I'll Take "Movies That Opened This Week That Start With 'W'" For $200

A movie-centered couple of days on which I saw both "Wall-e" and "Wanted". The winner of the DJStan award for best movie that opened Wide this Weekend? "Wanted".

Those who've read the blog through or are friends, know that I love animation, particularly the classic cartoons of the late 20's through early 50's. I also like good animated features and was looking forward to "Wall-e". Frankly - and given the hype, sadly - I was disappointed.

"Wall-e" has a great first 30 minutes or so - and I mean really outstanding: story, design, and execution all work together in a segment as good as anything the Pixar stable has produced, and that's high praise. After that, it goes downhill into a very predictable story line with a distinct lack of interesting characters. I give it a B-. The new Pixar short cartoon ("Presto") that preceded the feature, though, was a fine, very funny neoclassical string of gags involving a hungry rabbit, his magician boss, and a pair of magically attached hats. The warm-up gets an A. Incidentally, the "Jay Ward" credited as Associate Producer of "Presto" is not the same guy who created Rocky & Bullwinkle, Crusader Rabbit, Cap'n Crunch, etc. That particular niche genius died in 1989.

Then I saw "Wanted". It's got Angelina Jolie acting incredibly cool and looking impossibly hot, Morgan Freeman as the leader of an assassins guild (good casting against type), nice Chicago location shooting, and enough adrenalin-infused action (sometimes literally) to satisfy the hardest-core ultra-vi fan. The logic is weak, but who cares! Call it a guilty pleasure, call it a sign of societal decadence, but I totally enjoyed this movie. Not great, but just right for the season, and definitely more entertaining overall than "Wall-e". Don't bring the kids, though. Oh, and did I mention Angelina Jolie? A definite A for over-the-top drippingly gory style and action, B for plot and post-movie after-thoughts, and a solid A+ for - did I mention...