June 27, 2008
Reel Hub: Wanted: Wacky Wall-E, Woeful Names
Robots and Angelina Jolie kind of go together, in a creepy way. Good thing this weekend is dedicated exclusively to them! Disney/Pixar is coming out with Wall-E, which appears to be a robotic version of E.T., except sort of in reverse, and with a weirder name. Why Wall-E? It's so overly reminiscent of both fish and lazy eyes. Turns out WALL-E is an aconym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, which is also a terrible name. C'mon, Disney, you gave us Jasmine and Ariel--and even Gaston and Simba for the boys. You can do better!
When it comes to Wanted, it's probably easier and more efficient to ogle images of James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie online than to waste ten bucks and two hours on a film that's not really about any discernible topic. Jolie and McAvoy play Fox and Wes (another prime example of awful naming) in this tale of finding your secret powers and using them to kill people. How inspirational. And Wanted is such an original name.
In semi-cinematic news, Madonna and Guy Ritchie are getting a divorce. Oh, think of the children! Maybe Angelina can take some of the African ones? At least Ritchie has a new movie coming out: RocknRolla, another British crime caper, with another awful name (but at least it stars Jeremy Piven and Ludacris!). Rumor has it that Ritchie may get half Madonna's money because the couple didn't have a prenup. Stay tuned to TMZ for updates.
On a more serious note, the Harvard Film Archives presents Vietnam documentary In the Year of the Pig this weekend, and the MFA is screening Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. All is not lost.


