A good week for sci-fi cartoon nerds

So I saw WALL•E last night. Really, really good. It’s no secret that I’m a ridiculously big Pixar fan, but it seems like no matter how high I get my hopes up, my expectations are always met or exceeded. This time my expectations were only met (Ratatouille, by contrast, really surprised me), but that’s saying a lot since it’s all I talked or thought about for a week before. What’s wrong with me?

Every time I leave the theater after one of these movies I ask myself how it fits in (ranking-wise) with the rest of the Pixar canon, but last night I realized that for all the similarities in Pixar’s films, they really do fill completely different positions. None of their films are vying for the same slot. Even Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are completely different, thematically – Toy Story is a bout a toy worrying about being fun enough for his kid; Toy Story 2 is this dark contemplation of mortality and coming to terms with being outgrown. Incredibles is about family, but not in the same way that Ratatouille is.

WALL•E is, first and foremost (and unexpectedly for Pixar), a love story. And such a good one. And Pixar’s never really done one of those before, in the A-Plot at least. The ways in which WALL•E discovers his capacity for love, and teaches it to everyone he comes in contact with is heartbreakingly poignant and wonderful. And all without the “robot sheds a real tear” or “humans just don’t understand” or “let’s tell a regular love story but make it about robots” crap you might expect from another studio *cough*eamWorks. This is a movie about robots. It wouldn’t work with humans or animals. Which is why Pixar is so phenomenal – nothing is arbitrary. They care about what they’re saying and they make choices that better tell their story. And what a story.

Pixar never ceases to amaze me with their capacity for dealing with dark themes and presenting convincing and optimistic conclusions, and WALL•E is no exception- this film paints a pretty bleak picture of the Earth’s future without being grotesque, and contemplating WALL•E’s being alone for 700 years is more than a little disturbing. But, like Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo, the film manages to gesture to the darkness just enough that we know it’s there, and then gives us a world and a story in which it’s possible to do the right thing, to make the right choices, and to overcome the fear and loneliness to create something better. You know, like our own world.

In other news, it was a big week for nerds like myself – the new Futurama DVD was released on Tuesday. Not bad at all, although it’s a little bit of a mess. The plots aren’t prioritized very well, so you get a ton of stuff going on that is given the same amount of weight, and it can get to be a slog at times. Plus, I’m very, very concerned about the handful of distinctly Family Guy-esque bits in this film, including such gems as:

(Crazy thing is in the sky)

Guy: It’s a bird!

Lady: It’s a plane!

Superman: I’m out of here! (Flies off)

Weak sauce, Futurama. This better not become a regular thing.

Still, though. I’m loathe to complain about more Futurama.

Blog FAIL

I’m not very good at this. How can I have so little to say that I can’t say it on a blog, especially one with such a low bar?

At least it provides a good segue to the FAILblog.Some of them are a little cringe-inducing, but overall, hilarious.

I am so, so sorry.

I haven’t posted in a really long time. I know that to my huge readership (Ricky) this is a problem that must be corrected. I’ll try to do better in the future.

I think I put too much pressure on myself to put interesting or thoughtful stuff in this blog. What a fool I’ve been! This blog isn’t about thoughtful. This blog is about stupid things I find on the internet.

So until my next attack of conscience, here’s something incredibly isipid: An Apple commercial with Jeff Goldblum, slowed down to 50% its original speed. The result: Drunk Jeff Goldblum!

Thass nuts! Thassss…. Nnuttsz!”

The Rift.

Apologies in advance for a super-serious post.

There’s been a lot of talk this year about the rift in the Democratic party and its implications in the fall. Until now I’ve been trying to dismiss it, saying that people from the losing side will come around, rally behind the nominee to make sure there’s a Dem in the White House, and that, from a policy standpoint, we’re in good shape either way.

I was really hoping that this weekend we’d get some sort of closure on this whole ordeal, but I should have known that was wishful thinking. After reading stuff like this (Larry Sinclair? Really?), I’m really starting to worry that there’s some seriously irreparable damage happening. Granted, I assume that the people who showed up to protest at the DNC hearing are more nutty than your average Hillary supporter anyway, but with this much at stake, who knows what size a group needs to be to make a big dent in the voting bloc?

