district 9 | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Elysium

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Darren

Elysium is good old-fashioned high-concept science-fiction. With production design alternately evoking the seventies (the upper class satellite that gives the movie its name) and eighties (the apocalyptic wasteland of future Los Angeles), Elysium feels like a conscious attempt to evoke classic genre films. Blomkamp builds in a healthy amount of social commentary, and there’s something quite satisfying in seeing a large-scale science-fiction film that isn’t afraid of big bold ideas.

However, the execution feels just a little bit muddled. The plotting is a little convoluted, and the third act becomes incredibly messy. The characters inhabiting the world never seem organic, with their motivations and behaviour prone to change rapidly to meet the rapidly-changing demands of a very messy script.

In a bit of a fix…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Blomkamp, district 9, Elysium, film, jodie foster, los angeles, mad max, matt damon, Movie, neill blomkamp, Paul Verhoeven, review non-review review, science fiction, Science fiction film, sharlto copley | 8 Comments »

Watch! Extended Elysium Trailer!

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Darren

I really liked District 9, even if my love for the film wasn’t quite unreserved. Director Neil Blomkamp is one to watch, and the latest trailer for his upcoming science-fiction film, Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, has arrived. It’s out in the States on August 9th. The release date is – unfortunately – being staggered, so European audiences will have to wait two weeks to see the film. Hopefully it’s worth waiting for.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: district 9, Elysium, jodie foster, matt damon, Neil Blomkamp, neill blomkamp, Science fiction film, sharlto copley | Leave a comment »

Why Del Toro Departing The Hobbit is a Good Thing…

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Darren

The Hobbit is dead. Long live The Hobbit. Look, we all know it’s going to happen. Like the next James Bond film, the economics of the situation dictate that it must happen – a spin-off from The Lord of the Rings is too lucrative an opportunity to pass up, it’s an excuse to print money. Think of all the simple/theatrical/standard/deluxe/super/extended versions of the films have been released on video/DVD/HD DVD/Blu Ray. Now double that. So now you know why The Hobbit is going to happen, eventually. Unfortunately, I think we all know it’s not going to happen soon. And I’m here to tell you why Del Toro departing the film is actually a good thing.

Down the hobbit hole...

Note: This is part of a two-part article. Andrew over at the always wonderful Andrew at the Cinema is offering this article a jolly good rebuttal. Pop over and give it a read. Just make sure to spend a few minutes appreciating my flim-flam arguments before he pretty much destroys them with his advanced reasoning.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: andrew at the cinema, del toro, district 9, films, guillermo del toro, lord of the rings, mgm, Movies, neill blomkamp, prequels, the hobbit, the lord of the rings, trilogies | 6 Comments »

Reaction to the Best Picture Oscar Nominations…

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Darren

Well, it’s been a week since the nominations were announced. I think I’m as adjusted as I’ll ever be to this year’s crop of Oscar contenders. Am I happy? Relatively. Am I delighted? No. Am I as filled with disappointment and rage as I was last year? Not nearly. Does this mean we can judge the ten horse race a success? I’m not so sure. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the worse of this year’s nominations, snubs and just inexplicable nods. I’ll be taking a look at the acting nominations later in the week, because this post just ballooned. Rather fitting given the expansion of the category, no?

Let the speculating and analysis and moaning begin...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 82nd academy awards, academy, AMPAS, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, district 9, favourites, films, inglourious basterds, james cameron, kathryn bigalow, Movies, odds, Oscars, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, slumdog millionaire, the blind side, the blindside, the hurt locker, the reader, up, up in the air, voting | 2 Comments »

The District 9 Racism Debate Rages On…

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Darren

Looks like the District 9 race row is far from over. On Tuesday, The Guardian ran an article defending the portrayal of the Nigerian gangsters in the film, amidst the rising pressure to get an apology from the film makers. While I have my own reasons for believing the film isn’t racist – check out our review – I’m not entirely convinced by the article in question.

Prawn-rights groups were unavailable for comment...

Prawns Rights groups were unavailable for comment...

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: allegories, district 9, ethnic stereotypes, media, neill blomkamp, nigerians, nigerians in district 9, peter jackson, political corretcness, race row, racial sensitivity, racial stereotypes, racism, racist, the guardian, Tola Onanuga | 1 Comment »

Summer 2009 in Review…

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Darren

So, how was it for you?

Long after the movies of summer are gone...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: big movies, blockbusters, cinema, district 9, films, harry potter, public enemies, summer 08, summer 09, summer 2008, summer 2009, the hangover, transformers 2, wolverine | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: District 9

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Darren

It was good, but not great. That’s about it. I was somewhat underwhelmed by what is being hailed as the most fresh and original science fiction film since… well, Moon way back in June. Maybe I’m being harsh though. A lot of it was very good, some of it was great, but some of it made my very uncomfortable. And not in the way that social commentary is meant to make you feel uncomfortable.

Illegal aliens...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, apartheid, district 9, films, Movies, neill blomkamp, nigerians, non-review review, peter jackson, prawns, racism, review, science fiction, shane copley, sharlto copley, south africa, xenophobia | 1 Comment »

White and Wrong: Contrarian (Anti-Popularist) Film Critics

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Darren

I was away in Florida when the whole Armond White thing broke last month. For those out of the loop, users of film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes decided that they’d had enough of White’s contrary approach to film reviews after he ‘ruined’ the perfect Tomatometer for District 9 – and generated quite the reaction on the site. With District 9 being released in the UK and Ireland this week, it seems almost the perfect time to revisit the discussion, with the benefit of hindsight. Plus, film criticism is one of those topics that I take a great deal of recreational interest in.

Somehow I doubt we'll ever see eye-to-eye...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: armond white, cinema, criticism, critics, district 9, film critics, Movies, popularism, roger ebert, rotten tomatoes, taste, tomatometer | 2 Comments »

District 9 – The Sci-Fi/Comedy

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Darren

Okay, I still have nothing but kind words for the Irish Film Classification Office, but I noticed their information piece on District 9 this morning and found it hilarious. Either we’re getting a very different cut than the rest of the world or someone at the office was not really paying attention when they were watching the film:

Spoof sci-fi comedy.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: censor, district 9, ifco, irish censor, irish film censor, irish film classifaction office, john kelleher, movie plots, movie summaries | Leave a comment »

Does Hype Ruin Good Films?

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Darren

So, how was Avatar Day for you?

The word so far has been a resounding ‘meh‘, but still a somewhat enthusiastic one. Still, it’s nothing compared to the hype that has built up around the movie. A ‘game changer’, Avatar was rumoured to redefine movies themselves – ushering in the golden era of three-dimensional filmmaking. How does a film live up to that hype? In fairness, most of the comments on the preview footage have been relatively positive, but most seem a little disappointed. So, has the Hollywood hype machine spoiled a perfectly good movie?