Review: Wall-E

So... is Wall-E an eye-poppingly gorgeous animated feature, a humourous "kid flick" with cute robots in it, a cautionary tale about mankind's current excessive tendencies, or a heart-breaking romance?

Well, as it turns out: it's all of those, and more! I was in the camp of doubters when it came to Pixar's latest offering, as I couldn't believe that it would actually measure up to the hype being heaped upon it (including several reviewers claiming that it was the best film of 2008). Now that I've seen it, though, I'm firmly (and proudly) atop the Wall-E bandwagon. Watching the movie itself, followed by some very entertaining special features on the DVD, were several of the best hours that I've spent in the last few months.

The amount of creativity in this animated film is staggering to me. Whether it's the visuals themselves (which are some of the best I've ever seen), the use of sound effects to substitute for dialogue, the sheer scale of several scenes (aboard the Axiom itself as well as back on Earth), the humanity that Wall-E himself was imbued with, or just the number of humourous references... this "cartoon" is a true feast for the eyes, ears and minds of its audience! In virtually every scene there appeared to be more than one thing going on, promising a rewarding experience for additional viewings later on.

And if anything is ever going to turn the tide on the obese-itizing of our culture, maybe Wall-E, with its hapless chair-bound, 400-pound models of humanity will be it. Hopefully that message wasn't too subtle for most of the fans of the movie, but I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.

For those who took the time to watch the credits, there were two special treats: a wonderful new song by Peter Gabriel ("Down to Earth") written specifically for Wall-E, as well as adorable vignettes of Wall-E, Eve and Mo scampering around the edges of the frame. I love when film makers come up with innovative ways to keep the audience watching the credits, and Wall-E's creators hit the ball out of the park in that regard.

If you haven't seen Wall-E yet, you're missing out on great deal of fun. Check it out, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. And, if you're at all like me, you may even end up shedding a tear or two before it's over!

Rating: ****

Review: Quantum of Solace

The latest edition of the Bond series.  I haven't been out to the theaters for awhile, other than Wall-E, and this was a nice straight-forward film to go see.  Especially during this "awards season" and all that means.  This film is pretty much out of theaters so this isn't a cutting edge review.  I found the film enjoyable on the whole.  The type of action was interesting and the pace was snowmobile-into-the-fence fast.  I really like Dame Judi Dench as M, I think it is one of the things that holds the series together since she's been on board.  The earlier (Connery, Moore, etc eras) were held more by Q than M, but Dame Judi really is the strongest presence.  This change is also reflected in how the movies use technology.  The tech in this film is shown as a tool of management, not the playthings of the field agent.  I like Daniel Craig, but this film portrays a much more wooden Bond that is charming but flat.  Not 1-dimensional - just flat.  There is no place in the film to look into the Bond character.  I think a little more character building would be something that Craig could pull off nicely and it would add to the films.

I'm not sure I like the whole shaky-cam, follow-the-person style of action sequence.  The Bourne films really did that well and I like the action and the gritty nature of the sequnces, but that technique is feeling old.  I'd like to keep the fast pace, improvisational nature of the action, but with a camera that isn't bobbing and weaving.

I went to see this film with a friend and his first comment at the end was "There's no SPECTRE anymore, so they needed to have something new [Quantum]."  I think it was a good thing.  The attempt to tie environmentalism with coups and nation-manipulation was half-hearted.  I'm guessing they didn't want to hit us over the head with these ideas so they can play them out over the next few films.  I like the theme that ran through saying that as one grows old, right and wrong don't seem so different.  Nice to see that maturity even in an action film.  I'd recommend this film for anyone who is looking for entertainment without a huge effort.

Rating: **1/2

What exactly is the Cylon plan?

At the risk of further inflaming Denis McGrath, and perhaps further proving his point (see "EDIT" at the bottom of that post), this 94-item list of unanswered Battlestar Galactica questions might be part of the reason that "fanboys" have a problem with shows that purport to have continuing storylines. (Heroes is another one that's run into continuity problems, and has seen similarly negative reaction.) Moore came up with a realistic "re-imagining" of the original series that held a lot of promise, but over four (or is that six?) seasons the show has set up so many threads—ropes, even—that have been left hanging that it's hard to see how that promise can be kept.

I enjoyed the first season of Galactica, but as it's worn on the questions that seemed so intriguing to start with have been replaced with more of a feeling of "what nonsense are they going to come up with this week?" That feeling definitely contributed to my comment a few days ago that "Weird is good, but generally best in moderation." Would The Prisoner be as highly regarded now if it had run for three seasons instead of one, and we found out that Number Six's memory had actually been removed by the aliens that sent him from space so he could objectively evaluate the effectiveness of the mind-control virus they'd distributed in the 14th century that, through an unforeseen side-effect, was the real cause of the Black Death, and that the ever-changing Number Two was an insane Catholic priest who had developed shape-changing abilities after sneaking aboard the aliens' spaceship during the initial landing 600 years ago and was just biding his time until he could take revenge on Six's father (the commander of the mission) for messing up his plot to overthrow the Pope?

Actually, you know, I might watch that....

Ironically, The Wire Set Now Resembles East Baltimore Even More

The remains of Baltimore's alternative Homicide Division after the Wire's close of production. Wish I could have taken McNulty's inbasket or some other keep sake.

More here

Over the holidays, Cathie, my shorty, started watching. She devoured Seasons 1 and 2 like a dockworker and is now peppering 'mo-fo' into everyday conversation.

Re-up for the greatest program in the history of television.

Time warp time

I'd heard rumblings about AMC's remake of The Prisoner, but it didn't really make an impression until now:

The new series may be months away, but starting today fans can now view (in full screen, no less) all 17 full episodes of the originals series online at The Prisoner 1960s Site.

(via Wil Wheaton)

What a way to promote the new series (although mere Canadians are shut out, as usual... sheesh).

At least we'll get to see the new series. AMC was a recent addition to the Rogers cable lineup, and between Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and now The Prisoner, it's become my favourite U.S.-based channel.

As for Canadian-based channels, you can probably guess at my favourite. Check out Being Erica on Mondays at 9; the premiere episode that aired this week shows a lot of promise.