robot love
Steve and I finally saw WALL-E on Saturday night. The pull wasn't quite as strong as that of Ratatouille last year--Ratatouille was about cooking!--but I kept hearing people, mostly at work, saying that they really liked WALL-E. And whether or not Disney has made very good movies in recent years, Pixar has managed to be a reliable source since Toy Story. I still haven't seen Cars, since I really had no desire to see it when it came out, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should Netflix it right away, or even buy it.
It's probably obvious by now that I really liked WALL-E, despite being not very sure about it beforehand. I certainly preferred the setting of Ratatouille to that of WALL-E. Paris vs. post-apocalyptic Earth... Hmmm, which sounds prettier? However, they managed to make the Earth of WALL-E not as bleak as I would have expected. It still wasn't very pretty, but there was a bright spot. I actually felt like I wanted to hang out in WALL-E's dumpster home and explore it. As a trash-compacting robot, he collected objects that he liked to take home with him in his cooler. Every evening, by the light of his Christmas lights, he sorted his new treasures into his rotating shelves. He had a shelf of garden gnomes! There was also a very cute moment with involving a spork. It made me happy.
While Ratatouille appealed to Steve's foodie-ness, I loved WALL-E partly because of my musical theatre geekiness. I had read in a review, written by a musical theatre critic, that WALL-E incorporated two songs from Hello, Dolly!: "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment." While it's not my favorite musical of all time, the way they used the songs in the movie was wonderful. Musical theatre saves the day!
Another reason I was a little leery of WALL-E was that I usually prefer movies with people as characters. I shouldn't have been worried, though. The people at Pixar have proven by now that they're really good at making just about anything into a lovable and well-rounded character. Their mascot (effectively) is a desk lamp, for goodness sake! And it's a cute desk lamp! WALL-E, as a robot, has features that are a bit more human, but he reminded me a little of the desk lamp, combined with the View-Master from Toy Story, and a bit of E.T. thrown in. Like E.T., WALL-E doesn't say a whole lot--mostly his name and the girl robot's name--but what he does say is pretty darn cute.
Because I'm lazy, and because I don't want to give away too much plot, I won't bother summarizing the movie or its premise. You can find that in other people's reviews anyway. Let's just say that WALL-E is a robot who wants to be in love and hold hands, and it's unbelievably adorable.
The ending credits were also pretty cool and set to a Peter Gabriel song. It took me a little while to figure out the concept, but I really appreciated it once I noticed. It was basically pictures of what happened next, presented in a way that sort of followed the development of art through history. It started with hieroglyphics, moved through mosaics, and suddenly, I was recognizing Seurat's style and Van Gogh's. Those are the ones I could remember, at least. I didn't really catch on until I saw the colored dots typical of a Seurat painting. By the time they hit Van Gogh, it was pretty obvious to me what they were doing. I'm curious to see it again and pay more attention to the styles.
The main nuisance for me in this movie was the humans, now fat and useless and living in space. They were not nearly as charming as the robots, but I suppose they were necessary for the plot. WALL-E and EVE had to be motivated by something; they couldn't just hang around Earth by themselves forever.
This was one of those movies that I left without a great desire to watch the whole thing again right away, unlike Juno. There were moments that I would have liked to see again, however. Now, two days later, I'm looking forward to seeing it again on DVD. So, you know, go see it... and stuff.
P.S. The animated short before the movie was awesome too.
It's probably obvious by now that I really liked WALL-E, despite being not very sure about it beforehand. I certainly preferred the setting of Ratatouille to that of WALL-E. Paris vs. post-apocalyptic Earth... Hmmm, which sounds prettier? However, they managed to make the Earth of WALL-E not as bleak as I would have expected. It still wasn't very pretty, but there was a bright spot. I actually felt like I wanted to hang out in WALL-E's dumpster home and explore it. As a trash-compacting robot, he collected objects that he liked to take home with him in his cooler. Every evening, by the light of his Christmas lights, he sorted his new treasures into his rotating shelves. He had a shelf of garden gnomes! There was also a very cute moment with involving a spork. It made me happy.
While Ratatouille appealed to Steve's foodie-ness, I loved WALL-E partly because of my musical theatre geekiness. I had read in a review, written by a musical theatre critic, that WALL-E incorporated two songs from Hello, Dolly!: "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment." While it's not my favorite musical of all time, the way they used the songs in the movie was wonderful. Musical theatre saves the day!
Another reason I was a little leery of WALL-E was that I usually prefer movies with people as characters. I shouldn't have been worried, though. The people at Pixar have proven by now that they're really good at making just about anything into a lovable and well-rounded character. Their mascot (effectively) is a desk lamp, for goodness sake! And it's a cute desk lamp! WALL-E, as a robot, has features that are a bit more human, but he reminded me a little of the desk lamp, combined with the View-Master from Toy Story, and a bit of E.T. thrown in. Like E.T., WALL-E doesn't say a whole lot--mostly his name and the girl robot's name--but what he does say is pretty darn cute.
Because I'm lazy, and because I don't want to give away too much plot, I won't bother summarizing the movie or its premise. You can find that in other people's reviews anyway. Let's just say that WALL-E is a robot who wants to be in love and hold hands, and it's unbelievably adorable.
The ending credits were also pretty cool and set to a Peter Gabriel song. It took me a little while to figure out the concept, but I really appreciated it once I noticed. It was basically pictures of what happened next, presented in a way that sort of followed the development of art through history. It started with hieroglyphics, moved through mosaics, and suddenly, I was recognizing Seurat's style and Van Gogh's. Those are the ones I could remember, at least. I didn't really catch on until I saw the colored dots typical of a Seurat painting. By the time they hit Van Gogh, it was pretty obvious to me what they were doing. I'm curious to see it again and pay more attention to the styles.
The main nuisance for me in this movie was the humans, now fat and useless and living in space. They were not nearly as charming as the robots, but I suppose they were necessary for the plot. WALL-E and EVE had to be motivated by something; they couldn't just hang around Earth by themselves forever.
This was one of those movies that I left without a great desire to watch the whole thing again right away, unlike Juno. There were moments that I would have liked to see again, however. Now, two days later, I'm looking forward to seeing it again on DVD. So, you know, go see it... and stuff.
P.S. The animated short before the movie was awesome too.