WALL-E + Watchmen = AWESOME

Thanks to GeekTyrant, I found one of the more ... well-produced(?) trailer mash-ups I've seen in some time. It's footage of Disney and Pixar's film, WALL-E, with the soundtrack of the first Watchmen trailer, with some original graphics added in as well. Take a look:



This isn't the first Pixar/DC mash-up we've posted, actually. A few months ago I posted a quite humorous mash-up of Toy Story and The Dark Knight. Nice to see these things go hand in hand.

81st Annual Oscar nominees

Well, the day has come, after a year full of outstanding films, the Academy has finally released its list of nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars.

81st Annual Academy Award Nominations

Now I cannot say I've seen all of these films, so this may seem very opinionated .. let's face it, it is. None the less, I'm just going to write my highlights/predictions.

Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Original Screenplay WALL-E
Best Animated Feature WALL-E
Best Makeup Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Best Visual Effects Iron Man

Well, that's obviously not all the categories, but just ones I'd like to point out. Out of the Best Picture category, Slumdog was the only one I've seen, but it was brilliant, so that's why it's my pick; same reasoning for Best Director, Danny Boyle. For Best Actor, I don't think I need to repeat myself, as you can just see my review of The Wrestler. Now, Marrisa Tomei is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Wrestler, but as you can read from my review, I felt her character to be an unnecesary part of the film, and that's she's unlisted.

Now here's the nomination that's been on everyone's mind since July, Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor in The Dark Knight. Now, personally, I enjoyed his performance as the Joker, as did many others. But I can't help but feeling he wouldn't be nominated had he not passed away. So my feeling is, he's going to end up winning because it's his only chance to, but it may not feel as deserved to some.

Other highlights; Best Original Screenplay and Best Animated Feature definetly belong to WALL-E. Another film I've reviewed (twice even), WALL-E excells beyond any animated feature I've seen before, and even above some live action films; so any award it's nominated for it probably deserves. Lastly, two films not recognized in the big categories, but at least mentioned in the right places: Hellboy II for Best Makeup and Iron Man for Best Visual Effects.

So what do you think of my thoughts? Oh, really? Fine then. I can't be the only shocked by Robert Downey Jr's Best Supporting Actor nomination for Tropic Thunder; seriously, that really surprised me... in a bad way. None the less, The Curious Case of Benjaman Button (13), Slumdog Millionaire (10), The Dark Knight (8), Milk (8), and WALL-E (6) are in the top 5 for most nominations, so I'm sure we can expect to see them on the winners list at least a few times each.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards air February 22nd on ABC. See you then!

WALL-E Blu-ray review

He's back! And in gorgeous high definition too! Since I've already reviewed the film, which you can find here, this review will focus mainly on the special features, as well as the quality.

There are a lot of features to this set, and by set I mean two discs. Two Blu-ray discs, at about 25 GB a piece, that's a lot of space to fill. So to help, I've written about each disc separately.
Disc 1
The main attraction here is obviously the film. And while, as you can read in my original review that WALL-E is fabulous in its own right, the high-definition picture made available by the Blu-ray technology is phenomenal. I honestly can't say I've seen anything more beautiful come from my TV screen. And it doesn't stop there; also the movie can be viewed in two other ways, 'Cine-Explore' which plays the movie with commentary by director Andrew Stanton while displaying artwork and drafts of the film via picture-in-picture display. The next mode is 'Geek Talk: Trash Talk & Trivia', this mode has Stanton, as well as three other Pixar elites giving a more fun, less insightful commentary. Not that it's bad, its actually pretty nice, think of it as casual commentary, where as 'Cine-Explore' is more suited towards people in the production field. Both of these commentaries of exclusive to the Blu-ray set.

