It’s the most joyous time of the year.
Yes, I’m talking about Oscar season.
Okay, maybe “joyous” is too strong a word, but I do love this season, because critics start celebrating and championing their favorite films, albums, books, etc. And after a season of hate-filled campaign language, insults, put-downs, fabricated scandals, and humanity behaving badly to promote candidates they think are saints… I’m ready to hear from people about something they love, something that brings out the best in them.
And we might as well enjoy that now, because we all know how Oscar season ends. It ends with actual Oscars, which usually plunge cinephiles back into griping and depression and binge drinking (if the actual nominations didn’t achieve that already).
This year, I’ll be inviting readers to declare their love for some of the year’s most memorable and impressive work. Make your case: Do you love this film, and if so, why? This is a time to gush, to be effusive with praise, to send a message of gratitude to the artists.
This is not a time for haters. If you want to complain about what you dislike about the film, you can do so on your own somewhere else.
So… let’s kick this off with one of the films I enjoyed most this year, and which I will continue to watch again and again for its magical moments, its ambitious storytelling, its digital animation of surpassing excellence, its personality, and the way it rewards viewers of all ages.
That would be…
Go ahead. Don’t be shy. Why do YOU love WALL-E? If you think it deserves to be rated among the year’s best, and acknowledged *beyond* the “Best Animated Feature” category by the Academy, tell us why.
I did indeed love this movie.
Perhaps most because it took me by surprise. In the midst of robots and trash heaps, I was shown humanity and beauty. While I expected a riveting tale about a lonely robot, I also got a love story, and was helped to love my planet a little more.
Perhaps the reason I loved it most is because my son, 5 years old loves it too. And he GETS it.
As we left the theater, I asked him what the movie was about. Honestly, I am not making this up, he said this …
“The movie wasn’t about the robots at all, it was about the people who didn’t take care of the earth”.
Jesus, Master of the parable, would be proud methinks.
Can’t wait for the DVD extras!
Wall-E, like the other Pixar movies, is one I took my little brother to see just so I wouldn’t be watching a kids’ movie by myself. Think about the plot: the robots are the main characters and the humans are practically helpless (over)stuffed animals. What an indictment on pop culture! And now think how little speech there was in the beginning of the film. Sixteen minutes of the movie had no dialogue! And this is something kids went to see and enjoyed. Pixar trumped themselves once again. I hope the movie gets an award.
Very fine film. I love how elastic WALL-E’s personality is. He part toddler and part young adult. He is both very clever and very innocent. The lenses of his eyes reflect back to us the wonders he helps us to see.
I loved this movie. I loved how it was entertaining for children as well as having important messages for us older folks. It had a serious warning for us, as well as giving us moments of beauty and wonder. Easily one of the best films of the year.
This movie is superb on so many levels. Here’s another one I came to when re-watching it this week. It proves that “kids’ movies” don’t need to be dumbed down to the level of Shrek or Madagascar with innane, spastic characters and hyper-kinetic action. Kids are smart; they pick up on nuance in a way that Hollywood rarely gives them credit for. When in the theater, I looked around during the first 30 minutes of zero dialogue, wondering how these hyper-stimulated youngsters would respond. They were glued to the screen, absorbing everything that was happening, laughing at the humor and feeling for Wall-E. Just like good writing shows, and doesn’t tell, excellent filmmaking like Wall-E uses the smallest of nuance to communicate volumes. And kids get this.
To answer your question, Jeff – this is a masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking. If that indeed is what the Academy is rewarding in the spring, Wall-E deserves a nod. I’m afraid it’s not grim, bleak, or ironic, however, and that seems to be most fashionable in Hollywood these days.
By the way, the new site rocks. But this comment box is much too large. Verbose folk like me will be inclined to ramble…
Why wouldn’t anyone love WALL-E? I’ve seen the film three times and can’t wait to finally pick up the DVD. And each time, I’m amazed at just how brilliant the film is. Yes, it risks getting preachy with the environmental theme, but that’s really simply a small part of this story. This is about what makes us human, the fact that we can live and not simply survive. WALL-E has the curiousity and quirks that definie humanity and then love knocks him flat out of his routine. I can’t explain it, but I get choked up with a simple throwaway shot–WALL-E holding onto the shuttle and passing through space and knocking on the window to show EVE what he sees out there. Is there a better picture of the reason we need relationships? Or what about the dedication WALL-E shows in watching over EVE?
And yet, the movie never pretentious. It’s hard science fiction and a meditation on humanity, but it’s dressed up in a Charlie Chaplin film (I’m not the first to say that WALL-E is a direct descendant of the Little Tramp). It’s funny, touching, exciting and thought-provoking and as much as I’ve admired and loved films like Slumdog Millionaire, The Visitor and Synechdoche New York, I still think WALL-E is the best movie I’ve seen in 2008 and possibly the decade.
I love WALL-E simply because it sets out to tell a story about a robot with the underlying themes of humanity, relationships, and stewardship, and it succeeds in one sweeping, delicious mix of a narrative.
Plus, WALL-E himself…need I say more?
“I don’t want to survive – I want to live!” is the key line in the movie, but as befits a visual medium, the point is made much better and more deeply through what the movie shows than through its dialog. The movie’s story is a series of epiphanies, as one character after another suddenly awakes from an anesthetizing life of routine to the discovery that life is so much bigger and better than anything they had ever imagined. The emotions the movie reaches for are awe, wonder, love, and joy, not the standard fare of any commercial movies, still less animated children’s movies. On watching the movie again, I find I liked it even better on second than on first viewing. I know it will be a regular viewing pleasure for many years to come.
