SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

evening1 I learned so much about myself by watching this film about garbage! My favorite movies are those that refocus the way I see life. And I didn't expect to find that here.Following are some quotes I found personally meaningful. I hope to store them away like treasures picked from Jardim Gramacho. Vik: "The moment one thing turns into another is a beautiful moment. The moment is really magical." When a realization becomes an insight.Taio: "I never imagined I'd become a work of art." (Nor I.) Mom who lost her 3-year-old son: "I don't forget a detail. A single detail!" I identify with this."They get to another reality and that changes their way of thinking." My work as a therapist."This is what this job brought for me -- the will to change." A vision for my patients."You can dislike something because you've never tried it." When others don't choose or accept you."The moment you want something, you have meaning." The pain of searching...transformed! Vik: "When I was poor I only wanted material things." My lack of materialism comes from somewhere good! Vik: "I knew I could do the work. I did not expect to be as involved with the people as I was." Networking! "He helped everyone make good decisions." My goal as a therapist.Inspiring artist, awe-inspiring film.

jarp59 It never ceases to amaze me how people can change lives when they decide to. There are so many out there that have the capability and means to make a difference and do so. Vik is an inspiration. He remembers where he grew up and does what he can to help many who hail from the same area in Rio. Lovely, hard-working people that love their families, opportunities and lives. So many of us that struggle with daily grind and complaints need to turn to films such as these to see how fortunate we really are. I know I am, blessed indeed. I truly do care about these folks and was moved by their lives. Everyone has a story and many are not easy to hear, but they put the stories out there. No qualms, no shame. We should all be so open and realize what fortunes we do have.

Likes_Ninjas90 The title of this documentary is derived from T. S. Eliot's apocalyptic poem The Waste Land, where the world has been polluted by modernity. Director Lucy Walker isn't as bleak about her project because the film has the framework of a simple feel good story. Yet under the surface is anger, hurt and true humanity. It was appreciated through the eyes of artist Vik Muniz who obtained a new perspective on the world. He's extremely wealth and popular but prior to this film he was unsatisfied with his materialist lifestyle. On the edge of Rio de Janeiro is Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest garbage dump. "Catadores" or pickers are people hired by the ACAMJG (Association of Collectors of the Metropolitan Landfill of Jardim Gramacho) to organise the garbage there into recycles so the materials can be sold. Vik initially intended to paint the catadores with rubbish since he is adept in collecting everyday things for his projects. One of his most famous works is called "Sugar Children", where he used sugar from the plantations in St. Kitts to develop images of the children working there. The purpose of this is to retain a tangible connection to his subjects as he constructs the works. It seems to remind him of what he is really illustrating, physically and metaphorically. This same method surfaced during the Waste Land project. He discovered that beneath the rubbish were real people who suffered and sometimes didn't even know their own situations. Vik's wife commented that some of them are in denial and that taking them out of their environments would potentially disrupt their minds. It was a valid point because many of the people working on the landfill had been there since childhood. They scavenged through the enormous rubbish piles willingly but were smart enough to organise it into piles so it could be sold and recycled efficiently. They showed their colour and intelligence to Vik through some of their quotes like '99 cans is not 100' and 'it's not rubbish because it can be recycled'. His empathy is clearly articulated in the documentary. He said that he used to grow up in poverty and suggested that he could have been working in the landfill. This is what developed his connection on camera and why he chose to make them the focus of the works. He auctioned off the paintings he made of them so that he could use the money to improve their lives. One of the most humorous paintings Vik design was a recreation of Jacques-Louis David's "The Death of Marat" in an old tub.The class elements of Waste Land are its most surprising socio-political concerns. Many of the pickers stated they were frowned upon by people, who were not only wealthy, but well-educated Brazilians too. One of the common responses was that they don't care about being dirty because it was a more honest line of work than the prostitution in the area. The pickers in the film are distinguishing because of their courageous attitude but also because their stories are moving too. One of the women commented that she hated working in the landfill. She described how when her son died his body was wrapped in a plastic bag. Another woman recalled how she saw a baby left in the rubbish, which seemed deeply affecting for her because she had children of her own. The hurt beneath these people, who were so diligent towards a thankless task, gives the film emotional pull. It is a nice movie because it's about someone who simply wanted to use his own wealth, status and creativity to do better by others. It's very cleanly photographed and one of the most interesting shots is a wide angle of Vik sitting in his quarters, surrounded by all the junk on his wall, showing his isolation. This is just after he said that he was unfulfilled by how materialistic his life became. The only thing wrong with the film is that the occasional Portuguese subtitles are in a white font, which means that in bright areas they are sometimes impossible to read. If it were a Hollywood picture people would call Waste Land sentimental and predictable. Yet the importance of the documentary is that its subjects and their attitudes are real and that there are still genuinely kind and hardworking people in the world. I find that alone extremely refreshing.

Clark Richards It's hard to not be moved by this film. Although the film takes about an hour to get going, once the movie gets its footing you will be mesmerized by how transformative creativity can be for the soul. You want a happy ending for everyone involved, you want everyone to leave their metallic shacks to live in houses with plumbing, you want in essence a perfect world...no warts and all.However, only Hollywood scripts give birth to such wild fantasy and this film is real and by its own measure, the happiness we see, while real, may only be fleeting.Waste Land is an excellent film.