Laura Evans Staff

I saw WALL-E last night and was really surprised by the depth of the storyline and how much it drew me in. But onto the real reason for my comment:

Almost as enjoyable as the movie was when they started playing the previews before the film. I thought they seemed a bit adult for a Pixar film audience but realized they had royally screwed up when the preview for Pineapple Express came on. For those who have not heard of this HIGHlarious movie, it's about a stoner and his dealer on the run after witnessing a murder. I thoroughly enjoyed the preview but was pretty sure the families with their kids were none too happy. And I soon was also not happy when the theater realized their mistake and then decided to play the real kid friendly previews after making us watch the first set of previews.

Anyway! WALL-E was great, Pineapple Express looks freaking hilarious, and now I'm just left wondering what movie they were gonna play before realizing they had the wrong reel?

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Brett Hoerner Staff

My favorite part about seeing this was that I know all the families got up out of their seats when it ended so they could head over to Northpark to buy a bunch of useless crap and stuff their gaping maws.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

David Gouldin Staff

(stretch) Good movie! Who wants a Baskin Robbins heath bar shake?

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

David Gouldin Staff

Of course. You'd have to explicitly ask for "no bacon" if you didn't, but who in their right mind would do that? (Feed sack extra.)

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Brett Hoerner Staff

Seriously though, it's amazingly ironic to be fed (nom nom nom, we 'mericans love being fed) your dose of "don't be wasteful", "save the planet", "cure cancer", "world peace", while you sit in a freakin' huge air conditioned theater shoveling $6 popcorn into your corn hole. Especially when it's a combination of million (billion?) dollar companies giving you the lecture.

I laughed my way out of the theater. I sure feel like I did my part, back to the status quo!

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Brett, I had similar misgivings about the movie, especially when there is tons of WALL-E paraphernalia being hawked at every toy/grocery/department store. But I guess I'd rather them try to give kids (and adults) the message in a manner that's entertaining, which I think is more likely to enter their consciousness than a lecture would.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Already addressed this in another thread. WALL-E is so much better than Johnny #5 that no comparison is necessary (or worthy).

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Brett Hoerner Staff

Anyone saying it's a ripoff hasn't seen the movie. It's chock full of amusing easter eggs that are, in my opinion, there to honor and not simply to steal.

OH GOD YOU MADE A ROBOT WITH EYES, THIIIEEEF.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Sigh ... listen, I'm becoming more and more cynical as I grow older, but the director of the film has stated that the inspiration for WALL-E's look was a pair of binoculars. He's acknowledged the Johnny #5 comparison in other interviews, but says it wasn't even a thought in his mind when he came up with the look of the character.

If you know Pixar, you know that they don't do anything half-assed, so the "blatant rip-off" claim doesn't ring true. Look at the picture again -- the only thing that's even slightly similar are the tank treads for feet:

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chad Jones Staff

Something sinister has happened to this staff, causing them to really, really give a crap about this robot. I am very confused.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren Staff

More on the origins of the film/robot. I was among the ripoff conspiracists until I read this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/mov...

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Yes, I can see his thinking now, Doyle: "Let's rip off a character that was last seen 20 years ago and that only those who grew up in the 80s really remember and base our whole movie around it!"

xdavidwattsx -- don't make me reveal your true identity.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jeremy Dunck Staff

Regarding preaching conservation from the big screen: hypocrisy, yes, but still something that (apparently) bears repeating.

Here's the executive summary for my personal improvement, as far as I can tell:

• Shorten your commute, or use mass transit (see, I'm a hypocrite, here)
• Fly less (fairly hypocritical)
• Make your electrical use efficient (Pretty good here)
• Don't eat ruminants (recently started this)
• Eat locally (Terrible at this. Where are the co-ops?)
• Reduce, reuse, recycle (Pretty good, I'd say.)

I'm rather puzzled by the general message that conservation is up to you though, because I think if reduction really is a personal issue, we're screwed. The planet is the ultimate commons, and the tragedy is a long emergency.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Doyle, the least you could have done was read my review and quote a similar statement I made:

"That’s not to say that there isn’t anything for children to enjoy in WALL-E; director Andrew Stanton makes sure to include more than enough broad moments to satisfy the kiddos. But more than any previous Pixar film, it feels like much of WALL-E was aimed at grownups."

Pixar films have always found ways to appeal to both kids and adults -- that's why all nine of their films have been successful, a perfect track record nobody else can touch.

2 months, 1 week ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )