WALL-E (2008)

WALL-E (2008) is the most brilliant movie of the year so far. I could not say enough good things about Pixar, it seems that they cannot make a bad movie.
In many ways WALL-E is a throwback to the classic age of movies, and maybe not in the way you would think, it is a movie with a conscience and a movie that effectively tells a story almost entirely without words. The film tackles issues of obesity, environmentalism, over-commercialism, political issues, and loss of self-reliance all without being preachy. The most amazing thing is that these two robots are able to express more emotions, with almost no words, than most professional actors can show. It made me think of the movies of Chaplin and Keaton where so much is shown with the tilt of a head or simple body position. In the end you really care about these two robots. One is better able to connect with the characters of Wall-E and Eve than the characters in Cars (2006) since they are real characters within a real world. The movie is also able to seamlessly integrate real actors into the movie, further adding to the sense of realism. In fact they make great use of Fred Willard as the president and of Hello Dolly (1969).
Pixar’s animation is getting better and better with each movie, the oceans in Finding Nemo (2003) were breathtaking and the vast tracks of the universe are if anything more magnificent. One cannot help but watch the movie and marvel at the wonders put on the screen, not just the stars and the sky but the towers of garbage on an abandoned Earth that Wall-E has sculpted.
It's amazing in this day and age that a movie can make use care so much about the simple act of holding handing, that is the beauty of WALL-E, and that is what makes it great.

Get Smart

Siegfried: How do I know you're not from CONTROL?

Maxwell Smart: If I were from CONTROL, you'd already be dead.

Siegfried: If you were from CONTROL, YOU'D already be dead.

Maxwell Smart: Neither of us is dead, so I'm obviously not from CONTROL.

Shtarker: That actually makes sense.

Get Smart is not a spoof on the spy genre, but it is serious spy movie about a buffoon. While it lacks the hokey charm of the original, it stays true to the spirit of the old show. This is what should happen you rethink an old series, you cannot just recycle what has already been done you have to retain the spirit and concept, and then make it something new. You cannot go into the movie expecting the old series. They have really toned down the Maxwell Smart’s idiotic qualities and toned up the action. Yet that old charm is there, you see Max struggle with his own lacking but managing to get the job down despite of them. You see Agent 99 being beautiful and awesome, just like you would expect.
The movie is quite funny. The dialogue is sharp and clever. It is just too bad that Steve Carell plays the same character is every movie, we know he has the talent; he just needs to branch out. Anne Hathaway does her very best job and looking beautiful and to set up Carell. It is integral in this type of movie to have the straight man and Hathaway plays it beautifully.
Get Smart moves seamlessly between action, comedy, and drama. While it can get a little heavy on the slapstick and crude humor, it works. I couldn’t help but enjoy the movie, it was a lot of fun.

The Happening

The Happening is like a microcosm of M. Night Shayamalan’s career, such a promising beginning, and then a precipitous drop off. There is such potential at the start. The first scenes in Central Park and a construction scene are knockouts. I thought at that moment that Shayamalan had reversed his downward trend, but this was not the case.
The movie just loses it way, the premise does not hold water, and the effects are just hockey. Perhaps my science background makes me question the idea but it just seems too far out there for me.

The performances are wooden and who would have expected that out of these top-notch actors.
Shayamalan still has a lot of cinematic chops, even those the premise does not work the movie is full of suspense. There a numerous jump out of your seat moments and the camera work is great. He really knows how to frame a shot I think its time for him to try to direct a screenplay he did not write.


While were on the topic lets rank M. Night Shayamalan’s movies (at least the ones I’ve seen)
1. Signs (2002)
2. The Six Sense (1999)
3. Unbreakable (2000)
4. The Village (2004)
5. The Happening (2008)