I saw WALL-E four times in the theater, and my DVD copy arrived in the mail today. I’ve sat through several dozen 2008 releases this year (and the year isn’t over yet), and WALL-E is the stand-out, instant classic of the year. I try to avoid saying things like that, as a general rule, but exceptions must be made for exceptional movies.
Pure cinematic genius on every level. Can be watched and enjoyed by all ages. Speaks with a universal language that touches the deepest parts of the individual viewer. Endearing and believable characters. Exquisite visual design. Disarmingly simple and powerfully profound simultaneously.
Andrew Stanton and his team have scoured the trash-heaps of the history of cinema, collected all the most beautiful and interesting bits and assembled them into a creation that is one of the best films of all time. In my book, the best film of all time.
WALL-E is easily the best film of the year. And it is certainly the best film I have ever seen. The story is so beautiful and the characters so endearing, animated or not. Filmmakers in modern times have this misconception that they need to come up with this great, ingenious, thought provoking theme and then build a story around that. But in reality, it’s the story and the characters that should come first and the theme last. That’s what Andrew Stanton has done with WALL-E. He envisioned a lonely robot in an abandoned world, and what came from that was a story not about consumerism or pollution, but about love and life. The ingenious thing about that theme is that it’s so simple. As we live in a world driven by politics and the economy, we forget what love is all about. That is the lesson this film teaches, and also what makes it stand out from other films. Most of modern-day cinema lacks the portrayal of that simple truth. I think what it comes down to is that this film is pure heart and soul. So much heart and soul went into the making of it, and so much heart and soul came out of it, and the result was one of the greatest films of all time.
If I had to boil my love for this genius picture down to a few words, I would say this: WALL-E is one of the only movies I could watch without sound or without picture, and still enjoy every minute of it.
WALL-E is an aesthetic masterpiece, with every environment so intricately detailed, I STILL find new things in the background I hadn’t noticed before. The body language is fluid enough to convey everything each character wants to say. The “silent” portion of the film is just as rich and story-driving as the later moments of speech, with the visuals telling us all the back story we need to know. And I just can’t stop staring in awe at the first moments of the film.
On the other hand, there’s the audio part of the formula. Every sound, be it Wall-E’s whirs and squeaks or the glorious fully-orchestrated soundtrack, blends together to make a thoroughly pleasing auditory experience. Even in moments without music, the voices of the robots are enough to make us laugh or cry.
The characters themselves don’t outright display everything you need to know about them. By the film’s end, we have somewhat of an idea who they are. But then, we watch the movie again and are reacquainted with some subtle personality quark we didn’t notice. Much like the visuals, the characters are intriguing and subtle enough to entice our curiosity.
I hope this film earns itself dozens of awards. It’s the pinnacle of Pixar’s achievements and, in my humble opinion, deserves a place amongst the greatest films in history. Excellent work as always, Pixar.
I have come to expect that any film Pixar Studios releases will end up as pure gold. However, I was not prepared for their latest masterpiece. WALL-E is a film that transcends film, a sublime and affecting work of art that will inspire and engage you, and change your life forever. Over the course of the past few months since the release of WALL-E, I have witnessed firsthand how this beautiful and haunting film has changed both myself and many countless other individuals in ways they would have never expected. The film’s rich imagery includes that of a desolate, barren Earth landscape, a haunting journey through our solar system, and the sterile and threatening environment of the Axiom star cruiser. The soundtrack stays with you long after the film is over, courtesy of both Thomas Newman’s Oscar-caliber score and the subtle use of Broadway musical numbers and classic jazz songs which form a unique juxtaposition that captivates the audience. Most importantly, however, is that WALL-E is a story narrated entirely by visual means of exposition involving an unlikely pair of robots who manage to teach each other, as well as humanity itself, what life has to offer. WALL-E is a moving and stunningly original film that features a simple yet life-altering message at its core: Life is for living.
I am eternally grateful for this gift that Pixar has offered me; my life has been changed dramatically as a result of this film, and it has been an experience that I will never forget as long as I shall live. WALL-E is by far the most deeply affecting film I have ever had the privilege of seeing in my life, and it is one that will go down in film history as one of the most memorable works of art the medium has to offer.
Wall-E has changed my life. I enjoy the movie more each time I see it. ( 12 times.)
Wall-E embodies all that is wonderful about humanity like curiosity, wonder, love, appreciation, truth, beauty and goodness.
This is the best movie of all time.
I know it will win many awards and even more hearts.
A wonderful film, which fills all the boxes for what a great story (cinematic or otherwise) should be. It uses comedy to slip its message into peoples minds, but whilst being very funny, is never frivolous, crude, or silly…and it isn’t afraid to mix serious in, either.
This is an amazing story. I just finished watching it and I must say that there were deffinatly parts which made me realise how amazing and beautiful this Earth is that we have. It’s opened my eyes even more as to how we should be taking care of the Earth and loving everything, including each other.
I don’t know what else to say about this movie… To some, it could too be life changing; or at least changing to some degree.
I think I have found an even deeper appreciation for nature.
“EMBRACE THE WORLD” -Gojira
Peace to everyone.