WALL-E

PIXAR is just unbelievable.  Really.  What they've managed to do is simply unprecedented.  They've come out with 9 films so far.  All have been good movies (at the worst, and brilliant at the best).  All have been blockbusters (the original Toy Story has the smallest world wide gross).

This success gives PIXAR the ability to take a risk or two.  Last summer their film was about a rat who could cook and yet they managed to make it charming (although it and A Bug's Life are definitely my two least favorite PIXAR movies).  This summer they went even further and released a film about a robot, set 700 years in the future, and that goes for long amounts of time without dialogue.  Add to all of that the fact that it has a bit of an environmental (okay, a lot of an environmental) message and you have what could easily become a disaster.

Instead, PIXAR gives us easily their best effort since The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, and possibly one that's even better then those outstanding films.

Wall-E is, in fact, by far the best movie that I've seen so far this year, and probably the best film I've seen since Zodiac last year.  It is touching, funny, smart, beautiful to look at, and above all, real.  This could be the first time that an animated movie wins Best Picture, because Wall-E is certainly of that caliber.

If you haven't seen it yet, go immediately.  It doesn't matter if you have kids who want to see it or not (for the record, they'll love it just because of how cute Wall-E and EVE are), this is truly a movie for everyone, enjoyable on multiple different levels.

Sure it's a risk to make this type of film (at times channeling 2001, to the point where one robotic character, Auto, is no doubt intentionally patterned after HAL) but when done right (as PIXAR never fails to do) you have in your hands a masterpiece that is destined to become a classic.

Until Next Time, Do yourself a favor.  Go see this movie.