.. a funny interview with the writer/director in the Globe and Mail. There's a long awkward pause when the interviewer asks how the movie's apparent message clashes with the fact that there are millions of plastic Wall-E's being sold in Happy Meals and tossed out car windows:

G&M: This film has a big ecological message -

Andrew Stanton: Actually, no.

G&M: No? The world of the future is overflowing with garbage.

AS: Yeah, well I did that for other reasons. I just went with logic. I had no eco thing to push. I had to have everybody leave Earth, because I wanted the last robot on Earth. And then I needed something very visual, that made him feel like he was the lowest on the totem pole, that wouldn't require any dialogue to understand it. Trash is very get-able. One, you don't have to explain it - people see too much of it and they get it. And then second, it has all those human artifacts in it, so it allowed him to show through actions that he's interested in humanity.

G&M: Inevitably, someone will point out that -

AS: Sure, that's fine! But I'm not going to stand there and go, "That's what I was trying to do."

G&M: But you're depicting a future world cluttered with junk, and meanwhile there will be tons of WALL-E-generated toys, lunch boxes, T-shirts and candy wrappers.

AS: Possibly. Possibly. [An awkward, fixed-look pause passes]. I was just trying to make the best film I could.

G&M: Um, okay.

The video of CSIS interrogating Omar Khadr was released this morning.

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/460367

I'd be wary of carrying that book identifying major aircraft near a TSA agent - could be a threat, just like nipple rings and photography. Knowledge is power, the less power the terrorist have, the safer we are.

I love that show. Sounds like it to me.

In Toronto, during the most recent Canadian election, some nutjob went around slashing tires and cutting brake lines on vehicles parked near Vote Liberal signs. I guess he figured they couldn't vote Liberal if they couldn't stop at the polling station.

Funny but it's also really depressing. Sigh.

"Derrickson's previous directing efforts have ... 'Hellraiser: Inferno,' and there's nothing in those mid-level movies ... that he has any particular aptitude for the craft."

Come on!!! "Hellraiser: Inferno" was a big improvement over Hellraiser 3 and 4. I can't believe the reviewer glossed over this fact. Waahhh.

I can't be as critical as the others; bet they're just bitter because they've been dumped for being poor. It hurts, believe me... seeing your woman look at you with shame and resentment for not making her childhood fairy-tale dreams come true. They look at you and see that sad saddle-bag of debt you have to carry around, and then trudge off into the sunset, your heart in hand.

I'm so turning gay. Or maybe escorts.. hmm.

Thanks for the interview. I'm not expecting much from Gerald Ford II's administration, so it's heartening to know that at least some government officials have some sense of humanity, even if it won't go anywhere.

Thanks for the interview. I'm not expecting much from Gerald Ford II's administration, so it's heartening to know that at least some government officials have some sense of humanity, even if it won't go anywhere.

Always loved code pink's taste for the absurd. When sane and rational men are driving the world into ruin, going crazy is a good option.

I thought Tideland was great. Though I haven't been able to make anyone else think so. I usually just tell people I have bad taste. It's liberating.

Brothers Grimm was by far my least favourite Gilliam movie. But I can forgive the guy! I think it's hard to compare him to most other mainstream directors, since he generally works semi-outside of the system, raises funds independently, etc... I guess that's why his stuff generally has an appeal to me. I like that they never look like anyone else's movie, even if it's about a young girl living with the stuffed body of her junky dad while striking up a romance with a mentally disabled man.

I don't follow reality TV so this was the first I'd heard of her. My jaw dropped and still hasn't recovered. 14 kids??? Having not seen the kids I can't judge her parenting abilities - but I will say this. This idea that the kids have to be put in foster care is just outright silly talk. As long as they are not wallowing in shit and starving to death, they'll probably be ok. There are kids out there going through much worse things than a media spotlight and a crowded house and a crazy mother. Considering she apparently has money and nannies, I think maybe foster care should be reserved for kids who are truly neglected.