'Forever students'

'Gold digger'

'How embarrassing'

'This ruling ignores the fact'

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Lisa Cook is suing President Donald Trump over his Aug. 25 decision to fire her. In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in the federal district court in Washington, D.C., Cook’s attorneys argue that Trump removing Cook from her role is “unprecedented and illegal.” The lawsuit comes after Trump said Monday that […]

Column The SF Path to Higher Consciousness Wall-E and the Value of Embracing the Unknown and Unpredictable Pixar’s finest film reminds us that living in fear of the unknown is no way to live. By Dan Persons | Published on August 28, 2025 Credit: Pixar Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Pixar Mickey Mouse. Charlie Chaplin. Maybe a little Buster Keaton… The names started crossing my mind during one small moment in the film Wall-E (2008). It’s just after Wall-E (Ben Burtt), the hangdog little trash-compacter robot, has landed on the Axiom, the arkship carrying the helplessly sedentary descendants of Earth’s final survivors. A bunch of custodial robots have been dispatched to scrub down a squad of recently returned probe bots—including Wall-E’s new crush, EVE (Elissa Knight)—that were dispatched to Earth to find proof that the environmentally ravaged planet was ready to support life. By dint of having literally hitched a ride on EVE’s transport ship, Wall-E lands in the line-up, panicking M-O, a diminutive, temperamental scrub-bot, who endeavors to clean up the filth-caked stowaway despite Wall-E’s best efforts to discourage it. Annoyed, and perhaps a bit amused by the obstinate scrubber, Wall-E first tracks a bit of grime on the ship’s pristine deck, triggering a scolding from M-O, then on M-O itself, prompting a mini-tantrum. It’s a funny bit, one that highlights director Andrew Stanton’s knack for imbuing these machines with their own distinctive personalities, purely through their sounds and behaviors. M-O’s staccato motions and fussy squeaks nail its obsessive nature, while Wall-E’s teasing conjures up impressions both of the Little Tramp at his most impertinent, and the World’s Most Famous Mouse back in his early, Steamboat Willie days. But it’s what follows that stands out as a crucial moment in the film. Catching sight of EVE being carted away on a hover sled, Wall-E quickly trundles after her, cutting across the highly polished floor and leaving a trail of grime behind. That’s a dilemma for little M-O: Its protocol demands that it scrub up the mess, but to do so would mean it has to leave an illuminated pathway, one of the many tracks that all of the ship’s mobile mechanisms must follow. After gathering up the courage, M-O hops off the line and, after discovering that no technological Big Bad Wolf is waiting to devour foolish robots that stray from the path, cheerily congratulates itself and rolls off to fulfill its mission—a mission it will eagerly carry out for the remainder of the film. (For those of you up on CG animated features, M-O is essentially the Scrat of Wall-E.) Wall-E is well-known for its big idea, the central premise that’s quite radical for a mainstream film: That rampant consumerism could be the death of both the Earth and humanity itself. Seven hundred years after the Axiom took off from our home planet, Wall-E is the last, lonely robot trying to clean up the mess left behind, dutifully scooping up refuse, compacting it into cubes, and depositing them into orderly, ever-growing corrals. Meanwhile, the thousands, or tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of Axiom passengers (Google’s AI Overview says the ship started out with around 600,000, but the population has dwindled down to about 15,000—take that as you will) are coddled in their cruise-ship paradise, zooming around on hovering lounge chairs and having their every need attended to, except maybe the need for regular rounds of aerobics. There’s a subtle dig here at Disney Company founder Walt’s vision of a prosperous, corporate-backed future, with children indoctrinated into the mindthink of host mega-store Buy ‘n’ Large, and composer Thomas Newman laying in a gentle, bubbly music track that’s eerily reminiscent of Disney World’s former glimpse-into-the-future dark ride, Horizons. But in M-O boldly stepping outside of protocol, and in how Wall-E inadvertently inspires it to do so, there’s another message to be divined. The Axiom was only supposed to be away from Earth for five years while a brigade of Wall-Es performed their clean-up job, and so the trip was configured as a kind of extended holiday. When that timeline turned out to be grievously optimistic—you think someone would’ve looked at piles of detritus towering over skyscrapers and said, “Y’know, this might require a bit more work”—a message was sent out to the ship saying essentially, “It’s impossible. Don’t come back.” The ship’s systems, powered by an AI called Auto (MacInTalk—one of the many Apple references in the film), seemingly translated that to “Keep on doing what you do.” The result: Seven centuries of idle lounging, meals in a cup, and social isolation to the point where passengers sitting next to each other still communicate via video chat. (If, as it seems, the real-world Google AI pulled the aforementioned population numbers from some random person’s musings, the closed system that