WALL-E

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 2: ‘WALL-E,’ ‘Wanted,’ ‘The Love Guru,’ ‘Get Smart,’ Top 100 List

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:21:39 -0700

CHICAGO – In episode two of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers discuss the blockbusters “WALL-E” and “Wanted,” which both open on Friday. In this 32-minute podcast, staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman also debate why moviegoers had such an irate reaction to last week’s “The Love Guru” from Mike Myers.

In addition to discussing “WALL-E” (review here), “Wanted” and “The Love Guru” (review here), the critics also discuss the recently released “Get Smart” (review here) film along with the newly published Entertainment Weekly list of the top 100 “new classics”.

Listen to the episode-two podcast immediately in streaming mode.
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Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss “WALL-E,” “Wanted,” “The Love Guru” and the recent Entertainment Weekly list of the top 100 “new classics” in episode two of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘WALL-E’ Earns Accolade as 2008’s First Perfect Film, One of Best Pixar Films Ever

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:01:00 -0700

CHICAGO – While perfection can be characterized in many ways, there’s only one way to define perfect in film: one with everything you could ask for and nothing you could cut. Though this a highly unlikely proposition, “WALL-E” has become 2008’s first perfect film and one of the best Pixar projects of all time.

Rating: 5.0/5.0
(rarely perfect)

The man with the ingeniously imaginative story and the decisive direction to be credited with every inch of success “WALL-E” is destined to reap is none other than Andrew Stanton.

Stanton is intimately familiar with what it takes to scribe a successful animated story of gargantuan proportions after having done so with “Finding Nemo” (nearly $865 million in worldwide box-office receipts), “Monsters, Inc.” ($525 million), “Toy Story 2” ($485 million), “A Bug’s Life” ($363 million) and “Toy Story” ($362 million).

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “WALL-E” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “WALL-E” image gallery.

Listen to our episode-two podcast on “WALL-E” and more.

Read more news on “WALL-E”.

In total, that dossier of animated success – every one of them under the Pixar umbrella using its own PhotoRealistic RenderMan computer interface for high-quality image generation – earns Stanton the plaque of most profitable and successful screenwriter for Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios.

Stanton, who also executive produced the wildly successful 2007 animated film “Ratatouille,” not only again brings on the magic with “WALL-E” but even manages to best himself in pure originality and the creation of characters you can’t help but to fall madly in love with.

While the animated Pixar film “Cars” was a paper financial success ($462 million in earnings on a $120 million production budget), at the heart of Stanton’s style is the opposite: a rock-solid story, characters who are evocatively etched into your brain and personalities who tug at your heartstrings.

Despite public outcry, WALL-E is nothing like the robot Number 5 from 1986’s “Short Circuit”. While he’s the furthest species from humanity, his personality traits epitomize everything that’d make a human perfect: he’s a hard worker, adorable, perpetually devoted and perhaps most important he has a love-craving heart of gold.

“WALL-E,” which will open everywhere on June 27, 2008 from Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, is written and directed by Andrew Stanton and features voice work from Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy and Sigourney Weaver.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “WALL-E” review.

WALL-E in “WALL-E”.
Photo credit: Disney/Pixar

WALL-E (left) and Eve (right) in “WALL-E”.
Photo credit: Disney/Pixar

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “WALL-E” review.

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 1: Summer Blockbusters

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:37:53 -0700

CHICAGO – In the inaugural HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers debate 2008’s summer blockbuster films. Staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman all chime in and cast their predictions on this 24-minute podcast.

Our discussion covers the full gamut of summer blockbuster films including “The Dark Knight,” “Wanted,” “WALL-E,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Get Smart,” “The Happening,” “Hancock,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man,” “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” “The Rocker,” “Step Brothers,” “Pineapple Express,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Tropic Thunder”.

Listen to the episode-one podcast immediately in streaming mode.
Download the full HollywoodChicago.com episode-one podcast now.
Subscribe to the free HollywoodChicago.com podcast RSS feed.
Subscribe to the HollywoodChicago.com podcast in iTunes.

Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss 2008’s summer blockbuster films in episode one of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Second ‘WALL-E’ Trailer Now Online; Will Package With ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:08:00 -0700

A second trailer for Pixar’s “WALL-E,” which will be packaged with “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” for its Dec. 21 release, is now online. “WALL-E” is slated to open on June 27, 2008.

The Disney film is said to be vying along with “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” as the most anticipated film of 2008.

“WALL-E”.
Image credit: IMDb
“WALL-E” comes from the creators of “Finding Nemo”. Director and writer Andrew Stanton also wrote “Monsters, Inc.,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story”. Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin and Ben Burtt are currently attached to “WALL-E”.

The “WALL-E” movie poster.
Image credit: IMDb

Universal Pictures Pushes Back ‘Wanted’ Release Date From Spring to Summer 2008

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:06:07 -0700

Universal Pictures announced on Wednesday it is pushing back the release date of the hotly anticipated film “Wanted,” which has filmed in Chicago, from the spring to the summer of 2008.

Angelina Jolie in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
The decision was made due to mounting competition on the weekend of its original selection. Initially slated to release on March 28, 2008, the film is now scheduled to open on June 27, 2008 to rival Pixar’s “Wall-E,” “What Happens in Vegas…” and Tom Cruise’s “Valkyrie”.

“After an early look at ‘Wanted,’ we are certain it fulfills its promise as a stunning, committed, thrilling and eye-popping vision that introduces a bold new narrative,” said Universal Pictures president of distribution Nikki Rocco in the Wednesday statement.

She added: “We believe it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the event titles of the summer and will give audiences a chance to discover a fresh [and] new alternative.”

David O’Hara in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
While Superhero Hype! calls the announcement a “surprise,” it’s certainly obvious to me that Universal feels it can better dominate that June weekend.

But will it? While the Superhero Hype! report says the March 28 weekend is “starting to get rather crowed,” that begs the question: crowded with what other films? The March weekend also features the likes of:

“21” (with Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne)
“My Brother is an Only Child” (an Italian film)
“Run, Fat Boy, Run” (directed by David Schwimmer)
“Stop-Loss” (with Ryan Phillippe)
“Superhero!” (with Leslie Nielsen, Sara Paxton and Brent Spiner from “Star Trek”)

James McAvoy in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
It’s fair to say even in the more “crowded” weekend that “Wanted” currently has the most brand recognition among those titles and also features among the most star-studded cast (with James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and Common).

While its June weekend has less rivalry by number of films, those films are more widely known and serve as greater box-office threats. The March weekend offers more film competition by number of films but with less visibility. I question the merit of this switch.

“Wanted,” which is the first English-language film helmed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, is based upon Mark Millar’s explosive graphic novel series.