Wall*e

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Lets put a smile on that block
After what seems like an eternity of waiting in a soulless vacuum of suspense, I finally got to see WALL*E last night. And what an event. But first, I have a confession. I have a bit of a problem with Pixar films. After the success of Toy Story, and then the untouchable Finding Nemo, each Pixar release then onwards gets me so worked up. Pixar have taken over from Disney (Even though Disney is obviously behind Pixar) in creating these great family movies, that are all about fantastic characters, beautiful surroundings and brilliant morals. So as each new release approaches, I look at it through rose tinted glasses, knowing that its gonna be great, but maybe, maybe not as great as Finding Nemo, which for me, set the bar for all kids films to follow. And even though I looked at WALL*E like this, I was also excited for many other reasons. Andrew Stanton was back in the creators seat, just as he was for both Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc, two of Pixars best. Thomas Newman creates the music to go along with WALL*E, one of my favourite composers (Finding Nemo, American Beauty) and mostly, this was Pixars first attempt at Sci-Fi. And it was clear from the first moment I saw those big beautiful binochular eyes, this wasn’t science fiction about technology in the future and spaceships, it was about the fate of mankind, and about finding out your proper place in the universe. My kind of sci fi

ANYWAY. Sorry. To the film! In usual Pixar style the film has a short animation attached to the front, and without a doubt, this is easily my favourite of all the previous shorts. Called The Amazing Presto, it’s a short comedy about a hungry rabbit and his neglectful magician owner. I wont go into details but I found it hilarious and it set the scene perfectly for what we were to expect from WALL*E. The short opened with exactly the same credits as Disney used to use for their animated shorts I watched as a kid. And as the action played out, there was no dialogue at all. All of the comedy was helped along by Thomas Newmans score, Tom and Jerry style, which obviously set the tone perfectly for WALL*E, which takes place with hardly any dialogue at all.

I’m not going to give a lot away as I know it’s a while before it comes out world wide, but I’ll try my best. WALL*E starts almost immediately after the short, and as soon as I heard the opening song for the credits, I knew I was gonna like this. I don’t know the name, but the opening song is from a very well know musical, and the theme of this musical continues throughout the film. If you have watched the trailers you’ll know the musical all ready. The opening shots of space full of galaxies and nebulas and pulsars etc is presented beautifully. Without a doubt Pixar have done for space what they did for the ocean in Finding Nemo, made it incredibly beautiful. Very quickly you become to love WALL*E and you know he is a character that you can easily watch for hours. Funny, sad, quirky and OH MY GOD SO FRICKING CUTE you’ll leave the cinema wanting one of your own so badly. At times his cuteness actually did go overboard and I thought I was going to combust in my seat. The story moves along quite quickly, and WALL*E’s heart breaking loneliness becomes evident, until EVE arrives. From here onwards, the film switches from Sci-fi to romance all the way through, with EVE trying to simultaneously save mankind and WALL*E from various perils, and WALL*E simply trying to hold hands with EVE, its wonderful entertainment. The story takes a bit of a lull in the middle, with not much happening apart from a lot of running around. But the end quickly escalates to a brilliant finish, with an excellent bad robot played by Sigourney Weaver (You’ll never guess when you see it!)

All in all WALL*E, was everything I wanted it to be. It’s an excellent science fiction. It throws ideas out there about what it COULD be like if robots did become a part of our everyday existence, and how our bodies can be affected if we live in a society that relies on an automated lifestyle. It suggests a route that mankind could easily take in our evolution. It also puts a green message out there about how precious one teeny tiny plant is to us, and how we could easily lose it all with global warming and consumerism. Good stuff for the kiddles. But, as im a giant softy, its also an amazing love story. You have two robots who are at times more human than the human characters in the film, just by the expression in their eyes. Its astonishing really. By the end you are more wrapped up in those two than you are about the fate of mankind. I found myself near blubbering levels at least twice in the film. One of the most memorable parts for me is when WALL*E and EVE first meet, and they try to communicate to one another, trying out several bleeps and squeeks before the come to agree on a name for one another. Its so sweet I nearly puked. This overly sentimental wonder could be a problem for some. But not for me

It’s not quite Finding Nemo, but I have a feeling that after repeat viewings, it will easily clamber to those heights. Hilarious, thoughtfull, genuine and beautiful, i was very happy to meet the little guy. Whats not to like!?




