls, somewhere in the wilds of South America.

The only thing is, Fredricksen didn’t intend to take along an earnest but clumsy aspiring Wilderness Scout. Russell (Jordan Nagai) unwittingly bumbles into the old man’s dreams, and together they drift above the clouds and onward toward an incredible 3D adventure.

“Up” is Pixar Studio’s 10th feature film, their 10th insanely great effort and, among gems like “WallE,” “Ratatouille, “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo,” also one of their best feature films. Frankly, looking for a bad Pixar film is like looking for an off-kilter moment in “Up”— you simply can’t find one.

Not long ago I foresaw this burgeoning new 3-D/CGI technology sadly pandering to a host of mediocre plots and rehashed story lines as Hollywood attempted to profit from repackaging the same old stuff in a brand-new bottle. Fortunately, that seems to be far from Pixar’s plans.

“Up” is fresh and unique, surprisingly sentimental and adultoriented (in that playful, childlike way). As we baby boomers ohsogently scream and curse our way into AARPhood, “Up” may be the perfect companion fable to get us there and get us through.

Do you need to know more about “Up”? Not really. Just go and be amazed and thrilled by where this gentle breeze of a film takes you.

One word of advice: Leave your 2-year-old home. “Up” is probably the most mature of Pixar’s films; the 8-and-over crowd will adore it, but younger children will be bored and most likely confused. “Up” is kinda about love and loss and rejuvenation and self-fulfillment, so take the little ones to “Land of the Lost” instead.

P.S.: Get to the theater early. Pixar’s preceding seven-minute short, “Partly Cloudy,” is superb, alone worth the price of admission.

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”

Rated: PG

When I gave Ben Stiller’s original “Night at the Museum” (2006) a less than stellar review, I was physically accosted, by an Acorn editor no less, whose kids thought the film was, you know, the greatest thing ever. And here I was, evil critic, raining on their parade.

As I head to work today in football helmet and shoulder pads, I have yet again bad news. For adults, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” is more of the same. Yeah, your kids will love it, but most of us over 13 will shake our heads in befuddlement.

Sure it has its moments. Admittedly, the sequel is somewhat better than the original. The special effects are decent, but it’s still, heart and soul, little more than a reconstituted vaudeville act.

Ben Stiller and pals hang around, trading one-liners and slapstick antics, pretending to be in trouble because, when the sun goes down, a magical Egyptian tablet brings all of the museum’s creatures (wax, miniatures, stuffed animals, dinosaur bones) to life. Kind of like “Waxworks,” but without the scary stuff.

Other than pandemonium, the film’s bright spots are Amy Adams as perky pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart (one gets the feeling Adams could play Earhart in earnest, should the occasion arise) and Hank Azaria as the evil Egyptian prince Kahmunrah. Azaria standing around trading quips (with a quirky Boris Karloff accent) is actually decent entertainment. That I could watch for hours.

But Azaria is unfortunately cut short, as are the appearances of Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson, who are more or less lost in passing as the film instead focuses on Stiller and the antic pratfalls that somehow made “Night at the Museum” a $400-million box office winner.

What were we thinking? Well, apparently we’re thinking it again.