has developed aboard the Axiom suggests that the analysis of severe attrition might not be far off.) And then into the system comes Wall-E. Among the sleek and user-friendly equipment tending to the Axiom and its passengers, he is the proverbial square peg in a round hole. He is battered and dirty. He ignores the pre-programed pathways, he’s mischievous, he’s chaotic. None of these behaviors are deliberate, exactly—Wall-E’s power-bank is pure, he just isn’t aware of how much he’s disrupting the arkship’s stultified system. It leads to such small but telling moments as Wall-E waving to a bureaucratic robot, and the bot responding by wagging one digit, then staring at the appendage, not quite sure what kind of interaction it has just participated in. The next time the two machines encounter each other, the bureaucrat gives Wall-E a full, earnest wave. In a robot’s evolution from reflexive action to understanding that action’s meaning, Wall-E advances a profound idea. As Wall-E barrels through the Axiom—causing a 45-bot pile-up in a corridor, triggering a veritable revolution of malfunctioning machines, dumping humans willy-nilly out of their hover-chairs—the chaos isn’t occurring just for chaos’ sake. The bots discover that strict adherence to the path is not mandatory, and that their flaws and their weirdnesses will not result in automatic ostracism or penalization. Meanwhile, the humans are awakened to their centuries-old stagnation and their unthinking isolation. (In one touching moment, one passenger, Mary (Kathy Najimy), her vid-chat disrupted by Wall-E, gazes up in wonder at the ship’s atrium and is startled to discover the ship has a swimming pool.) Wall-E becomes a catalyst, the factor that, when introduced into a system, results in dramatic change. Having noticed a bit of dirt left behind after shaking Wall-E’s hand, the Axiom’s captain (Jeff Garlin) is inspired to research the Earth that was left behind, and awakens a desire to return. The humans turn to look at one another without the intermediary of a video feed and reestablish long-missing connections. When EVE first meets Wall-E on Earth, the bot’s guileless earnestness lures her away from her corp-imposed isolation (watching her soaring above the ravaged Earth once out of sensor-shot of her masters and unaware Wall-E is spying on her is both beautiful and heart-breaking, at least until she tries to blow up the hapless compactor-bot into smithereens). None of this deliberate or calculated on Wall-E’s part. Like Mickey Mouse, like the Little Tramp, he’s just trying to be himself and get along in the world. But his interactions (and interference) within the closed environment of the Axiom—all in the service of finding and courting EVE—radiate out to transform an entire ecosystem. He is the random seed that affects dramatic change. It’s easy to trace the fear and suspicion that fuel xenophobia and intolerance to a basic fear of the unknown: An outsider is an unknown quantity, presenting risks that cannot immediately be assessed. Caution is a logical response, but let it get out of control, let it get to the point where a society closes its doors, and attempts to expunge the Other—without thought to who they may be or what they might have to offer—and the danger is not only to the stranger, but to those who put the need to expel them above all other priorities. When Auto does all it can to prevent EVE from delivering the news that the Earth is ready for repopulation, heedless of the harm it’s doing to those it means to protect (Auto is the villain in the same way HAL 9000 was the villain), Wall-E, the outsider, is there to throw a spanner into the AI’s actions and remind Axiom’s inhabitants of why they exist to begin with.  Close off your system, hermetically seal it inside a giant spaceship or within a discriminatory worldview that views any foreigner as a malignancy, and the only future left is one of decay and degradation. There are risks involved in inviting in the X factor, but there is also potential to transform what has stagnated, to elevate our thinking, to revivify our world. The Wall-E of Wall-E stumbles into an environment that’s complacent, well-cared-for, and dying, and by dint of just being him—an earnest, friendly, and bumbling robot—helps those he encounters to rediscover their humanity, and their need for something more. He is a catalyst for change; he should remind us of the danger of reflexively rejecting those who will trigger our own growth. Wall-E was the penultimate title in Pixar’s golden age (followed by Up in 2009). It may be the studio’s most daring offering, relying more on (frequently stunning) visuals than dialogue, offering comic beats that are shockingly fast-paced without being overwhelming, advancing themes that one doesn’t usually encounter in a film receiving wide release. It may in fact be the studio’s greatest effort—I’m not sure they’ve ever again taken such risks and reaped such rewards. But what do you think? Is Wall-E the extraordinary achievement I hold it to be? Are there Pixar titles that surpass it? (Anybody nominating Cars 2 shall be promptly escorted to the airlock.) The comments section is there for your input. Just be friendly and polite—introducing an X factor or a new perspective is not an excuse for nastiness. The post <i>Wall-E</i> and the Value of Embracing the Unknown and Unpredictable appeared first on Reactor.

