Wall*E

Ryan and I are going to hit up the movie theater this weekend (we would see it on opening night, but we have a wedding to go to Friday evening) - WALL*E COMES OUT ON FRIDAY!! WHOO HOO!!

Part of a review I found:

It's the surest thing in the infinitely malleable world of animation: Get the eyes right, and you're halfway home.

One look at the binocular-eyed trash compactor starring in the marvelous new Disney/Pixar feature "WALL-E," and you're halfway home. One look at EVE, the sleek, egg-shaped robot from space who introduces WALL-E to a world wider than his own, and those cool blue oval eyes--which digitally transform into upside-down crescents when amused--and you're all the way home. These two characters don't say much. The first half-hour or so of "WALL-E" is practically free of dialogue. Believe me, you won't miss it.

The latest achievement from Pixar Animation Studios is the best science-fiction film so far this year, the best romance so far this year and the best American studio film so far this year. I'm not sure if Disney's nervous, overcompensating ad tag-line is quite accurate ("the most fun you'll have at the movies this summer!"). Without being cheap or ham-handed about it, "WALL-E" presents a grimmer future for our planet than "An Inconvenient Truth," and its strains of comedy and pathos are unusually subtle for G-rated animation. Yes, it's funny. It's just not "Kung Fu Panda" funny. And while I thoroughly enjoyed "Kung Fu Panda," "WALL-E" is a transporting experience.

The director and co-writer, Andrew Stanton, was the primary force behind Pixar's all-time box office champ, "Finding Nemo." "WALL-E" is the sort of picture an ambitious talent makes after he's delivered an enormous hit. Stanton's co-writer is Jim Reardon, a longtime contributor to and director on " The Simpsons." The two sensibilities fold together seamlessly, and while the second half of the film is less amazing and more familiar than the first, it's nonetheless a gratifying reminder that in some sectors of the global entertainment industry quality remains job one.

Read the rest here.