EarthFirst.com Movie Review Funtime: Wall-E’s Green Message Is Wrapped Up In a Great Flick

You might have been waiting to see Hancock or Wanted or some other action flick with exposed and then blown-up flesh, but you should take your cue from the preschool set and go see Wall-E.

Wall-E is the latest film from the folks at Pixar, those that brought you Toy Story and Nemo and Monsters, Inc. Pixar has certainly earned their reputation for smart stories and innovative animation. But WALL-E is something else altogether.

In many ways Wall-E is a small movie love story that breezes through its 103 minutes. That the lovers in this story are robots limits their range of motion and emotion somewhat, and it eliminates the need for backstory. There is only a little change in these characters – when the fembot protagonist comes around. We aren’t waiting for Wall-E to turn from playbot to settled down housebot. It’s just sweet.

But what makes Wall-E an Official EarthFirst Movie Selection is the subtle and not-so-subtle messaging that turns this kiddie film into a powerful critique of what’s wrong with America.

The core plot of Wall-E is that a giant corporation sold us so much stuff that we littered the Earth to the point where it became uninhabitable. All the people of Earth then boarded ships with the plan being that the big company would clean up while they were away. The people would then return to a nice fresh smelling Earth. In the film we come in 700 years later, while the people are still living on their space ships. So in the most fundamental way this is a film about how consumerism run amok will inevitably destroy the planet – a very EarthFirst idea.

The deeper messages are, however, more interesting. The giant corporation is called Buy N’ Large – or BNL for short. They get so big that the CEO of the company becomes the President. They are the government. Sound familiar?

Pixar has gone that extra mile with marketing and set up a BNL website so you can get an idea of how big this company got and how it moved into control of government and news. Check it out at http://www.buynlarge.com

When all of your needs are met, the next step is “convenience.” Convenience means having everything packaged to such a degree that you don’t have to work. Or walk. Or use a fork. In the dystopia of the BNL spaceship, all food is served in a cup that looks a lot like a 7-Eleven Big Gulp. People ride on levitating platforms and have a screen affixed 24/7 in front of their eyes. They have grown so obese they can barely walk. They literally don’t see what’s right in front of them. Sound familiar?

The most subversive idea in the movie is that all of the abundance has made the people stupid and allowed their so-called leaders to control them. Deep down they retain their values and have a pioneering spirit. They are not bad people. But with constant media entertainment provided by the giant corporation, they failed to notice the erosion of what they valued most in the world – their world. They gave up community and hard work and a meaningful life for video games and big gulps. Sound familiar?

As Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times in lamenting the current political discourse, “While the real-life grown-ups on TV were again rebooting Vietnam, the kids at “Wall-E” were in deep contemplation of a world in peril — and of the future that is theirs to make what they will of it. Compare any 10 minutes of the movie with 10 minutes of any cable-news channel, and you’ll soon be asking: Exactly who are the adults in our country and who are the cartoon characters?

I think we know the answer to that.

Michael Hoffman is President of EarthFirst.com and CEO of See3 Communications.

Green Thriller ‘Burn Up’ Too Hot for TV, or So Bad Nobody Wants it?

British-Canadian co-production Burn Up has alternately had gushing reviews in the British press and giggles here in America at the overly dramatic trailer. Treehugger wonders whether the plot is just too controversial for American TV, while Ecorazzi noted that the tone of the voiceover and music might be a signal of B-movie status.

From Treehugger:

Some conspiracy theorists suggest that “Burn Up” is only available in Canada or Britain because the content is too controversial and anti-big oil, and too hot for the American networks to touch; Others point out that it is a British-Canadian co-production and therefore it is logical that Canadians get to see it first. Conspiracy or not, this might have been pitched as Al Gore meets John Grisham, with Rupert Penry-Jones and Neve Campbell smack in the middle of a pileup of Bradley Whitford (of West Wing fame) as a lobbyist, oil executives, environmental activists and politicians stabbing each other in the back or blowing each other up. Rupert Penry-Jones is terrific as the head of Arrow Oil, who quickly finds out that things are not quite what they seem. Kate Taylor at the Globe and Mail writes “This new thriller is hot, hot, hot!” ::Globe and Mail More tomorrow after Part II.

Watch the trailer, below, and form your own opinion. “Friends become enemies in a deadly game of greed and conspiracy!” Dun dun dun!

Link [Treehugger] + [Ecorazzi] + [Canada.com] + [The Globe and Mail]

Fraggles and Smurfs Big-Screen Movies in the Works

Fraggle Rock and The Smurfs are hitting the big screen! Not that we aren’t grateful for these two gems (supposing the studios responsible for the movies don’t mess them up too bad) but wow, is Hollywood totally out of fresh ideas? The film industry is turning into a recycling factory, and not the good kind.

