'WALL-E': A robot (and film) with heart and soul
The combination of Pixar Animation Studios and Disney continues its winning streak with this latest feature, "WALL-E," a beautifully imaginative and touching tale set 800 years in the future.

WALL-E is a soulful-eyed little robot (voice of Ben Burtt), the last remaining on an abandoned garbage-strewn earth. (WALL-E is an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class.)

Little WALL-E has a monotonous existence trudging to and fro over the ugly rubble, compacting the dross and storing the valuables in compartmentalized bins, making only the occasional mistake, as when he blithely tosses a diamond ring but keeps the case.

His most prized possession is an old "Hello, Dolly!" videotape, of all things. And he watches Michael Crawford sing "It Only Takes a Moment" to his lady love over and over, taking particular note of how lovers hold hands.

His only companion is a feisty little cockroach with enough personality to continue the "Ratatouille" trend of humanizing vermin.

When a spaceship noisily descends and deposits a sleek, egg-shaped "probe-droid," EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) (Elissa Knight), it's love at first sight for WALL-E, who manages to captivate the mystified robot with his "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" strutting from "Dolly," and then shows her the love song footage. (We wouldn't be surprised if Fox Home Entertainment sees a spike in sales for that 1969 film, so poignantly is the music and footage used here.)

He also shows her such novelties as an eggbeater, bubble wrap, a Rubik's cube and, most wondrously, a cigarette lighter, with its living flame --- the first she's ever seen --- a revelation for her and a heart-stopping moment for us.

He offers her a little plant he's found as a token, which (as a vegetation searcher) she promptly stashes in her torso, causing her mechanism to shut down completely. WALL-E tenderly but unsuccessfully tries to revive her, and in short order, the space ship returns to repair her, and WALL-E stows away.

The Axiom space ship --- something of a floating Noah's Ark --- is ostensibly manned by an ineffectual Captain (Jeff Garlin) and populated by earth's obese, passively sedentary refugees, like pampered John (John Ratzenberger) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) who lounge on chaises, their every whim met by robots who feed them and push them to and fro. The ship's main computer is voiced by Sigourney Weaver.

A reconstituted EVE tries to send WALL-E back to earth for his own good, but he's stubbornly determined to stay with her. Meanwhile, the little plant has given the Captain a sign that earth might be habitable once again, but he finds that the ship's auto-computer has other plans.

WALL-E and EVE --- not to mention another cute neatnik robot named M-O (Microbe Obliterator) --- and the newly invigorated humans must unite and take back control.

Using Pixar's breathtaking animation techniques, director and co-writer Andrew Stanton (with Jim Reardon) has concocted a canny mix of sharp humor, honest sentiment and romance, perhaps the most heartfelt since the classic Disney days. (Observe the felicitous use of Louis Armstrong singing "La Vie en Rose," and WALL-E and EVE's rapturous dance in space.)

Though the earth landscape is somber and even a little scary in its ruined desolation, youngsters will focus on WALL-E. These anthropomorphized creatures --- especially the expressive WALL-E --- convey feelings far more human than, say, those in "Cars."

For adults, there's an underlying indictment of our consumer-oriented society (exemplified by both the mountains of gadgets left behind on our planet and the indolent populace of the spaceship) and a timely environmental warning. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the ugly wasteland that was once our planet should leave an indelible impression with all. For kids, the film underscores the virtues of courage and self-sacrifice.

For viewers of any age, this is an instant classic.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I --- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G --- general audiences. All ages admitted.

"WALL-E" is preceded by a delicious animated short, "Presto," a five-minute gem about a magician and his rebellious rabbit, also from Pixar.

Elsa & Fred ("Elsa y Fred") (Distrimax/Mitropoulos)
Gentle, restrained song-at-twilight love story in which a buttoned-up Madrid widower (Manuel Alexandre) finds his horizons widened when he falls for his elegant but unconventional new neighbor (China Zorrilla). Though its central dynamic of attracted opposites is familiar, director and co-writer Marcos Carnevale's "carpe diem" comedy, which also features Blanca Portillo as the reticent Romeo's controlling daughter, is kept rolling by the verve of its veteran leads. In Spanish. Subtitles. A morally ambiguous relationship. (A-III, PG)

Finding Amanda (Magnolia)
Pungent semi-autobiographical black comedy about a floundering, addictive Los Angeles TV writer (Matthew Broderick) who travels to Las Vegas to convince his prostitute niece (Brittany Snow) to enter rehab and to prove to his disaffected wife (Maura Tierney) that he can resist his gambling compulsion. Writer-director Peter Tolan's feature directing debut takes on some unlikely topics for comedy, but a redemptive trajectory keeps the film from ranking as sheer exploitation. Nongraphic sexual activity, implied nonmarital sex and cohabitation, rear and upper female nudity, drug use, prostitution, strong sexual themes and humor, pervasive rough and crude language, several uses of profanity and obscene gestures. (L, R)

Tell No One ("Ne Le Dis a Personne") (Music Box)
Absorbing mystery thriller about a pediatrician (Francois Cluzet) under renewed suspicion for the death of his wife (Marie-Josee Croze) eight years earlier, now on the run both from the police and some brutish thugs, while he tries to clear his name. Director Guillaume Canet has skillfully adapted American Harlan Coben's novel, with superlative performances from a cast that includes Andre Dussollier, Kristin Scott Thomas, Nathalie Baye and Jean Rochefort, though some episodes of violence and thematic material may not be to all tastes. In French, with subtitles. Brief but brutal violence, some grisly images, murder, suicide, torture, fleeting distant and shadowy nudity, a brief nongraphic sexual encounter, a lesbian relationship, drug use and rough language. (L, no MPAA rating)

Wanted (Universal/Spyglass)
Overheated action rampage in which a downtrodden, panic-prone accountant (James McAvoy) is recruited by the leader (Morgan Freeman) of a secret fraternity of assassins and trained by its members (Angelina Jolie, Marc Warren, Konstantin Khabensky and Dato Bakhtadze) to avenge the murder of his estranged father (David O'Hara), who was also their colleague. Spectacular special effects fail to camouflage the random violence and glamorization of killing that underpin Kazak director Timur Bekmambetov's slick comic-book adaptation. Bloody violence, graphic sexual activity, rear nudity, beatings, nonmarital cohabitation, pervasive rough and crude language, a few profanities and birth-control references. (O, R)

Harry Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.