A week of good luck with summer movies and the always fascinating stories that come out of China.

MOVIE 90

Short Circuit
(John Badham, 1986, 99 m.) 

I kept thinking of this movie every time I saw the robot WALL-E (below) in his new movie and wondered if I was just being odd. But when I saw the DVD in the supermarket I figured that had to be a marketing tie-in (like suddenly finding the old Glenn Ford 3:10 To Yuma in the supermarket last year). At checkout, the checker took one look and said, “This movie reminds me of WALL-E.”

The similarity is in the eyes, mostly. Both WALL-E and No. 5 have really expressive binocular-like peepers that quickly win you over. Both “walk” on treads, but WALL-E looks much more industrial than No. 5, who can, for instance, do a cool imitation of John Travolta dancing in Saturday Night Fever.

Otherwise, the stories have almost no relationship. The sheer fun of watching this movie is complicated. The farcical story is quickly forgotten, but the antics of the little robot who comes alive are disarming beyond expectations. He can destroy tanks with a single laser beam, but he is absolutely unscary, anyway. He’s a futuristic weapon who decides that killing is bad.

The unique and most hilarious part of the movie is in the dialog of Ben Jabituya (Fisher Stevens), the Indian computer nerd sidekick who can’t get American idioms right. When he sees that Stephanie (Ally Sheedy) seems to like Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), Ben says, “I think her pants are blazing for you.” When he loses his job, he says, “Now I will have to smack the sidewalk.” No. 5 also has his share of zany lines, as he keeps trying to learn on his own and get more “input.” When he sees Stephanie naked in the tub, he says, “Stephanie change color. Attractive. Nice software. Mmm.” Yep, he’s alive.

MOVIE 89

WALL-E
(Andrew Stanton, 2008, animated, 137 m.)

More movie than I expected. I happened into an early showing full of parents and kids. I almost panicked, but no worries. The response from the kids reminded me of the reactions to E.T. decades ago — the children immediately locked onto the story of WALL-E and his problems. Basically, WALL-E the robot spends most of the movie trying to get close to his dreamgirl robot, Eve, and trying to get home to Earth. So at least the kids don’t all burst into tears at the end this time when WALL-E comes home. Take that, Steven Spielberg.

The Pixar cartoon imaging is rich and complex; the science fiction story is surprisingly thoughtful, and the two lead characters, both robots, feel very human. With Fred Willard doing a thankless but interesting turn as a corporate trouble-maker. This movie may be a keeper.

MOVIE 88

Hancock
(Peter Berg, 2008, 92 m.)

This is not the movie the trailer implies. It’s probably better. You may even get to think a little. If you are lucky, nobody will tell you where the plot goes, but trust me, it’s not merely about a drunken superhero getting a PR makeover. The story builds around the trio of superhero Hancock (Will Smith) who saves the life of Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a foolishly idealistic public relations man who gratefully takes him home for dinner to meet the family, including Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron). The moment Charlize Theron hits the screen the camera starts watching her watch Hancock, so you know something’s odd. Then the story goes to strange places.

Smith does a lot more real acting than he usually does when he’s in 4th of July blockbuster mode. Theron is always a joy to behold, but being beautiful is not what she’s doing in this movie. She’s sexy but a little scary, too. Bateman is almost blown off the screen by the other two, but the role requires just that. Judging from his layered work in Juno last year, I think he knew what he was doing.

MOVIE 87

Raise the Red Lantern
(Zhang Yimou, 1991, China, 125 m.)

Having just read two China-related books, one about Marco Polo and one about the Cultural Revolution, I decided to go back to this famous movie that seemed to reach forward and backward in time simultaneously. When Raise the Red Lantern came out it was one of the most famous of the renowned Fifth Generation director’s movies, who went on to make Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

Raise the Red Lantern tells the story of a number-four wife in the 1920 household of a traditional Chinese gentleman and the frightening power politics of that world. Though nominated for a foreign film Oscar, the movie was banned and long unseen in China, where it was perceived as a metaphor for a closed society full of grotesque and murderous secrets.

In the story, the camera rarely moves above the walled compound of the household and hardly even shows the face of the all-powerful master, who moves from wife to wife, wielding power through sexual politics. Claustrophobic as it is, the film is intensely beautiful and one of the early demonstrations of Zhang’s ability to use color creatively. Actress Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha) has rarely been presented more beautifully.

Following the ins and outs of Chinese politics remains maddeningly difficult. For two decades, Zhang Yimou’s movies have often been routinely praised around the world but criticized and even banned in China. At the present moment, he is in charge of the Beijing Olympic ceremonies.

Nick Otten is assistant director in the Theater Program at Clayton High School and adjunct professor in the graduate Communications MAT Program at Webster University. He consumes vast quantities of books and movies. In his description of Nick's List, he says,  "For every single work, I’ll quickly post a brief commentary — each week, at least 1 book and 2 movies, usually more. Maybe a paragraph, maybe a page. Sometimes, not often, I may go crazy and write some kind of extra, a page or so, on some movie or pair of movies or some genre, actor, or something else, or how one book relates to another or a movie or you or me or us. Such stuff will be just one click away, guaranteed." If you want to reach Nick, rather than comment on the articles, contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.

To read the previous Nick's List posts click July 7 , June 30 , June 23 , June 16, June 9 , June 2 , May 26 , May 19 , May 12,   May 5 , April 28 , April 21 , March .