Movies of the Decade: 6. Wall-E (2008)

Pixar comes out every year and just gets better and better with every film. How can a story about a trash compactor in love be a masterpiece? Director Andrew Stanton has brought a reality to this film (I know it's animated) I felt like I was watching a live action film. Cinematographer Roger Deakins was a consultant on the film, to help the filmmakers get real life camera movements All the camera work feels real and works to the advantage of the characters and story. The fact that the there is no dialogue for a good 30 minutes just makes it absolutely brilliant. A robot as the next Buster Keaton, that's crazy! The pure charm of Wall-E is what he doesn't say. The wonderful score by Andrew Stanton makes for a brilliant partner in the silence. Wall-E is just about the wonderful characters, the atmosphere and mood just takes you away. The emotion is real though, you feel for what these two robots are going through and you are along for the ride with them. One of the scenes that really illustrates the beauty of the silence is when Wall-E is returning home from trash compacting. He runs over an electric laser (or something) and a video comes on of a real person (I'm sure this is the first time in a Pixar movie we have seen a REAL person). The person looks kinda flat and fake compared to the background. It's there to emphasize the artificial of the video. We shown this in order to concentrate on the beauty of the scenes behind us. The film even offers an environmental warning to people. With a dash of "City Lights" and "2001", this film is a modern day masterpiece.