i know you pride yourself on your movie reviews, but this movie is not worthy of discussion, let alone a reference that includes actually excellent films like Iron Giant. typical pixar stuff, made competently enough to make one seem like a jackass for whining about it. They could've reprojected the Incredibles with digitally added space guns or robot antennae and i wouldn't have noticed. Boooooooooooored.

p.s. yes, I'm bitter b/c this post is half-responsible for putting IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING INFO ABOUT GUNS halfway down the page 5 goddamn minutes after it's posted! Pace yourself, friendo!

you've got to be kidding me. "ratatoiulle" was the most sophisticated american film of last year.

"kids movie" is what pseudo-intellectuals throw around to make everyone else feel stupid for having a sense of whimsy, wonder and magic. "the muppets movie" is a "kids movie" and go fuck yourself.

by the way, i didn't *adore* "wall-e" but i enjoyed it. not my favorite pixar. the silent stuff was great.

What was so sophisticated about "Ratatouille?"

I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but have no desire to re-watch it. In my book, that's 3 stars (out of 5)

Iron Giant is AMAZING!

"ratatouille" had some of the most subtle and genuinely human moments in any movie i saw last year. not a mean feat considering it was mostly about rats. i loved the paris in it. i loved the food in it. i loved that, as is so typically pixar, the comedy came entirely from the story and characters they built("wall-e"s strongest stuff was in the first act) -- and not from cheap, garbage humor (see: every "shrek." or rather, don't.)

i love that brad bird *uses cameras* in his animations, going out of his way to create fictional hand-held shots and zooms (the chase scene in the street was fantastic), the grainy television footage of gusteau.

i loved loved loved loved LOVED the ending with ego and the note-perfect flashback moment. it's the only time i remember being genuinely moved by a movie during 2007.

and i loved the performances. and i loved that half of them were pixar staff members and not actors.

and i loved the choreography of the remy-cooking scenes -- when he was pulling the strings and when he was flying solo -- and the visual ballet of food as it sliced and diced. actual real-live food doesn't even look as good as some of it did in "ratatouille."

in a year devoid of emotional gusto and full of alienating (albeit artistically vivid) movies, "ratatouille" did more for me than nearly everything else.

I wasn't all that psyched about Wall-E, although it was fine -- just not that interesting. Embarrassingly, I think I would enjoy the American Girl movie more. It's got a good cast.

Who goes to a kids' movie and then gets annoyed because it's a kids' movie?

I don't think he was annoyed that Wall-E in particular was a kids movie, but that Pixar, with its awesome artistry and storytelling capabilities, has constrained itself to kids movies. It'd be great if Miyazaki made a computer animated movie, to show us how it could be done, but he's seems content with traditional animation, and I'm OK with that.

While I agree with some criticisms of Pixar, they have made some of the best films of the last 10 years.

I love their films. Toy Story, ratatouille, the incredibles were all some of my favorite movie going experiences of those years. And now that they no longer shoe-horn in those terrible musical numbers (see Toy Story or Toy Story II) their films are near perfect at times.

And I disagree that Pixar is only making kid's movies. It is making movies kids and adults can love together. And why should they change? They have both HUGE commercial and critical success. What more do they need?

what he said.

I went to see WALL-E with kids. This might solve all your problems. They loved it and since these are my social activist students, they picked up on the "adult" stuff and had great commentary on it. I agree, the first half was the best.

I hate that kids are so easily swayed. It makes me feel retroactively gullible.

Oh, wait, you meant "because these are my social activist students" and not "upon watching, these are my social activist students."

I totally misread that. Sorry.

on a side note -- i was more affected by the secondary message regarding inactivity and sloth than i was by the primary environmental point.

i hope more kids are subconsciously encouraged to turn off the computer and jump around for a while.

yes, well these kids go to Around the World Club and are on the Green Team ( I don't just take *any* kids to the movies..) And they had just as many comments about the sloth part.

I think we'll be needing more than the subconscious messages, but it's at least a platform for discussion. I think kids are just as "gullible" as the adults around them. They are products of the adults around them (even at ages where their primary influences are their peers). At least you can hope for a diversity of adult figures they trust in their lives to talk about these issues. I'm loving the Obama candidacy for that reason. It inspires them to ask questions and challenge norms in the same ways we are wondering what will happen next.

Anyway, next time, grab a kid to go to one of these movies.

I think you underestimate the ability of most of us to "grab a kid" without serious consequences.

Too bad it wasn't playing when we ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Zing!

i'm confused. who got the zing?

Schwarzenegger's kid.

Wall-E totally looks like the robot from "Short Circuit"... minus the cheesy 80's style of course