Good luck in Miami, I guess

According to Dan Gilbert’s open letter to the fans, the Cavs will be champions before LeBron. I’m not sure I believe that, but I do kinda agree with this part:

“As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several-day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.”

There are some harsh portions of that letter (at least, harsh coming from a team owner), but there are some good points as well.

Art Modell seems confident that he will ultimately hold onto his title of the Most Hated Man in Cleveland. He may be right, but “King” James gets to wear that crown for quite a while.

Good luck in Miami, LeBron, I guess. Whatever. Meh. The Q will be a totally different place the first time the Heat come to play in Cleveland.

Let’s add “The King’s Elbow” to Cleveland’s list Championship Frustrations and move on as we always do. And oh yeah: Go Cavs!!

Toy Story 3

Over the weekend we went to see “Toy Story 3” in 3D at our local theater which I had been looking forward to since seeing the first two original films in their 3D double-feature last fall. As usual, Pixar has delivered another smash hit. TS3 is an amazing, beautifully animated film with a ton of touching and emotional scenes (much like “Up!“).

The “Day & Night” short at the beginning was also very well done, a cool combination of traditional and 3D digital animation. Great storytelling without a single line of dialog.

Some random thoughts (without spoilers):

  • I immediately noticed the “95” on the train in the opening sequence (this appears in every Pixar film and is a reference to the year “Toy Story” was released
  • I felt there was a Darth Vader/Emperor nod between Baby and Lotso at the end
  • did you see the Pizza Planet truck?
  • the scene in the incinerator … wow, powerful imagery (and more great storytelling without actual dialog)
  • Spanish Buzz: ¡muy bueno!
  • want more easter eggs?

I’ve read that some people enjoyed the movie more in 2D rather than 3D, saying that the glasses make the overall film darker and not as vibrant. The glasses didn’t really bother me though, and the 3D is not meant to be “in your face” 3D but instead adds depth to the scenes which I thought was cool. Even my daughter, who is wary of 3D films (after a bad experience at MuppetVision 3D when she was little) kept the glasses on the entire time.

Will there be a TS4? There are no plans for one right now, but it sounds like there will be a TS short in front of “Cars 2” next summer. Personally, I felt TS3 was a perfect ending to the trilogy and should left to stand on its own.