January 26, 2009 at 9:49 am
I was gonna post about this last week, but the text of that post would’ve been a lot of %$@!#%$#@ and %$#$@$% like that. Now that I’ve settled down a bit about the Oscar nominations, I can say it much more eloquently:
Wall-E was effing robbed!
Seriously, it was a huge commercial success (something like $500 million overall at the box office) and a critical success — it was the best reviewed movie of the year. So, both critics and the movie-going public say it was one of the best pictures of the year. But, of course, it doesn’t get a Best Picture of the Year nomination from the Elitist A-holes … err, the Academy.
Meanwhile, what was the critical reaction to the five nominees? Here’s what Rotten Tomatoes says:
The Reader — 60 percent
Milk — 92 percent
Slumdog Millionaire — 95 percent
Frost/Nixon — 91 percent
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — 72 percent
Nice. Not even Dark Knight, which I saw on PPC last weekend and also deserves to be on this list, made the cut.
Prediction: Ratings for this year’s Oscars will be the lowest ever. The Academy is completely out of touch with reality, and the Average Matts of the world just won’t bother watching what’s clearly an art/indie flick awards show.
January 17, 2009 at 9:48 am
As if there was any doubt? Of course not. Rotten Tomatoes has declared WALL-E as the Best Reviewed Movie of 2008. Next stop? The Oscar Award for Best Film. I’m tellin’ ya….
Meanwhile, I see U2 3D at #4 on that list. And I also notice that, remarkably, I saw five of those ten movies listed. I’m not much of a movie-goer, so that’s pretty unusual. Dark Knight is on DirecTV PPV right now, so I need to make time to watch it one of these days….
December 15, 2008 at 10:41 am
TIME magazine (correctly) lists Wall-E as the best movie of 2008. Awesome! Says Richard Corliss:
A dirt-of-the-earth guy hooking up with the ultimate ethereal gal, WALL-E and EVE could be the 29th century version of Tracy and Hepburn, or Seth Rogen and any attractive woman. It hardly matters that the movie is not-quite-silent, when it blends art and heart as spectacularly as WALL-E does.
I’m telling ya … Wall-E for Best Picture at the Oscars!
November 8, 2008 at 8:44 am
This looks super fun!
October 28, 2008 at 10:02 pm
As long as I’m on a Pixar theme, there’s this: A guy named Larry and his wife were part of a small group who saw an early screening of the next Pixar film, Up. Larry shared his thoughts about the movie:
Both my wife and I welled up at a few scenes and there is a memorable montage that depicts a couple’s life together that is so poignant, even the toughest critic will be moved. There are still some very funny moments but this picture really stands on its own and is difficult to compare to its Pixar predecessors.
I already can’t wait for this movie. It’ll be out on May 29, 2009.
October 28, 2008 at 3:42 pm
According to the New York Times, the Disney/Pixar folks are planning to push Wall-E as a candidate for Best Picture at next year’s Academy Awards.
Sweet!
I made my position on this perfectly clear this summer: Wall-E deserves a shot at Best Picture, and if I had a vote, it would be my choice. It’s easily my favorite movie of the year, and I was able to sum up my feelings in a three-word movie review.
Hats off to Disney/Pixar, and here’s hoping it gets nominated and picks up the award, too!
July 12, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal has joined the growing chorus of people calling for Disney to promote Wall-E as a Best Picture candidate at next year’s Academy Awards:
“WALL-E” isn’t just an animated feature; it’s a great motion picture by any measure, and has already been hailed as such — by critics who’ve called it a masterpiece (I’m one of them), by audiences who watch it in a state of enthrallment (which is one notch up from enchantment). In keeping with its singular distinction, Pixar’s latest gift to movie lovers should be a candidate for the most prestigious award, Best Picture, when Oscar time rolls around.
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed, but you already knew that….
July 8, 2008 at 10:13 pm
TIME magazine asks a good question: Can WALL-E Win Best Picture? Needless to say, I’m rooting for it. But the article lays out the hurdles our little robotic hero will have to overcome:
- No animated movie has ever won Best Picture.
- Academy voters, especially actors, are biased against animated movies.
- Disney/Pixar may not want to spend the money promoting it for Best Picture, due to that bias.
WALL-E is far and away the most well-reviewed movie of the year so far, and it’s incredibly unlikely five other films will come along and get better overall critical reviews. WALL-E is also sure to be one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.
In other words, it has both critical and popular support.
But the Academy would much rather honor artsy-fartsy crap like No Country for Old Men, Crash, and Chicago — movies that appeal to Hollywood snobs much more than something like WALL-E ever will. And they wonder why the Oscars TV ratings are at an all-time low. The critics and people are voting now, and WALL-E deserves a chance at Best Picture.
June 29, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Best. Movie. Ever.
(end)
June 18, 2008 at 3:24 pm
With Wall-E about to hit theaters in a little more than a week, Casa McGee is in Pixar mode. I’m excited, the kids are excited … not sure about Mrs. McGee, but I think she’s excited about it, too. I’m definitely the big Pixar fan in the family, but the kids love the movies, too, of course.
Last night at dinner I made the kids give me their Top 5 Pixar movies, and then I shared mine:
1.) Monsters, Inc. — I’m not ashamed to admit this is my favorite movie of all-time. I love everything about it, and the storyline never fails to make me cry. Maybe it was just perfect timing — a story about a little girl and monsters that came out with a year or two of having a daughter. It was too perfect.
2.) Finding Nemo – And here’s the heartfelt father-son story. Okay, so I’m a sucker for anything involving kids and parents (or parent-figures like Sully from Monsters). Plus, Nemo is just a non-stop animation tour de force and the colors are a joy to watch. (I sound like Ebert, don’t I?)
3.) Cars – I actually didn’t like this one on first viewing. Well, I liked it but it wasn’t all that. On many repeated viewings, though, I’ve become a bigger fan. Wonderful characters (Mater is the best Pixar character ever) and funny cameos from people like Bob Costas. This one has aged well.
4.) Ratatouille – This is where I had trouble making my list. But I chose Ratatouille because I like the story a lot, and the kitchen animation is stunning. It’s the only time I’ve ever wanted to eat the food right off the screen.
5.) The Incredibles – By far the most violent of all Pixar movies, which is both good and bad. I chose it over Toy Story because I think it’s a very good action/adventure movie, and the animation is better than Toy Story. That said, there are some slow sections in The Incredibles. I still like it, but don’t need to see it again anytime soon.
So, now the big question is … where will WALL-E fit into this list after next week?
If you have any favorite Pixar movies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
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