A few quick hits:

James Bond

In case you haven’t had it sent to you a dozen times, here’s the trailer for the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace (still one of the worst titles for a movie ever):




Apparently this movie picks up where the last Bond left off, continuing that story. (Was there a story to continue?) We’re not sure we like that idea. Part of the fun of the Casino Royale was rebooting Bond, seeing how he became the agent we later knew. So, great, we did that. Let’s fast forward a year or two, see how he has grown, how the other characters in the Bond world have grown, introduce Q, maybe go old-school and introduce an “old” Bond villain, like Ernst Blofeld or SPECTRE. But revitalize them in the way you did Bond in Casino, make them modern and rough and real.

But, no, we’re getting to see how he has grown ... in the five minutes since the last movie ended. We’re not saying Quantum won’t be great, just that we had wished to get a different story.

But, hey, at least we know that Bond apparently waxes his chest. So, there’s that.

Obligatory Lost post of the week

A friend/reader (freader?) sent this in. We don’t even know what to think about this. It’s kind of ... odd. Enjoy:

NEED A "LOST" FIX? CONNECT WITH THE HIT SHOW BY READING OR LISTENING TO THE BOOKS FEATURED OVER THE PAST FOUR SEASONS

ABC.com Launches "Lost Book Club"

List to Be Updated Regularly on ABC.com and Also Featured on iTunes

Do you need a "Lost" fix? Beginning today, ABC.com is launching the "Lost Book Club" which will give fans new insight on books that have been either seen or referenced throughout the dynamic four seasons of "Lost." The book list will be added to regularly on ABC.com, with a list also available for audio download on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com).

Also available on ABC.com will be a message board to discuss the titles, a synopsis of each book, along with when and how it was referenced in the show, and an introduction by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse. Book examples include Sawyer reading Watership Down, Juliet's book club reading Carrie and an orientation film hidden behind The Turn of the Screw.

New PopCast!

If you haven’t downloaded this week’s PopCast, you are missing out. The gang takes on sad songs. What makes you cry? Share the tears.

You can listen to it live or download it here or on the PopPulse front page. You can also subscribe to it through iTunes. Do a search for the Beaufort Gazette.

Wall-E is great

We watched Wall-E at the drive-in last night. Great movie. You ever have someone say, wow, great movie. Then you say, yeah? And then they say, you should see it. And you say, yeah? And then that say, REALLY, you should see it. And then you say, OK. Then they say, No, REALLY, go see it. Now.

Anyway, yeah, Wall-E is one of those movies. Just go see it. It’s great. And we don’t watch a lot of cartoon movies. Actually, Pixar, the guys behind Wall-E, are the only ones we really watch. There is an artistry there, a dedication to a good story, character development – they make movies, not just cartoons. And Wall-E might be there best, more on that in a moment.

What’s great about the movie is its heart. It’s very reminiscent of, and owes a lot to, ET. First, Wall-E looks like ET (someone in the office mentioned how he looked like Johnny 5 (who is alive) from Short Circuit, and while that was true, Johnny 5 (who’s Johnny, you say, and smile in that special way) looked like ET. Ergo, Wall-E looks like ET). Second, there is an intelligence to the character AND a child-like quality. You care about him immediately, like ET, almost from the moment he is on screen. He’s able to fend for himself in a harsh world, but still seem vulnerable and needy.

Did we mention this is a cartoon about a robot? It’s amazing what these guys can do with computers. In a film, you have an actor and a director and an editor. They work together to make a final product or shape a character. In a movie like this, you have literally hundreds of different people, all responsible for shaping ONE character. They all have to get every mannerism, every movement, every reaction the same.

Yes, there is a director (Andrew Stanton, in this case, who deserves an Oscar nod), but he is piecing together a final product. The artists themselves have to have a cohesion of design, particularly in a movie like this, that relies almost solely on movement. (Wall-E does speak, but it is limited. Most of the character development is Chaplin-esque in the way that it develops from gestures and faces and looks).

