Movies!
Hubs and I have seen two fun movies lately - WALL-E and Run Fatboy Run. We loved them both.
First, WALL-E. This movie was absolutely precious. We broke it into two nights (which we decided to do because we thought Clay might watch it with us, and I don't like him to watch too much TV), and the baby was riveted to it. He was quiet as a mouse while it was on.
Here's the basic concept: Sometime in the future, humans' greedy consumerist ways and blatant disregard for the environment catches up to them. The human race is forced to abandon Earth to live on giant floating spacecraft. However, they leave an army of "cleaning" robots, called WALL-Es, behind to clean up the planet. The idea is that, once the robots finish their work, the humans can return to a nice, shiny planet.
We quickly see, however, that even hundreds of years later, the planet isn't really clean. Towers of neatly compacted garbage are everywhere, and most of the WALL-Es have broken down, save one, the hero of our tale. Little WALL-E still gets up every morning and compacts garbage all day long, but he also sifts through the refuse for items of interest, which he takes back to the little home he's made for himself. WALL-E loves show tunes. But most of all, WALL-E is lonely.
Everything changes for our little metallic friend when EVE, a drone robot from one of the floating spacecraft, returns to Earth to see if the planet can once again support life. (Allowing humans to return and repopulate the Earth.) It's pretty much love at first sight for WALL-E, and things get even more complicated when Eva does, indeed, find evidence that it's time for a wayward race to return home.
Even though the concept of the movie is a little preachy, the story is brilliantly executed. For a film in which there's hardly any dialogue until more than halfway through, you feel amazingly connected to and vested in the robotic characters, primarily because they seem to exhibit more humanity than some of the flesh and blood folks. Kids would love it, but parents will really enjoy it, too. Truly a film appropriate for the whole family.
We also watched Run Fatboy Run, starring Simon Pegg. The movie tells the story of Dennis (Pegg), a man who left his gorgeous pregnant girlfriend, Libby (Thandie Newton), at the ALTAR. Years later, Dennis is going nowhere as a mall security guard who has never seemed to finish anything he ever started. He has a great relationship with his son, Jake (adorable Matthew Fenton), but Libby clearly sees him as someone she can't/doesn't want to trust.
Anyhoo, things are moving along with aching inertia until Dennis finds out Libby is dating Whit (a gleefully Type-A Hank Azaria). Whit is a bigshot in the financial industry and runs marathons for charity in his spare time. ("Danger, Will Robinson!") To somehow prove to Libby (and himself) that he's no loser, Dennis decides to run the same marathon that Whit's running in. The marathon is less than a month away. Did I mention that Dennis is not very athletic?
Everything would have probably fallen to pieces if Dennis' friend, Gordon (a hilarious Dylan Moran), didn't bet everything he owned that Dennis would finish the race. Suddenly, Dennis finds himself with a very motivated personal trainer. And the journey he takes, which happens to be quite a bit longer than the standard 26.2 miles, ends up changing his life.
What can I say? I love me some Simon Pegg. There is something so everyman and yet so absolutely endearing about him. And that would be enough, I suppose, except that he has wonderful comic timing and a knack for physical gags. Newton is lumniscent, as always, and Moran nearly steals the show in most of his scenes. A surprise? This little gem was directed by none other than David Schwimmer.
Watch asap!!
First, WALL-E. This movie was absolutely precious. We broke it into two nights (which we decided to do because we thought Clay might watch it with us, and I don't like him to watch too much TV), and the baby was riveted to it. He was quiet as a mouse while it was on.
Here's the basic concept: Sometime in the future, humans' greedy consumerist ways and blatant disregard for the environment catches up to them. The human race is forced to abandon Earth to live on giant floating spacecraft. However, they leave an army of "cleaning" robots, called WALL-Es, behind to clean up the planet. The idea is that, once the robots finish their work, the humans can return to a nice, shiny planet.
We quickly see, however, that even hundreds of years later, the planet isn't really clean. Towers of neatly compacted garbage are everywhere, and most of the WALL-Es have broken down, save one, the hero of our tale. Little WALL-E still gets up every morning and compacts garbage all day long, but he also sifts through the refuse for items of interest, which he takes back to the little home he's made for himself. WALL-E loves show tunes. But most of all, WALL-E is lonely.
Everything changes for our little metallic friend when EVE, a drone robot from one of the floating spacecraft, returns to Earth to see if the planet can once again support life. (Allowing humans to return and repopulate the Earth.) It's pretty much love at first sight for WALL-E, and things get even more complicated when Eva does, indeed, find evidence that it's time for a wayward race to return home.
Even though the concept of the movie is a little preachy, the story is brilliantly executed. For a film in which there's hardly any dialogue until more than halfway through, you feel amazingly connected to and vested in the robotic characters, primarily because they seem to exhibit more humanity than some of the flesh and blood folks. Kids would love it, but parents will really enjoy it, too. Truly a film appropriate for the whole family.
We also watched Run Fatboy Run, starring Simon Pegg. The movie tells the story of Dennis (Pegg), a man who left his gorgeous pregnant girlfriend, Libby (Thandie Newton), at the ALTAR. Years later, Dennis is going nowhere as a mall security guard who has never seemed to finish anything he ever started. He has a great relationship with his son, Jake (adorable Matthew Fenton), but Libby clearly sees him as someone she can't/doesn't want to trust.
Anyhoo, things are moving along with aching inertia until Dennis finds out Libby is dating Whit (a gleefully Type-A Hank Azaria). Whit is a bigshot in the financial industry and runs marathons for charity in his spare time. ("Danger, Will Robinson!") To somehow prove to Libby (and himself) that he's no loser, Dennis decides to run the same marathon that Whit's running in. The marathon is less than a month away. Did I mention that Dennis is not very athletic?
Everything would have probably fallen to pieces if Dennis' friend, Gordon (a hilarious Dylan Moran), didn't bet everything he owned that Dennis would finish the race. Suddenly, Dennis finds himself with a very motivated personal trainer. And the journey he takes, which happens to be quite a bit longer than the standard 26.2 miles, ends up changing his life.
What can I say? I love me some Simon Pegg. There is something so everyman and yet so absolutely endearing about him. And that would be enough, I suppose, except that he has wonderful comic timing and a knack for physical gags. Newton is lumniscent, as always, and Moran nearly steals the show in most of his scenes. A surprise? This little gem was directed by none other than David Schwimmer.
Watch asap!!
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