Hey there! Would you like to watch a beautifully animated film rife with cute characters and silly gags that also causes you to contemplate the deeper meaning of life? Are you interested in a cartoon that may trigger something of an existential crisis? Do you want to laugh and cry in equal measure?

If your answer to these questions is yes, well … you probably already watch Pixar movies.

The studio’s latest offering is “Soul,” another masterful piece of work that is currently streaming on Disney+. Directed by Pete Doctor – the animation auteur who previously helmed Pixar heartbreakers “Inside Out” and “Up” – with co-direction from Kemp Powers, it’s a film that takes a look at what makes us us, an emotional and cleverly rendered look at where we go after we die and where we are before we are born.

It’s smart, of course, and absolutely stunning to look at. This being Pixar, it also takes the opportunity to emotionally eviscerate us, showing us the power of self and of sacrifice while offering up some thoughts on just what it’s all about. Another triumph from a studio that simply doesn’t miss.

HAMPDEN - Acclaimed jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen is scheduled to appear in residency next week with Hampden Academy jazz students as part of the Jazz Residency Initiative, a non-profit organization which coordinates artists-in-residency with schools.

Legendary jazz musician to play the Collins Center on Jan. 15

WATERVILLE - Annie Ross was a founding member of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, considered the greatest jazz vocal ensemble of all time. Now 82 years young, Ross will be accompanied by her pianist, Tardo Hammer. Ross is one of the early practitioners of a singing style known as 'vocalese,' which involves the setting of original lyrics to an instrumental jazz solo. Ross's visit to MIFF is part of a special 'Celebrating Altman' program honoring the work of one of America's greatest directors, Robert Altman, with whom Ross worked as an actress in and creator of the soundtrack for his ensemble film masterpiece, 'Short Cuts.'

'By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with.'

-Duke Ellington

For much of my life, I believed that there are two significant genres of music; anything by the Allman Brothers Band and anything that had the word 'booty' in it. Well friends, I stand corrected. Little did I know my musical horizons would be broadened on a Tuesday night in Bangor, ME.

Thanks to Wells Gordon, his jazz quartet the G Majors, and their perfect venue Nocturnem Draft Haus, I've become a believer. A big ol' finger-snapping believer.