[Eug]

The new movie District 9 produced by Peter Jackson seems very promising to me. I'm going to go see it. How about you?



According to Google images, this is what a being from District 9 really looks like.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

I look forward to it. Looks like V but the humans are the bad guys.

[Eug]

Video clips (Quicktime HD H.264)

MNU Spreads Lies blog

[sek929]

Definitely going to see it.

[RAILhead]

Looks cool, but I'm concerned about the reporter guy that sprays himself (which was totally stupid, and blatantly predictable) -- I hope it doesn't turn him into some kind of biological hybrid that will be hunted because he has some way of destroying the aliens "within" him or some-such crapola like that.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

Looks cool, but I'm concerned about the reporter guy that sprays himself (which was totally stupid, and blatantly predictable) -- I hope it doesn't turn him into some kind of biological hybrid that will be hunted because he has some way of destroying the aliens "within" him or some-such crapola like that.

From what I understand they make a hybrid so they can use the alien weapons that are activated by the alien DNA or something like that.

[ApertureValue]

I'm a city boy, but I kinda like the second "District 9" denizen.

[ThinkInsane]

I've been looking forward to this since I first heard about it. I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

Blomkamp gives some back story on the "prawns"

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

I look forward to it. Looks like V but the humans are the bad guys.

You do know they are redoing doing V, BTW? Should be out in November on ABC I think it was. I found out at Comic-Con a few weeks ago.

District 9 is a first day see for me. Been following it for months. We can all thank Microsoft for backing out of Halo for this one.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Well there's no question that I've got I've got full confidence in Peter Jackson to ruin what looks like a good movie.

greg

[Chuckit]

It sounds strangely like a dark version of Niea_7.

But I've liked all of Peter Jackson's big-budget movies so far, so if he's involved, I'll give it a shot.

[olePigeon]

It looked interesting until I saw "Peter Jackson Presents."

Might as well be "Uwe Boll Presents".

[downinflames68]

Marijuana will make this movie epic. I promise.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Wait a second! You're right; that was only "Peter Jackson Presents."

He's only producing! Neill Blookamp is directing. That's okay then! I'm a lot more excited than I was. Jackson's far too prone to heavy-handedness. This guy seems to be young and new, so now I can hold out hope that he might actually be trying to prove something....??

greg

[RAILhead]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

From what I understand they make a hybrid so they can use the alien weapons that are activated by the alien DNA or something like that.

Ugh.

That's exactly something I was fearing.

[Eug]

The reviews so far are positive, but suggest it's kinda a two part movie.

Part one is an original take on apartheid and ghettoization, documentarian style.
Part two is no holds barred alien earthling fightfest.

Originally Posted by Eug 

Video clips (Quicktime HD H.264)

Hey cool. If you click on that link from an iPhone it takes you to another page with an iPhone appropriate video. The normal page (which you get to from a computer) has various options including 1080p HD.

[imitchellg5]

It looks pretty interesting, I'll make my way to the cinema to see it.

[ThinkInsane]

Here's Blomkamp's original short, Alive In Joburg, which was the basis for the D9 movie.

I read one review (can't remember where) that said it's not only the best sci fi movie of the year, but possibly the best movie of the year period. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

Ugh.

That's exactly something I was fearing.

Ya I know what you mean but it might work. Still better than the aliens always being the bad guys.

[Wiskedjak]

Looks interesting. Not interesting enough to convince me that it's worth shelling out to see it in the theatres, though.

[RAILhead]

I'm not a big "ooo that's a plot hole" kind of guy, and I'm sure there'll be an explanation -- but the whole "the aliens are refugees and becoming forced laborers" all the while, their massive freaking ships are hovering around...that seems kind of odd.

I'm curious to see how we prevent them from getting back to their ships, keeping those remaining on the ships from coming to get them, or how we keep the ones from their race that are looking for them (if they are) from either getting them, or killing everyone with the weapons we want so badly.

Methinks this will be a movie more about making a statement than being "alien vs human" entertainment -- not that there's anything wrong with that...

[ThinkInsane]

In the alien back story link I posted above [possible spoilers below] Blomkamp addresses the situation. And of course there is the obvious apartheid analogy.

 

It's not so much that we are keeping them here, as much as it is they are simply not capable of leaving. They are drones in an insect like hive collective that have lost their "queen" or whatever and lack someone to tell them what to do. They have superior technology and weapons, but no one to tell them how to appropriately use any of it to their advantage. When their ship ran low on supplies, an automated system brought them to the closet planet where they could resupply. Unfortunately for the prawns, that planet was inhabited by a bunch of dicks.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

It looked interesting until I saw "Peter Jackson Presents."

Might as well be "Uwe Boll Presents".

Whether or not you like his movies, the man is far more commercially and critically successful than Uwe.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

I'm curious to see how we prevent them from getting back to their ships, keeping those remaining on the ships from coming to get them, or how we keep the ones from their race that are looking for them (if they are) from either getting them, or killing everyone with the weapons we want so badly.

