Not since the death of Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn has a sci-fi film truly expressed the emotional state of characters set in the far, far future. Today, on the small screen, at least, the science fiction genre is rich with emotional, compelling stories each week, but the silver screen versions, where two hours are usually devoted to action and “wow” moments, are sometimes lacking in the major development of what it means to be human. What better way to exemplify such a human emotion as love than two robots in Pixar Animation Studio’s latest opus, WALL-E.

The tale of WALL-E is easily Pixar’s most melancholy and glum tale to date, easily surpassing the Disney staple of “your mom is dead, here’s a life lesson” embodied since the release of Bambi. WALL-E is most likely the last surviving, functioning robot of his kind, his primary directive is to gobble up trash in his shell, compact it down into neatly stacked cubes, and await humans to return to Earth after it was polluted and left for dead. However, WALL-E has developed personality, and through repeated watching of his cherished Hello, Dolly! tape, he’s trying to love, although being alone (sans a cockroach friend) makes this difficult.

Enter EVE, the object of WALL-E’s affections throughout the 90 minute tale, EVE was sent from the massive AXIOM spaceship to seek out life on Earth, alerting mankind that the forlorn planet has recovered enough (after 700 years) to support human life again. WALL-E eventually follows EVE back to the AXIOM and becomes a hero for malfunction robots, and a hero for all human kind.

The social undertones of the film are present in the none-too-subtle opening shots of the planet in utter disarray. Stacks of compacted garbage cubes stand taller than the world’s tallest skyscrapers as WALL-E has been busy for 700 years. The oceans have dried up, plant life is near-to-none-existent, and the air is so polluted it makes Los Angeles look like Aspen. While a direct environmental message isn’t beaten into the audience, after all, this is a G-rated family film, the effects of humanities’ gluttony is easy recognizable, and when we are re-introduced to humans aboard the AXIOM, it’s basically what you would expect.

The film itself is a masterpiece of storytelling and art direction with each cog coming together to build a working, magnificent machine, capable of entertaining, saddening, and eventually making you cry with joy as the final act plays out. The beginning 30 minutes of the film are a harkening back to the era of silent films where a character’s actions were representations of the emotions we couldn’t usually see or hear about through dialog. WALL-E and EVE’s interaction, although cold at first, eventually warms up to the point where they are the most human characters in the film, they represent hope in the most dire situations, and for that Pixar and Academy Award-winning director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) has outdone themselves once again.

Just sitting in the theater seeing the once cold EVE replay the recorded memories of WALL-E protecting her after she completed her mission and deactivated was both heartbreaking and uplifting, showing the spirit the little robot had gained from a few pieces of seemingly innocent human culture.The film can bring you to tears, and have you laughing the next minute, a seemingly endless onslaught of emotional impact.

Everything about the film clicks and comes together in one of the best packages Pixar, or anyone else has ever assembled, live action or not. WALL-E is the antithesis of films like The Love Guru where one can proudly say that they have a love affair with cinema and movies that draw you in, and never let you go. Such a proud package has you happy for two animated robots, twice removed from reality, and potentially turning into the most talked about couple of the year.

Crime dramas are big today, so it’s no surprise that we see a lot of independents jump into the fray and produce gritty, seedy films with sex, drugs, guns and violence. The Yuzzi Brother’s attempt with Vegasland is valiant, but unfortunately needs a lot of work in the script and acting.

Vegasland follows bookie and gambler Eddie G., who gets roped into an underworld involving a cop hell bent on killing anything in site in order to get a tape of an underground fight that could spell trouble.

Whenever I review a low budget independent, I always take into account resources when evaluating the final product, to see how much was done with…well, how much. The problem here is that for a film like this that can’t afford a lot of effects, it needs a tight script and great acting talent, both of which are unfortunately weak here. The story itself is fine, but the scenes in the film feel more like a hodgepodge that don’t do anything to really build on the characters that are introduced. It seems almost as if the scenes are simply a means to and end.

Some of the scenes are notable though, including one where Eddie, seeing what amounts to his best chance to escape, trying to get a jammed gun to work. At first I thought he just didn’t know how to operate the gun, and so that humor lent itself to the frustration and sense of tension the scene had built.

