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Reviews
City Rats (2009)
A tale of Watermelons
The movie starts strong, opening with a dream of a character that quickly reveals to us the dark, gloom full tone of the movie. A man walking about with a watermelon, going to a rooftop to throw it down "Just to see what happens".
Despite the dark mood, what the movie shows is life persisting against all odds in an extremely hostile and cold environment - be it traveling in elevators with watermelons or traveling between tall iron and glass giants, it is as if there was no curiosity, not a single breath left in the city. It depicts the dying side of the city and quite frankly, in all of us. Watermelons deciding whether we are to jump or not from the rooftop.
This is not a happy story - for some. It shows us how easy it is to misjudge people, it shows how actions carry consequences and... it shows that it is never too late to redeem ourselves, by digging out our sins just so that we can be forgiven.
From suicide to sex, from murder to prostitution, this movie really is all about one thing and one thing only - people connecting with people. The general underlining tone is that, no matter how oppressive things are, there will be those who can give unto us love, companionship and friendship. All loose ends can be connected - 'all that I want is to speak with a real person'.
WALL·E (2008)
Best Pixar Movie, nein, one of the best movies ever.
It is extremely bold, joining what is essentially a silent movie and characters that are extremely simple yet so emotional and empathic (a box and an egg). Despite the director claiming no 'political intention', it is an extremely accurate vision of what is happening to society and humanity as a whole - we are always talking but when do we really see things? Do we truly connect with people? Do we love, cry, grow and die? It shows something that has been said in many good movies, from Princess Bride to Secondhand Lions - True love conquers all, it doesn't matter if you are a peasant or a robot. Through work and hardship it is possible to live a more fulfilling and happy life. That life is harsh and many times unfair, that many beautiful things will perish due to greed and ignorance and that we all must fight for what is good. Technically speaking, it is flawless, the art direction is great and the photography and character design is amazing - animation is downright incredible. Also, the reference to the various art periods at the end was very memorable, it was an incredible way to end the movie, showing beauty and life evolve, change, diverse, until it reaches what it currently is and then makes all that is current a part of whatever evolution is going on. I didn't cry, but damn, I got goosebumps more than once (and I almost cried). Best movie I have seen in a long, long time.