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Gravity (2013)
A celebration of nature
It's pointless to talk about the technical and artistic values of this movie. It's obvious, and it's inevitable not to be amazed by it, from photography to acting (kudos for Sandra Bullock, especially). What I would like to point out is the movie's meaning. I just got out of the theater and I'm still in awe, and what really got to me, beneath all the visuals and everything, is that this is the ultimate movie about nature. It's a celebration of the complexities of nature, about how we, as human beings, are so insignificant and weak facing it. We are a tiny little thing among a vast system that's beyond our control. This movie is a study on the humanity's place in the universe, so it's a call for us to face the "larger picture" humbly, and see how our lives, our societies, our achievements and our problems are NOT as important as they seem to be. Look further, your life will seem very fragile. At the same time - and that's the brilliance of the movie - Gravity is a celebration of the human being, because even though we are in fact very insignificant, it is our will to life, and our effort to make our lives meaningful, that make us matter. This is now my favorite movie ever, because it's so rare to find a movie, especially a Hollywood one, that can speak so deeply, so poetically and so subtly about life, the universe, and everything, in 91 minutes with such astonishing grace and artistic honesty.
Elysium (2013)
Great movie, but not quite there yet
***spoilers below***
My high grade for this movie comes from the immense heart it has. Different from a regular sci-fi blockbuster like Oblivion, Blomkamp's works show a strong belief in what is being said, about the social commentary and future scenarios always grounded with real, current issues. Of course, the movie works more like a metaphor than a likely scenario. Just like District 9 (a superior film in every way) deals with economic and ethnic differences and showed an ironic moral play against prejudice, Elysium plays with the notion of economic powers X third world, and it works as a beautiful and powerful situation that is disturbingly familiar (at least for me, a Brazilian, the movie's universe felt very very real). The visuals are amazing as usual, and the movie only disappoints in the third act when it gets too Hollywood-esque (the nemesis fight looked too much Iron Man-y, over-the-top for the movie's intentions), and the big final dramatic twist (Max's sacrifice) didn't do the job since Max didn't have enough psychological set-up and strong characterization for the public to feel a strong enough empathy with him (unlike District 9, which was brilliant at that). So, the final scenes felt cliché and flat. Anyway, Elysium tried to be a new District 9, but it couldn't (few can). Nonetheless, what the movie accomplished still is much better and much deeper than your regular action sci-fi.