From what I gather from the trailers the ship is out of gas so they can get back to it all they like as it is going nowhere fast.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

It looked interesting until I saw "Peter Jackson Presents."

Might as well be "Uwe Boll Presents".

This statement makes me question whether you've actually seen a Uwe Boll movie.

[Eriamjh]

I don't know who Uwe Boll is (guessing some German movie-maker) and I could look him up on the Intarwebs, but I won't.

As for the movie, it seems interesting. It almost seems a little pre-Half Life 2. What was the name of the aliens who controlled the city?

I don't care for the whole fade-to-black a million times Trailer #2.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

I don't know who Uwe Boll is (guessing some German movie-maker)

He's widely regarded as the worst major filmmaker of our age. I find it a little odd that he's so widely reviled, since a lot of his movies are ones that I didn't expect anybody to have seen.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

It almost seems a little pre-Half Life 2. What was the name of the aliens who controlled the city?

The Combine / Universal Union

[Eug]

Hmmm... Didn't know that:

"Lensed primarily on the Red-One camera"

Also, the director, Neill Blomkamp, is originally from South Africa, hence the location (although he's now Canadian).

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by sek929 

The Combine / Universal Union

Ah, yes. The Combine. Creepy characters. I absolutely loved HL2.

I wonder if they are making a movie... (heads to internets...)

[analogue SPRINKLES]

yippie my friend won tickets for thurs night and is taking me to see it!

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

He's widely regarded as the worst major filmmaker of our age. I find it a little odd that he's so widely reviled, since a lot of his movies are ones that I didn't expect anybody to have seen.

So who keeps giving him a job and why?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Whether or not you like his movies, the man is far more commercially and critically successful than Uwe.

The only difference between Peter Jackson and Uwe Boll is a few hundred million dollars.

Originally Posted by gradient 

This statement makes me question whether you've actually seen a Uwe Boll movie.

Oh no, I've seen quite a few of them. House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Blood Rayne, etc. On a scale from Troll 2 to Lord of the Rings, his movies are just above Ultraviolet (Kurt Wimmer.) Michael Bay is in there somewhere.

As I said, the only difference between Peter Jackson and Uwe Boll is a few hundred million dollars.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So who keeps giving him a job and why?

I don't know, but it's probably the same person who gives money to Paul WS Anderson (the man behind pretty much every terrible video game movie you can think of).

[Eug]

Lord of the Rings was very good IMO.

Anyways, the director is Neill Blomkamp.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Too Close To Call: 10 Ways District 9 Is An Alien Nation Knockoff

I was thinking the same thing even though I haven't seen it yet.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Too Close To Call: 10 Ways District 9 Is An Alien Nation Knockoff

I was thinking the same thing even though I haven't seen it yet.

Meh. He may as well have called Star Wars a complete knockoff of Hidden Fortress.



Sure, there are similar elements, and I wouldn't even be surprised if Alien Nation inspired District 9 (just as Hidden Fortress inspired Star Wars), but that's a completely different thing than a direct knockoff.

[Eug]

Two negative reviews... ironically calling the movie racist.

District 9 Movie Review

In utter disregard of the loathsome racist history of apartheid in their country creating the dismal reality of poverty and pending chaos today, a team of white South African filmmakers has concocted a racially coded alien invasion mockumentary in the guise of entertainment.

The distasteful joke here being perpetrated by director Neill Blomkamp, is that he fooled his subjects into talking about their aversion to the swelling immigrant population from other African countries, particularly Nigeria, and then, so to speak, photo-shopped them into his politically odious victims-as-villains movie. Clever.


Shadow And Act � A few words about District 9

But as last week’s Variety review pointed out, the depiction of Black Africans left a lot to be desired. In fact, the review was rather tame in describing the film’s offensive and regressive portrayal of Black people in the film. First of all, despite the film being set in South Africa, practically most of the black people appearing in the film are nothing but background fodder as extras with a few given a line here and there. The only potential major black character in the film, who plays Copley’s assistant, gets a few scenes in the beginning usually with a terrified, scared rabbit look on his face looking like he’s about to run for his life, and is not seen again until briefly at the end. Not exactly heroic.

The other main black characters are of course the evil bad guys, a Nigerian criminal gang lead by a deranged psychopath who, under the spell of some witch doctor, wants Copley so… get this… he can eat him to gain the strength of the aliens. Oh yes, with the witch doctor and maybe one or two brief scenes here and there, black women are virtually nonexistent in the film. Oh wait, there is the one shot of a black prostitute (of course) in which we’re told by voiceover that many prostitutes engage with sex with aliens in exchange for favors. Makes sense since black women aren’t human, so naturally they would have sex with non-humans too. It goes without saying that we don’t see any white prostitutes in the film. But we can’t have that. That would be simply too much.

[RAILhead]

Sheesh. That's crap I was talking about. WHO CARES!!! It's just a movie, but all the allegory and weight has to be added either by the makers or the reviewers.

[Chuckit]

The allegory is obviously quite intentional and essential to the story. ("What? A story about one race exploiting another in Africa? I have no idea what you're getting at!")

