*** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

Ebert and Roeper, excuse me, Phillips and Roeper both said "See it" on last night's show.

My sister has the kids this weekend, so if I have Friday night off, I think I know what I'm doing.

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

That would be so rad to see it in IMAX - perhaps if it has a successful run in standard movie theaters (which it no doubt will)... ?

Have you guys seen the new trailer? There's also a few short clips there too....

UPDATED: New Wall-E Trailer and 6 Clips!

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

A new trailer is something I can definitely use. I've seen the last trailer so many times I'm almost sick of it. It's played in front of every movie I've seen for the past few months.

I expect this movie'll be great, as Pixar's typically are, but I'm not necessarily amped to see it. I've noticed that as far as my viewing habits go with these digitally animated movie, I stick to Pixar. They're a brand I trust. The only other movies of this type I've seen have been Antz and the first two Shreks.

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

The single bad review at RT, but the talk back puts him in his place. Very funny

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/...-review-wall-e

94% today - say no more

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Off tomorrow, so wife and I will try to hit one of the early matinees.

Going to see Tropic Thunder tonight, though...

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

I won't be able to see it Friday, or I'd go then. I think I'll see it Tuesday, as I have family coming into town that day, and Tuesday is also "bargain" night at the local 2-screen theater, so it would be less than $10!

I just scanned through all of the Rotten Tomatos reviews, and while it's not astonishing that it's rating is so high (97% - it is, after all, a Pixar movie), I was impressed to see that nearly every positive review is REALLY positive, not just one of the "Yeah, it was entertaining, but that's about it", type of positive reviews other high ranked movies get.

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Just a quick scan on Yahoo! Movies and the critic's score.

All give it at least an A-.

Wow....Has any studio had this kind of string of success? Wow!

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

There was a glowing review in this morning's Little Rock paper. In a side article, the director, Andrew Stanton said something that I think perfectly explains why Pixar movies are of such a consistently high quality:
In other words, the story is king.

And elsewhere in the article it is mentioned

You guys probably knew that already, but it was news to me.

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Chris my guess is :


Warning Spoiler! Click to show

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Chris,
Your spoiler question is kind of where I feel that Pixar split the difference between fun movie and full science fiction drama. I also agree that some of those reviews have way overstated the quality of the movie.

In case someone doesn't want to know anything about the movie I'll put my "this movie is like" in spoilers.

Warning Spoiler! Click to show

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Why do people always think that animated films have to be comedies? Now, I'm really interested to see this film; however, I'll probably wait until the hubbub dies down before seeing it.

Re: WALL-E (Pixar 2008)

Hmmm, maybe it was because all the trailers and the voice over played up the funny moments like it was somewhat comedic? And no one said it should have been a comedy, what was said that there were almost no funny or light-hearted moments in the whole movie and the scenes that appear funny in the trailer aren't really funny in the context of the movie.

*** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Wall-E". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "Wall-E" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.


Crawdaddy

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

Warning Spoiler! Click to show

Now that's an interesting thought. I didn't think of it that way. I'll say this, I thought it was the most adventurous film I've seen since Pulp Fiction and I've said that elsewhere. I recognize others will disagree, but "WALL*E" is a major risk of a film. This is an animated movie that tries to tell a complex story in a largely DRAMA form, but it has such forward movement that it held every small child in my theater in check.

That is a movie-going feat. The thing about WALL*E is that it tells a complex story about conservation, the environment, personal responsibility, forgetting the joy we find in simple things, etc.

It does it without ever being preachy. Not once do you ever think "please, not this diatribe again". I will make a different argument for a movie it reminded me of after I saw it


Warning Spoiler! Click to show

Except this film had a way to make those complex thoughts simple, basic, and free of any real political overtones.

There are going to be a lot more people who can relate to the message of WALL*E then there are who related to that film.

But the animated Genre has been boiled down to be basic sacharine stories, or in the case of films like "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda" they are films that are based on inside references, pop culture, and fart jokes.

