Wall-E: does this make me a pussy?

I must say I think this movie looks great and I'll probably try to see it this weekend at one of the late shows. I started off being completely uninterested in the movie when I saw the first trailers (especially after Cars, which was *very* meh). I am intrigued to see if they can pull off having virtually no dialog. Needless to say, it also looks great visually.

But does it make me a pussy to be looking forward to a kid's movie? If it helps my man quotient, I just saw a slasher movie, The Strangers, for my first wedding anniversary this week... my wife desperately wanted to see it.

Pixar makes some fine product. WALL-E is one of very few movies I am determined to see theatrically this summer. Disney is working the SHIT out of this thing, though. That's the downside of finally giving in to The Beast.

When is Brad Bird's next film? I just love his stuff.

It looks amazing. I think Pixar's stuff is by and large pretty great stuff and their best material has a timeless quality that will keep their pictures in the hearts and minds of people for many, many years to come. That being said, I'm not a big fan of the first TOY STORY (the second was great), I haven't seen RATATOUILLE, and I hated FINDING NEMO. I also didn't see CARS but it didn't look very interesting to me. MONSTERS INC. and THE INCREDIBLES are just outstanding films- whether they're for kids or not.

Now, WALL-E. I had zero interest in it after I saw the robot (what is this, Johnny 5's kid?). I dreaded the inevitable marketing machine getting fired up. But then I saw the trailer and I think it looks absolutely great. I really, really, really like the tone of it and I'd say it's probably the first movie- including science fiction pictures- in a very long time that has made me feel like maybe there is a future beyond more advertising and less intelligence. There is a sense of awe and wonder- in simple futurist concepts like space and robots- that really reminds me of being a kid and wondering what the future was going to be like. I'm really looking forward to seeing it and I hope that it lives up to what I want to get out of it.

Your're not a pussy. Just like any ohter category of film there's some really good stuff and a lot of schlock.

As for Wall-E itself, I'm not at all excited. Pixar has done some amazing stuff in the past but (in my opinion) they haven't had a solid film since The Incredibles. Wall-E looks extremely lame and gives me bad Short Circuit flashbacks. Honestly I'm taking my kid to go see Kung Fu Panda instead.

-Will

I wasn't too into it at first either, but somehow just knowing that "oh people might not like that there's no dialogue for 45 minutes and their feeble brains won't be able to handle it" makes it a lot more intriguing. I am always up for a 'show, not tell' approach to my entertainment.

Plan on seeing it this weekend! (ARG, it *does* make me a wuss that if I end up seeing this and I MISSED OUT ON SEEING IRONMAN - by going to see Indy4 instead. Geez. My wife even wanted to see Ironman more and was surprised when I picked that Crystal Skullfuck movie... not that it was terrible.)

You're right. Crystal Skull wasn't bad at all. I put it in the same category as Live Free or Die Hard. With both films I got to revist with an old friend and see some old school ass-kicking and adventure. Definitly got $8 worth of entertainment from each of them.

-Will

Ratatoullie was meh. Everything else mentioned was pretty good. The hair on the furry dude from Monsters Inc. always impresses me.

I liked Ratatouille. It is a great outsider friendship movie. I've enjoyed all the Pixar films I've seen immensely. I haven't seen Cars. Wall-E looks like Short Circuit meets Batteries Not Included. I loved those films as a kid so I'm guessing I'll like this too.

Bulwyf wrote:

Definitly got $8 worth of entertainment from each of them.

Do you have a senior citizen discount or something? Movies haven't cost $8 since Eisenhower was president.

daveroswell wrote:

Ratatoullie was meh. Everything else mentioned was pretty good. The hair on the furry dude from Monsters Inc. always impresses me.

When I saw MONSTERS, INC. in the theaters and the scene when Sully is face down in the snow and the wind is blowing and everything, I just about shit. I mentioned to my wife and she shushed me back into silence. Some months later, the DVD comes out and they have a frigging featurette about just that once scene--it's something very special. In 20 years CGI artists are going to look back on that scene as a touchstone.

Citadel wrote:

I liked Ratatouille. It is a great outsider friendship movie. I've enjoyed all the Pixar films I've seen immensely. I haven't seen Cars. Wall-E looks like Short Circuit meets Batteries Not Included. I loved those films as a kid so I'm guessing I'll like this too.

RATATOUILLE is pretty good. It's a step down from THE INCREDIBLES, but most films are. The water in the sewers is amazingly well done, and the rats scuttle with uncomfortable accuracy. There's not a hell of a lot of story there that hasn't been done a million fucking times before, so that's where it takes a hit. It's Cyrano de Bergerac, people. Honestly.

CARS, meanwhile, is a tougher sell for me. Let's just say that I am not the target demographic for NASCAR and country music and leave it at that. Again, from the animation perspective? Amazing. As something I want to see again... less so.

jeb wrote:

Bulwyf wrote:

Definitly got $8 worth of entertainment from each of them.

Do you have a senior citizen discount or something? Movies haven't cost $8 since Eisenhower was president.

No I don't have a senior citizen discount although I feel like one some mornings. The knees don't work as well as they used to. Anyway, adult movie tickets here cost $8. I'm sure they cost more in places like Chicago or NYC, but then that's one of the reasons I live in Texas and not there.

-Will

Matinee tickets are 6 or 7 dollars in Cincinnati.

BillN

Check out the Rotten Tomato site. The reviews are going for comments like "one of the best movies ever made" "there will be college courses discussing this movie" and "one of the darkest children's movies". You might see one or two of those kind of quotes in any passable Oscar-y targetted movie. Not this many.

It is rated G, but I think there is a lot more going on in the plot. And nearly no dialogue.....? And so bleak looking.

I'm thinking it is a proper movie, made without particularly pandering to anyone. I've got a 3:00 conference call, but I'm jonesing to hit a matinee today.

Saw it last night. I loved it. It was really amazing. I would recommend anyone see. It turns what could have been a cheesy POS and makes it touching and beautiful. This is going to sound cheesy, but it really is a movie that has "movie magic" or whatever. I am thinking about going to see it again in the next week.

Saw WallE over the weekend and for me it ranks just behind Monsters Inc. as far as Pixar movies go (and i've not seen Incredibles or Cars). I dont know if I really felt like it changed my life or revolutionized the film industry. But with all the noise being made about no dialogue for the first 30 minutes, it strikes me as amazing that there's not really much dialogue in the whole movie. Really, like 5 speaking parts. That said, this is THE date movie this summer. So freakin adorable and entertaining. Great visuals too of course.

Great job, Pixar - 9th number one opening in a row!

I forgot to say; this is definitely my favorite pixar movie. The second half is weaker than the first, but the first half is absolutely amazing cinema so that's to be expected.