[Eug]

Another one has dissed the movie, because of its perceived slight to accomplishments in African race relations.

From Mothership to Bullship

It’s been 33 years since South Africa’s Soweto riots stirred the world’s disgust with that country’s regime where legal segregation kept blacks “apart” and in “hoods” (thus, Apartheid) unequal to whites. District 9’s sci-fi concept celebrates—yes, that’s the word—Soweto’s legacy by ignoring the issues of self-determination (where a mass demonstration by African students on June 16, 1976, protested their refusal to learn the dominant culture’s Afrikaans language). District 9 also trivializes the bloody outcome where an estimated 500 students were killed, by ignoring that complex history and enjoying its chaos.

Methinks the dude is taking this a little too seriously. It kind of reminds of the reviews and commentaries knocking Year of the Dragon's portrayal of Chinese. The main criticisms in some so-called reviews were that many Chinese in the movie were portrayed as criminals. Well, no shiite Sherlock. It's about the Chinese mafia in the US. Sort of like how The Godfather portrays many Italians as criminals... cuz the movie is about the Italian mafia in the US. They would have been better off giving Year of the Dragon a poor review based on its merits, rather than wasting all their time on political correct race relations rants.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Lord of the Rings was very good IMO.

Some people juggle geese.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Well I just got back from seeing it and I am sorta disappointed but I can't really put my finger on why exactly. I think it was the story which was really predictable from start to finish or perhaps because there was no characters you are really rooting for. The main character is very Borat.

I think the location also had a lot to do with it. The human city itself is absolutely disgusting as are all the humans in it. The aliens aren't really pleasant either except one of them is semi ok so you don't really care what happens to them.

There is also a lot of gross/graphic/disturbing moments in it that make you want to look away. The slums are not nice to look at in the slightest neither are the humans taking advantage of the aliens.

The first half of the movie was a bit bland and I was hoping it would move along and the last half hour is pretty action oriented but nothing we haven't seen before. Lots of plot holes also.

The end is a huge "we'll see you at the sequel in 3 years".

It was also very apparent that it was shot with some fancy camera's as right from the start it was incredibly sharp to the point where it feels like it was way way over sharpened though. Never seen anything like it.

I think most people will like it if they are into graphic/gritty action and violence without much care for a story.

On the plus side it was very well directed mixing several types of footage without it seeming disconnected.

Was going to see it again this weekend but I'll think I'll wait till it is on DVD to see it again if ever.

[ThinkInsane]

I'm going to try to catch it tonight. If not I'll get to it sometime this weekend.

[Eug]

Best action movie I have seen in years.
Best sci-fi movie I have seen in years.
Best war movie I have seen in years.

Best great big robot movie I have seen in years too.

At the beginning of the movie, the main character seemed a little overly geeky for the role, but his transformation in tone during the movie was remarkable. You'll be seeing more of this Sharlto Coply guy for sure... perhaps in that sequel (which I'm looking forward to) in 2012. It should be noted too that this is the first movie in which he's ever acted. Oh and the aliens were completely believable.

I came out of the movie thinking most of the world's humans are scum... but so are most of the aliens. Even so, the human and alien protagonists in this movie truly held my interest. It's impressive that they can make a human audience empathize with such ugly creatures (by human standards) which kind of look like skinny scaly versions of the guys from Predator crossed with slimy lobsters, yet have a storyline that isn't too preachy or cutesy. I'm not saying it's a perfect movie or anything, but nonetheless it's now one of my favourites.

And yeah, the black Nigerian criminals were totally appropriate for the story.

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

It was also very apparent that it was shot with some fancy camera's as right from the start it was incredibly sharp to the point where it feels like it was way way over sharpened though. Never seen anything like it.

Yeah, it was shot on RED, but the movie I saw wasn't so sharp. I made the mistake of not seeing a digital presentation of it, and I suspect it was a bit blurry because my theatre had an n-th generation film copy (as even the credits were slightly blurry), although I have to wonder also if the projector wasn't 100% perfectly focused.

[brassplayersrock²]

Very depressing movie.

[Brien]

People keep talking about the sequel... did the movie cliffhanger that badly?

[brassplayersrock²]

yes

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Brien 

People keep talking about the sequel... did the movie cliffhanger that badly?

Not "bad" per say but the story and the lines are made up to say that in 3 years there will be another one right in your face.

[Eug]

The story works on its own as set up, and is a satisfying ending so I wouldn't really call it a cliffhanger. That said, yes, it was definitely set up open ended for a sequel.

I hope if they do make one they'll keep the same writers. As much as the action, direction, acting, and effects are great, it's the writing that is the true star of the movie IMO. Keeping the same writer means keeping the same director, plus his friend from Vancouver. (eg. I enjoyed Star Trek, but overall the writing sucked, which is not surprising as it's the same writers as Transformers 2.)

BTW, it will be interesting to see the box office receipts. I suspect this won't make as much revenue as Terminator 2, but given that it only cost $30 million to make, will make much more money. The investors must be dancing in their offices with glee, while Sony is salivating at the chance for that sequel.