Double Feature: Revolutionary Road; Wall-E

Revolutionary Road: Directed by Sam Mendes; Starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kathy Bates

Revolutionary Road is the story of a young couple (Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio) in the 1950s who move to the suburbs to raise their two children. Early on in the film, they convince themselves that they can easily escape the boredom of their new lives and that they aren't like their new neighbors. However, as time progresses, they find that it may be harder to break free from the confines of their small white house.

While the book, by Richard Yates, was extraordinary, the movie is everything but. After the first hour, the constant bickering gets tiring. This film is not horrible by any means, but it is simply boring. Neither character shows a likable side, or much remorse for the unfavorable sins they committed, like adultery. It's safe to say that even though they may have been in love when they first met, that love has now gone, realized by Winslet's character two-thirds into the movie. The only interesting part of the movie is the end, though I could have seen it coming from a mile away just by watching the trailer. Neither DiCaprio nor Winslet shine in this film, but Michael Shannon gives scene-stealing performance as the son of the Wheeler's neighbors.

Rating: See It Once

Wall - E: Directed by Andrew Stanton; Starring Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, and Jeff Garlin.

In Pixar's latest computer animated film, Wall-E is the protagonist and the only robot left on Earth. When the planet got too toxic and cluttered for humans to live on, they packed up and went on a five year vacation on a space ship while several Wall-Es clean the Earth. Those five years eventually turned into 700, leaving Wall-E all alone, save for his pet cockroach. Wall-E learns human emotions by watching the 1969 musical, Hello Dolly!, but this also leads to him feeling a sense of loneliness. Things look up for Wall-E when a destructive and cold-hearted robot, EVE, visits Earth to find evidence of vegetation on the planet. But after he shows her the plant he found earlier, she confiscates it and shuts down, leaving Wall-E alone again. After she is taken back to the starliner which sent her, Wall-E follows in an effort to save her.

Wall-E has more heart than most movies this year, making it to my Top 10 of 2008. This, in my opinion, is Pixar's comeback after releasing mediocre films such as Finding Nemo and the Incredibles. Wall-E's journey into the abyss and reluctance to back down show that even robots are human.

Rating: Nominate that Thing!