John Carter of Mars is go

It looks as if Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars is finally moving forward. Director Andrew Stanton (WALL-E, Finding Nemo) will be making his live action feature debut.

KLS have the news that Disney will bring 400 cast and crew to Utah and the shoot will last for about seven months.

"Utah approved up to $5.5 million in tax credits for the $28 million of work done here. Production is expected to begin in November, and Disney believes the film could become its next big movie series, akin to Pirates of the Caribbean."

Stanton has said that he would be specifically adapting the first novel in series, The Princess of Mars, originally published in 1917. The story follows an American civil war hero who gets transported to Mars and becomes a hero on the planet.

Has has also said that he wants to avoud the look and feel of Star Wars or any of its derivatives, and was seeking a “more naturalistic aesthetic.”

Tom Cruise was apparantly interesting in starring in it at one point but he has since passed on the matter.

Who do you want to see play John Carter? Will Stanton be able to pull this off?

Source: /Film

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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If Finding Nemo and WALL-E had human characters.

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WALL-E Watchmen Mashup

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John Carter of Mars - Update from WALL-E director Andrew Stanton

WALL-E director Andrew Stanton has been speaking to SCI FI Wire about his work on a new draft for the John Carter of Mars movie. He is aiming for a realistic feel to the live-action movie.

"[I'm] deep into it," Stanton said in an exclusive interview at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award ceremony in Century City, Calif., on Monday, where he accepted the award for best picture of 2008 for WALL-E. "I'm on my next draft of it. We're in preproduction art-wise, and we're starting to talk to actors. So it's full bore."

Stanton confirmed that Carter, based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, will be live-action. "Yeah, I think that's the only way," he said. "I mean, there are so many creatures and characters that half of it's going to be CG whether you want it to be [or not], just to realize some of these images that are in the book. But it will feel real. The whole thing will feel very, very believable."

As for the look and feel of the film Stanton said, "Well, we're going very authentic, I guess is the way to put it. I don't want to give too much away, but it's such a foundational story to so many films and stories and sci-fi ideas that have come since the '30s and 1912 and stuff. So the trick is how to not make it seem cliché and derivative because it's such an archetype story now."

He also pointed out that this won't be a Pixar film. "It's being done by Disney, and I'm sort of being loaned out. We're sort of using any element that we need to to make the film right. We're not being purist with Pixar, but Pixar's a brand that you have to trust that's for all ages. This story of John Carter is not going to be an all-ages film."

So will it be a PG-13? "Well, if you do the story right, there's no way you couldn't." was Stanton's response.

John Carter of Mars is due out in 2012

Wikipedia describe John Carter 6′2″ tall and has close-cropped black hair and steel-gray eyes. Burroughs portrays him as an immortal being. In the opening pages of A Princess of Mars, the author reveals to the reader that Carter can remember no childhood, having always been a man of about thirty years old. Many generations of families referred to him as "Uncle Jack," but he always lived to see all the members of the families grow old and die, while he remained young.

On Mars, which its natives call Barsoom, Carter encounters both formidable alien creatures resembling the beasts of ancient myth and various humanoids and finds his true calling in life as a warrior-savior of the planet's inhabitants.

Are you looking forward to seeing a John Carter of Mars film? Who would you like to see play John Carter?

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2009 Golden Globe Winners - With added acceptance speeches

Here is the full list of winners for the The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
“The Wrestler” – The Wrestler (Music & Lyrics By: Bruce Springsteen)
“Down To Earth” – Wall-E (Music By: Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman)
“Gran Torino” – Gran Torino (Music By: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens)
“I Thought I Lost You” – Bolt (Music & Lyrics By: Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele)
“Once In A Lifetime” – Cadillac Records (Music & Lyrics By: Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarmon, Ian Dench, James Dring and Jody Street)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Tom Wilkinson – John Adams
Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother
Denis Leary – Recount
Jeremy Piven – Entourage
Blair Underwood – In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Dern – Recount
Eileen Atkins – Cranford
Melissa George – In Treatment
Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters
Dianne Wiest – In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment
Michael C. Hall – Dexter
Jon Hamm – Mad Men
Hugh Laurie – House
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Anna Paquin – True Blood
Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order
January Jones – Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer

Best Animated Feature Film
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Award presented by Johnny Depp)
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Adams
A Raisin In The Sun
Bernard And Dori
Cranford
Recount

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Best Foreign Language Film
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Linney – John Adams
Judi Dench – Cranford
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth
Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Steve Carell – The Office
Kevin Connolly – Entourage
David Duchovny – Californication
Tony Shalhoub – Monk

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul Giamatti – John Adams
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris
Kevin Spacey – Recount
Kiefer Sutherland – 24
Tom Wilkinson – Recount

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - Composed by A. R. Rahman
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Changeling - Composed by Clint Eastwood
Defiance - Composed by James Newton Howard
Frost/Nixon - Composed by Hans Zimmer

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who?
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Steven Spielberg

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long

Best Television Series - Drama
Mad Men
Dexter
House
In Treatment
True Blood

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Do you agree with those results? Any surprises for you?

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Edgar Wright's Top 29 films of 2008

Edgar Wright, director of the excellent Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz has got in on the end of year best films thing by giving his top 29 of 2008. A better mix than many of the same old same old lists that have been doing the rounds. How many of them have you seen?

1 - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
2 - SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
3 - IRON MAN
4 - NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION
5 - MAN ON WIRE
6 - HUNGER
7 - FROST / NIXON
8 - THE DARK KNIGHT
9 - BURN AFTER READING
10 - WALL-E
11 - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
12 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
13 - HAPPY GO LUCKY
14 - GRAN TORINO
15 - KUNG FU PANDA (IMAX)
16 - REC
17 - CLOVERFIELD
18 - JCVD
19 - SON OF RAMBOW
20 - RAMBO
21 - THE RUINS
22 - HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
23 - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
24 - THE FOOT FIST WAY
25 - TROPIC THUNDER
26 - MILK
27 - W.
28 - ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO
29 - PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
30...

The 2008 RIKI OH award for insane, senseless violence - RAMBO
Runner up - PUNISHER : WAR ZONE

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Stephen King's Top 10 movies of 2008 - What have been your favourites?

Entertainment Weekly have the horror-meister's Top 10 movies of 2008. He seems to like Jason Statham. Do you agree with his choices?

1. The Dark Knight "This is to cape-and-tights movies what Godfather II was to the gangster movie: a genre-defining event."
2. Slumdog Millionaire "It's been years since the movies have produced such an affecting story about the power of friendship."
3. Wall-E "The first half an hour is an almost wordless tone poem that combines humor with 
an elegiac sadness for our throwaway culture."
4. Tropic Thunder "The funniest, most daring comedy of the year. Thunder is crude, rude, and constantly entertaining."
5. Funny Games "The film is relentless, and all but unbearable. It works as a savage parody of the snuff-porn genre even as it transcends it."
6. The Bank Job "Any doubts that Jason Statham is more than a muscle boy are set to rest in this rich (and often amusing) story"
7. Lakeview Terrace "Jackson's performance deserves an Academy Award nod, but won't get one. Too bad."
8. The Ruins "Five young people are trapped on top of a pyramid, surrounded by carnivorous plants. It could have been ludicrous. Instead, it's unrelenting."
9. Redbelt "Written and directed by the always ferocious David Mamet, this is not your father's Karate Kid."
10. Death Race "Death Race is filled with laconic violence and blasting muscle cars, but just beneath the surface is a biting satire of reality TV."

What have been your top 10 films of 2008? They don't have to be the ones you think you should put, just the ones which you enjoyed for whatever reason?

