Wall-E

My son is really getting into movies lately, and he has especially gotten into Pixar films. We watched Up a few weeks ago, and I was expecting a lot more out of the film than I came away with. After hearing so many wonderful things, and with the name Pixar on it, I was hoping for something that just wasn't there.

So, I went to the final Pixar movie I had yet to watch, Wall-E. I didn't know what to expect due to the enormous praise this film also received when it was released. A lot like that of Up.

What I found was that Wall-E was truly amazing. A movie that has so little talking was truly able to speak to its audience.

Wall-E is a robot that is left on Earth to cleanup the enormous amount of trash that has accumulated due to humans. The Earth's population is now living on a man-made space planet, and they have become so obese and lazy it is ridiculous (but also on point).

Wall-E is very self sufficient. He takes the garbage he collects and makes small squares out of it and stacks them into skyscraper-like forms. He also appears to have grown a personality and a heart. He has befriended a small cockroach and collects different types of garbage to take back to his home with him.

One evening a ship lands on Earth and leaves behind a very clean looking robot known as EVE. It is EVE's job to see if Earth is no capable of supporting life again. During her trip she befriends Wall-E and Wall-E falls in love with her. His main goal is to hold her hand just like the people in the movies he watches.

EVE finds a small plant in Wall-E's home and contacts the ship to come and get her. As the ship comes Wall-E doesn't want EVE to leave so he grabs ahold of the ship and heads into space.

The visuals, especially in space, are gorgeous. They did a top-notch job capturing the beauty of space.

Like most Pixar films, this one had a message and it wasn't hidden either. They hit you smack in the face with it, and I am ok with that. Two major problems in the world today are obesity and pollution and this film shows the extreme to where things may be headed.

With so little talking Pixar may have ruined its streak of having John Ratzenberger in each of their films, but sure enough one of the obese passengers on the man-made planet is awoken and the streak was able to continue.

Grade:

The Baker's Dozen

It's that time of year again, when Hollywood shoots out the biggest and best movies for us to enjoy on the big screen. The Summer Blockbuster has become a staple in Hollywood, but it's pretty difficult for the casual movie-goer to be able to see each and every one of the movies they want to see during a given summer.

Anyway, here is my list of movies that, if I could, I would go and see during the 2008 Summer Blockbuster Season, or from the months of May to August. I have aptly called this list 'The Baker's Dozen' and here they are in release date order:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Release Date: April 18, 2008

Cast: Jason Segal, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russel Brand, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd.

Plot: Segal's character gets dumped by his girlfriend (Bell) and decides to take a Hawaiian trip to get her off his mind.

Little does he know that she, along with her new boyfriend, are staying at the same resort as he is.


Harold & Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Release Date: April 25, 2008

Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Paula Garces and Neil Patrick Harris

Plot: The follow-up movie to the hilarious Harold & Kumar: Go To White Castle. Harold & Kumar look to fly to Amsterdam, but are pegged as suspected terrorists as they try to sneak a bong on board a flight.



Iron Man

Release Date: May 2, 2008

Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Terrance Howard, Leslie Bibb, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Plot: Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.) is involved in a life threatening incident that leaves him spooked. He decides to build the iron suit to protect him of future incidents, but decides to use his new suit for good as well.



Speed Racer

Release Date: May 9, 2008

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, Susan Surandon and John Goodman.

Plot: Speed Racer (Hirsch) goal in life is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer.




The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Release Date: May 16, 2008

Cast: Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes and Tilda Swinton.

Plot: In what has only been a couple of years for the Pevensie children, Narnia has aged over a thousand years. The quartet of children are once again enlisted to help Narnia overthrow a ruthless villain, this time in the form of a king, and return the rightful leader of Narnia, Prince Caspian, to his post.



Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Release Date: May 22, 2008.

Cast: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen and John Hurt.

Plot: After nearly 20 years of being away from the character, Harrison Ford puts on his fedora in the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones saga. This time he is forced into a Soviet plot of uncovering secret behind the Crystal Skulls.



Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Release Date: July 11, 2008

Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, James Dodd and Luke Gross.

Plot: A rebellion by the mythical world begins against the Earth for control, and Hellboy and his army must save the world.






The Incredible Hulk

Release Date: June 13, 2008

Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt.

Plot: Bruce Banner (Norton) looks for to understand, and hopefully cure, the condition inside of him that turns him into the Hulk.





Wall-E

Release Date: June 27, 2008

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy and Fred Willard.

Plot: In the year 2700, robots are used to do specific duties. Wall-E is no exception, as for years he has done what he is made to do, but one day he learns that there is more out there - and looks for what he is meant to do.




Hancock

Release Date: July 2, 2008

Cast: Will Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron.

Plot: Hancock (Smith) is a reluctant superhero that has fallen out of favor with the city he protects thanks to his boozing and mistakes. Bateman is his new PR who is looking to restore his image - and Theron is Bateman's wife, who Hancock develops a thing for.




The Dark Knight

Release Date: July 18, 2008

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman.

Plot: Batman (Bale) has a new enemy to worry about as The Joker (Ledger) begins to terrorize Gotham City. Harvey Dent (Eckhart) is Gotham's new District Attorney, who helps Batman with his pursuit of The Joker.


The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Release Date: August 1, 2008

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford and Jet Li.

Plot: Rick and Alex O'Connell (Fraser & Ford) find the mummy of the first Emperor of Quin, who turns out to be a shape shifter who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago.



Pineapple Express

Release Date: August 8, 2008

Cast: Seth Rogan, James Franco, Amber Heard, Gary Cole and Bill Hader.

Plot: Rogan is a pothead who accidentally witnesses a murder committed by the police and is forced to go on the run with his drug dealer (Franco).