HOT: Toy Story 3

It's very tough for an animated film to come along that can come close to my favorite one of all-time in Toy Story. But, I guess if one was going to get close enough it would be a film featuring those same lovable characters.

Toy Story 3 comes out a full 11 years following Toy Story 2. A lot has changed in those 11 years - as Andy (John Morris) has grown up since we last saw him, and it has been a long time since he has played with the toys we have all come to love.

Andy is just a few days away from heading off to college and his mother is on his case about clearing out his room before he leaves. So, he must decide the fate of his old, favorite toys - put them in the attack, donate them or toss them in the garbage.

As he grabs a garbage bag and tosses many of the familiar toys, Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles & Estelle Harri), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark), Rex (Wallace Shawn), and Bullseye and those three aliens - he comes across Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen).

He decides to toss Buzz into the garbage bag and Woody into his box for college. As he begins to bring the garbage into the attack for storage - his sister stumbles out of her room with an oversized box for donation, and he leaves the bag on the floor to help her.

Then the real adventure begins. Thinking the bag is for the garbage, Andy's mother takes it down to the curb for trash pickup. Woody, though, does his best to rescue them - but the toys make it out themselves and decide to send themselves to Sunnyside Day Care in the donation box.

Woody tries to get them to reconsider, and he himself gets stuck in the box for donation. Sunnyside, though, proves to be the perfect landing spot for the toys. They are welcomed with open arms by a strawberry-scented bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty) and a metrosexual tour guide Ken (Michael Keaton), who immediately makes a connection with Barbie (Jodi Benson).

After Woody escapes, only to be picked up by Bonnie and taken to her house, the other toys soon to realize that Lotso and Sunnyside isn't all that its cracked up to be.

At Bonnie's house Woody is told by her toys, Buttercup (Jeff Garlin), Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Trixie (Kristen Schaal) and Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton) inform him how horrible Sunnyside and Lotso are - so Woody heads back to try and break his friends out.

Toy Story 3 was, at the time, what we thought was the perfect sendoff for the toys that we have grown up loving. And, it was done to perfection.

It was funny, exciting, sometimes 'scary' and definitely pulled at your heartstrings in more ways than one. They had done the impossible - created a film as close to perfect as the original Toy Story film.

Now, with Toy Story 4 pretty much a guarantee - I hope they can catch lightning in a bottle for a third time. Although I enjoy Toy Story 2, it isn't up to the standards as the first and third. Hopefully the fourth can buck the trend.

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HOT: Toy Story 2

It's really tough to understand the full quality of this film without knowing how it actually came together. Luckily you can check that out in the documentary, A Pixar Story.

Toy Story 2 was rushed into production and then totally reshaped not long before it was set to be released. Thanks to John Lasseter the film came out much better than originally planned.

As the first film was focused more on Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), this one goes a little deeper into Woody's (Tom Hanks) background. As Andy (John Morris) gets ready for cowboy camp, Woody is excited that he gets to spend time alone with his best friend. But, right before he's about to leave Andy plays one last time and ends up tearing Woody's arm - and decides to leave him behind.

Woody sits on a shelf and finds Wheezy (Joe Ranft), who was put on the shelf when he lost his squeaker with hopes of getting one replaced. Andy's mother comes and picks through Andy's room for stuff to get rid of in a yard sale. As Wheezy is selected, Woody goes on a rescue mission to save him from the yard sale. While on the mission, he gets discovered by Al (Wayne Knight) who owns Al's Toy Barn - and eventually gets stolen by him.

Woody is taken to Al's apartment and learns that he was once a a children's television show with his own Roundup Gang - that featured Jessie (Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer) and his horse Bullseye.

Al has already agreed to ship the entire collection to a toy museum in Tokyo as soon as he finds the Woody doll to go with it.

Buzz, meanwhile, puts together his own rescue mission with Rex (Wallace Shawn), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger) to get Woody back from Al and return him to Andy.

Toy Story 2 is another great film from Pixar, but it's probably the weakest of the Toy Story films - but it's still one hell of a flick.

The introduction of Jessie was great, and her backstory was heartbreaking. And the silent partner Bullseye was also a great addition. Stinky Pete turned out to be a pretty decent villain as well - sort of semi-partnered with Al.

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HOT: Toy Story

Did you ever wonder what happens when you shut your door as a kid? Perhaps those toys you have been spending so much time with actually have minds of their own.

In 1995's Toy Story, those questions and more are answered. I have always been a fan of cartoon films, especially Disney films - but this new kid on the block, Pixar, was seriously about to blow our minds.

It was the first film ever to be totally created through computers and CGI, which in itself would make this film groundbreaking. But, Pixar didn't stop there. They actually made an amazing story to go along with it - something that would become the norm with Pixar films.

So, Andy (John Morris) is a young child who really gets into playing with his toys. Woody (Tom Hanks) is a sheriff doll with a pull string that has been Andy's favorite toy since he was in kindergarten.

When Andy heads out of the room and leaves his toys by themselves, they all come to life and interact with each other. Some of the main toys throughout the room are Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles).