Until the last few days I’ve brushed off the idea of this being a serious issue. But after all I’ve been hearing and reading, I have to admit I’m terrified.

The Dems have gotten so wrapped up in this primary that it’s become intensely personal for them. The Clinton campaign, in part, has been running on the message of revenge, of sorts – getting the power out of the hands of the GOP and back to the Dems where it belongs. Screw GWB for messing up what Bill spent 8 years making good. And I think there are so many Dems to whom that message really appeals. It appeals to me, too, I guess. But the Clinton supporters, like the Obama supporters, want so badly to have a country they feel good about, at least one that’s led from their corner, that the desire for revenge becomes this horrific desperation. And for the Hillary camp, many of whom see Barack’s campaign and his success as maybe political misogyny/a mistake in terms of electability/electoral loophole/any number of other things, it’s torture. Why can’t they just accept it and move on? Because it’s become so personal, the fight has become so heated, that people would rather hate the other candidate in their own party – to the point of voting against him – than take a step back and think about what’s really important here.

The sad irony of this is that if Obama loses in the fall, it won’t be because he’s not electable (a word that’s never really made sense to me). It will be because people refused to vote for him. The very people who claim that he’s not electable. Many of them simply because he’s not Hillary. Sure, there are differences between the two, cited all the time. But to vote for McCain instead? It boggles my mind.

And of course, Hillary’s standing by this whole time, stoking the fire with red-hot pokers like Ickes and Wolfson. All weekend, she’s (suddenly) had the attitude of, “You know, whatever happens happens,” while her supporters and campaign people are giving hateful, ridiculous interviews and looking for someone to punch in the face.

Hillary’s letting it happen because she’s not concerned about the Democratic party anymore. If this election gets turned on its ear or goes to hell it will be the best thing that ever happened to her. If she gets the nomination, great. If she makes a scene at the convention and Obama loses because the Hillary bloc went McCain, even better. She told us so. She’s got plenty of ammunition for the next four years, and nobody will make the mistake of not nominating her again. It makes me sick.

It’s not worth it. No outcome is worth this bitter self-destruction we’re inflicting on ourselves. With a black man and a woman running in a country infamous for denying each of them myriad opportunities, there will be hurt feelings and conspiracy theories and angry mobs no matter what happens.

We can’t let it get this personal. Save the pitchforks and torches for John McCain and the war and torture and gay marriage bans and the national debt and crumbling social security and unconstitutional presidential power and all the tactics the GOP will no doubt use on whichever candidate we nominate.

We cannot afford to lose this one. Don’t throw it all away now.

Nerd Hype

The editing on this is a little slap-dash, but I still can’t wait for this. June 24th!

Also, if you’re interested, I’ve updated the Weezer post below with the official video. Good times.

Chris American Life

I love Chris Ware, and I was happy to see he’s animating again for the new season of Showtime’s This American Life. I don’t get Showtime, unfortunately, but I love the radio version, and if Ware keeps animating for them, I might have to shell out the 8 bucks a month for it. Here are two of the clips. The first one is so sad and strange and beautiful, it’s a perfect fit for Ware’s style.

Dance Dance Evolution

Sorry I’ve been MIA in the last couple days – I’ll try to do better in the future. In the meantime, here’s a pretty awesome video from Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple.

Also, the song that’s been stuck in my head for the last few days – the new Weezer single. It actually sounds a little like old Weezer, which by any measure is great by me. Christian pointed out to me that this single was written under pressure by the label for something accessible and apparently doesn’t represent the rest of the album, but I’m of course interested in hearing it anyway. As long as it’s not a string of Beverly Hillses, I think it will be a step up. There are a couple of easy targets in this video, but I appreciate them anyway. Liam/Kelley and Tay Zonday are pleasant surprises.

Gallery #4: Friends and Loved Ones

Last gallery for a while, I promise. An assortment of shots of friends and family. And one of Gary, since I omitted him from Gallery #2. Sorry, Gary.

Gallery #3: Our Fair City

I really wish I had more good pictures of this city – I’ll get on it and get back to you.

Gallery #3: Our Animal Friends

Okay, so mostly Tashi.