www.list.co.uk/film
ANIMATION WALL-E (U) 103min 00000
Can Pixar do no wrong? On the evidence of the CG animation studio’s ninth feature film, the answer is a resounding no. Once again Pixar pushes the envelope in the field it’s been trailblazing since the early 19805, delivering another spectacular cinematic experience that’s also enormously engaging on an emotional level.
Having tackled toys (twice), bugs, monsters, fish, superheroes, cars and rats, director Andrew Stanton (A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo) and his team take on science fiction. Inspired by genre classics from the 1960s and 70s (2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running, Star Wars and Alien, most obviously in this richly referential film), they’ve created a post-apocalyptic story set in a future in which the Earth has been abandoned by humankind, having been made uninhabitable by the race’s propensity for generating rubbish. While what’s left of them continue to languish in a life of conspicuous consumption aboard a luxurious star-liner in deep space, a solitary robot left behind and forgotten on Earth named WALL-E
executes his now pointless trash collecting programme. With only a cockroach for companionship and a battered VHS of the Hollywood musical Hello Dolly! to keep him entertained, the lonely little robot keeps himself busy building skyscraper-sized pills of compacted rubbish among New York City’s desolate urban canyons. Until, that is, the arrival of an ultra-hi- tech scout robot named Eve, sent from the human colony to search for signs of life on Earth. She finds it and WALL-E finds Eve, and together the last two robots on Earth set off on an interstellar adventure, and a very down-to-earth romance.
At its heart, then, Pixar’s latest film is a very sweet romantic comedy, and it’s that which provides the film with its emotional clout. Beyond that, it’s a thrilling sci- fi adventure with an environmental message (that’s not shoved down the audience’s throat). And on a technical level it’s another quantum leap for Pixar, who here worked with the ace cinematographer Roger Deakins (No Country for Old Men) to achieve imperfect-looking visuals that make the whole fantastic voyage that much more believable. (Jack Davis)
I General release from Fri 78 Jul.
CONCERT MOVIE LOU REED’S BERLIN (12A) 85min .0.
one at that.
I Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 25 Jul
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA MY WINNIP (15) 79min .0.
' Guy Maddin is a most acquired taste.
Filming in black and white and creating images that resemble silent cinema. Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World) is a postmodernist with a yearning for a time when post- modernism wasn't even a glint in Baudrillard's eye.
In My Winnipeg the nostalgia isn't only for silent cinema; it is also for the way his hometown has changed over the years. As he waxes a little lyrically and often sarcastically about the changes to this Canadian city. the one constant is the cold. hard look he takes at a cold. hard place. Why does anybody stay, he muses. while wondering whether it's more a case of it being impossible to leave. As he recreates his childhood with various actors playing the roles of the siblings. and veteran actress Anne Savage playing his demanding mum. Maddin gets the balance between acerbic nostalgia and indulgent self- centredness just right. At one moment he goes off on one in defence of the long since demolished Winnipeg arena (the home of the ice hockey team) and the carbuncle that replaced it. How could they have destroyed the arena: after all, it was where he was born, he claims, as he offers yet another moment of ironic. hyperbolised egotism. (Tony McKibbin)
I GFF, Glasgow, Fri 78—Thu 24 Jul.
In 1973. Lou Reed was primed for a stellar pop career, following up the success of Transformers glam pop thrills with Ber/in, an ambitious rock opera showcasing Reed versatile capabilities. But Ber/in tanked. both critically and commercially. its weighty themes and epic musical arrangements a seemingly inappropriate move given his prior material. Reed took the huff. and it marked the moment he lost interest in popstardom and embraced the notion of being an artist, and a marginal
Then a strange thing happened. By silent acquiescence. Ber/in became acknowledged as Reed‘s best album. The stage show idea canned in 1973 was resurrected and performed in 2006 over five nights in Brooklyn. where it was filmed by artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). Top quality session musicians together with contributions from other NYC art- world luminaries including Antony Hegarty ensure the show/film's production values are without question, whilst Schnabel's set designs. which feature filmed footage of actress Emmanuelle Seigner as the tragic Caroline and are projected onto the backdrop of the beautifully gloomy stage, perform efficiently enough.
Ultimately. however. the film stands and falls on the quality of the music. Whilst the early 70s rock blueprint stompers frequently descend all to easily into indulgent guitar wig—outs. the closing suite of ‘Caroline Says ll'. ‘The Kids‘, ‘The Bed' and ‘Sad Song'. some of the greatest songs in Reed's catalogue. are pretty much perfect on both a musical and performance level. (Hamish Brown)
17—31 .Jul 2008 THE LIST 45