The family has been down with a very nasty cold for the last, now what seems like, weeks. (This has been particularly annoying for Charlie. Not only has he lost a week of precious summer being sick, he starts school two weeks early this year. Yikes!) So July 4th, feeling reasonably well, coughing kept to a minimum, we ventured out of our cave to the theater to see this movie, and a nicer July 4th treat we couldn't have had.

We generally love Pixar. I guess I should thank our son for this (I may not have the same appreciation for their films if we hadn't had him). "Monsters Inc.," "The Incredibles," and "Ratatouille" are all simply sublime. "Cars"? Well, you can't win 'em all.

"WALL-E" is a sweet, wonderful, beautiful, and very cute movie. It's also a morality tale of what can happen when mankind relies on technology for everything, forgetting how to do anything for themselves anymore; living virtual lives, never touching soil or venturing out into the daylight. (I couldn't help but think of the animators and CGI people chained to their computers, working, most likely, 18-plus hours a day making this film. Hmm.)

Quick. Back away from the computer.

With little nods to "2001: A Space Odyssey," and various pop culture references like the Rubik's Cube and VCRs, "WALL-E" pays homage to Americana while reminding us that we're maybe getting a little too far away from the garden. Oh, and when WALL-E charges up, you hear the old Apple startup sound. Anyone remember that?

A couple of the theme songs are, inexplicably enough, from the musical "Hello, Dolly." What an interesting but effective choice of theme music. Very offbeat, but it really works. The movie wouldn't be the same without it.

We loved this film and you will too (unless you just have bad taste).