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2009 Golden Globe Film Related Nominations

Here are the movie related 2009 Golden Globe Nominees for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The Awards ceremony will take place on 11th January next year.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas - I’ve Loved You So Long (Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T’Aime)
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Leonardo Dicaprio - Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson - Last Chance Harvey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
James Franco - Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman - Last Chance Harvey

Best Animated Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You so Long
Waltz with Bashir

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare - The Reader
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
James Newton Howard - Defiance
A. R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer - Frost/Nixon

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
“Down to Earth” - Wall-E
“Gran Torino” - Gran Torino
“I Thought I Lost You” - Bolt
“Once in a Lifetime” - Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” - The Wrestler

Who do you think will win? Will Heath Ledger get pipped to the post by Robert Downey Jr? I reckon Benjamin Button will clean up although I hope Mickey Rourke wins for his role in The Wrestler.

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The Random - Avatar: The Last Airbender, Clash of the Titans, Eric Roth does Sci-Fi, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Dark Knight,

Noah Ringer, Jackson Rathbone ("Twilight"), Nicola Peltz ("Deck the Halls") and singer Jesse McCartney have been cast in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender," a live-action adaptation of his popular Nickelodeon anime-inspired series "Avatar" reports Entertainment Weekly.

Cultura y Espectáculos reports that the archipelago off the coast of North-West Africa is set to be used for portions of the filming on the Louis Leterrier-directed remake of 1981's Clash of the Titans. Other location shooting on the $80 million project is expected to take place in Ethiopia, Iceland and London. Around a month of the twenty week shoot will take place on the islands around May-June next year.

Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) says that he's keen on doing a big sci-fi feature in the future. "I’m going to do a big space…I don’t want to say odyssey…that’s been done, but a space movie for Warner Brothers and I want to start like in…I don’t know…sometime next year" he tells Collider. Roth says its an original ideas of his and wants to mix "the intelligence of “2001” and the mythology of “Star Wars”...I don’t want to make it so intellectual that it’s confounding, but on the other hand I’m not so sure I can write the kind of wonderful fantasy that Lucas does."

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen director Michael Bay says that the first trailer will hit either on the Superbowl or in early February. Here's the latest update from his official blog: "Back from Egypt and Jordan - we had a wonderful shoot over there... Our Trailer for Transformer you have been asking about - First there will be a teaser poster soon after the new year, and the teaser trailer will be out either in the theaters early Feb. or on the Superbowl. Cannot decide yet. I’m going to release some set stills on this site in a few weeks."

The Duplass Brothers, more commonly known as Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, have announced the cast for their next feature film. Tentatively titled Safety Man, the story centers on a recently divorced man, played by John C. Reilly, who meets the woman of his dreams, played by Marisa Tomei. However, she has a teenage son, played by Jonah Hill, who has no interesting in sharing his mother with a new man. The Duplass Brothers have a very unique brand of comedy, part of which involves shooting all the scenes in the film in sequence, as opposed to out-of-order like most other films.

The Los Angeles Film Critics had awarded WALL-E “Best Picture of the Year”, a first for an animated film.

The New York Film Critics Circle announced their yearly award winners - Josh Brolin (Milk) edged out Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) for the Best Supporting Actor award

Nikki Finke is reporting that The Dark Knight has broken the record for the most Blu-rays sold in just one day of release. The Dark Knight sold over 600,000 copies on Tuesday alone, while the previous record holder, Paramount’s Iron Man, sold 400,000 Blu-ray copies in one week. The Dark Knight also sold 3 million copies on good old DVD. No word yet on how many *ahem" copies have been sold in pubs!

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Oscars - What do you think will win Best Picture

I recently posted the ad that had been taken out to promote The Dark Knight for Best Picture at next years Oscars.

That got me thinking about what could possibly win The Best Picture. On my wanders around the World Wide Web there are a few films that seem to be in the running for Best Picture. They are as follows:

Australia - Nicole and Hugh get it on in the outback.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt ages backwards.

The Dark Knight - Bale growls as The Batman, Ledger does a magic trick and there are two Aaron Eckharts but I didn't see any jousting.

Doubt - Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are nuns. Is it a porno? Philip Seymore Hoffman wishes.

Frost/Nixon - The head Lycan dude fron Underworld interviews Dracula.

Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood plays a rascist and has a nice car.

Milk - Sean Penn play a big gay bottle of semi-skimmed or a politician or something.

Nothing But the Truth - Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent with hilarious consequences.

Rachel Getting Married - Rachel is getting married and her sister does drugs

The Reader - Kate Winslet is a Nazi who likes to have bedtime stories read to her. Ahh isn't that sweet!

Revolutionary Road - Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio set sail on the Titanic while living in 1950's Connecticut and argue a lot or something. I could be wrong. Not sure how Kate got the part in the film directed by her husband? Is Billy Zane in it?

Slumdog Millionaire - Indian kid wins Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Danny Boyle still goes on about 28 Days Later wasn't a zombie film.

The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke is a washed up has-been. In this film he plays a wrestler.

WALL-E - CGI Pixar fest with a cute little robot.

Sadly I've only seen a couple of them (Dark Knight, WALL-E) although a fair few of them have yet to be released so it's not that bad a thing. I do want to see Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk and The Wrestler and the others I'm all a bit meh about. I personally think Benjamin Button will win the best picture Oscar purely from all the buzz and reviews I've been reading about it.

Which film do you see winning Best Picture? How many of the above list have you seen and what are you looking forward to seeing? Which ones will you avoid? What films should be on the list? Will Billy Zane win best actor?

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BURN-E Short film - From WALL-E

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WALL-E being pushed by Disney for Best Picture Oscar

Disney are trying to get WALL-E nominated for Best Picture and Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. All well and good but they could end up splitting the vote on it and winning neither. Above is the beginning of Disney's ad campaign.

What do you think? Is WALL-E deserving of either nomination? Do you think it is a mistake for Disney to put it in for Best Picture - has it got a hope?

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The Random

"'Fight Club' author Chuck Palahniuk is running a competition in that if you get the most people to see the film adaptation of his novel "Choke" then he will name a character after you in his next book..." (full details)

"Shia LaBeouf was injured by a prop on the set of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" He apparently received a cut above his right eyebrow that required stitched, but he returned to work shortly thereafter..." (full details)"

The Steven Spielberg-produced, Diablo Cody-scripted Showtime series "United States of Tara" will premiere at 10pm on January 18th 2009 after the final season premiere of "The L Word". Toni Collette plays a mother with multiple personality disorder..." (full details)

"WALL-E" producer Jim Morris confirms that Toy Story and Toy Story's 2 3D re-release are not being changed - "Not a thing. We're not changing a thing in the movies. We're not changing the timing, story, pacing, the shots, anything... There's no new shots. There's no new nothing. It's exactly the same movie you saw before..." (full details)

Ang Lee is filming a comedy called Taking Woodstock, based on a book by a man who allowed the famous music festival to take place in 1969. [reuters]

The number of new DVD titles released this year so far is 14% down from the same period last year. [THR]

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Weekend US Box Office

Here is what's what over in the States. Cheers to Matt. First figure is this weekends take and the second is the gross take. Indy 4 has done incredibly well.

1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) $35.9M $35.9M
2 Hancock (2008) $33M $165M
3 Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) $20.6M $20.6M
4 WALL·E (2008) $18.5M $163M
5 Wanted (2008) $11.6M $112M
6 Get Smart (2008) $7.11M $111M
7 Meet Dave (2008) $5.3M $5.3M
8 Kung Fu Panda (2008) $4.3M $202M
9 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) $2.36M $11M
10 Indiana Jones...Crystal Skull (2008) $2.25M $310M

WALL-E, 2008 - Review

Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight
Running Time: 97 minutes

Thanks to Zav from Colorado for this review (Our first overseas reviewer).

SPOILER WARNING

Disney Pixar continues to top itself. WALL-E is one of the year's best movies. Out of all the Pixar animated features, this one is probably the most thoughtful and deep with messages little kids might not see but adults will. This one makes you think.