WALL*E is in every sense a gutsy film. It treads into ground that has been tried before, repeatedly, with absolute failure because the story line simply doesn't hold up.

When I first saw "Pulp Fiction" I was blown away because of what it did to the genre. It put things on it's head by changing the rules of the game that were acceptable in a film. It challenged the audience to accept it, and they did.

LOTR is a great film. It's a fantastic film. There are lots of film between 94 and now that are "Great Films", but they are great films that follow in a pattern of what films before them have done and improve on it - sometimes significantly.

But WALL*E isn't that. There isn't an animated film of it's sort that ever has really succeeded.

I've seen in twice now, and WALL*E is just ballsy. It was pure gutsy filmmaking that challenges what the audience will expect and what they will enjoy.

It's easily the best film I've seen this year. "Ratatouille" had a moment where the critic looked and made the argument that it was easy to criticize, but accepting change was often hard, and because of it, the chefs themselves didn't change. It was a great scene.

This film follows that - Pixar, the chef, completely changed the recipe. You compare a film like this to the pop culture fluff of the animated offerings you see before and after, and you realize this is the kind of film that has staying power because it's complex story is one that can grow with the kids who see it. My 8 year old watched with me today and thought it was funny and loved the robots. But even he was asking why the sky wasn't blue, and why the captain was upset the sky wasn't blue.

Those subtle moments made me think of my favorite scenes from TV shows and other films.

I think there will be a lot of people who won't see WALL*E that way, but for what it is, it's hard to compare with anything else. And it absolutely is my frontrunner for "Best Picture" for that reason.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

This is one thing I disagree with. While the characters never speak a diatribe the visuals are contantly beating you over the head with the message. From the many long slow shots of the skyscraper mountains of garbage to the constant reminders that all of the humans on the Axiom are fat, lazy, and oblivious to all that is going on around them. Plus every time a human speaks it is just an attempt to reinforce the message: "My holo-date was a virtual disaster" Towards the end I was thinking "Enough! I've got the message already".

Basically I realized that for me Wall-E was a serious story that had heart but not fun. I didn't come out of it thinking "That was great. I want to see it again." The Incredibles was serious story (more than I expected) but it was still fun. I guess for me Wall-E crossed the line from serious story with a message to MESSAGE MOVIE.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

See, I guess I fall somewhere in between you two. I saw the movie as a love story and really nothing more. I didn't leave the theater thinking, we humans need to conserve or protect the environment or else. I also didn't leave the theater thinking the movie beat me over the head with the message. I think that part of the story didn't effect me one way or the other because of how over the top the depiction of it was. No matter what one believes about global warming or how bad one thinks we treat the planet, I don't think we are heading for a future like Wall-E depicts (but that's really a debate for another thread). I came away thinking more about the love story and just didn't pay much attention to the "destroying the environment" message. Like I said in my post that was moved to the other thread, I also came away thinking more about how
Warning Spoiler! Click to show (can we stop using spoiler tags since this has been designated as the official discussion thread?)

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I thought it was obvious these were test tube babies, that no human interaction produced them. I don't need this movie to spell out every little detail when the key is clearly there in the subtext. OTOH, if you were wondering about that I don't think the filmmakers would necessarily be displeased, although I think they might be surprised you didn't figure it out during the movie.

I loved the Chaplin-esque character of WALL-E and simply adored the fact that it was a sentimental, singing-dancing-old fashioned musical that was the catalyst for WALL-E's and the humans' transformations.

I don't think the eco message is overstated at all. (I actually think it's actually difficult to overstate.) Stunning visuals. Very bold. I don't think there has been a string of movies this good from any single studio in modern history. I think you'd have to go back to The Archers to come even close. I suppose some day there may be a clunker, but they haven't failed me yet.

I also think Stanton's recent movies other than the Toy Stories (he also directed Finding Nemo) tend to divide people more than Brad Bird's or John Lassiter's efforts.

This is an A- for me. And maybe even more than that on second viewing.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I tend to think the message was fairly well-balanced. There were moments that were over-stated, but some of that was wanting to see where it was going.

Looking at the film in total, it's just sweetly romantic. That's where it's heart is. The eco-message is around it, but it's taken to the extreme for dramatic effect, not for proselytizing. That's my opinion on it, but viewers will have to see if it's balanced for them. I can't wait to see it again. I don't think the film is Pixar's best, but it's worthy of their legacy. WALL*E is a wonderful character, among the best they've ever done.

It wasn't as tight as some of their films, and it did lose a bit of focus. But it got it back strongly to close out.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I enjoyed WALL-E, but I've worked to avoid concentrating on its weaknesses. But I've got a few thoughts.

* I thought Pixar paid attention to new Battlestar Galactica series. The camera shots in the beginning, following wall-e about, were the same technique. Long camera shot encompassing the vista, with wall-e a small feature. Then a rapid, slightly wobbly zoom pulling in tight on wall-e.

* The use of real humans in video was interesting and effective, until the cartoon humans were introduced. Then it was jarring and made no sense.

* There was an internally-inconsistent preachiness to this movie that I saw very strongly in The Incredibles and that I associate with Brad Bird (perhaps incorrectly). Was Bird strongly involved in the story development of Wall-E?

* Was the beginning of the movie hazy and unfocused, or was my theater out of focus? The opening scenes were not crisply detailed in my eyes. After that, it eventually became a gorgeously realized world that Wall-E inhabited, reminding me of the fantastic Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (still my favorite for realistic world creation).

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

The early part of the film seems to have some objects in the frame in sharp focus and some intentionally not, and the focus can change within the same scene. Or so it seemed in the theater in which I saw it.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I absolutley agree. I didn't mind it at all while on Earth with Wall-E. That part of the movie looked more realistic anyway so it was easier for the footage to blend in with the scene. Once they got to the more colorful, "cartoony" look of the spaceship it just didn't work and really look weird because they stood out so much more IMO. Part of it for me may be that I'm not a huge Fred Willard fan so he was just distracting to me by himself.

I seem to be kinda negative about Wall-E but, I really did enjoy the film. I was very good and entertaining. I just don't see what all these people talking about it being the best Disney movie ever see in it that I missed. I shouldn't have read those aintitcool.com reviews talking it up so much before seeing the movie because, I end up going in expect the most brilliant piece of film from Disney I have ever seen and that didn't happen.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

This aspect of the movie didn't bother me at all. I disagree that it made no sense. I think it makes perfect sense in that it visually shows how the human species devolves into a slothful, obese, caricature of itself. That devolution is plainly seen in the scene with the photos of successive captains of the Axiom.


When it comes to The Incredibles did we watch the same movie? I didn't feel that it was "preachy", let alone inconsistent in being preachy. Care to share some examples? I also didn't feel that Wall-E was really "preachy" either. In fact, I thought the film was pretty consistent in its depiction of the way the human race operates. The garbage dump scene on the ship actually reinforces the old adage which states, "the more things change, the more they remain the same".

The Axiom represents a massive achievement of human ingenuity, but underneath the shine it is the same old story: except, the human species ends up sharing its garbage with the universe instead of just one planet. The theme of humans as garbage producing "pigs" is quite powerful which is why I think the ending of the film ends up being so trite and, IMO, phony.

[/quote]

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I agree Edwin. The montage of the captains sold it for me as it plainly showed the human race went from "Fred Willard lookalikes" to the more cartoony look of the current passengers and captain.
I thought it was brilliant. My immediate reaction is that it shoots to the top of my Pixar list. I thought it was funny, moving and visually exhilarating.
Pixar never ceases to amaze me. They continue to set the bar higher and higher with each release and in my opinion, they have exceeded that bar each and every time.
Can't wait for the BD release!!!

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

Anyone else catch the Pizza Planet truck (from Toy Story) sitting amongst the debris?

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

A friend and I thought the similarities of the Axiom and a cruise ship was funnier when you consider how much food people eat on cruises.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I thought the same thing.

Overall, I really like it, particularly the first section on Earth.

