FC Barcelona Sport

Pixar has the market on making some of the best films that come out every year, not just the best animated films, but the best films. Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and every other Pixar film raise the bar for what is expected out of an animated film in terms of story and advancement of technology. Wall*E is no exception to Pixars standard of excellence.

The film centers on Wall*E, the last working clean-up robot on an Earth that has been abandoned by its inhabitants hundreds of years ago. Being alone for so long has evolved Wall*E from just a robot into a robot with a personality; he has a pet cockroach, he’s created a home in an abandoned truck which he has decorated with Christmas lights, and odds and ends that he’s found and he collects things that fascinate him from the rubbish he cleans and organizes including rubber duckies, spoons, forks and replacement pieces for him in case he is damaged. However, Wall*E is lonely and longs for companionship. Finally a robot probe named Eve is sent to Earth for a mission and Wall*E falls in love, and follows her back into space and discovers the human survivors.

Wall*E had some of the most spectacular animation I’ve seen yet from Pixar. There were times I could have sworn Wall*E was a miniature and not animation he looked so real. Unlike Happy Feet, Wall*E manages to blend moments of live action film into the film seamlessly so they do not stand out as glaringly outside the animated realm. I may not be sure why they chose to do so, but it worked visually.

The funny thing about my response to Wall*E is that my favorite part of the film is actually the end credits. I’m not saying that I didn’t like the film and was glad to leave. The end credits sequence was one of the most creative I’ve seen in a long time as they both continue the story of what happens after the “end” of the film and do so by showing the evolution of art from cave drawings to drawing with pixels.

My only problem with Wall*E is that it is essentially a message movie about the environment. However, the message is not slapped in the audiences face the way it is in a movie like The Happening so it is easier to swallow.

Director & Writer: Andrew Stanton
Wall*E, M-O: Ben Burtt
Eve: Elissa Knight
Captain: Jeff Garlin
Shelby Forthright: Fred Willard
Ship’s Computer: Sigourney Weaver

M. Knight Shyamalan is one of my favorite directors because no matter what he does he is one of the few filmmakers that can still surprise me, and make me react to his films and not because of his films. Despite the critical blasting it received, I loved Lady in the Water; I thought it was fanciful & brilliant and the scene where Cleveland talks about how he lost his family nearly makes me cry.

I’m not going to go too far in depth here as to the story of The Happening because I respect Shyamalan’s right to try to surprise his audience – that’s how his films work. However, while I liked The Happening I have issues with it because it is a message movie, and it does not try to hide it. That being said, The Happening is one of the only message movies that I may own someday.

The Happening is Shyamalan’s first R rated film. It feels and is told very differently than any of his other films; death abounds and you see it happen. The entire premise of the film is based around people committing suicide in mass quantities, at the same time, without explanation. A sizable body count and amount of gore is expected.

What shocks me greatly, and makes me respect Shyamalan more is that after being introduced into the concept of the film, after the first jarring suicide I knew what was coming and yet it was still tense and terrifying. You knew when a character was going to commit suicide, and how they were going to do it, and the 5 seconds that led up to that suicide were scarier because of it – the fright was not diminished. Yet, there was not an overdone amount of gore like so many filmmakers would do in today’s film market.

The thing that actually shocked me in a not so good way was the acting in the movie. I love Mark Wahlberg, Zoey Deschanel & John Leguazimo; but together they did not work. Wahlberg & Deschanel had no chemistry, and the pair had no chemistry with Leguazimo who played Wahlberg’s best friend. The actors seemed very stilted, and well…directed…not very natural at all.

Even through what I didn’t like about the movie, I do have to say I think the goods out weigh the bad and this is a heck of a movie to go see.

Writer & Director: M. Knight Shyamalan
Elliot: Mark Wahlberg
Alma: Zoey Deschanel
Julian: John Leguazimo
Jess: Ashlyn Sanchez
Mrs. Jones: Betty Buckley