The new Fraggle Rock and Smurfs films will bring the characters to a whole new generation of kids, and Ecorazzi breaks down the ‘green’ themes found in both beloved television shows:

The Smurfs live in mushrooms. Some innovative students in the real world have recently created home insulation made from Oyster mushrooms. We think we know where their inspiration came from…

There’s a smurf called Nat Smurf that can talk to animals and “loves all things to do with nature and the environment.”

Gargamel and his cat Azrael hates the Smurfs and everything about them — which we assume includes their love for eco-friendly insulation, vegetarian lifestyle, and forest-loving ways.

According to Wikipedia, Fraggles explore “complex issues of prejudice, spirituality, personal identity, environment, and social conflict.” TOTAL. HIPPIES.

Fraggles live in a natural system of caves and are complete vegans; with a culinary love for radishes.

The Trash Heap, also know as The Oracle (try to keep up), appears to be a giant compost pile. Rockin’!

The Smurfs already sounds like it could go either way in terms of quality – it’s been reported that it will be a mix of live action and CGI, a la Alvin and the Chipmunks, and you even didn’t need to see that movie to be able to tell how bad it was. But, hey, if they’re going to have live action, they could give Amy Winehouse a job – she already looks like Gargamel. Just take off the hive and put her in some red shoes.

Link [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: Dlisted

Val Kilmer Starring in Movie about Global Warming Parasite

Global warming offers plenty of nightmare scenarios ripe for Hollywood interpretation, and one of the new ones coming up stars Val Kilmer and focuses on a parasite inside a thawing Wooly Mammoth. Sounds awesome.

Ecorazzi has it:

Well, apparently, a group of student-scientists stumble upon a thawing Woolly Mammoth in a melting ice cap. Unfortunately, the Mammoth is packing a deadly parasite that had laid dormant (and hungry we might add) for thousands of years. One-by-one, everyone becomes infected, all hell breaks loose, and well, you get the picture. According to the synopsis, “soon the survivors are left with only one choice - to make the ultimate sacrifice and burn everything to the ground… including themselves.” Toasty.

Dread Central has the scoop from director Mark A. Lewis:

”I don’t consider it my job to tell people about how or why we’re fucking up the world.” Lewis continues, ”The older I get, the more vulnerable I see people are (as individuals and communities). Global warming is a very scary part of our place in time on this revolving rock in the middle of God knows where. I consider it my job to translate, into a story, the emotions (in particular the fear) I’m experiencing around an issue that is extremely interesting to me. Hopefully people will find the result enjoyable, relatable, and perhaps even cathartic.”

Interesting! The Thaw hasn’t yet started production, but we’ll let you know when a release date is announced.

Link [Ecorazzi] + [Dread Central]

EarthFirst Links-O-Rama: Wolverine Goes Green, Planktos Buried at Sea, and Maybe Crazy Solar Shields Aren’t So Crazy

Here are a few good links and stories I’ve come across this week. Enjoy! • Producers of ‘Wolverine’ Partner with Green Firm to Audit and Reduce Impact While Shooting Movies • WorldChanging: Planktos, Geo-Engineering, and Politics • Porsche Motors Fighting London on Gaz Guzzler Tax • Kentucky Cracks Down on Tree Thieves • Russia Tower, Third Largest Building in the World, Will Have Natural Ventilation • Save Time with Robertson Screws • Suburban Family Gives Up Oil Based Products for One Year • Catalytic Converters Getting Boosted as Platinum Price Rise • Treehugger: Crazy Solar Shields Not 100% Crazy • New materials Can selectively capture CO2 Links Photo taken by Flickr user Stringberd.

Bad News Planeteers, Captain Planet Will NOT Be Going Live Action

Damn. The rumors of an upcoming live action Captain Planet and the Planeteers appears to be false.

Ecorazzi was the first to report the news that Warner Brothers was planning on producing a live action movie with the blue skinned, green haired eco super hero scheduled for late 2009. They had it:

Fire up the rumor mill, Planeteers! A recent entry to the somewhat-reliable Wikipedia info on Captain Planet (I check it everyday) says something interesting about our favorite green animated superhero.

Warner Brothers studio announced on January 18, 2008 that a live action movie is to be made and is scheduled for late 2009. The movie is currently in pre-production.

Oh. Dead. God. They can’t be serious, can they? A live-action version of the blue-skin, green-haired protector of Mother Earth and his five planeteers?

But Gristmill went and got all journalistic and called up Warner Brothers to confirm the news and came up with the unfortunate report that the rumors weren’t true.

Sadly, though, I must report that I then contacted the Warner folks (and their bros) and found out that this rumor is, in fact, “untrue.”

I know, I know. I too am crushed. But before you get your superhero-tights in a bunch, consider this: perhaps by our powers combined we could petition them to reconsider?

Damn. Damn damn damn.

Link [Gristmill] & [Ecorazzi]