Up With 'Up'!: The Double Oscar Pick

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SINCE I WRITE this column on a pretty tight deadline, I usually have to come up with an idea before I even know what I'll be writing about. So it was with the Oscars race. The nominations were announced Tuesday; the column is due Monday. I was going to argue that, thanks to the relatively recent addition of the Best Animated Picture category, Pixar's "Up" was going to be out of the running for Best Picture — where it rightfully belongs. And what happened? The Academy nominated it in both categories.

So here's the new column: It should win. Both.

Of all the nominees, "Up" does the best job combining the technical aspects of film with its storytelling potential. "Avatar" may be a visual stunner, but it's basically a modern version of "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat," the 1896 film that shows ... a train pulling into a station. Because people had never seen, you know, moving pictures before, that was the Pandora of the 19th century.

"Up's" world was also created via state-of-the-art CGI, yet it's populated with characters that are intensely real — unlike those in most other animated films. In terms of cinematic innovation, it's more like 1902's "A Trip to the Moon," in which Georges Melies used new technologies to both push the limits of moviemaking and tell a compelling story. "Up" is firmly grounded on Earth but reaches into the skies.

Written by Express contributor Kristen Page-Kirby
Photo courtesy Disney/Pixar