Andy and his family are about to move into a new home and it also just so happens to be close to Andy's birthday. A surprise to the other toys, they find out that Andy's mother has moved his party up so that it can happen before the move.

Woody dispatches a team of Army soldiers led by Sarge (R. Lee Ermey) to stake out the birthday party and report back with what Andy receives for his birthday. After thinking they had escaped the party without Andy receiving anything big - Andy's mom pulls a large box from the closet, and out comes Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen).

Buzz is a toy with all of the bells and whistles and soon takes Woody's place as Andy's new favorite toy. But, Buzz is also a bit confused as he believes he is the real Buzz Lightyear and not a toy - so he tries to fix his broken spaceship in order to get back to outer space.

Woody becomes depressed when he is replaced by Buzz and on a night when Andy is allowed to bring one toy with him to Pizza Planet - Woody tries to knock Buzz behind a dresser, but instead knocks him out of the window.

Blamed by the toys for trying to get rid of Buzz, Woody tries to find Buzz and get him to come back to the house. But, both toys are discovered at Pizza Planet by Andy's neighbor Sid (Erik von Detten) and brought back to his house - Sid is a deranged child who enjoys torturing toys and Woody does all he can to get Buzz and himself out of the house and back to Andy before the moving trucks leave.

Again, just an amazing film. Pixar is the new standard for animated features and it all started with Toy Story in '95. It is also the film that all new CGI films will always be compared to. It's not often that something so new and groundbreaking can also produce one of the best animated features ever as well.

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Toy Story 3

This was one of the few movies that I absolutely had to see in the theater. In fact, this was the first film since our movie theater installed the technology that I saw in 3D.

It was also a pretty good milestone because my son got to see his first full movie inside a movie theater. I say full movie because last year Mrs. Kano took him to see G-Force because they had two free tickets. He liked it, but didn't make it through the entire movie. This time, however, he hardly made a peep and was enthralled the entire time.

Toy Story 3 is not only great for the kiddos, but it is also pretty darn nostalgic for us older kids. The original Toy Story broke a ton of barriers back in 1995, being the very first animated movie to be created entirely through computer animation.

I have to admit that the Toy Story franchise films are pretty much some of my favorite movies and I couldn't wait to go and see this film.

So, on Father's Day Mrs. Kano and I took my son to Toy Story 3 and I have to tell you the Pixar team continues to come through with glorious results.

Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of the gang are back 11 years after we have last seen them. And, things are looking bleak. Their owner, Andy, is on his way to college and the toys' future is up in the air - will they end up in the attic? the garbage? or will Andy take them to college?

As Andy makes the decision, a mix up lands the gang in a box that is being donated to Sunnyside Day Care. At first it appears that this is the nirvana the toys are looking for - constant attention. They meet the leader of the Day Care, Lotso (Ned Beatty), who ushers the new toys into caterpillar room - which turns out to be for the young kids, or those not really old enough to care for the toys.

The rest of the film plays out like a prison break as the toys look to leave Sunnyside and make their way back to Andy's house before he leaves for college. And it is still up in the air what will become of the toys once/and if they do make it back.

The two new main cast members are Lotso and Ken (Michael Keaton), who is pretty darn vain and some how never ran into a Barbie before the toys arrived. I enjoyed all of the new toys and I felt like they each added something great to the film, and the other new toys are mostly background characters that don't get in the way or become a distraction.

Pixar continues to impress, this film is a little darker than the other two films and even gets you a little choked up at times. The action, humor and heart of this film is amazing and is a great addition to the Toy Story franchise.

My lone complaint is the loss of a few characters from the older films - which is mentioned, but their real whereabouts is not truly known - I do hope that if there is a Toy Story 4 that we get to see a few of them again. Small complaint, but their loss was definitely felt.

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25 Days: Christmas with the Kranks

Yet another Tim Allen Christmas movie. He seems to have cornered the market, although Vince Vaughn appears to be nipping at his heels.

Anyway, Christmas with the Kranks is a holiday movie adapted from John Grisham's novel, 'Skipping Christmas'. The name was changed due to Ben Affleck's Surviving Christmas which was released around the same time - the powers wanted to avoid confusion.

So, Luther (Allen) and Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) are usually filled with Christmas spirit, except this year their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) has joined the Peace Corps and will not be celebrating Christmas with the family.

Instead of sulking their way through the holidays, Luther devises a plan to skip Christmas altogether, and take a cruise with his wife. He even figured that they spend over $6,000 on Christmas each year - but would actually save money by taking the cruise.

This begins sort of a Twilight Zone effect from the neighborhood. Apparently, the entire neighborhood relies on attending the Kranks Christmas Eve party, and without the Kranks holiday decorations - including a large Frosty the Snowman - the neighborhood lost the lighting contest.

Nora is a bit apprehensive about taking the trip and skipping Christmas, but soon comes around. With just 24 hours to go until the cruise - the Kranks receive a phone call. Their daughter is coming home for Christmas, and is bringing her fiance.

This throws the Kranks, and soon the entire neighborhood, into Operation Bring Blair Home, as they decorate the house, get things ready for the holiday party and pick the pair up at the airport.