But that's not all, also on the disc is Presto, the Pixar short that played before WALL-E in theaters, and BURN-E, a new short starring a minor bot in WALL-E. What was cool about BURN-E, at least for me as an animator, is that there's a Blu-ray exclusive picture-in-picture version that allows you to watch the short while the storyboard plays in the corner. There's also an interesting easter-egg of the films nerd humor and it's nerd staff, it was actually pretty insightful. All of this in glorious high-definition. But that's not all, there's also BD Live features! All you need is an internet connection, an easy to create Disney BD Live Network account, and maybe some friends to do the same. With the BD Live features you can have video/text chat with friends as the watch the film, send friends video mail, and play a trivia game with friends or random strangers. It won't knock your socks off, but it's not something a DVD will let you do. And lastly, there are a bunch a trailers to watch ... and this is just the first disc!

Disc 2
This disc is set up in two categories Robots and Humans, so I'll separate it for you here as well. Robots, as you would expect, focus on the robots of the film. Here you'll find a video reel of WALL-E and the other bots playing around with different objects and will probably give you a laugh here or there. There's also a "Lots of Bots" interactive storybook, which is pretty hit or miss in my mind, but is probably great for the kids. Another Blu-ray exclusive, four mini-games, all based on titles like Astroids, Burger Time, and Lunar Lander, featuring the bots in an 8-bit style. They're pretty fun, but nothing to go out your way an play for. There's also a robot gallery of everything you'll find on the Axiom, complete with a profile and 3D model.

Then there's humans, this is the meet of this disc. First off are four deleted scenes, complete with commentary by with Andrew Stanton before and after each one. Next are seven mini behind the scenes videos, each discussing a different aspect of the production process. There's also five BnL shorts, designed as video guides from the conglomerate themselves. Not done yet, there's Blu-ray exclusive 3D fly-throughs of all the sets in the movie; they really immerse you in this world of the movie, and you can really appreciate the hard work that goes into making it so intricate. You though that was it? Oh no, there's an hour and a half long, and very informative documentary, The Pixar Story, which is directed by Leslie Iwerks. And finally, there are a bunch of trailers, from all around the world.

Final Thoughts
Quick note, this review is of the 2-Disc Standard Edition Blu-ray. The three disc set includes a Digital Copy (which is the third disc), so all of the features are the same; it also comes in a cardboard case, and not the standard blue keep-case. As my first Blu-ray purchase, and first time buying a film I saw in theaters (I have issues, ask me about it another time), I have to say I am really pleased. Not only did I love the film when it was in theaters, but now I can love it even more because of the beauty of high-definition; not to mention two discs chock full of features!

Overall Score - 10/10

As if this review weren't long enough, I have to mention that this is the first title to be awarded the VFH Seal of Approval! Why does it get such an award? To sum up the review, this set brings more to this wonderful film than any standard DVD ever could. The high-definition picture and sound, not to mention all of the storage to house a plethora of features, only made possible with Blu-ray technology, makes this a must have addition for anyone's movie collection.

WALL-E review

Yes, I know this is a month late, but you voted on more Movie, Animation, and Sci-Fi content; and I finally got the chance to see the movie today. Being a Traditional Animation major (that's 2D animation for those not aware) I'm always curious about whats going on the animation industry, Eastern or Western, 2D or 3D; I just like to know what's going on. And there's no ignoring the leader in the 3D industry, Pixar, now a subsidiary of Walt Disney Pictures.

Their latest released project, WALL-E, follows a trash compacting robot who has been left on an abandoned Earth for over 700 years. Personally, this was the first Pixar film I've been excited for since Toy Story came out when I was younger. There was just something about this film that made it appeal to an older audience, maybe it was the science fiction, or its post apocalyptic setting, and a feeling of isolation. Either way, everything I hoped this movie would be was delivered.