DISCLAIMER: I must add, that as you can tell I have fond feelings towards this film, but I should probably admit to something. Free Wine and beer was available before the screening. And after consuming four glasses and two bottles of beer, I was quite inebriated and at several times found myself laughing when others were not and people were staring. This may have affected my levels of love for computerized machinery so I do apologize if I have given the wrong impression.

Many thanks.
Blibbo.
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Great review Blibby McBlibberson, I absolutely can not wait to see it.
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Here's my review of WALL·E, which I saw on Friday. Really loved parts of it, but I just didn't quite connect with it on the same level I did with, say, Finding Nemo. Very good film, to be sure, but I'd stop short of calling it great. As you'll see below, I think the things that make it so good are also the things that hold it back a bit.

I'll be interested to see if my impressions will be overturned or reinforced upon multiple viewings.

WALL·E



It's difficult to determine just how good WALL·E is. Is it impressive because it conveys emotions without words, or has it artificially restrained itself in doing so? Is it good, or is it merely cute? In a way, the answer to all these questions is "yes."

WALL·E is the story of a robot of the same name (which stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class). Mankind has effectively trashed earth and left on a giant cruise-style spaceship. The idea is that they'll float around space for five years while scads of robots like Wall·E clean up all the trash. After 700 years, humanity's still floating around in space and, as far as we can tell, Wall·E is the only robot still chugging along.

For some reason, Wall·E has developed a personality, and in addition to his trash duties has begun hoarding human artifacts he finds interesting. He's particularly interested in an old copy of Hello, Dolly! which he studies and imitates. But when he sees two characters holding hands, he realizes he has no one to mimic the scene with.

It's about this time that a probe ship lands on Earth, carrying a sleek probe droid named Eve that looks (probably not coincidentally) as if she were designed by Apple. She takes little notice of Wall·E, preferring to scour the planet for signs of life. When she finds one, a signal is sent back to the probe ship, which comes to pick her up, forcing Wall·E to either hitch a ride or resign himself to loneliness.

It is impossible to review WALL·E without heaping praise upon Pixar's technical achievements. Beginning with Luxo Jr., the now iconic short film about a playful desk lamp, Pixar's success has largely hinged on creating emotional connections between audiences and either animals or inanimate objects.

This time around, they've painted themselves into an even tougher corner than usual, because most of their main characters can't really talk. They have to express themselves with movements and a series of beeps. This challenge is fudged a little as they do get to say each other's names, albeit in an elongated, robotic fashion. It does little to diminish the impressive bond the audience experiences, though. It doesn't hurt that the main character is an insanely cute hopeless romantic with big, doe-y eyes, of course.

Still, looking back on the film I'm struck by how temporary the emotional connection was. As impressive as it is to make a human being feel something for a mute robot, the decision to do so wordlessly makes the connection a surface one. Wall·E and Eve can't express much in the way of complicated or nuanced feelings, so what we're left with is simply an extremely skillful, extremely pretty picture book story. Only one moment stands out as both truly touching and profound.

Nevertheless, the film is as charming as anything Pixar has ever done, and the premise gives them a chance to showcase a series of interesting textures (rust has never looked so beautiful). It has been remarked that WALL·E is the most gorgeous Pixar film yet, and this is true, though only because they've succeeded in making things look real enough that we don't notice them at all.

It is worth noting that, at least to this reviewer's memory, actual human beings (as opposed to CGI-produced human beings) have never appeared in a Pixar film before. WALL·E breaks this embargo with help from actor Fred Willard, who plays the CEO of Buy 'n Large, a fictional corporation that seems to own everything. The Buy 'n Large logo pops up everywhere, and there are some not-so-subtle jabs at consumerism and even the potential pitfalls of human ingenuity. Some of the points are well-taken, but it's surprising that a film which trusts its audience to interpret its main characters would fail to exercise the same restraint with its morals. It drives its points home with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, making for a striking contrast with the elegance it displays over the rest of its 103-minute runtime.

Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher, once wrote that he "made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short." The implication is that simplicity itself is a kind of art, and if nothing else, WALL·E is certainly a masterpiece of simplicity. The core of the story is so clear and accessible that it figures to easily translate across time and culture. Whatever it may lack in depth, it figures to make up in breadth.