Anyway, here are our rankings of the Pixar movies form worst to best. This was harder than we thought it was going to be. Feel free to argue:

8. Monsters Inc.

The thing we like about Pixar, one of the things, is that they CAST good actors/comics/voices in roles. It’s not like they go out and get, say, Cameron Diaz to be Cameron Diaz. Really, what does she bring to the role? Is it that great to have Jackie Chan play a panda when you can barely understand him when he plays a human?

Not to say they don’t get big names, but Tom Hanks is an ACTOR who plays a role, not just a voice. Luke Wilson, Paul Newman, Holly Hunter, Eric Bana, Kevin Spacey — all actors first. And when they cast a comedian, it’s someone who fits the story. You get a sense that they don’t cast, say, Robin Williams and go, “OK, now, you be funny. We’ll draw around you.” Albert Brooks, Patton Oswalt, Ellen DeGeneres, Dave Foley — these are cerebral, interesting, left of center comics who bring a personality to the table. They aren't wacky, hacky whirling dirvish comics. (And, yes, we’ll get to Larry the Cable Guy later.)




With that said, Billy Crystal is the closest they’ve come to casting one of those comics. The end result is good. We liked the movie. But we just find Crystal kind of annoying. And we’ve only seen the movie once, and don’t remember thinking we had to see it again.

7. A Bug’s Life




Good movie. We liked Kevin Spacey as the villain. But this came out after Antz, which we liked mainly because Woody Allen did the lead voice, and we always (rightly or wrongly) thought of this as a ripoff.

6. Cars

This one surprised us. We’re not that into cars. Did we mention Larry the Cable Guy is in it? (Honest time: Even though we sort of hate him, he's great in the movie. So there.)




Pixar always weaves in a subtle message into its movies, not hitting you over the head with it. We liked Cars' message, about preserving the past. Plus, Luke Wilson and Paul Newman are both great.

5. Finding Nemo

In our ongoing underrated/overrated study, Albert Brooks deserves an underrated nod. He’s not nearly as heralded or as famous as he should be. This is the closest he came to mainstream success, and you don’t even see him.




Again, great voice casting. William Dafoe and Ellen DeGeneres are both great. DeGeneres should exclusively play fish. Even on her horrible talk show.

And that one scene, where Nemo’s mom dies. Well, bummer. But heart-wrenching. Cartoons aren’t supposed to make you feel like that.

4. Ratatouille

This was a risk by Pixar. First, the title, we didn't know how to pronounce it until about a week ago. Second, a cartoon aimed at kids (reared on McDonalds) all about the importance of gourmet food. Third, it stars a rat. Who cooks.




And shockingly, it works. All of it. There will be a generation of gourmet chefs that, 15 years from now, will mention this movie as the inspiration for getting them in the kitchen.

3. The Incredibles

Seriously, you can’t go wrong with super heroes and quasi-’50s sci-fi movie cliches.




It’s smart, funny, amazing to look at. We’re repeating adjectives here, but that’s because all Pixar movies share the same traits: humor, warmth, strong characters, intelligence.

2. Wall-E

We’ve raved about this enough, and we didn’t even touch on how this is easily one of the best romantic movies of the last 10 years. Maybe THE best.




And it is all about robots. It’s fair to say this is the best robot love story ever, just ahead of R2D2 and C3PO.


1. Toy Story/Toy Story 2

This is sort of unfair, because there are two movies. But we were trying to think of how we’d rank them, which would come first. Which is hard to do. Then we realized, wait, it’s OUR column. We can do what we want. Suckers!




We’d probably give the nod to Toy Story 2, although it’s been a while since we’ve seen either of them, so our memory is fuzzy about which we liked better.




And this was the movie that started the computer-animated generation. It completely changed the way we watch movies. How often does that happen?

We saw a trailer before Wall-E for some horrible-looking toon called Fly Me to the Moon about flies (ugh) who get sent to the moon (ugh). The announcer boasted that this was the FIRST EVER animated movie created for 3D. And we thought, wow, how sad.

Like, the Jazz Singer is the first sound movie, and while it is dated, it was at least memorable. It wasn’t forgotten. Neither is Toy Story. It was the first AND a classic. We don’t have the same confidence for Fly Me to the Moon, but whatever.

Anyway, there it is. Debate all you want. We’re right.