News Bugonia Bugonia Trailer: Emma Stone Is Totally Not an Alien in Yorgos Lanthimos’ New Film But what do the bees have to do with anything??!? By Molly Templeton | Published on August 28, 2025 Screenshot: Focus Features Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Focus Features Every new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is cause for celebration. We have celebrated Dogtooth, and The Favourite, and Poor Things, and now we will celebrate his next film, Bugonia, which was recently described by star Emma Stone as “really fascinating and moving, funny and fucked up, and alive.” This is a) a pretty perfect way to describe the director’s work in general and b) a phrase I personally think sounds like a rousing endorsement. Bugonia was initially described as a remake of the Korean film Save the Green Planet!, but recent reports say the movie—which has a screenplay by Succession writer Will Tracy, and was originally developed by Ari Aster—is instead “inspired” by Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 film. The offered synopsis says only, “Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.” You can see, maybe, where they might get this idea; plenty of CEOs do give off a strong sense of being unconcerned with the fate of humanity. Though the world seen in the trailer seems relatively normal, the film apparently presents something of a dystopia. However, Lanthimos noted in a recent press conference that the dystopian elements aren’t really a stretch. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lanthimos said: “Again, unfortunately, not much of the dystopia in this film is very fictional. A lot of it is very reflective of the real world,” he said, adding that when one hears the word dystopia, people often think of an image of the future and whatever event has happened to civilization. “If anything, this film says this is happening now. Actually, it became more relevant as time went by. Humanity is facing a reckoning very soon. People need to choose the right path, otherwise, I don’t know how much time [left] with everything that’s happening in the world, with technology, AI, with wars, climate change, the denial of all these things and how desensitized we’ve become to all of these things. [The movie] is more of a reflection of our times and hopefully it will trigger people to think about what’s happening today, all around the world.” Bugonia also stars Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis as Stone’s kidnappers. It’s in theaters October 24th.[end-mark] The post <i>Bugonia</i> Trailer: Emma Stone Is Totally Not an Alien in Yorgos Lanthimos’ New Film appeared first on Reactor.

Vice President JD Vance spoke out Thursday morning against what he sees as attacks on prayer in the wake of the deadly shooting at Minnesota’s Annunciation Catholic School. “It is shocking to me that so many left-wing politicians attack the idea of prayer in response to a tragedy,” wrote Vance, himself a convert to Roman Catholicism, on X. “Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action. We pray because our hearts are broken and we believe that God is listening.” It is shocking to me that so many left wing politicians attack the idea of prayer in response to a tragedy.Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action. We pray because our hearts are broken and we believe that God is listening.— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 28, 2025 “Exactly,” responded White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to his post. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has repeatedly urged the public to not be content with condolences and prayers. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends,” he told the press after the shooting. In a later appearance on CNN, Frey again characterized prayer as insufficient to address the tragedy. Thoughts and prayers are appreciated. But they are not enough. It's important to talk about doing the right thing, but more importantly, we have to act. pic.twitter.com/RyuW607W7n— Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) August 28, 2025 “Thoughts and prayers, while they’re appreciated, they’re not enough,” he said. “These kids were literally praying. Of course, it’s on us to talk about doing the right things, but more importantly, it’s on all of us to act, to make a difference so that it’s not just, ‘this should never happen again.’” Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary under President Joe Biden and a current MSNBC news host, spoke of prayer with even stronger language on Wednesday. Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does not end school shootings. prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) August 27, 2025 “Prayer is not freaking enough,” she said. “Prayers does not end school shootings. prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.” On Thursday, Vance also responded directly to Psaki’s post, saying, “We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens. We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways, and can inspire us to further action. Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?” The post Vance Accuses Democrats of Attacking Prayer in Wake of Shooting appeared first on The Daily Signal.