The acting in the film lacked, and that is the one thing the movie could have had going for it if enough time was given to a casting search for the more crucial roles (yes even films on no budget can get people that have talent that work for peanuts, or less). Ernell Manabat does a passable job in the lead, having some great sparks of performance here and there, but it’s actually in some of the supporting cast members with almost no screen time that we see the best performances. Most notable are Rusty Meyers as Councilman Lance Eliason and Chuck Prater as Snakes who do outstanding jobs, and are quite believable in their roles.

Other notable plusses to the film are the quality of the cinematography and the sheer length of the film they were able to lay down on a shoe string budget. It’s not often you can find this kind of dedication to a project that transcends the almighty dollar, so it is really nice to see it all come together.

All in all I would say the film is a decent effort, and while it has some flaws that probably mean it won’t be winning any awards, it’s a fun change of pace to see a big budget movie style done independently.

From the loud, bombastic opening single, “Hell Yeah“; (not to be confused with the band of the same name) Rev Theory’s Light It Up is a force to be reckoned with as the album starts pumping from its opening and never lets up the adrenaline push until the final cord is strummed and snare hammered.

Shortening their name, the band formerly known as Revelation Theory gives us an album that’s over far too soon, clocking in at only ten tracks, the disc’s length is its biggest hindrance, as there isn’t enough material to successfully sustain an audience for more than half an hour. Still, the tracks that do make it on the disc have a great replay factor, livening up a session of late night gaming or taking out some aggression away from the company of others.

Too often bands will fail to come through after a promising start (see Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight) as they draw you in with the fast paced, hard rock song and you’re later ambushed by songs full of feeling and a brooding so deep an emo band would be turned off. Yet, Rev Theory knew of this pitfall enough to liven up even the slower tracks with wicked hooks and a propelling chorus that breaks from the monotony of the melodramatic.

Tracks like “Ten Years“; start slow, drawing you into the sound, encompassing you in with a collection of slick riffs before opening up the floodgates and beginning the closing act of the disc with style. While the aforementioned “Hell Yeah“; is a modern stadium rock anthem, the title track “Light it Up“; and “Wanted Man“; each do their part in solidifying the band as one that is sure to stick around between periods at a hockey game or propelling through a sound system during a TV timeout this season in the NFL. Having already been picked up by the WWE, the band’s exposure is rising dramatically.

Aside from the shortness of the disc, clocking in a hair shy of 40 minutes, the only major stand out issue is some inconsistency in the tracks and a lack of variation. While it may seem interesting to praise a disc’s songs, and then call them too similar, the style of the music is great, you just wish there was a little more variety to them to make each one stand out as a work of its own. As it is now several bleed together at times, getting lost in the shuffle, and while this isn’t a major problem by any means, it is noticeable.

In any event, Light It Up is an excellent disc from a group of relative newcomers in the public’s eye. After heavy play on satellite and terrestrial radio the band has the momentum to light up the charts and keep rocking.

Every person that reviewed this movie poorly is clinically retarded. Would you believe severely traumatized?

All of you who loved the television series Get Smart should LOVE this movie. It may have quelled some fears if the tag “consultants: Mel Brooks and Buck Henry” came at the beginning of the movie, since these original series co-creators can hardly touch anything without it being comedic genius (I say anything because, I’m sorry, Dracula: Dead and Loving It should have been aborted like a…well put in your own analogy, I don’t want to sound uncaring.)

The movie follows Maxwell Smart (portrayed flawlessly by Steve Carell), a formerly portly analyst for C.O.N.T.R.O.L that has dreams of making it big like his hero, Agent 23 (played by Dwayne Johnson). When K.A.O.S. agents infiltrate the C.O.N.T.R.O.L. HQ and compromise the names of all their agents, it’s up to Max and Agent 99 (sensuously played by Anne Hathaway) to save the President and the city of Los Angeles from destruction.

First off, the casting was spot on. Steve Carell was able to keep the Don Adams sly confidence and dry wit without losing too much of the lovable ineptitude. Anne Hathaway plays 99 deliciously, with a mix of deadly sexuality and bite. The supporting cast does just as well, with notable performances by the ever fantastic Alan Arkin as the Chief, and Terrance Stamp as Siegfried of K.A.O.S. Even at the end we get Hymie, the lovable robot agent played by none other than the hilarious Patrick Warburton.

