18 August 2008

Film Commentary

[Spoilers may be in this entry. Do not read if you don't want "Wall-E" ruined for you!]

So, I have this really bad habit of making really snide comments during movies. Well, not as bad as my friend Ashlee, but still pretty bad. So I'm really quite proud of myself right now, because I avoided making an entire room of people angry! I kept my mouth shut the entire time, and instead of sarcastically commenting on the special effects, or how something goes against the laws of physics, I wrote everything down. Good idea, eh?

As part of the DME FPOP (Oh yeah, throwin' some MIT acronyms at ya there... DME = Discover Mechanical Engineering, and FPOP = Freshman Pre-Orientation Program), we watched Wall-E after dinner.

Now, I had never seen Wall-E before tonight. I can distinctly remember sitting in a theater and seeing the trailer but refusing to see the movie because they used the theme song from this movie. This is also why I will never use a Visa Check Card at a garden center, or see Michael Moore's Sicko.



Using the theme song from Brazil says a few things to me. First, it reminds me of the final scene of that movie (Those of you that have seen it know what I'm talking about... Well, you do if you haven't seen the Love Conquers All version) and kind of makes me freak out because that final scene will haunt you for life. Second, it makes me think of the message of Brazil, and that whoever is using it is trying to make a point, but can't find a better, more creative way to do it (Think about the check card commercial and the movie. Really, if you've seen the movie, compare them. Commentary on society in a 29 second commercial? Oh yes. Ripping off Brazil? Oh yes.).

But I was a good sport and watched the movie tonight. And wrote down my thoughts.

  • First off, the little Wall-E guy is fooled by lasers. Something tells me this little guy would be amusing at a laser light show. Or a planetarium. Basically, let's take him to OMSI and just sit and watch.
  • Louis Armstrong. Really? Hm. I don't know if I'm okay with that.
  • Okay, if I were a young child, I would be terrified of this movie. Then again, I hated/was scared of E.T., so I'm probably not a good indicator considering how popular that movie was/is.
  • The post-apocalypse jokes are a tad bit old. Just like the cockroach and the Twinkie in that movie.
  • How are there crickets in space? Did they just decide that they needed something sound-wise there? Or did I miss something?
  • "Stay the course." Good one, Pixar. Because no one's been making fun of that one for a while. I get enough of that on the Daily Show, thanks. Oh, and Jon Stewart's much better on the delivery of that one.
  • Fire extinguishers in space. Really, that's all I have to say on that one. I'm kind of at a loss for words.
So it was pretty much a huge satirization of American materialism, and apparently plants and coolers are important. I understand a little better why they used the song in the trailer (but not the movie) but some poor kid is going to be horribly confused later on down the road when they have happy thoughts associated with that music. Horribly, terribly, horrifically confused.

(On a good note, I did like the beginning of DME. The people are nice, and it looks like it's going to be amazing amounts of fun. I just make snarky comments about movies all the time, so this was going to happen regardless.)

1 comment:

Michael said...
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