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Like most animation geeks and/or Pixar Fans, I saw Wall E when it came to theaters last summer. I enjoyed it (as much as someone can while in full parent mode ), but I can't say I truly appreciated it for the stellar piece of filmmaking it is!
I'm not just talking about the much publicized message - that Convenience will one day destroy everything we love and force us to grow fat & plug into the matrix - it's just a damn well made film!
As soon as it was released, it was almost completely overshadowed by paranoid accusations from the right wing that is was a bunch of liberal preaching wrapped up in a cute kids movie (how preserving our quality of life became partisan I do not know). They even tried to make roaches cute, those bleeding hearts!!
Not the first Pixar film to have a political agenda hung around its neck - The Incredibles was perceived by many to be a statement that government bureaucracy was impeding on exceptional peoples' ability to do their best. 3D Socialism!
Oh, and Spongebob is Patrick's gay lover.
Pixar just plain makes awesome movies (though they pushed their luck with Cars). The technology and the inconceivably tight attention to detail & quality has made them so much fun just to look at that you could turn down the sound and enjoy them! And that's just what I had to do the other day, pretending to do adult stuff during a dinner party while the Wall E DVD was playing in my line of site from the next room - I was enthralled.
Even without the message, the amazing imagery, or the big budget thrills - in terms of just pure storytelling - this movie rocks my bones! The characters are so rich and expressive, the plot evolves effortlessly but with palatable twists and turns, and the imagination that moves the story forward - none of these things rely on giant budgets (respectable ones, yes).
In the end, Wall E is a really great love story with robots... robots that play out some pretty interesting gender role twists. There's also a lot of action, visual gags, and liquified food. Best of all, they worked the Haliburton Logo into the branding for Big & Large, the offending corporate giant behind the species' sedation.
Okay, maybe it's a little political ;)
T
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