WALL-E

Post by **James** » June 27th, 2008, 10:28 pm

The future has arrived!

Post by **Ben** » June 28th, 2008, 10:13 am

There goes the obesity combat plans!

Post by **Dusterian** » June 28th, 2008, 10:47 am

Wall-E could get an Oscar “on the basis of its anti-toon moody darkness and rave reviews by critics who matter.”

I find that insulting to animation, particularly "cartoon features". Isn't this film half visual animated humor?! I like how the short that comes before it has been praised as a callback to classic, loonier...toons. And, sorry, didn't cartoons wins Oscars?

Post by **Therese** » June 28th, 2008, 10:12 pm

I feel like the party pooper here, but... I saw Wall-E today and, while I admired it, I didn't really love it. I give them an A for doing something so daring and original, but I just didn't make the big, feel-good, emotional connection with it. Oddly enough, following on the quote Dusterian posted, that could give Wall-E a shot at a "real" Oscar nom, because "feel good" is the kiss of death for the Academy, and Wall-E just might be "dark"/"edgy"/"meaningful" enough to make them take notice.

There were things I liked:

I must say, "Presto" was brilliant and hilarious and I'm eager to see it again; there's so much going on, I know I missed some gags in there.

It is now my 2nd favorite Pixar short, still behind One Man Band.

Post by **Vernadyn** » June 28th, 2008, 11:32 pm

It makes sense that Doug Sweetland would direct such a frenetic short, given that he was the go-to guy for animating someone who "flips out and goes bananas" (from the book Infinity and Beyond). Nice to see that Pixar didn't shy away from cartoon violence.

As for Wall-E... watching it was an out-of-body experience for me. To have so few spoken words really drew me into the world Stanton and his team created. I also liked the end credits, which follows in the tradition of recent animated films like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Kung Fu Panda. It's a trend that I would like to see continue, as it showcases art styles that ultimately didn't make the final cut. "Art Of" books are nice, but in the credits we actually get to see the images moving.

One very positive observation I had: although the theater had the requisite kids and families, there was also a healthy portion of older people. There were quite a few groups of older teens and young adults (20s) as well.

In case you couldn't tell, I really loved the film and the short. Top marks from me.

Post by **Josh** » June 29th, 2008, 12:14 am

I saw WALL-E, on Saturday. The more I think about the film, the more I admire it. I'm eager to see it again. WALL-E possesses a tremendous amount of ambition and craftsmanship. Plus, the film's title character is one of the most lovable characters I think I'll ever see.

I really, really hope that WALL-E lands a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Post by **droosan** » June 29th, 2008, 12:45 pm

Last year, I said that I'd long hoped to see an animated film from a 'western' studio which exhibited the same carefully-crafted mixture of sincerity and whimsy seen in the anime films from Studio Ghibli .. and that with Ratatouille, Pixar had finally made one. Now I can say that they've made two. In a row!

I've seen WALL-E three times this weekend .. and I wouldn't mind seeing it a few more times, while it's still in theaters.

Thomas Newman's score (and Peter Gabriel's end-title song) are likewise amazing .. and, of course, I will never be able to view or listen to Hello Dolly! in quite the same way again.

Post by **James** » June 29th, 2008, 4:40 pm

Animated Views review is online:

http://animated-views.com/2008/wall-e-film/

Post by **Dusterian** » June 30th, 2008, 2:25 pm

Well...um...I can't really say that review was in-depth. I mean...basically it was like saying "everything about the movie is great. All the things that studios get wrong, like stuffing in and harping on messages, is done right." I wouldn't mind Ben revisiting the film, perhaps on DVD, and writing more, trying not to give important things away but still talking about what happens, and why it happens well or poor, and how Ben feels about it. If all you can say is a movie is perfect...then is the movie the answer to all of life's problems, we just need to see it? If there's no use talking about a movie...analyzing a movie...what is the use of the movie?

Also, the BnL CEO wasn't the only live-action human. All the others in the video about moving into space were, as well as pictures of the captains. When they became lazy and fat, they became animated. So, it could suggest to be lazy and fat is not to be human. But it also says to be animated is not to be human. Anti-toon indeed.

It was just so horrible seeing the pictures of live-action human captains slowly transform into fat animated toons! Yup, being a toon's a bad thing!

Post by **Daniel** » June 30th, 2008, 2:39 pm

The review was done by James, Duster, not Ben.

Post by **Whippet Angel** » June 30th, 2008, 3:34 pm

Like the film itself, this review of WALL•E will be short on words — for two reasons. One, the plot is so interesting to watch unfold that I don’t want to give too much of it away.

I believe this explains the lack of "depth" in this review. And he's right. The plot IS very interesting to watch unfold (as long as you go into the theater spoiler-free). It would be rather difficult to explain exactly why without giving a bit of it away.

And as for the film's "message", James was simply pointing out that it's there for those who really want to see it, but it's not a big huge deal if you don't. WALL-E is a very unique film, in that it's so non-traditional, you can't really critique in in a traditional way. Well... Technically you can, but James obviously felt over-analyzing would spoil the fun for those who haven't seen it.

Good move in my opinion

Post by **Dusterian** » June 30th, 2008, 6:26 pm

Thank you Daniel

As for Whippet, yes, I read why James chose not to go in-depth. He still didn't go in-depth. Sorry, a review that doesn't review is a review that doesn't review.

This film is non-traditional? Non-traditional as in instead of a flowing narrative that goes somewhere it's the story of how a plant goes back and forth, back and forth. Or "Let's go back to Earth." "No." "Yes." "No."

And no one else is remarking on this film's assault on cartoon features as I've pointed out twice. See my post before this particularly.

Post by **Macaluso** » June 30th, 2008, 6:30 pm

What in the WORLD are you talking about

Post by **Whippet Angel** » June 30th, 2008, 8:48 pm

Hmm, let's define the term "review", shall we?

According to Webster, it means "an appraisal or evaluation." It doesn't necessarily have to go in depth, as it's nothing more than a critic stating what he or she thought of the film, and why.

Good Lord.......... WHY are we even debating over this???

Oh, and I think you're reading waaaaaaaaaay too much into this "anti-toon" thing...

Post by **James** » June 30th, 2008, 9:09 pm

A big thing I do in all my reviews is try to keep them spoiler free. I synopsize the story but try not to give away major plot points. In WALL-E I didn't want to give away even a synopsis. Ben picks apart the plots in DVD reviews because hopefully you're not reading a DVD review if you haven't already seen the film.

And as Pixar's writers point out in Ratatouille - it is easy to review something that is bad. Reviewing something that is good is much harder.

If all you can say is a movie is perfect...then is the movie the answer to all of life's problems, we just need to see it? If there's no use talking about a movie...analyzing a movie...what is the use of the movie?

Movies are entertainment. You might be taking them too seriously.

WALL-E

Pixar's Wall-E

Pixar's Wall-E

Pixar's Wall-E