yermom Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Finally caught the flick today. I liked it very much even though it made me teary-eyed a few times! (so did "Happy Feet" )I'd say it's definitely a "message film" but the message is a good one, so that's a-okay by me!There were a lot of kids asking their parents and grandparents good questions during the movie, lots of good "why is...why are...how come...?" questions that could really fuel a good conversation if their parents choose to sit down and talk to them after the movie about the relationships we make with our natural environment and each other and the influence consumerism or technological dependency has on our society.Be sure to stick around during the credits for some pretty animation accompanied by a Peter Gabriel tune! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Anyone else catch the multitudes of similarities between Wall-E and Idiocracy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 I'm surprised how different Wall-E is from all other Pixar films. Really, Wall-E and Eve are the only characters we truly know and care about....and they're robots who can't talk. We get to know the Axiom's Captain, but only a little bit. In some ways, that bothered me. But only when I think back on it. It didn't bother while watching the movie. I found myself caring for Wall-E and Eve....despite them not being human. I can't imagine Pixar being able to put this movie out 10 or 15 years ago. I think people trust Pixar now and are willing to plop down their money to see if it works. The animation and creativity of set design is superb. I'll see it again just to absorb some of the visuals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I'm surprised how different Wall-E is from all other Pixar films. Really, Wall-E and Eve are the only characters we truly know and care about ... I found myself caring for Wall-E and Eve....despite them not being human. The main characters in Pixar films are almost never human, yet the viewer winds up caring for them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I remember a few critics carping about how the characters of Cars were unrelatable since they were, um, cars. Strangely, I found it simple to relate to the cars, but difficult to relate to the criticism--one of the great gifts of animation is that it can easily transport us to completely unrealistic and irrational settings; all it asks is for us to have a sense of imagination, and a willingness to be transported. I'm hoping to catch Wall-E later this week, if time allows. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 This movie was ok, not great. Both my son and I think the same way about it. Neither of us was overwhelmend and neither was put off by it. It looks nice on screen and is cute in places, but all in all we both thought it was quality-wise somewhere between cars and the incredibles. Neither of which made an impression on me but he liked the increidbles ok and cars was so-so for him. I saw little voice this weekend and thought that was imeasurably better than wall-e. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sureshot Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 There was a good article in the Trib a couple weeks ago about the making of the movie, and the risk it represent for PixarPixar's risky robot: Animator wants to make great, arty movies, not just kid stuffWatching Pixar's new computer-animated "WALL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 The main characters in Pixar films are almost never human, yet the viewer winds up caring for them. Sorry. I should've been more specific. The robots in Wall-E are not only non-human, but they don't talk like humans. In fact, they don't talk...though we can understand their thoughts thanks to superb animation and the noises by the sound guy. In Cars, we can't relate to them physically, but the characters are very well thought-out and we can relate to their voices and interests. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sureshot Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 The robots in Wall-E are not only non-human, but they don't talk like humans. In fact, they don't talk...though we can understand their thoughts thanks to superb animation and the noises by the sound guy. Charlie Chaplin didnt talk. Buster Keaton didnt talk. But they were still able to create fully developed and emotionally deep characters. And Wall-E takes a lot of cues from them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Sorry. I should've been more specific. The robots in Wall-E are not only non-human, but they don't talk like humans. In fact, they don't talk...though we can understand their thoughts thanks to superb animation and the noises by the sound guy. In Cars, we can't relate to them physically, but the characters are very well thought-out and we can relate to their voices and interests. I don't know. I think if Wall-E and Eve had been given human voices, the movie would have been really goofy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sureshot Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I don't know. I think if Wall-E and Eve had been given human voices, the movie would have been really goofy. There was actually an entire script of dialog written for the movie. But it was used as a guide for the animators to understand the emotions that they should be expressing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Note, don't read my posts in this thread if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to risk any "spoiling."I think the movie would definitely have been less enjoyable if EVE and WALL-E spoke with distinctly human voices (performed by some major Hollywood stars, probably). I like that we see their love story develop the way we do, with the hand holding and everything. It ties in with what we see with the humans who seem rather surprised at the long-forgotten sensation of physical human contact (again with something as subtle as touching hands holding a great deal of impact.) I see it as all being connected to the idea of the humans in the film being disconnected from the