As stated before, the film follows the day in the life of a trash compacting robot, built by the Walmart-esque, cooperate giant, Buy N Large (BnL); he is the last of his kind. For a bulk of the opening the film is virtually silent dialog, thanks to the lack of voice characters of all robot characters. And that's how it should be; the lack of dialog creates a great feeling of isolation, and allows you to really focus on the character. And without voice actors, no one is going to see this based on its cast, which is great to see, because now the picture can be appreciated for its story, characters, and technology, all without a big name actor's name posted on everything. But no worries for you fans of talk-heavy media, when humans are seen later in the film, the dialog becomes quite fitting, and changes the pace properly.

The real focus of the film is the near nonexistent love story between the titular character, WALL-E, and the sleek patrol bot, EVE. I say nonexistent because the feelings the characters have aren't always mutual. But it does make for an interesting story because both characters are so different. WALL-E is a trash eating, rusty 700 year old robot with a curious mind, and EVE is a sleek, ultra hi-tech patrol bot; both are actually created by BnL, but I don't think inbreeding is a topic for discussion. The contrasting personalities, and the fact that they do have emotions, is something not normally seen in robots, and it makes the movie much more interesting.

But let's really dissect this film for what it is. After watching this I'm pretty surprised it got a G rating. Sure, there's no real violence, and obviously no foul language, but the messages and the topics just don't see very fitting for a movie technically targeted at children. For starters, the movie really focuses on how people become wasteful, lazy, and dependent on large corporations; in this case, Buy N Large, is the owner of everything: transportation, banks, you name it, they're practically the government. In fact, it's because of them that the Earth is covered in trash and why the humans had to leave on their spacecrafts. Throughout the film there are allusions to improper evolution due to laziness: missing bones, large fat bodies, and inability to think for themselves. It's not something directly said, but the older audience is sure to pick up things like this. It really gives the movie a purpose, but whether people get the message or not depends on how much they care. From my observations, parents saw the film as dumb because of the lack of dialog and whatnot, and leaving their trash on the ground. But in reality, they're the same people the film tries to portray, which makes it so much more relavent.

What I really liked about the film is that it was a change of pace for Pixar, and felt very experimental, in a good way. For one, this is Pixar's first attempt at science fiction and the first to not feature voice actors. Both are welcome additions, I've already stated my feelings on voice actors above, so I'd really like to talk about the sci-fi aspect of the film. It's really the best thing I've seen Pixar do with it's stunning rendering technology. Adding the sci-fi element allowed them to really experiment in the portrayal of space and all different types of robotic forms, something never really seen in a Pixar film before. In a way, WALL-E does for space what Finding Nemo did for the ocean, creating a fantastic recreation of something real that we can only imagine how it looks up close. But also on the topic of rendering, this is the finest 3D technology I have ever seen on film. The textures are so detailed, and the lighting is just amazing, especially the textures of Earth, it's as if they film a real apocalypse. Which brings me to the next topic, this is the first Pixar film to utilize live action, breath for a moment; yes there are live action segments to the film, but they re actually quite fitting. There are two uses for it, the old musicals that WALL-E watches in his containment unit, and advertisements from BnL. Both are never displayed clearly, as they're all under a TV screen like filter, but they do a great job of portraying how different the past is to the film current state (the future). Other forms of animation, like traditional 2D, stop motion, and digital 2D are used as well, but these are only seen in the credits.

All in all, I was excited for WALL-E before it came out, and I was quite pleased after seeing it. Sure, the WALL-E / EVE love story is really what makes this fitting of the Disney name, but the topics of a post apocalyptic world really make this stand out in both the Disney and Pixar catalogs. Mix that in with Pixar's top of the line technology, and a little live action tossed in and the result is something the children will enjoy watching, and a film that adults with a brain will appreciate. I'll be honest in saying that I didn't have too much respect for the 3D animation industry until seeing this film. I really just saw it as a way for studios to make easy cash, which it's still percieved as, just look at the lack of 2D films released in recent years. But after seeing WALL-E, I can see there is a chance that the medium can be a true art form, and I just hope more studios can take note of that.

Overall Score: 9.6/10