Now I must say it isn’t EXACTLY like the series. People need to realize that the type of humor Mel Brooks went for in the 60’s is not the type of humor he goes for today (if you’ve seen Robin Hood: Men in Tights, you know what I mean). While there was a lot of over the top humor back in the day, it wasn’t all sight gags, and they weren’t always so banal; it was somewhat more highbrow compared to the over the top sight gags of today. Obviously we have to very quickly get these characters up to speed, as they don’t have a gajillion episodes to flesh out and solidify characters, so we do miss stronger character arcs.

My two main disappointments were the direction they took agent 23’s character at the end (spoiler alert, he’s the bad guy too), and PART of the 86 character. For the Rock’s part, he played the character of suave, cool 23 very well. I just felt that making him a bad guy was a little forced; it didn’t quite feel right at the end of the movie. As for Max, Carell again does a great job getting the audience to like him as he tries to act courageous and knowledgeable, and is of course really just a complete fish out of water. There were parts though where he was actually TOO competent. The Max of the television series would NEVER have been able to actually hit something he aimed at with a gun, let alone several times. There also, and this is funny to gripe about, were not enough accidents.

A lot of the situations that Max got into, or got out of, were completely accidental. Anyone who watched cartoons from the 60’s and 70’s knows Hong Kong Phooey, who would act like he was the shit, but it was really his trusty cat Spot that would get him out of messes. In Get Smart, 86 would find his way into a situation and would either stumble out, or stumble around while Barbara Feldon got him out. That was part of Max’s appeal, that cocky self assuredness that never rubbed you the wrong way because you knew he meant well, and he acted that way because he was making up for the fact that half the time he was just faking it and was hoping to get credit for style points.

All in all it was an incredibly funny movie that paid a great deal of respect to the original series, and while a couple elements did fall under what would be seen as spot on, the overall picture was a joy to watch. I hope that they take note of the couple kinks in the characters and build on that for next time.

It isn’t often that a film with a title akin to I F*cking Hate You could be described as heart warming or touching, but this strong independent by SABI Pictures manages to fit its way into those categories.

Ron (played painfully well by John T. Woods), in a last ditch effort to get across his feelings to the woman he loved/loves, Carol (Marion Kerr, who is delightful in the role), tries to touch her through the medium of song…albeit one of the strangest and yet catchy original tunes I’ve heard in a film in a long while.

The description of the film is a “radical collaboration” between the actors and crew, with improvisation being the key ingredient.  I must admit when I heard this film was an improv heavy independent, I grimaced.  To me that usually translates into “10 minute mess of artistic projectile vomit”.  Little did I know that this film had REALLY talented folks working on it.

First off, not enough can be said about John T. Woods and Marion Kerr.  They prove that with just a concept of scene and character, the lines that are meant to drive the scene will be there, waiting to get plucked out of the air.  The cinematography was likewise intuitive, and Matt Garrett and Addison Brock III deserve a lot of credit for being able to take a project like this and capture it as well as they did, with a sort of odd mix of detachment and intimacy.  All this coming together like it did means Director Zak Forsman, also deserves a hearty pat on the back.  This cast and crew must have run a tight ship to take a daring concept like full improvisational collaboration and turn it into something that wasn’t just watchable, but enjoyable.

If I had any criticism for the project it would have maybe been to get the action started quicker.  With only 10 minutes to work with, there’s almost a full minute it seems of nothing but establishing, and while I understood why it worked for the character of Ron, the few shots of Carol were a little hazy and confusing. 

This is of course a trivial criticism.  The main points to remember when seeing this film (and I recommend people take a good look at this picture) are great humor balancing touching sentiment, a song with “I fucking hate you” as a lyric, and a Zoltar mug as the story’s lynchpin.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Starz continues its monthly documentary series, Starz Inside, this month focusing on the hot property of comic book movies and how the industry started, then sagged, was revitalized and continued in an up and down movement throughout the days of the serials all the way up to Oscar nomination and box office records.

