I have been griping about the state of the movie year since after the Toronto International Film Festival, and frankly I took some heat for bitching about it. So yes, I feel some vindication about the way the season is shaping up: 2008 is a hugely disappointing year at the movies, with only a handful of really brilliant films. After the bounty of last year, obviously our hopes were high, which is a mistake, but it seems we have endured one failure after another this year.
So the Los Angeles Film Critics Association voted “WALL-E” best film of the year. Does this increase the film’s Oscar chances for a Best Picture nod? It will certainly draw some more attention but at the end of the day the film will land in the feature animation category, which is where it belongs.
I agree with Kris that “WALL-E” is over-appreciated and hugely overrated. Yes, it was a good film, a beautiful picture that was a stunning visual experience, but it’s not the masterpiece it is being hailed as. In my opinion it is indicative of the weak movie year we are suffering through. I have three more films to see to wrap up my 2008 coverage, and at this writing, “The Dark Knight” is my choice as best film of the year, with Nolan my best director. So I have to say it was cool to see both slide in as runner-ups.
But let’s be realistic about the L.A. Film Critics. They like to make a statement. They did it in 1985 with “Brazil,” an unreleased film from Terry Gilliam that somehow won their Best Picture prize and forced Universal to finally put it in theaters.
It kind of reminds me of the year “Gandhi” won Best Picture from the New York Film Critics Circle, surprising because it was such a safe choice and the New York crew prided itself on being radical. “Gandhi” went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director over the vastly superior “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestial” and director Steven Spielberg…the better film.
“The Dark Knight” is this years’ “E.T.,” I think, and while “WALL-E” is not safe choice, it is a safer choice than Nolan’s film. Bravo to the L.A. scribes for being the only critics group to so honor Spielberg and his alien fantasy back in 1982, but I’m not sure what they were thinking yesterday.
Comments
22 responses to “Getting carried away with ‘WALL-E’ and the LAFCA”
If you think The Dark knight is the best film of the year and Wall-E is hugely over-appreciated, that is your opinion, not a fact.
If we however match the 2 films for critical reception, Wall-E wins by a mile.
And we know how much credence we can give to Box Office returns, The Da Vinci Code, Wedding Crashers, Night At the Museum all made insane amounts of money. So the fact that a movie has made lots of money doesn’t mean its brilliant.
I would say The Dark Knight is much more over-rated than Wall-E.
About the LA guys, I really respect their choices. With a few exceptions, all their movies have stood the test of time and are now regarded as some of the greatest and most enduring films ever made(ET, Brazil, Do The Right Thing, Raging Bull and more recently Iwo Jima, There Will Be Blood, Sideways, American Splendor, In The Bedroom….all great films).
I think they have awarded a film which will last for a long time.
I completely disagree that “WALL-E” is a safer choice than “The Dark Knight,” but I’m not sure what you’re driving at with the “Brazil” point. It’s a visionary film, and their decision to vote for it was artistically sound — as well being a statement. Are you implying it was the wrong thing to do?
Poor John. Only a handful of brilliant films this year. My heart bleeds for you.
Everyone who gripes about this year as disappointing was simply spoiled rotten by last year’s abundance. And instead of celebrating this years films that are gems, they harp about not having more of them. That little girl from “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” comes to mind: “…but Daddy, I want a unanimously praised and timeless cinematic masterpiece NOOOWWW!!!”
And when will the hate fest over “Gandhi” come to an end? Must everyone whose cried themselves to sleep for the last 25 years because “E.T” lost the Oscar bring it up even when it’s not relevant? The simple fact that “WALL-E” is animated and makes “The Dark Knight” a MUCH safer choice in the eyes of the Academy. The 1982 comparisson just seems like a lame excuse to whine some more.
And as for the notion that “WALL-E” doesn’t belong in a best picture lineup because it’s animated, let’s take a simple approach that everyone can understand:
-The category is named “Best Motion Picture of the Year”
-“WALL-E” is a motion picture.
End of argument. Case closed. If this bothers you so much, write to the Academy and request that they change the name of the category to “Best Live Action Motion Picture of the Year”.
WALL-E FOR BEST MOTION PICTURE!!!
A MASTERPIECE!
Heh, there’s only one ET this year and that is Wall-E. I can’t imagine any little kinds getting all excited about a madman throwing people off rooftops and another maniac going around killing people with half a face. But I get your point, and I believe TDK will also still stand-up some 25 years from now.
I don’t get the point you’re trying to make. It’s a very weak analogy you’re trying to establish and I think if you want to compare both years, and restrict yourself to these two films (which I think is absolutely ludicrous), then “Wall-E” seems to me like this year’s “E.T.”, despite it being an inferior film.
Surely “Wall-E” is overpraised, but so is “The Dark Knight”. If you want a really good film to be awarded by critics groups, mabe you should think of “Gomorra” or “The Class”. But, I reckon, you mentioned before that you don’t like reading subtitles.
Let me state my emotions are running high here…Wall-E was good, not great and I think “The Dark Knight” might be the years best film.
As for the comment about the hatred towards “Gandhi” where do I say that? Nowhere. I am a huge fan of Kingsley’s performance but have never though the film was the best of any year.
As for my rant….consider it a rant at being pissed Wall-E won best picture in LA.
And again, I do not mind subtitles, and no where have I stated that — I am a huge fan of North American cinema, but like most of you will watch anything — loved “Gomorrah” by the way.
I was maybe being a bit too polemic, but your article just annoyed me.
I appreciate the fact that this is just a blog. Really, I do. But the author should appreciate the inherent nature of discussion of art. That is, to be taken seriously, it is necessary to couch your language with some qualifiers. Just because one person believes that E.T. is clearly the superior film to Gandhi, doesn’t make it so. Likewise, just because you think The Dark Knight is a great film, far superior to Wall-E, likewise does not make it so.
The author’s reliance on the verb “to be” for statements of opinion (ie. “’WALL-E’ is over-appreciated and hugely overrated.”) gives the prose a combative, close-minded tone that really turns people off, and is indicative of the lousy quality of discussion on the internet, regardless of the topic.
@ John: If you could do a post (and if you already have, my apologies) of your personal opinion on the films of this year, not just your Oscar predictions on the side here, it’d be very helpful. Thanks.
John is not responsible for the predictions on the sidebar. Those are the opinion of me, the editor. John is a contributor to this site and this post is his opinion. Read more about our contributors here.
As for personal opinions of the films this year, we’ve been doing that all year. But I (again, the editor, not John) will be writing my top ten films of the year column on Monday, and I’m sure all of the contributors to In Contention will write similar posts in due time.
TDK over Wall-E, not by a mile, at least by an astronomical unit, maybe even by a light year. I’m willing to bet about the test of time, we will have movies like Wall-E EVERY year, and don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it with my little kids, but i’s not in the same ballpark as The Dark Knight.
Who will be more known for their work in 2008 ten years from now? Christopher Nolan or Andrew Stanton. Probably LAFCA will be remembered on sites like this one as an example of best picture weird choices.
@Kris: Ahh, I see. My apologies.
To anyone who thinks that Wall-E doesn’t deserve to be nominated simply because it is animated: That is the height of close-mindedness. Wall-E is a beautiful film that is emphatically not just some kid’s movie. While I personally don’t think it is the best film this year, it certainly deserves due consideration.
“It will certainly draw some more attention but at the end of the day the film will land in the feature animation category, which is where it belongs.”
I certainly hope you say this because you feel that it isn’t good enough to be a BP nominee, not because it is animated.
Common! 2008 is a great year in movies.
We have
Man on Wire
Hunger
Reprise
Gomorrah
The Class
Waltz with Bashir
I´ve Loved you So Long
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Wall-E
Milk
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Happy Go-Lucky
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler
The Visitor
Ballast
Frozen River
Wendy & Lucy
The Reader
Doubt
Revolutionary Road
I’m sort of shocked at the Wall-E backlash. “It’s a cartoon”, “It’s overrated”,”It’s too mainstream”. Blah, blah, blah. In my mind, best picture should be a film that will be looked back on as a classic and Wall-e is such a film. Are there other films with a bigger message that are more daring? Sure? But Wall-e is the only movie released this year that I can imagine audiences enjoying for years to come.
“I agree with Kris that “WALL-E†is over-appreciated and hugely overrated. Yes, it was a good film, a beautiful picture that was a stunning visual experience, but it’s not the masterpiece it is being hailed as. In my opinion it is indicative of the weak movie year we are suffering through. I have three more films to see to wrap up my 2008 coverage, and at this writing, “The Dark Knight†is my choice as best film of the year, with Nolan my best director. So I have to say it was cool to see both slide in as runner-ups.”
That paragraph sums up my thoughts exactly.
How can a film be over appreciated? Are you insinuating people actually appreciate it too much?
I understand how someone can be of the opinion that a film is overrated, but that’s all it is, your opinion. I guess it just seems as if this post is presenting your opinion as fact, which is a little odd.
My favorite movie of the year thus far, but I haven’t seen most of the major contenders yet. Even then, I highky doubt there will be5 I like more. I’d love for this movie to get nominated for best picture, along with TDK, even though I’m not crazy about the movie.
I, too, feel sorry for anyone that thinks 2008 is a bad year for cinema. Look harder, and away from the Oscar pool, and you’ll get some of the best stuff put on the screen this decade.
2008 have been good but not great but the thing is people say Rachel Getting Married, Slumdog Millionare,The Wrestler, etc, yes im sure Slumdog is great from what i have read in reviews and i dont care of weedings in real life and less a movie (yes RGM is about family, the relationship and interaccion of it) but the thing is those movies got limited release and 95% of the public will chosse a maintrain instead of ”great” movie that they coudnt see because of their limit exposure.
Help me out Chad — have seen more than two hundred films this year, most away from the Oscar pool, and have seen little to be thrilled about — loved “Che”, ‘In Bruges”, “Changeling”, ‘The Dark Knight”, and maybe a handful of others — “Gomorrah” was tremendous, “Frozen River” I liked, and “Happy Go Lucky”…beyond that, feel free to tell me.