All humans are over-weight and move around on mobile floating comfortable seats on a huge cruise liner-like ship in the middle of space. Everything is at their fingertips; food, candy, drinks, etc. They've gotten used to having everthing 'when they want it' and 'how they want it'. They are over overindulged. And it all makes sense 700 years into the future, because if they were back on earth, they would have to actually get off their butts and on their feet to earn what they want and need. On the ship, it's like a permenant vacation for them, their home away from home.

Some of the messages are right there on screen:
1. Technology had made us lazy
2. If we are not careful, the machines we created will eventually control us.
3. We as humans destroyed ourselves.

The opening of WALL-E shows an enormous city ruined by dirt, dust and pollution. It's uninhabitable, or so we think.

In the middle of this abandonded city is a hard working small clean-up robot called W.A.L.L.-E. WALL- E does what he is programmed to do. He piles as much junk and metal as he can into his hollow square stomach and compacts it into a nice neat square of usless junk.

When WALL-E is not doing clean up jobs, he goes through piles of old things left behind by people. He saves what he thinks is valuable to him and brings it back to his living quarters that's especially designed for him. He collects what people could not take into space with them. There, he also avoids giant dust storms and has all the nesscessary parts to repair himself.

WALL-E us not your typical robot slave. He has feelings, a personality and he senses and knows fear and joy. His only companion on this desolate planet is a small cockroach who follows him around.

On his spare time, WALL-E likes to watch people dance, sing, and hold hands from the musical movie "Hello Dolly".

One day, WALL-E finds a small skinny bright healthy plant growing behind some wreakage. It's clear the plant represents not just life, but hope.

There are some very touching moments in WALL-E, I teared up a lot:
- When we first see how Eve comes to earth and how she works. WALL-E watches her fly around for the first time. Great scene.
- WALL-E and Eve fly around the huge spaceship together in space. WALL-E uses a small red fire extinguisher to keep up with Eve. Such a sweet touching moment.
- WALL-E reaches up and touches a trail of shining blue stardust while riding on top the probe ship.
WALL-E is so much more than two robots chasing each other around. It's a fast paced sci-fi animated romantic journey. It's about caring for each other.

In a sense, this movie is saying that people gave programmed robots extra personalities and feelings that we seemed to have lacked, because we all seem so disconnected from each other today. And the risk is, robots can fall in love too and feel pain right under our noses.

The ending has some loose ends that got me thinking right after I saw it.
1. The Humans make it back to Earth safely, WALL-E and Eve of course stay together happily, and we discover that there's more plant life living and growing on other parts of the land.
I wondered, how do the humans clean up their huge city? If they chose to live there now. I guess we have to assume that they let their robots and machines do most of the work. The movie doesn't say.

2. We know they will grow food there and vegatation from the plants, since the captain was educated about it back on the ship. But that takes a lot of time as well, so how will they survive in the mean time? Would they just stay on the ship they clean up and wait for the food to produce? Again, the movie doesn't say.

3. Would all this hard work inspire the people to get on thier feet and into shape? I pictured having all the people work together with the trained robots cleaning up the city, thus whipping most of them into great shape.

4. Did these people really learn their lesson? I noticed the captain said " Pizza plants", which is no doubt a joke in the movie and not hard to figure out. They loved to eat, who doesn't. But see that leads me to believe that perhaps these people may have not changed much or learned. We created these machines for our benefit, but they taught us what life really means.

WALL-E is one of the best movies of the summer and 2008. It's something special. Can't wait to see it again.

WALL-E Gamecube Mod

This is brilliant. Makes me want to go out and buy a Gamecube just so I can give it a go.

If you want to try it here is the site for you.

U.S. Weekend Box Office

1. Hancock - $66 million weekend, $107 million since Wednesday - Still not seen it, don't really want to see it. Think they should have stayed with the original title, "Tonight, He Comes"
2. WALL-E - $33.4 million
3. Wanted - $20.6 million - Not too shabby for a movie based on an indie comic book.
4. Get Smart - $11.1 million
5. Kung Fu Panda - $7.5 million