natural world and from each other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I caught it yesterday and it was one of my least favorites of the Pixar films, I think. It was entertaining to a degree and had a few funny moments, but overall was predictable and overly sentimental/mushy for my taste. My kids loved it, though, so it was a good day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I caught it yesterday and it was one of my least favorites of the Pixar films, I think. It was entertaining to a degree and had a few funny moments, but overall was predictable and overly sentimental/mushy for my taste. My kids loved it, though, so it was a good day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Charlie Chaplin didnt talk. Buster Keaton didnt talk. But they were still able to create fully developed and emotionally deep characters. And Wall-E takes a lot of cues from them. No, I LOVE that Pixar chose to have non-talking robots. It's genius. My point is, what a huge risk Pixar is taking by having characters that movie-watchers....mainly kids....may not totally relate to. But I, an adult, thought Pixar did an AMAZING job of making me care and understand Wall-E and Eve. I knew it was a risky going in to the movie, and having seen it, am even more amazed that a movie like this was made. We're lucky they attempted it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I caught it yesterday and it was one of my least favorites of the Pixar films, I think. It was entertaining to a degree and had a few funny moments, but overall was predictable and overly sentimental/mushy for my taste.I think it worked for me because I'm so mushy and sentimental! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I think it worked for me because I'm so mushy and sentimental! Hey, I'm certainly in the minority here with my opinion on the film. Again, it wasn't bad in my eyes, it just fell short of the mark that I expect from Pixar films. It had it's moments yet I found myself wanting it to end about 30 minutes in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I enjoyed James Lilek's article about Pixar in general, Wall-E in particular. Over at National Review Online, we can read negative takes from conservatives Shannen Coffin and Greg Pollowitz [minor spoilers]:Yes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 Thanks for the James Lilek article. Liked that a lot. I agree with him about the space walk clip....one of the better scenes of the movie. The clip cuts off right before the robots fly around space with William's swelling music for an old Disney-like magic. I lean Conservative politically, and I DO NOT understand anyone getting rattled by the so-called message of the movie. One thing that seems to be misunderstood is the fat humans. Yes, they've become fat partially out of laziness. But also because, as shown in one scene of the movie, their bones dissolve over time, meaning they can't support their bodies anymore. Wall-E's greatness is the love story of Wall-E and Eve. That alone makes the movie good. That Stanton could work it around a story about earth getting trashed by humans....who lose their humanity.....who sack it up enough to want to go back and start anew (which is very hopeful and optimistic....not doom and gloom like some critics have said) on Earth.....this background just makes the good movie great. Like Lilek mentions, stay for the end credits....nothing revolutionary, but I think it helps give humans much more credit than just being lazy, fast-food consuming idiots. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilco Worshipper Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 No, I LOVE that Pixar chose to have non-talking robots. It's genius. My point is, what a huge risk Pixar is taking by having characters that movie-watchers....mainly kids....may not totally relate to. But I, an adult, thought Pixar did an AMAZING job of making me care and understand Wall-E and Eve. I knew it was a risky going in to the movie, and having seen it, am even more amazed that a movie like this was made. We're lucky they attempted it. Agreed ALL around! We saw this today. I specifically asked if my daughters minded the "not talking" in the film. They are 9 & 12. They didn't even seem to notice. I thought it was beautiful and a great message! For the record, I chose NOT to read any of this thread until after I went to see it. I had NO IDEA about the plot, the not talking, no big stars, etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I assume everyone who has seen Wall-E got to witness the abomination that is the trailer for Chihuaua? I was flabbergasted - maybe the worst two minutes of my life. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I assume everyone who has seen Wall-E got to witness the abomination that is the trailer for Chihuaua? I was flabbergasted - maybe the worst two minutes of my life. Awful. Just Awful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikol Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I assume everyone who has seen Wall-E got to witness the abomination that is the trailer for Chihuaua? I was flabbergasted - maybe the worst two minutes of my life. Now they've resorted to making movies based on Taco Bell commercials. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 I assume everyone who has seen Wall-E got to witness the abomination that is the trailer for Chihuaua? I was flabbergasted - maybe the worst two minutes of my life. Agreed. Looks AWFUL. "Bolt" looks only slight better. But no big deal, because Pixar will be back next June with another winner. This one will be called "Up". "Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life." "Up" takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I assume everyone who has seen Wall-E got to witness the abomination that is the trailer for Chihuaua? I was flabbergasted - maybe the worst two minutes of my life. Why do they show Machu Picchu, an Inca ruin, in a trailer for a dog that claims to be descended from the Aztecs? Morons. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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