Wall•E

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  • 06-30-2008, 10:12 AM
    Troy
    Wall•E
    Yes, all the rave reviews are correct. What an amazing movie.

    Impeccable art direction. The abandoned city was just staggering to oogle for an UrbEx guy like me. I was slack-jawed over the wabi sabi beauty of the collapsed, decayed and rusting end of the world. A world that we all just take for granted. This just totally KILLS the lame "I Am Legend" for sheer post-apocalyptic wonderment. Yes, you've seen this before in a dozen movies, but never rendered with such detail and aesthetic flair. The elegant space sequences with their ultra-slick industrial design that would have fit perfectly into "The Incredibles" mid-century-modern universe. Insanely vivid, lush and shiny. The jarring dichotomy of these two totally opposite worlds made each one that much stronger.

    There were hilarious and unsubtle digs at rampant consumerism, and fat, complacent Americans who are totally absorbed by their e-media. Sure to rattle a few cages, but for me, perfectly pitched and spot-on timely.

    And the emotional resonance of the robot romance was unexpectedly deep and moving. People were tearing up all over the theater. Amazing "acting."

    It's so not just for kids. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if kids are kinda bored by it, but the 500 of so brats in the audience at the screening I went to were quietly rapt thru the entire film.

    As was I. Just stunned.

    I had such a hard on for the Incredibles calling it the best movie of that year, and never thought Pixar could top it, but by god, they did. I seriously doubt I'll see a better movie this year. (tho I am totally stoked for the new Coen Brothers comedy)
  • 07-01-2008, 04:04 AM
    Worf101
    thanks loads...
    Thanks for the good review. I'm might have to break down and hit a theatre for that one...

    Da Worfster
  • 07-02-2008, 08:12 AM
    Kam
    ditto on the Wall-E praise and the notes on consumerism out of control and it's effect on our planet and our selfs.

    on a side note, the irony...

    Walt Disney helps foot the bill to create and distribute Wall-E where you can buy a Wall-E toy... Wall-E crocs, Wall-E tie ins that Variety says could generate upto $30 billion for disney.....

    ahh the irony.....
  • 07-03-2008, 03:05 PM
    emaidel
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    Yes, all the rave reviews are correct. What an amazing movie.

    Impeccable art direction. The abandoned city was just staggering to oogle for an UrbEx guy like me. I was slack-jawed over the wabi sabi beauty of the collapsed, decayed and rusting end of the world. A world that we all just take for granted. This just totally KILLS the lame "I Am Legend" for sheer post-apocalyptic wonderment. Yes, you've seen this before in a dozen movies, but never rendered with such detail and aesthetic flair. The elegant space sequences with their ultra-slick industrial design that would have fit perfectly into "The Incredibles" mid-century-modern universe. Insanely vivid, lush and shiny. The jarring dichotomy of these two totally opposite worlds made each one that much stronger.

    There were hilarious and unsubtle digs at rampant consumerism, and fat, complacent Americans who are totally absorbed by their e-media. Sure to rattle a few cages, but for me, perfectly pitched and spot-on timely.

    And the emotional resonance of the robot romance was unexpectedly deep and moving. People were tearing up all over the theater. Amazing "acting."

    It's so not just for kids. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if kids are kinda bored by it, but the 500 of so brats in the audience at the screening I went to were quietly rapt thru the entire film.

    As was I. Just stunned.

    I had such a hard on for the Incredibles calling it the best movie of that year, and never thought Pixar could top it, but by god, they did. I seriously doubt I'll see a better movie this year. (tho I am totally stoked for the new Coen Brothers comedy)

    I couldn't have said it any better. Truly outstanding film, and a very, very fine and insightful review. It wouldn't surprise me to see "Wall-E" get, not just a "Best Animated" Oscar nod, but a "Best Picture" too. "Beauty and the Beast" got a nomination for Best Picture, and "Wall-E" is inifnitely superior.

    Again, fine review.
  • 07-07-2008, 08:41 AM
    Kam
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by emaidel
    I couldn't have said it any better. Truly outstanding film, and a very, very fine and insightful review. It wouldn't surprise me to see "Wall-E" get, not just a "Best Animated" Oscar nod, but a "Best Picture" too. "Beauty and the Beast" got a nomination for Best Picture, and "Wall-E" is inifnitely superior.

    Again, fine review.

    i hope they do, but i'm guessing since they created the "best animated feature" category that they won't let Wall-E in with the big boys of best feature. same with the foreign language category. i dont think (anyone correct me?) that since they made best foreign feature a non-english movie has been in the best film category, has there been?
  • 07-09-2008, 05:03 PM
    3-LockBox
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Troy
    The abandoned city was just staggering to oogle for an UrbEx guy like me. I was slack-jawed over the wabi sabi beauty of the collapsed, decayed and rusting end of the world. A world that we all just take for granted. This just totally KILLS the lame "I Am Legend" for sheer post-apocalyptic wonderment. Yes, you've seen this before in a dozen movies, but never rendered with such detail and aesthetic flair.

    Better than E.I. or Blade Runner?
  • 07-09-2008, 07:38 PM
    Troy
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by 3-LockBox
    Better than E.I. or Blade Runner?

    I'm blanking on what E.I. is, but yes, I liked this look better than BR. Much bigger scale, and more lingered over in Wall•E. More desolate. There are no humans on Earth in Wall•E. BR feels over-populated to truly be "post-apocalyptic" in the sense I mean. Apples and oranges, really.
  • 07-10-2008, 06:36 AM
    3-LockBox
    Steven Spielberg's A.I. (artificial intelligence)

    not E.I - I musta mixed my Spielberg movies by transposing A.I. and E.T. :lol:
  • 07-10-2008, 08:33 AM
    Auricauricle
    I think that Troy is right: While I have not seen Wall-E, I would say that the comparison is a matter of apples and oranges. I would hazard a guess and reckon that BR's post-apocalyptic vision is more pessimistic than the former's, but for my taste, BR is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made (right up there with 2001). As I see it, if I can still get misty over Roy's death and Vangelis' filmscore, there's something great, there. To have such visceral, cerebral and existential impact, BR is a movie that will withstand the test of time and be talked about for a very long time.
  • 07-10-2008, 09:04 AM
    Troy
    No argument from me on BR's status as a scifi classic.

    The abandonments in Wall•E are actually quite bleak and moving. If you are the type to find ruins moving, anyway. It's a more pessimistic vision than you think it is. See it, it's the best reviewed movie of the year: http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/walle

    I thought maybe you meant AI . . . The post-apocalyptic, post-human sequence at the end of that movie was very short and was not really dwelled upon.

    This sequence in Wall•E comprises literally the first half of the film and in half of that, the city, abandoned for 700 years, is the real star of the film.

    See it.
  • 07-10-2008, 04:25 PM
    3-LockBox
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Auricauricle
    As I see it, if I can still get misty over Roy's death

    Oh great! How 'bout a SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!


    geez






    j/k



    BTW: I loved A.I. I didn't know until recently that it was originally a Kubrick project at first, and then Kubrick asked Spielberg to help out, then Stanley dies. I'm surprised that Spielberg could bring himself to maintain (somewhat) Kubrick's bleakness, though Kubrick's ending was going to be different. Much better than candy salesman Chris Columbus' 'robot tries to be human' plot line in the overly sentimental, maudlin, schmaltzy Bicentennial Man.
  • 07-10-2008, 06:12 PM
    Auricauricle
    Whoops!