Quantum of Wall-E

So last night, after a long Black Friday at work, I put Wall-E in the DVD player. The only glimpse I even saw of the little robot was during a montage of Disney greatness (Pirates, Pirates 2, Pirates 3, and Tinkerbell...). I passed out sometime after the third appearance of Johnny Depp smiling his drunken smile as Jack Sparrow. Today all I can think of is, what the hell happened to me? I used to stay up all night watching movies. Deep, moving, subtitled fare with subplots and nonlinear storylines. I would work all day, argue with the people in my home, write a paper, take a shower, then watch two movies. The English Patient followed by Amores Perros. I never missed a beat and I went to bed at 6. Am I running out of classics to enthrall me? No. Wall-E established itself as one of my favorite films of all time. The Summer punctuated by The Dark Knight and Wall-E as a season for not only blockbuster fare, but of content worthy of the Fall and Winter months. So what does it all mean? Is my brain shrinking or am I just becoming less involved? It may have had something to with the fact that I spent 15 hours on my feet selling retail items. There is nothing wrong with Wall-E. It's a near perfect movie. A love story for the present and the future.
It is my favorite of 2008 so far. That judgment will most likely not stand after the extreme gauntlet of films appearing in cinemas over the next few weeks. As always, the big studios roll out the red carpet for action and adventure before the tearjerkers and period dramas take hold of the multiplex. James Bond rode again, and jumped, ran, shot, punched, kicked, drank, again. It was a lot of fun. I would have rather anticipated another November Harry Potter, but Bond will definitely suffice. The problem this time around was not so much that the movie wasn't good. I just wasn't Casino Royale. This was the chase movie following the creation of a villain. The formula is thus: Bond knows of a new threat = Bond investigates (i.e. punches, kicks, shoots, drives, fornicates, etc..) the new threat. At the end, people are dead, women have been loved, drinks (many) have been consumed. It was great fun. No gravitas but plenty of gravy. Marc Forester, the director, really does not have an eye for action. He actually sucks at it. The car chase at the beginning is great fun. There are some great establishing shots. When the camera comes into the chase all sense of cohesiveness falls apart. Who's shooting at who? I do not know. But who really cares? I would also like to put a call out to all of the directors out there that are in no way listening. You know the guy who did all of the car stunts for The Bourne Ultimatum? GQ did a great article describing his passion and ability. Hire him to do every stunt ever in action films that have even the slightest chance of being worthwhile. They will all become visual feasts. I promise. As viewers, we want the crazy stuff we see on the big screen to be as realistic as possible. I get that none of it will happen in real life, that's why I go to the movies. For the magic.
Next time James Bond goes crashing through a glass roof, tumbling and fighting with his nemesis, I do not want to see a cartoon. If I wanted to watch a cartoon, I'd watch Wall-E again. Damn, I love that movie.

Welcome to the film/tv blog.

I just had a reevaluation. I sad truth presented itself and I acted. Usually these truths will present themselves and I will give things time, let things sort themselves out. This has worked in the past. I don't know that it will now. Maybe when the writers change, and the cynical critics I love agree that the change is worthwhile, I will watch Heroes again.
I got 5 minutes into last week’s episode and turned it off. Hiro no longer had his complete memory and believed himself to be 10 years old. Is this better than last year when Peter lost his complete memory but could still remember not to wet his pants? No. This is a contrived comic book plot turn that I hate. These are the plot twists that make me read more Warren Ellis and reread Terry Moore. Bye bye Jeph Loeb. Go write The Long Halloween part 3. You were always better a Gotham City than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I love your work, but Heroes has started to repeat itself and suck something large. So Heroes, I officially quit you. Hate it, but I do quit you.
On the movie front, it has been one year. One year ago since I first saw the Academy Award for Best Picture winner No Country For Old Men. I was overwhelmed by how much I liked it. It was as tonally close to the novel that I had read a few months prior. I applauded and spoke very highly of the film. So why, one year later, do I wish something else had won? Because anything else should have. Michael Clayton was a near perfect film that will be watched for years to come. There Will Be Blood was a masterstroke of film making. PT Anderson, you are a God. Both of these films feel as if they are lacking in any way one year later. Daniel Plainview still haunts me. Tom Wilkinson, who has never been better, deserved the Oscar over Bardem. I mean that. I really do. He played a true character. He had an arch. He changed. It was shown in every mannerism and inflection. He was robbed and time will tell.
The new Bond movie is great fun. It’s a bridge from Casino Royale to whatever comes next. It’s a lot of fun and things blow up a lot. Check it out if you get a chance and ignore the reviews. Daniel Craig is Bond. It’s worth your 10 dollars.
Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to my brain and what it thinks about.