Cinefantastique Online

Hollywood Reporter opines that Oscar Season unofficially begins with the release of Pixar’s computer-generated animated sci-fi film WALL-E, which critics seem to be embracing with rabid enthusiasm:

The critics are just beginning to weigh in on “Wall-E” — the Village Voice’s Robert Wilonsky has already called it “both breathtakingly majestic and heartbreakingly intimate” — but the buzz surrounding the film about a lovelorn robot already is so heady, there’s no doubt it will be the movie to beat for best animated film. The bigger question is whether it might become a candidate for a best picture slot.

At one point last year, director Brad Bird wanted to position his “Ratatouille” in the best picture heat, but he was convinced to focus on the best animated film category, which it handily won while also picking up noms in four other categories.

But if today’s moviegoers warm to “Wall-E” the way an earlier generation embraced “E.T. the Extra-Terrestial,” then the latest Pixar effort could find itself contending with the big boys for best picture.

In any event, the photo-real, computer-animated “Wall-E” should dominate the animation arena, which given the number of films expected to be released this year should yield three Oscar nominees.

There was some griping earlier this year when Pixar’s previous critical and audience favorite RATATOIULLE was not nominated in the Best Picture Category. Oscar voting is notoriously driven by considerations beyond quality, with nominees receiving awards because they were percieved to be snubbed for previous Oscar-worthy work. I would be willing to be that, with the momentum from RATATOUILLE, Pixar’s WALL-E will at least be nominated in the Best Picture category next year.

UPDATE: While we’re on the subject of how good WALL-E is, here is Variety reviewer Todd McCarthy’s assessment:

Pixar’s ninth consecutive wonder of the animated world is a simple yet deeply imagined piece of speculative fiction. Despite the decade-plus since its inception, “WALL-E” is a film very much of its moment, although in a cheeky, uninsistent way; it has plenty to say, but does so in a light, insouciant manner that allows you to take the message or leave it on the table. Adroitly borrowing from many artistic sources and synthesizing innumerable influences, Pixar stalwart Andrew Stanton’s first directorial outing since “Finding Nemo” walks a fine line between the rarefied and the immediately accessible as it explores new territory for animation, yet remains sufficiently crowd-pleasing to indicate celestial B.O. for this G-rated summer offering.