When last I updated, I was in a Code Geass obsession. Well, I finished the angst-y anime, and after jumping around between Nartuo, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Sugar Sugar Rune (actually, it's a pretty good fantasy manga), I've gone to a movie I actually saw this summer. WALL-E.
I've always been a Pixar fan, since Pixar is the only animation company left in this country that makes good films. I lost all respect for Dreamworks with Shrek 2 and 3. I couldn't even FINISH 3, it was so bad. Meanwhile, the only sequel Pixar currently has out is Toy Story 2, which was very good for a sequel, and certainly not abad movie. They've got Toy Story 3 and Cars 2 in the making, as well, but I have faith that they'll be good. Not to mention that Pixar has always been the fore-runner in the computer animation world. That probably has something to do with them starting as a branch of Lucasfilm.
Anyway, I love all the Pixar films and shorts, but WALL-E is by far, the best and my favorite. I don't know if I ranted about it when I saw it in theaters (most likely not, since that was right before I left for Australia) but it is quite honestly the best film I've ever seen in theaters. Maybe I shouldn't praise it too much, in case I get all yourexpectations too high and it lets you down, but I really don't see how it could. First off, the main two protagonists are basically slightly more articulate R2D2s (three if you count M-O), and the first 45 minutes of the film has no speaking characters outside of a 30-60 second explanation of why the earth is covered in trash (courtesy of Fred Willard as CEO of a fictional superstore/governement) and a couple clips from the 1969 version of Hello, Dolly! We're doing Hello, Dolly! for the spring musical this year, and I decided that was a good enough excuse to go rent WALL-E, since I loved it so much the first time around.
Despite the protagonists not "talking" (they are able to speak each others' names, which is honestly all that was needed. Elissa Knight and Ben Burtt did a fabulous job with convenying emotions though only 3 words and a bunch of beeps and non-word noises) I was not bored once though the film, though since I'm an anime geek, I'm getting used to long uninteruppted shots of characters staring into space and not talking. (especially since I'm in the middle of .hack//sign) Thomas Newman had a fantastic score, and if you don't melt at "Define Dancing", you have less of a heart than the robots.
The most surprising thing about the film is that it's a romance, since it wasn't especially marketed as such. Yes, it's most definitely sci-fi, and it's got drama and adventure, but main plot of the movie as driven by WALL-E, is a romance. Sure, there's the whole plant thing, but it's EVE WALL-E cares about, not the plant. (or at least not as much the plant) There has been a lot of criticism of the "messages" that the movie supposedly conveys, and they are all unintentional. I've heard everything from the first trailers to director Andew Stanton's commentary track on the movie, and he never intended to comment on anything political/social. He wanted to make a movie about the last robot on earth, who also happened to be a garbage compactor because that's about the lowest job he could think of. The plant, EVE, and the whole second and third acts came from there. I'm currently looking into this, but I suspect that a recent movie that DID have a political agenda was Happy Feet. I just can't see all that stuff being crammed into a movie without a reason. But that's what WALL-E looks like, so I'll research and get back to you.
Amazing VISUALS!! Pixar has outdone everything you've ever seen with this one. Things honestly look real. Live-action. That is why I look down on Disney and the rest jumping on the CG bandwagon, but applaud Pixar. They started it, and they're the best.
So in short, if you haven't, see WALL-E! It's my vote for the best movie of the year, and I'll be eagerly waiting for the Oscar nominations to see if it can squeeze into the Best Picture category.
...yes, it was unnecessary to post the whole ticket. :oops: Can you blame me? I don't meet famous actors very often.
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