We saw Wall-E today.

The theater messed up at first.  It was kind of odd - because the obligatory movie pre-views were for very intense (violent) or mature films.  One of the previews was for a movie called Deathrace.  Another was for “Burn After Reading” - an upcoming Coen Brothers film.  Parents were in the theater with a lot of young kids - and they clearly weren’t comfortable with what their children were seeing.  Someone went and complained and I guess the theater figured out that the movie about to be shown was Wanted.  So abruptly the film stopped (without the feature film actually beginning).  After sitting for a few minutes we were instructed to get up and go into another theater room where in fact we would see Wall-E.

Wall-E is a movie with micro and macro perspectives.  A tiny robot is left alone in a world of abandoned skyscrapers and immense mountainous heaps of garbage in all directions.  The robot, Wall-E, is entrusted with the job of compacting the garbage into small cubes and piling them up.  It’s a massive job and he works faithfully at it.  Except for a cockroach as a friend, he’s alone in this world.  This premise is very cute and interesting.  It’s also a fantastic setup for feelings of melancholy.

I won’t explain further what the movie is about or what happens after this beginning - but I definitely suggest the film to all Pixar fans And who isn’t a Pixar fan?  My one caveat is I’m not sure this movie is as kid-accessible as some of the others … I feel that the excellent and wholly original Pixar films keep getting more sophisticated and while they will appeal to kids, I’m starting to feel they are aimed more and more at mature thinking adults and thoughtful adolescents.  This isn’t really a complaint at all.  Just an observation.  I love what Pixar is doing and I hope they continue to push the envelope of what can be done with story-telling and animation.

After the movie was over and we were filing out of the theater, the theater manager was apologizing for the initial mistake and handing out complimentary tickets for us to see another film.

I recently watched Cloverfield on DVD. I don’t know why it’s so much fun to watch a large horrible beastie destroy New York City. But it is … and the shaky-cam technique that was used to film the movie was very effective - it worked much better in this film than in that Blair Witch flick. Just my opinion.

I kind of wish I had seen this one in the theater. It would have been even better on the big screen - though I read the camera-work made some people feel nauseous.

Today, somewhere (can’t remember where) I saw something about the possibility of a sequel …

Note: Here is where I saw the discussion of a sequel come up.

We watched Les Choristes (on DVD) and loved it. It’s a French film with English sub-titles.

In online reviews, some compare the movie to “Dead Poet’s Society” or “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” While I can see the logic, that is not a comparison I would use.  In my opinion, this is a movie that is unique in many ways and stands on its own.

As usual I don’t really want to discuss the movie but allow potential viewers to find out what they think of it for themselves.

Last night we watched Juno. We both liked it and I ended up calling a friend and suggesting he should see it as well. The movie deals with some heavy issues: teenage sex, teenage pregnancy, abortion, adoption, marriage, divorce, etc. Still, at it’s core, it’s a sweet and often humorous drama. They chose a very good group of actors to depict this story, although (after watching “Ten Things I Hate About You”) I kept wondering if Juno’s step-mom, played by Allison Janney, would find a way to use the word “tumescent.” But that didn’t happen.