Hollywood crushes on robot flicks

By Jake Coyle, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In this image released by Walt Disney Co., a scene from the Disney/Pixars animated feature, "Wall-E" is shown. The film, a story of one robot's comic adventures as he chases his dream across the galaxy, is set for release on June 27. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Walt Disney Co.) Though the feeling can't yet be reciprocated, Hollywood has a crush on robots. "WALL-E," the Pixar blockbuster that opened to ecstatic reviews and $62.5 million at the box office this weekend, is a tale of robot love. Our hero is a little pile of metal and circuitry in the mould of R2D2, and our heroine is a sleeker but less personable model. (In male-dominated Hollywood, apparently even robots are subject to gender roles.) Writer-director Andrew Stanton has consistently spoken of his desire to make an emotional sci-fi... [read full story]