Length: 97 min
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: 2008-06-27

Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver

Directed by Andrew Stanton
Produced by Jim Morrison
Written by Andrew Stanton, Jim Capobianco

Visit the movie’s Official Site!

A love letter to science-fiction films of old with a modern environmentalist message, WALL-E is another winning confection from Pixar, the folks who have made an art out of wrapping adult themes in childish whimsy and coming out with movies that please both elements. Starring a box shaped little robot with more than a passing resemblance to E.T., WALL-E is quite possibly the cutest Pixar hero ever, despite the fact that he’s a trash compactor with eyes. A story centering on a wordless robot could be cold and uninviting, but not in Pixar’s capable hands. Never has a robot been this compassionate: WALL-E’s got heart.

The story of the film is deceptively simple. WALL-E (Waste Allocator Load Lifter - Earth Class) is the last of his kind, a robot created by the Buy-N-Large Corporation to clean up the piles of trash left on Earth by the conspicuous consumption of human beings. The humans themselves have evacuated the now-toxically trashed Earth for a Eden-like spaceship habitat called the Axiom (also created by BNL corp.), where they spend their days sipping meals out a cup and reclining on floating easy chairs. Though all his robotic compatriots have long since compacted their last, WALL-E continues plugging away at his job in an endearingly human way. He wakes up each day to the chime of a Macintosh starting up (score for the iFolks! Thanks Steve!) and heads out for another day among the trash heaps. He brings a battered coolie along with him to save the things he likes: a ping-pong paddle, a plastic dinosaur toy, a light bulb, a small seedling saved in an old boot. He ends each day in his home, watching an old video tape of Hello Dolly! - an important motif throughout the film.

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Only plushophiles busy “yiffing” and “scritching” could have missed Jack Black delivering a low roundhouse kick before a pack of 40-50 burly extras in panda suits at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The not-so-high kicks and sloppy karate chops were delivered during a well-attended press-op to notify the world of the international premiere of “Kung Fu Panda.”

“And now I will teach you kung fu,” Jack told the crowd of assembled paparazzi and video crews.

Black gives voice to the “Kung Fu Panda” hero Po, following in the animated footsteps of Jerry Seinfeld, who last year donned a bee costume to publicize DreamWorks’ “Bee Movie.”

See all the kung fu inaction and White’s resort wear-inspired white pants in the clip below.
And how could we forget? Black also used his day in the sun to spill the beans on “Kung Fu Panda” co-star Angelina Jolie’s growing international brood.

As Bender’s Big Score gets set to air in four installments on Comedy Central later this month, Fox Home Entertainment ahs announced that the next adventure in the series of Futurama DVD movies will be available at retail this summer. The Fate of human and robot-kind is at stake when Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs debuts at retail on June 24.

In what Fox is calling the most tentacle-packed Futurama epic, space itself rips open, revealing a gateway to another universe. What lies beyond is a mix of horror and love as the Planet Express crew encounters a repulsive, planet-sized monster with romantic intentions.

The second feature-length Futurama film will be followed by at least two more movies from series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. The show’s entire voice cast and most of its main writers have returned to help revive the series, which FOX cancelled in 2003. Groening, who also created The Simpsons, has told us that Futurama is the animated show he’s most proud of. Those who haven’t picked up Bender’s Big Score on DVD yet can catch it on Comedy Central on March 23 at 8 p.m.

http://www.animationmagazine.net

Speed Racer

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless.
His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolised, the legendary Rex Racer, whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfil.
Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), the designer of Speed’s thundering Mach 5.
When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company’s maniacal owner (Roger Allam) but uncovers a terrible secret, some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits.
If Speed won’t drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line.
The only way for Speed to save his family’s business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at its own game.
With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams with his one-time rival, the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), to win the race that had taken his brother’s life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci

Speed Racer is released 9th May

Nim’s Island

A feisty young girl named Nim (Abigail Breslin), surrounded by her exotic animal friends and inspired by legends and books, leads an amazing tropical existence that mirrors that of her favourite literary character: Alex Rover, the world’s greatest adventurer.
Nim idolizes Rover, so when her scientist father and the secret island to which he’s brought Nim suddenly seem to be under threat, she reaches out across the deep blue sea to the creator of her hero for help.
But what Nim doesn’t know is that the acclaimed author of the Rover books is, in fact, Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), a retiring, fainthearted recluse locked away in a big city apartment.
Now, as Alexandra nervously ventures forth into the world and Nim faces the biggest challenge of her exciting young life, they must both draw courage from the fictional gallantry of Alex Rover, and find strength in one another’s willingness to believe, to conquer Nim’s Island.
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler

Nim’s Island is released 2nd May

An imaginative elephant named Horton hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Although Horton doesn’t know it yet, that speck houses an entire city named Who-ville, inhabited by the microscopic Whos, led by the Mayor. Despite being ridiculed and threatened by his neighbors, who think he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to save the particle… because “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Genres: Action/Adventure, Animation, Family
Running Time: 88
MPAA Rating: G
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

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Horror. Starring Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn and Rob Hoffman. Directed by Paddy Breathnach. (Not rated. 84 minutes. At the Lumiere.) For maybe 10 minutes, the novelty of watching an Irish slasher film - one in which the victims are college kids tripping on psychedelics - may hold your attention. But as it meanders on, Paddy Breathnach’s “Shrooms” turns into a pedestrian slice ‘n’ dice feature highlighted by some visual effects designed to mime the experience of ingesting magic mushrooms.

The story involves the usual obnoxious group of young cliches - a jock, a wholesome cheerleader type, a wannabe martial artist, etc. - who, despite the setting in the misty Irish countryside, are Americans. They’ve traveled to the Emerald Isle to visit Jake (Jack Huston, son of actor-writer Tony Huston and grandson of John Huston), who’s told them that Ireland has the world’s finest magic mushrooms.

The Americans are led by Tara (Lindsey Haun), who met Jake on an earlier vacation and has a crush on him.

Naturally, the woodsy area chosen for the group’s druggy foray is one with a scary history, recounted by Jake over a campfire. It seems that nearby was the site of a boys detention center notorious for abysmal treatment of its residents, a place that spawned tales of torture and killings, allegedly at the hands of one Black Brother, a hooded figure who may still haunt the countryside.

Also upping the scare ante are a pair of drooling morons who have retreated from civilization in a big way.

Before the kids start tripping - and dying - Jake offers one piece of advice: Don’t eat the Death’s Head mushrooms. Infatuated Tara almost immediately ignores this wisdom, with very unpleasant consequences.

Strange events start happening. Objects begin to quiver and throb. The kids think they see things in the woods and begin bickering.

Is this actually happening? Or is it all hallucinations?

And who really cares?

In fairness, director Breathnach and writer Pearse Elliott offer a couple of touches - including an inspired bit of silliness involving a talking animal - that suggest they have some perspective on this well-worn material. And Breathnach isn’t simply a hack: In 1997 he made a pretty good indie picture called “I Went Down,” an Irish gangster comedy with Brendan Gleeson in the cast. But that’s a world away from this half-baked effort.