Saw it. Liked it a lot. Another good entry from Pixar.

It also has quite possibly one of the strangest movie on screen within a movie you can possibly imagine. And it works great.

I may add more later when people come on here and complain how they didn't like it.

I'd love to see this. Which means I might in a few years.

I really liked it, too, though I thought the first 45 minutes or so (before the first real change in venue) ventured into brilliance (and thoroughly outclassed most of the other bits).

QUOTE:
It also has quite possibly one of the strangest movie on screen within a movie you can possibly imagine.

Which bit is that?

The thread title gives the clue. At least, I thought it was a strange/interesting choice using the scenes from "Hello, Dolly" (which were pretty familiar to me, but wouldn't be to most people, I'd think) to establish the romantic tone.

Michael Crawford must be ridiculously pleased with himself.

Have to agree with Gyuri as well, it is basically two different movies. The front half is utterly amazing, and the second half is just really good. Basically because WALL*E is such an appealing Chaplin/Keaton character, he doesn't really need all the side characters that clutter the 2nd half. Even though hearing Jeff Garlin voice an animated character was cool. (And even though I really liked M*O.)

There's three pages about this film in "The Independent" this morning, which has had the effect of working me up into a fever of excitement ahead of its UK release.

Or it could bring on an anti-climax caused by film critics falling over themselves to anoint it as the best thing ever, ever, ever in the history of the universe and then some.

I read that article, too. It sounds great, but I do get a bit suspicious of critics (specifically American ones - Brit crits are hard-to-please bastards) who disappear up their fundaments with fulsome praise. That good, eh? Well....

It's very good, good enough that I'd even watch it again. I did wonder what western audiences will make of their futuristic portrayal as motionless blobs on their backs staring at a screen and sipping endless sodas. It'd probably be asking too much of a film that it would instigate an entire hemisphere to get fit and active and stop chomping junk food.

Are you calling for an alliance of Wall*E and Lazy Town ?

Are you calling for an alliance of Wall*E and Lazy Town ?

I saw ten minutes of the latter once some time ago and was uneased by it in some way. Yes, I'm porky, but it wasn't the 'get fit' message that bothered me, it was just the feeling that it was created to suit a set of official guidelines rather than any harmless, innocent template of children's programming. I expected huge Batman-type speech balloons saying 'Eat your greens!' or 'Do more exercise!' to spring up all over the place. The image of a bunch of humourless, pen-wielding nutritionists behind the scenes okaying every sequence came to mind.

A bit dumb-sounding, but that's how I felt.

"I did wonder what western audiences will make of their futuristic portrayal as motionless blobs on their backs staring at a screen and sipping endless sodas"

They'll probably be online registering their complaint.

Oh and "cupcake in a cup".... mmmmmmm.

I commented on Wall-E here.

I don't think the "message" was too heavy-handed. Indeed, I don't think one should waste much time picking it apart like a "real" science fiction story about the future. I think it offered a nice twist on the usual image of future ecological collapse.

Instead of showing the future as a horrible dystopia of violence, disease and class division (the most likely outcome of ecological armageddon), it shows that a world where everything is effortless would be very unsatisfying. That's a nice message for kids, and adults.

No, Lazy Town is astonishingly disturbing.

In what way isn't it a "real" SF story?

QUOTE:
Instead of showing the future as a horrible dystopia of violence, disease and class division (the most likely outcome of ecological armageddon), it shows that a world where everything is effortless would be very unsatisfying.

I'm not sure it does, though. I mean, maybe it's because I saw it while lying in a field under the influence, but they seemed perfectly content until someone told them there was an alternative. I mean, from our privileged position here at the pinnacle of Western civilisation with our creature comforts and our creative outlets and vibrant culture, we can look down on the future us in Wall-E, but they seemed perfectly satisfied in their ignorance, and I'm far from convinced they're going to be happier back on earth.

It's not "real" like SF written for adults that tends to explore all of those permutations and ramifications.

SPOILER>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The people thought they were satisfied, but when they turned off their screens and started talking to each other they found there was something better - like there was that man and woman who seemed to be striking up a romance - and the captain expresses annoyance that he has so little to do and that nobody ever does anything. He becomes engrossed in learning all about earth and plants and pizza, so much so that he was willing to subdue the robot to go back to earth to try it all out. Then if you stay through the credits, they show how the people start to grow stuff and take pleasure in nature and basic human interaction and so forth.