The Starz Inside series has always been more of a topical production, focusing on a current event (like Pixar and horror movies) and analyzing where the genre or company has been before. Unfortunately, the series has always come off a bit superficial, only touching upon certain aspects in an hour long overview rather than delving deep down into one particular area. Serious fans of the genre will know most of this before, but even comic and movie fans will pick up on a few things (such as Road to Perdition being a graphic novel before a movie).

In the now-standard way of doing things we get interviews with various cast and crew from comic book movie adaptations talking about what influenced them and how the genre has survived some horrible adaptations over the years (such as the first Fantastic Four, and the horrendous mess the Superman franchise turned into). Interviews mainly center on the cast and crew of the upcoming sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, including Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman, and Selma Blair as well as Superman director Richard Donner, Marvel poster boy Stan Lee, and various comic book writers and artists.

One of the more interesting stories is that of Michael Uslan, producers on Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman reboot, and his attempts to shop the movie around to various studios and their responses. As Batman sets off a flood of properties being sold off we’re also treated to the origins of the adaptations starting in the 1940’s well before movies had established themselves as “talkies”.

While mentioned only briefly, the program could have benefited from further analysis of films like Sin City and 300 which used the comic source material to a new level, firmly establishing the link between storyboard and ink panel.

While the documentary is entertaining, a wider selection of interviewees, including big names like life-time comic devotee Sam Raimi, or even any of the writers/producers/directors on some of the bigger adaptations couldn’t have hurt. As it stands, it’s only an hour long, all the broadcast shows are in reruns and there’s much worse things you could be doing with your time than tuning in.

Comic Books: Unbound premiers June 10 at 8PM on Starz.

There comes a point in your movie watching career where you just can’t take it anymore, the inane characters, the poor writing, the movie studios pandering to the lowest common denominator and using silence and big jumps as a reason to go to the movies. Halloween, The Shining, Psycho, Alien and Aliens, these are all iconic suspense, thriller, scary movies that will live on for years to come because they broke the mold, they did something different. They created characters, atmosphere, they were written in a smart way for the audience to grasp on to, for them to enjoy.

Unfortunately suspense movies have taken a decidedly different turn as late, they’ve turned into ways for studios to pad the bottom line by dumping $10 million dollars into a film, making the budget back in the first week, shooting to number one (or in the top three) at the Box Office and then dropping off. Case-in-point: The Strangers.

The Strangers, allegedly only based on an experience by first time writer/director (and former gaffer) Bryan Bertino where some stranger came to his front door looking for someone else, then having his neighbor’s homes broken into, is full of everything that’s wrong with today’s “scary” suspense films. It features unlikable 2D characters whose only purpose in this hack production is to die and to make the audience feel smarter.

James (Scott Speedman) and Kirsten (Liv Tyler) return to a secluded house after a friend’s wedding reception in what was supposed to be a romantic get away, before Kristen turned down a marriage proposal from James. Instead of champagne and rose pedals, we get awkward silences and ugly bridesmaid dresses. After a stranger comes to the door and asks for someone who doesn’t live there, the torture begins. Through the next hour you’re treated to one of the dumbest sixty minutes of moviedom while each of the two main characters makes stupid decision after stupid decision. From the cliché cache we get, “There’s nothing out there”, the person who is there, but then is gone in a split second, the screaming at people asking “Why!”, and the more than brilliant, lets hang around and see what happens.

The movie has no point at all, aside from only having two central characters; we still get nothing to hold on to. Kristen is a chain smoking annoying woman who, like all scream queens, whines and screams a lot, and Speedman plays the everyman who has his heart broken, only to be rewarded with knife wounds to the chest (big surprise, he dies). When Kristen asks why the strangers are doing this, they reply “Because you were home.” Simply amazing, that fleeting line of dialog shuts the door on an unremarkable bore-fest that simply festers in the mind until it ends and receives applause only because the audience is free to leave.

The Strangers offers nothing unique to the genre what so ever, and aside from a few cheap scares has little to nothing going on for a near 90 minutes. You almost feel dumber as the movie wears on, knowing that if you stared in a horror film, it’d be about four minutes longer than it took you to find the shot gun, because you’d have gotten the hell out of Dodge.