Wall-E

For 700 years, WALL-E — a Waste Allocation Load Lifter robot, Earth Class — has been doing the job he was programmed to do. Left behind on an earth no longer inhabitable by humans, the solar-powered WALL-E gathers and compacts garbage, stacking the cubes in skyscraper-sized towers, over and over, all day long. But he’s not so single-minded that he’s unable to find wonder in the mountains of trash surrounding him. In WALL-E, director Andrew Stanton recognizes that his little robot has developed a soul because of what he does that’s not part of his mundane routine. Being human, he reminds us, is about the ability to recognize beauty — the kind of beauty you find in a work of art like this breathtaking little miracle of a movie. It seems almost absurd in the presence of such lyrical filmmaking to draw attention to Pixar’s ongoing pushing of the computer-animation envelope, except that those advances become part of the storytelling. As impressive as it may be to watch the flicker of a flame grow ever more realistic, it’s even more wonderful when the reflection of that flickering flame in WALL-E’s eyes represents the spark of love. The details in this universe matter, because this universe itself comes to matter. WALL-E holds out a hope that we can find the best in ourselves. CWRU Strosacker Auditorium. At 7, 9 and 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. HHHH