I was a bit confused by Luther's intentions. While watching I was under the impression that he didn't want to celebrate Christmas due to his daughter being absent - and it would hurt too much celebrating without her. But even after she came home, he was determined to go on the cruise.

The end of the film is rather touching - as Luther has a change of heart and helps out his neighbors across the street, the Scheel's.

A lot of famous faces in the film, including Dan Aykroyd as Vic Frohmyer, Erik Per Sullivan as Spike, Cheech Marin and Jake Busey as police officers, M. Emmet Walsh as Walt Scheel and Tom Poston as Father Zabriskie - in what would be his final film role.

Walsh and Poston were also in Allen's television series Home Improvement.

This film took a lot of hits from critics, but I have to admit I rather enjoyed it. It's not a holiday classic or anything, but it was pretty funny - and a good watch.

My lone complaint was Luther's antics after Blair was coming home. It would have been a lot better if he was sincere about his reasonings for going on the cruise - because he missed his daughter.

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25 Days: The Santa Clause(s)

This weekend was a serious catchup weekend for Christmas movies.

I managed to watch around seven or eight - most of which had something to do with Tim Allen. I am not completely finished with my list, but I am getting there and I might actually do it by Christmas Day.

Anyway, on Sunday I did the trifecta for The Santa Clause films starring Tim Allen as the big jolly guy himself.

I hadn't watched these in awhile, nor had I ever watched them in succession - so I got a little more perspective.

I must say that the first film really does blow the other two out of the water.

In the original The Santa Clause, Allen stars as Scott Calvin, a divorced father who is a pretty high up in the toy making business. Because of this, however, he has lost touch with his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd).

Charlie would rather spend time with his mother Laura (Wendy Crewson) and her new husband Neil (Judge Reinhold) then stay the night with his father on Christmas Eve.

But Charlie begins to change his mind after his father becomes Santa Claus. After the old Santa fell of the Calvin's roof, Scott put on his suit and finished his deliveries for the night - and fell under the Santa Clause - which reads that if you put on the suit, you become the new Santa.

After a night in the North Pole, Calvin wakes up in his own bed not really believing what happened - perhaps it was a dream. But, Charlie knows it to be true and spends the rest of the year trying to convince Scott, Laura and Neil.

Scott, meanwhile, has begun the transformation into Santa, as he begins to balloon up, go grey and grow a beard.

This was the best of the three movies, as it was more about a father and his son, instead of anything fairy tale-ish.

The second film is all about the Mrs. Clause.

In a missed clause, the elves led by leader Bernard (David Krumholtz) scramble to tell Santa that he must get married by the end of Christmas Eve, or he will be de-Santafied.

This is all happening while Charlie has landed on the naughty list, due to spray painting Christmas cheer at the school - and being busted by Principal Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell).

Scott must leave the North Pole to deal with Charlie and find a wife, and in order to keep the North Pole running, Curtis (Spencer Breslin) creates a life-size toy version of Santa to fool the elves while Santa is away.

As Scott slowly begins to de-Santafy, he begins to fall for Principal Newman, despite Charlie's hatred for her.

We find out that the reason Charlie is lashing out is because he must keep the secret of his father being Santa Claus - and it is tearing him up inside. He plays the hero and convinces Principal Newman that his father truly is Santa.

The story outside of the North Pole was good, and if that would have been it the movie would have been just as good as the original. However, they made another story-line of the Toy Santa taking over the North Pole and Scott and the elves must stop him from destroying Christmas.

The Toy Santa, also played by Allen, was way over the top. Almost to annoying factors. The story of Charlie acting out and the Scott-Principal Newman courtship were strong enough to carry the movie iteslf - the other storyline just went one too far.

Finally, the third movie - entitled Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause shows Santa with his new wife Carol (Principal Newman) expecting a child. Carol is a bit saddened by the fact that Santa doesn't have time for her as this is his busy season - so Santa invites Carol's parents up for the holidays (hiding the fact that they are in the North Pole - instead they are in Canada).

Also along for the ride were Neil, Laura and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) - for their first visit to the North Pole.

It also appears that Jack Frost (Martin Short) is trying to get his own holiday, but has been turned down repeatedly by the other mystical members. He is on the verge of getting kicked out, but Santa throws him a lifeline and allows him to help out over the holiday.

This is what Frost needs as he pretends to be helping out, but is dismantling the workshop, hindering the relationship between Santa and his in-laws, and has devised a plan to become Santa.

After finding out about the Escape Clause, Curtis is tricked into telling Jack that every Santa has a snow globe that if they hold and say "I wish I would have never become Santa at all" then everything would be returned back to when they first became Santa - giving Jack the opportunity to take over Christmas.

Santa shows Lucy his snow globe collection, and Jack sneaks his way into steal it. Then finds a way to trick Santa to say the words as he has given Santa his snowglobe as a gift.

The rest of the film is Santa trying to oust Frost as the new Santa to return everything back to normal.

I found this to be my least favorite of the three films, although I must say I enjoyed the Jack Frost enemy a lot more than the Toy Santa. But, the overall film wasn't as polished as the second.

Santa Clause Grade:

Santa Clause 2 Grade:

Santa Clause 3 Grade: