Review Day

Wall-E:
The latest Pixar movie tells the store of a solitary robot who cares for the Earth thousands of years in the future, after humans have abandoned it to garbage. He falls in love with a "female" scouting robot and eventually stumbles upon the fate of mankind. Pixar did a great job imbuing the inanimate robots with human qualities, although they're actually MORE interesting before they start speaking English. There are a few live-action humans in the movie, but they're constrained to video tapes and old films, which works well. Because much of the movie has no dialogue, the humour is at a more visually abstract level, which means that kids probably won't enjoy it as much. Overall, as good as you'd expect from Pixar, but not an instant classic.

Final Grade: B

Michael Clayton:
This movie is about a sleazy "fixer" who quietly solves the problems of his law firm and their important clients. The story employs the Alias technique of opening with a bang and then backing up forty-eight hours, but this only obfuscates the story for the sake of obfuscation, and doesn't really add any twists or turns. It's a little long-winded and may confuse you if you don't give it your full attention, but has a decent ending.

Final Grade: B-

Get Smart:
This is a fun, light-hearted movie starring Steve Carell as Agent Smart. It's refreshing to see a spy comedy which can still be funny without making the lead character a total moron. You also get to see Anne Hathaway recreate Zeta-Jones' laser-beam shimmy scene, and if you prefer dudes, Steve Carell does it too. The movie also sports a few fun cameos, like Bill Murray as the spy who permanently lives inside a tree on the Mall.

Final Grade: B