Best movie ever!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

One of Pixar's Oscar-winning shorts depicts an elderly man who plays chess against himself. One of his personalities is the aggressive one, while the other is a milquetoast. One might interpret "Geri's Game" as a look at excessive competitive tendencies, or as a way to get people to play chess, but whatever the case, it's a fun short. As is protocol, Pixar goes great lengths to ensure that the protagonist's clothes look and move just as they would in real life.As for chess, I've never been into it, but I know that it's one of the intellectual games. You see, chess originated as an analysis of medieval Europe: the pawns are the expendable serfs, with the royals and their minions safely behind. It was Stanley Kubrick's favorite game, and he used it as a theme in "The Killing", "Paths of Glory" and "Dr. Strangelove" (an allusion to war). Chess is so popular in Russia that they consider it a sport.Anyway, fun cartoon.

This short film started just before the main Disney Pixar film at the cinema, A Bug's Life. This was a brand new Pixar movie and it won Best Short Animated Film at the Oscars. It is basically a guy (named Geri) sat on his own with a chess set. He has no partner, so he is playing with himself. As he gets up and down to both sides of the game, you realise that he is meant to be two personalities. It is very interesting to see how changing camera positions can give you the idea of more than one person in the "game". Also, if you have seen Toy Story 2, you may recognise that Geri appears as the guy that repairs Woody. It was very funny, and got you even more excited to see the real film that people wanted to see. Very good!

There's not much to say about this animated short since it runs at about 3 minutes. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short (and although it's very memorable, I would agree that there were better ones that year). The animation is superb and the attention to detail is obviously prevalent.This is a story about an old man who sits down at a table to play chess. He takes out his pieces, sets both sides up and begins to play... by himself! He switches back and forth slowly and moves each piece. After a while though, the man stops moving and he's playing with an imaginary friend who looks exactly like him.There isn't much to this story, and it was probably written in about 5 minutes, but the fact of the matter is that for its time, the animation is perfect. The movement of the character is utterly realistic and the setting around him is amazing. The old man's face is also very real, and as he sways from hysterically laughing to frowning, we not only find it hilarious but also very creative."Geri's Game" is one of those animated shorts you just love to see before a movie. As I remember watching movies like "George of the Jungle" and "Men in Black", I remember this little film was always on before, and I always loved it. This is an animated short that children would love to watch over and over and over.

I remember getting a kick of this short repeatedly when I saw Bug's Life in the theater repeatedly eight years back. Mostly because it sticks to the best rules of a little animated short like this. Less is more with the dialog, and editing and position of the camera are crucial. The filmmaker behind this, who hasn't done much aside from this short, is like a very wise film-student. In most film-student shorts, a good chunk of the goal in making 4 or 5 minute films is to put in as much information as possible while keeping it to the point and still having a story. The story here is a guy playing chess, Er, with himself, and getting into a competition to the death (well, almost) in having a check-mate. Geri's laughs and little facial gestures on either side are really genius in their own way, and the ending is one of those that puts a smile on your face. The music is also, in its own way, funny by way of being just a lowly accordion applying the backup to this wacky little scenario. Probably ranks up there with my very favorite Pixar shorts, worth another look on the Bug's Life DVD for sure.