There are so many weak movies based on musicians and some sort of reason to “get the old band together,” but this one came before all of them. It’s a great story with some excellent acting to boot.

After reading your very well-written review, though, it definitely seems I was missing out! I definitely never watched it enough to see how it all fit together.

I would definitely say the visuals and effects are the main selling point, but I wouldn’t dismiss the plot as simple cliches, either. The social and imperialist commentary can be interpreted differently, but I definitely got something out of it.

And James Cameron’s vision and the incredible amount of work he put into the idea surpasses just about every other film.

I think what makes it different in my eyes is the fact that the participants are already extremely good chefs put into some very stressful situations. Before I watched much, I figured it was full of novices trying to become a chef. I think this type of authenticity really sets it apart from some other reality shows.

I thought John Lithgow did an amazing job in his role: his voice and mannerisms seemed to fit his “alien” character perfectly. The entire cast, though, was very solid.

Today, when anyone talks about watching “30 Rock” my brain actually first thinks back to “3rd Rock!”

Pixar’s animation in this is seriously awesome, honestly most of it blew me away.

WALL-E himself is also surprisingly cute.

I’d love there to be a sequel, hopefully there will be even though I haven’t heard anything about one =(

I only recently found out it was based on a novel, so I will have to try and read that soon