Sigourney Weaver

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

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:01:00 -0600

Rating: 5.0/5.0
(rarely perfect)

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

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.

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

Indeed, 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).

“WALL-E” director Andrew Stanton has his headshot taken on Feb. 28, 2007 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif.
Photo credit: Deborah Coleman/Pixar, copyright Disney/Pixar

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

“Spending every day doing what he was made for (trash collecting) but soon discovering what he was meant for” isn’t just a cheesy line from someone with a catchy PR pen. WALL-E – whose voice was created by elite “Star Wars” sound designer Ben Burtt – goes with the flow of life to embody exactly that destiny while doing something uniquely human more of us should: He just does what feels right.

Now the “WALL-E” character Eve – who’s voiced by relative newbie Elissa Knight from previous “Cars” fame – is no gentle flower. At the mere sight of a scurry, Eve’s instinct is to blow things up. WALL-E, though, soothes her anxieties while she fills his loneliness and purpose.

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

After kids everywhere develop a ravenous WALL-E following and adults everywhere fall in love all over again with what it means to fall in love, we’re once again reminded that there’s hope for Hollywood. Despite some of the trash Hollywoood spits out and the financial failures it endures, here Hollywood has fashioned a profitable “product” with real-life hope for the planet we’re devouring.

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

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

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More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Hope for our present-day world from an animated film for kids? While that may sound melodramatic, Stanton’s screenplay features front and center an unexpected “green” substory. The formidable environmental message even manages not to engage in a single lick of politics.

What’s decidedly green in “WALL-E” is primarily in its imagery – actually green imagery at times – along with the underlying concept that a single plant could colonize a dilapidated Earth all over again. And why couldn’t it? That’s how we started anyway.

While the story is about 50 percent consumed by WALL-E and 40 percent centered on Eve, the remaining balance is comprised of cameos by fun-loving and hilariously malfunctioning robot companions.

Though their names are unfortunately omitted from mention in the film, there’s a vacuum named VAQ-M, a robotic beautician named PR-T, an umbrella named BRL-A, a light named L-T, a massaging machine named HAN-S and an obsessive-compulsive cleaning character named M-O.

“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.

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

Gondry’s Cinematic Breakthrough ‘Be Kind Rewind’ Proves Again He’s an Artistic Goliath

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:05:03 -0700

CHICAGO – Michel Gondry’s latest cinematic breakthrough “Be Kind Rewind” grants passage into his magical imagination and proves yet again he’s one of today’s artistic giants.

Whimsicality, childlike humor and unforgettable imagery line the palette of this film, which is a heartfelt yet hilarious tale of two friends saving a VHS rental shop (itself named Be Kind Rewind) from technology by instigating a passion for film in their neighborhood.

Jack Black in “Be Kind Rewind”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Set in tired Passaic, N.J., the shop is located in a building that’s rumored to be the birthplace of jazz icon Fats Waller. It’s owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), who is faced with the inevitable gentrification of condominiums and DVD rental stores.

Trying to earn his praise, Mike (Mos Def) works and lives at the shop and respects Mr. Fletcher as a father. Mike is visited daily if not hourly by mechanic pal Jerry (Jack Black), who lives in a trailer on the junkyard next to the power plant across the street.

When Mr. Fletcher goes out of town, he asks Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow) to check on Mike, whom he has left in charge of the store with strict orders to “keep Jerry out”. That’s when Gondry’s wild imagination ignites and the mischievous eccentricities begin.

Things go amiss when Jerry’s quirky paranoia feeds the idea that the government is controlling (“paranizing”) his brain through the power plant. When wearing foil and metal colanders on his head are no longer enough protection, he decides to sabotage the plant and ends up magnetized by an enormous surge of power.

Next, Jerry accidentally demagnetizes all the tapes and causes the duo to have to shoot “Ghostbusters” in four hours, which is earlier requested for rental by the scrutinizing Miss Falewicz. “Ghostbusters” is just the beginning of the hysterical filmmaking, which is followed by “Rush Hour 2,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Carrie,” “Robocop” and many more.

Jack Black (left) and Mos Def in “Be Kind Rewind”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Their technique of “Sweding” films becomes immensely popular in the neighborhood and their inflated rental pricing gives them hope of saving Mr. Fletcher’s shop.

By bringing the neighborhood together through their imaginative filmmaking techniques, they create a film about legendary native Fats Waller to make a final attempt at saving Be Kind Rewind and wrap our hearts around the story in the process.

Gondry harnesses Black’s often-unruly screen energy and creates a feeling of playful yet controlled improvisation between the two main stars. Black brings his usual display of lyrical antics to Jerry and carries the majority of laughs throughout the film.

His outlandish idiosyncrasies mesh with the even-more-improbable storyline and Mike compliments Jerry through his levelheaded and patient tendencies. Performances by Mia Farrow, Danny Glover and Sigourney Weaver bring balance to the overly energetic filmmakers and frame the story with a traditional start-to-finish plotline.

Jack Black (left) and Melonie Diaz in “Be Kind Rewind”.
Photo credit: IMDb

This makes it much more commercial than Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep”. Creative props dress every scene of the Sweded films and childhood flashbacks of playing dress-up and acting out skits of your favorite movies are nearly impossible to evade.

Instead of animating inanimate objects (“The Science of Sleep”) or looking through the eyes of a toddler (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Gondry – a master of projecting the inner child – chooses this time to animate his characters through youthful and inventive creativity.

This Gondrian feature makes for a very colorful visual and emotional experience. A passion and appreciation of movies and moviemaking give this film a thematic backbone reminiscent of Federico Fellini’s “8½”and Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”. Its animated set design and comedic stars, however, allow it to have a more fantastical quality.

While the hilarious film references and guerilla filmmaking tactics are impressive to movie buffs, they could easily be lost to the tenderfoot. Gondry’s unique style can be an acquired taste to some, but for those who have cultivated their imaginations since childhood, this is an ingenious must see.

“Be Kind Rewind” opened on Feb. 22, 2008.

Click here for our full “Be Kind Rewind” image gallery!

By ALLISON PITACCIO
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
allee@hollywoodchicago.com