I’m a little late jumping on the “Up” bandwagon, but I can’t help it. I saw it last night, in 3-D, and it was fantastic.

I met up a couple of friends at the brand new Colonie Center movie theater. You can tell I’m a little behind the times, as I hadn’t been to the renovated theater until last night. I normally make it a point to go to the Bow Tie, but my friends were already in Colonie so I met them there.

The admission fee is higher than normal for a movie, but it includes your 3-D glasses.

I found the animation to be a visual wonder, particularly in 3-D. The depictions of the thousands of balloons floating above the city were beautiful. I’m not normally one to get all worked up over animation, but it was wonderfully done.

More than the animation though, I loved the story. My friends warned me that I would cry during the movie’s opening scenes. I’m a complete sap, so I brought a few tissues with me. But I teared up more than just once. I found the entire movie to be very touching. More than anything, "Up" is a love story between an old man and his deceased wife, and a love story between the old man and a young boy looking for a father-figure.

One of my friends said it was the funniest movie she’d ever seen. I though "Up" had its moments, but I don’t think I would describe it as a comedy.

That being said, "Up" was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while.

While I’m on the topic of movies, I should make a quick plug for the drive-ins. I pushed hard to see "Up" in the drive-ins, but one of my friends is completely opposed to outdoor movie theaters. I have to say, I don’t understand her point of view at all. Going to the drive-ins is one of the best parts of summer.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are caravaning over to the Hollywood Drive-In in Averill Park, with my cousins. It didn’t so much matter what movies we were going to see in the night’s double feature, as it mattered that we were going to the movies in our pajamas, bringing our own snacks, and that we were all together.

One of the New York Times blogs actually wrote about drive-ins today. There apparently is some sort of revival. A 2007 article in the Boston Globe put the number of drive-ins left in the country at 432. I think its gone up slightly since then, but still there aren’t that many left. And we have three in the Capital District alone, and one in Broadalbin.