This week, Greg Davies from the Blendover and Geeks Of Doom’s TARDISBlend podcasts joins Dwayne and Andrew as we discuss: Facebook fights click bait, the NSA builds a Google to search your records, Amazon buys Twitch, and…is misogyny in games out of control?

Ever wondered what a classic animated movie like Pixar’s Up would look like if Transformers director and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot producer Michael Bay made it? Of course you haven’t. That’d be just silly.

But this is the internet, ladies and gentlemen, and the internet just loves to show you things you never thought you wanted to see. YouTube user MrStratman7 has created a trailer for the Bay-directed version of Up, and you can find out what it would look like below.

Up
5-Disc 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital l 4-Disc Blu-ray l 3-Disc Blu-ray
Directed by Pete Docter
Starring Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson
Disney-Pixar
Release Date: December 4, 2012

Get ready to soar into Pixar’s tenth film, the studio’s first Oscar-nominated feature for Best Picture and quite possibly its most sentimental. Though Up already claims a place in our hearts – and on store shelves – now it has arrived on Blu-ray 3D. Is this new five-disc package worth the price? Let us hover toward a review of this emotional roller coaster.

Whether you caught Up in theaters or in its earlier home video release – or perhaps this may be your first screening – every viewing promotes laughs, tears, and much self-reflection. The most epically simple romance between balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen and his adoring wife Ellie is a testament to Pixar’s genius, in eliciting every emotion in the book in the span of ten minutes. Their darling story, which pervades past their marriage, transcends the medium of film. Up‘s tastefully-done treatment of love and loss captures the nostalgic filmmaking of bygone decades. As Carl realizes his lifelong aspiration to fly his home to Paradise Falls, the supposedly real quest takes off. But we know that while “adventure is out there,” the true adventure is that of living, making memories, and loving others.

Somewhere beyond the sea, Finding Nemo returns to theatres in 3D! The breathtakingly gorgeous animated feature first provided audiences with a glimpse into the environments and lives of the ocean’s inhabitants just about ten years ago. Only Pixar could develop such an enchanting atmosphere with a heart-tugging story that grasps the audience’s full attention as much as the visual “eye candy.” For a number of reasons, this is quite possibly the most immersive and entertaining 3D film I have experienced.

To be considered in this extraordinary league requires several components, and Nemo delivers in all of these ways. For one, you need a compelling plot. Who can argue with gripping storytelling that ties us to the universal theme of parents allowing their children to let go? In this case, little clownfish Nemo’s surprising capture by a diver startles us. Here, caring father Marlin (voiced by the perfectly-cast Albert Brooks) finally brings Nemo (Alexander Gould) to his first day of school, and in a matter of minutes and an act of defiance, Nemo wanders beyond the reef. Caught. Gone. We feel for Marlin, lost without his little boy, and also for his son, now stuck in a dentist’s office aquarium. Now it’s up to each of the fish to face their fears, overcome their doubts, and attempt to reunite. Compelling, check.

Welcome to another edition of Disney In Depth! This week, in honor of Disney-Pixar’s most recent feature, Brave, I will be focusing on some of the best elements of Pixar’s films: funny characters. They evoke a laugh or two during perilous scenes, and manage to make us smirk when a situation seems far from humorous. These are the funniest of the bunch, offering a witty quip or inspiring a gag. This animation studio is known for developing deep characters, in both their personalities and designs. Thanks to Pixar’s brilliant team of writers and the talented voice artists who made these images into fully-fleshed individuals, we have a bunch of characters to root for and giggle along with. Here are the ones I find as most hilarious.