Pixar pathos and box-office gold
I probably shouldn't admit that I'm kind of neutral on WALL*E , Pixar's latest animated feature about a couple of robots that rescue humanity. It scores 98 percent on my favorite film site, rottentomatoes.com , and even jaded critics are deploying phrases like "entertaining and inspiring," "flat-out thrilling" and "almost heart-breakingly tender." Only a small-hearted, small-minded man would conclude his Netflix screening with the phrase, "Well, I've seen worse." I loved Toy Story , Pixar's first computer-animated film about a lovable loser who eventually wins. But that's been 14 years ago, and every holiday season since we've seen a replicating mob of computer-animated films -- all about lovable losers who eventually win. For me, the cynical regularity of the plots and release dates of these things has become tiresome. WALL*E isn't a bad movie. In many ways, it's pretty good -- as long as you accept that robo...