WALL-E Packs A Real Wallop for Grown-Ups.

Like a gazillion other Americans trying to beat the heat this weekend (and in our case, the smoke from the Big Sur wildfires), I had to go see the latest Pixar mechanical-marvel, WALL-E. The critically praised film is now a box office wonder as well, with domestic grosses of $103,876,000 a mere 8 days after release.

I knew I would fall madly in love with the 2008 version of E.T. and R2D2, all digi-designed into one heart-rending creature who babbled adorably electronic coos, blips and bleeps. I also knew I would love the sweetly weird love story between the cutely-clunky WALL-E and ever-so-estro-oval EVE.

But what I didn’t expect was the absolute wallop of its powerful environmental message, delivered by a chilling look at what passes for humankind 800 years in the future. Not only did I want to sprint out of the theater and head for the closest treadmill but I also wanted to crush any cup in the vicinity.

And then there were my feet. I wanted to rush out and buy new shoes, simply to reassure myself that I still wear them.

I am fantasizing a dream triple bill at my local theater:

WALL-E
An Inconvenient Truth