Ben Burtt | Cinema Parrot Disco

I’ve participated in another Question Of The Month over at Oracle Of Film & I have to say this is my favorite question yet: Who Is Your Favorite Star Wars Character?

So many to choose from! Not an easy question to answer if you’re a big Star Wars fan (which I suppose I am). 🙂 Actually, no – it was pretty easy as I already knew my answer. I have two favorites so I just had to choose between the two. Who did I pick? Is my answer in the photo above or not?? You can read everyone’s answer HERE. I may ramble on a bit for several paragraphs like I always do when I really like something…

Thanks for another great question, Luke (Skywalker) Abbott! 🙂

**I don’t normally do any celebrity R.I.P. types of posts on here but I had to mention Wes Craven. I was very sad to hear of his death this morning. A Nightmare On Elm Street is one of those movies that was a very special part of my early teens when I was starting to discover that I had a love of film that kind of went beyond what my “normal” friends seemed to think of movies (I’m sure you movie bloggers can relate).

I saw it for the first time at a party at the age of 13 & it was my first proper horror. I loved it instantly. We later played spin the bottle at this party, which was fun, but while everyone else probably went home thinking about those pathetic 13-year-old kisses I was mainly thinking about how I would manage to see that “cool” movie again as it wouldn’t be one that my mom would really approve of. (We also watched Fright Night at that party, another awesome 80’s horror classic, although of course not on the same level as Elm Street. Man I miss those days, especially when it comes to horror movies. And clumsy groping.)

I’m not going to turn this into a long post or discuss Craven’s other work that I like (Such as Scream which is of course very popular but I also have a thing for Deadly Friend). I mainly just wanted to mention A Nightmare On Elm Street as that will always be an important part of this movie-life of mine.

R.I.P. Wes Craven – I’m so glad your brilliant film was my introduction to horror. Very few other horror films have been able to live up to A Nightmare On Elm Street for me in the 31 years since its release.

WALL-E (2008)

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Starring (mostly voice) actors:
Ben Burtt
Elissa Knight
Jeff Garlin
Fred Willard
John Ratzenberger
Kathy Najimy
Sigourney Weaver
MacInTalk

Music by Thomas Newman

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar Animation Studios

Running time: 98 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He falls in love with another robot named EVE, who also has a programmed task, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.

My Opinion:

This will probably be about the most recent CPD Classic as films need to stand the test of time a bit first. However, I do admit that there are occasionally “instant classics”. To me, WALL-E was indeed an instant classic.

I get super excited about every single Pixar movie that comes out (I LOVE Pixar!) but WALL-E was the one I was the most eager to see as, from clips released before the film, WALL-E looked so completely adorable & loveable plus the film sounded like a very interesting (and brave) concept. And sci-fi! Yes! I even went into London to see it as early as possible because I could NOT wait. And, boy, was it worth the journey!

The entire beginning of WALL-E, before he leaves Earth, is an absolute masterpiece. Complete & total perfection. Sometimes I put the DVD in just to watch the beginning again. And again. From the second the Hello Dolly music starts to when we’re zoomed down to Earth & see WALL-E continuing to do his job on this desolate planet – Oh my god – There’s a big smile on my face just writing about it. Then the very grown-up Thomas Newman score kicks in and it’s quite dark and almost eerie and you know you’re in for a very different kind of kids’ film. Then, bloody hell – there’s no talking! For AGES. And it’s brilliant! Leave it up to Pixar to get away with that. The beginning of WALL-E is just so… I dunno. Epic! Cinematic! (It’s times like these I wish I was a proper writer!). Like in the old days where they made these sweeping epic dramas like Gone With The Wind & shit. The beginning of WALL-E is easily up there with things like that and I don’t think it gets the credit it deserves, probably because it’s an animated film. And sci-fi. The start of WALL-E, in my opinion, blows away every movie of the past ten years. Probably even 20. Maybe even 30!

WALL-E, as a character, can’t get any better. Completely loveable and adorable. I never thought I could love another little robot as much as R2-D2! How can these two little robots that don’t even talk (much) have way more personality & character than most human beings? I love WALL-E’s childlike innocence – it’s so genuine & pure and makes you wish that every human could have that same curiosity and thirst for knowledge & experience & love. Love! Because WALL-E is a love story and, I don’t care what anyone thinks, is probably my all-time favorite cinematic love story (it’s close between this and Carl & Ellie in Up. Woohoo Pixar!). I found WALL-E & EVE’s romance more genuine & believable than any in those girly romantic comedy type movies that mostly get on my nerves. I get annoyed with people who moan that WALL-E is some preachy movie about the environment and how fat & lazy & wasteful we all are. Really? Um, no. That’s just the backdrop for a unique love story & a story about appreciating the little things in life. Argh! These people are missing the whole point!! (Sorry. I get passionate about WALL-E because I’ve had a lot of people tell me they do NOT understand my love for it.) 😉

Unfortunately, (and I hate to say anything at all negative about this movie) once WALL-E leaves Earth, the rest of the film just doesn’t live up to the beginning. But it would be very hard to match the brilliance of the start so I can’t complain too much. I really really want to love the rest of the movie as much but it goes downhill with the appearance of the humans, who aren’t that likeable (mainly because they’re not very developed but, obviously, the movie is focusing on developing the personalities of WALL-E & EVE). There are still wonderful scenes (the space dance with Thomas Newman’s beautiful “Define Dancing”) and anything involving the other robots (especially cute little clean-freak M-O).

Yeah – I just mentioned Thomas Newman again just like in my review for The Shawshank Redemption. Is it a coincidence that he’s scored some of my all-time favorite films? I think not! He’s brilliant and I love the WALL-E score, although much of it is very different from other scores he’s done. It’s very quirky but I think it fits the film perfectly. Because, I admit, it’s a quirky film and I know it’s not for everyone. But I adore it and the beginning is a true masterpiece that I honestly don’t think I’ll see another film come even close to topping in my lifetime. That’s why WALL-E is a CPD Classic.