I'll have to think more about it, but I thought it was quite good.

Just one thing, aren't there people of color in the future? Maybe I just missed them, but it just seemed like a bunch of tubby white folks.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I wept. Partially because this film embodies the wonderful sense of "heart" that is imbued in the best that Pixar has produced, but also because this film is art, plain and simple.

20 years from now, Wall-E will take its rightful place as a brilliant dystopic satire of the future alongside 1984 and Brazil. Some have compared this to Logan's Run, but it actually satirizes that vision of the future and presents a more realistic vision.

People becoming obese and losing all sense of physical and emotional contact? That's happening already. The same with all food being ingested in liquid form.

The scathing indictment of our consumer culture is particularly damning, because it doesn't restrict itself to environmental concerns. It goes to the heart of our disposable society and our willingness to submit to corporate dominance. Anyone who didn't equate BnL with Wal*Mart and other monopolists needs to remove his head from his rectum.

My only quibble is this:
Warning Spoiler! Click to show

There are weaknesses, but it is still the best film of the year so far, followed by Iron Man.

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I did see people of various colors.


On another topic. Does anyone know if Pixar/Disney has a place to download a couple of Wall-E sounds as wav files? I am looking for Wall-E saying "Whoa".

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

I didn't catch that progression. Perhaps that would have sold it for me, but I don't think so. It's not that people get fatter, they also become plastic. It doesn't make sense stylistically to me.

I like The Incredibles and think the last third is magic. But there is a thematic issue that I haven't resolve. The message is exceptional people should be encouraged to be exceptional and recognized as such. But the one person who truly pushed himself to be exceptional, and acheived it, was Buddy. But he was simply the villain and was not recnognized as exceptional. It felt like a thematic incongruency not adequately dealt with.

For Wall-E, the MESSAGE was to stop buying so much stuff. And is told in a massively promoted film by a company best known for merchandising and very eager for the audience to buy lots and lots of stuff.

The theme is tedious when sold by a company that survives only by people buying overpriced, unnecessary luxuries; and presented in a product that requires people to spend excess money and sit passively watching a screen for two hours. The corporate hypocrisy is stupefying.

But I don't mean to be too hard on the movie. I enjoyed it start to stop. But it's the unusual Pixar film where I have to say, "it's just a movie. just turn off my brain and enjoy the fun."

Re: *** Official WALL-E Discussion Thread

You quite astonish me.

I can't agree with you about Buddy in the Incredibles. Buddy was exceptionally intelligent and astonishingly ingenious, but he used his gifts for pettyness and revenge. He never matures emotionally and remains trapped in an adolescent funk. Buddy was disappointed by his hero as a youngster (and that only a mild-brush-off) but that is no justification for his subsequesnt actions - no amount of exceptional ability excuses wrong doing - unless you think murder, mayhem and kidnapping (of children no less) are in any way OK.

Back to WALL*E...

If you're turning off your brain while watching WALL*E you're missing half the fun and nearly all the subtext.

That themes of corporate malfeasance and runaway consumerism are prominent in a film made and distributed by Disney is *ironic*, not tedious, a fact hardly lost on WALL*E's creators. Just think about our hero's name.

Art and truth may emerge from a corporately financed film, even one from the Disney Company. Methinks thou dost protest too much. If you have so much trouble forking over money to Disney and the idea of sitting passively in a movie theater revolts you so much, why did you go see ANY commercial movies in theatrical release at all?

Every major movie in your local multiplex was made by a large studio/corporation and they ALL want your kids to buy tie-ins. And anything else made by them including elctronics, bookds, internet access and everything else they make or distribute. But without big studios to fork over big bucks, we won't have big commercial movies, including those made by Pixar, who have at least made a brilliant and entertaining cautionary tale.

Seeing good movies in a a theatrical setting is a luxury I enjoy and am prepared to pay for, within limits. If I'm going to pay for first class moviemaking, I'm delighted to see my hard earned $$ go to Pixar, even if they have to go through Disney first.

I sincerely think your irony meter is in dire need of adjustment.