NOTE: I must also mention the short before the feature attraction. These have become a lovely staple of Pixar's films, and they've nearly outdone themselves this time with Presto, the story of a magician, his rabbit, and a magic hat. The short is energetic, uproariously funny, and is the best of its kind since 2000's For the Birds.




The Adventure Starts Here!
I assume everyone noticed that the sound Wall-e's system makes as his solar panel hits 100% is the same sound a Mac computer makes when you turn it on.

I found that kinda hilarious -- along with the Pong game and its score. I commented in the shoutbox but will repeat here: I think the temporariness (?) of the audience bond is partly due to the story leaving the confines of Wall-e's little world, which is charming and cozy in a sad, lonely way. Once the story starts adding other characters for us to keep track of and feel for, Wall-e's bond with us suffers.

There was no way to avoid this since they couldn't have pulled off a story solely about a robot picking up trash and pretending to be Will Smith in I Am Legend (without the vampires).

Also, I didn't mind the Buy-n-Large logo everywhere. I tried hard to read as many of the signs as I could, and I wasn't disappointed. Many of them were hilarious -- although, of course, I can't remember a single one now!



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
It just hit #6 on IMDB's top 250.


Yes it will go down, but I have never seen any other film debut higher.
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Suspect's Reviews



Lets put a smile on that block
I assume everyone noticed that the sound Wall-e's system makes as his solar panel hits 100% is the same sound a Mac computer makes when you turn it on.
There were a few little hints towards Apple in the film. Steve Jobs, big Apple boss man was involved in the early days of Pixar, so I guess they feel they owe him a bit or something. Wall*E watches some stuff on an old iPod at one stage doesn’t he? And you can see some old mac keyboards in his little house. Plus, according to an interview with Stanton, EVE was designed by Johnny Ive, the guy who designed the iPod. No wonder she looks so purty.



I haven't seen the movie yet so I may be wrong...
but i have heard this movie is very depressing. In that it depicts humanity as obese people who cant do anything without some robotic aid all they care about is greed and glutany. which is ironic because the only one who shows the better aspects of humanity is a robot designed not to think, but to make our lives easier.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I'm probably the most OBESE person I know, and yet, I tend to do more travelling and crazy crap than many other people. Of course, I'm not FAT because I eat too much, but because, after spending about three decades playing hard at basketball and racquetball, I've become a computrerian who has vastly reduced his amount of exercise while definitely increasing his amount of beer. Sorry.
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I haven't seen the movie yet so I may be wrong...
but i have heard this movie is very depressing. In that it depicts humanity as obese people who cant do anything without some robotic aid all they care about is greed and glutany. which is ironic because the only one who shows the better aspects of humanity is a robot designed not to think, but to make our lives easier.
I didn't think it was depressing at all. Then again all i do is go on computer and video games all day
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Plus, according to an interview with Stanton, EVE was designed by Johnny Ive, the guy who designed the iPod. No wonder she looks so purty.
I'm totally out of the loop on this movie, but if I am reading that right, then it is kind of funny that a man that worked on this film, is named Johnny Ive.

Johnny Five


WALL-E


Yes, I'm easily amused. Taking a wild guess . . . he worked on Short Circuit?

I don't suppose he did, or they are hiding those facts from me. It's still a dwarf sized Johnny Five, though.



My girlfriend pointed out after the film that the humans in WALL·E look like something by Fernando Botero, a Colombian artist known for painting obese figures.






She's a terribly insightful lady, eh?



Tatanka's Avatar
Certifiably troglodytic.
I'm totally out of the loop on this movie, but if I am reading that right, then it is kind of funny that a man that worked on this film, is named Johnny Ive.

Johnny Five


WALL-E


Yes, I'm easily amused. Taking a wild guess . . . he worked on Short Circuit?

I don't suppose he did, or they are hiding those facts from me. It's still a dwarf sized Johnny Five, though.
All I want to know is.....

Good review Blibby. I hadn't really planned on seeing Wall-E, but I think I will now.



Ah ha! Now I remember why they stopped playing music videos on MTV.

I think he is from DeBARGE. They sing "You Wear It Well". Yes, I have the cassette.



\m/ Fade To Black \m/
This looks like a real fun film, and my little boy is going to love this film
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