The Lovely Bones (Review)

The Lovely Bones is not a movie; at least not in the sense you and I think of one. It has no coherence, no idea of what it's doing, what its purpose is. It barely has a plot. I'm still not sure if it has any scenes, whatsoever.

What The Lovely Bones does offer, however, is a tangled marsh of unfocused emotion, unclear characters and uninspired dreamscapes, all of which sum up to make a moving picture, yes, but a movie? No.

Best of the Decade (Jake) (cont.) (Essay)

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): Contrary to what history books might tell you, some of the greatest films are also the most modest. Having only a brilliantly written screenplay by the highly celebrated Charlie Kaufman and the direction of Frenchman Michel Gondry to its name, Eternal Sunshine looked to change our minds about hurt feelings and serendipitous (or defeatist?) lovers and managed to become one of the best films of the decade. Its topsy-turvy, discombobulated approach made the film hard to follow through its first run; like one of those patterned images that relates a 3D object in time, if you tried too hard to see this film, you never could. The story of a man, Joel Barish, portrayed marvelously by the still untapped Jim Carrey, who decides to erase all of his memories of his ex-lover, Eternal Sunshine is a showcase of masterful editing, as the film weaves in and out of Joel's past, memories being unburied and erased with Joel fighting it all the while. Jon Brion's original score was sullen and deep, accenting the film's roller-coaster of emotions perfectly when garnished with tracks from The Polyphonic Spree. Eternal Sunshine was not an epic by all means, nor did it have epic success at the box office, but almost six years later it remains to be an unforgettable example of great film. Why this film was important: Unique in its style and approach, this film is one of the greatest portrayals of love and hurt exhibited in movie history.

District 9 (review)

WARNING: May contain spoilers.

Science fiction either works or it doesn't. It can either change the way movie-goers think of cinema and the world around them or it can fall completely flat. The genre walks a very thin line, with one side being completely unbelievable and sometimes laughable and the other masking its nonexistent story with wall-to-wall action in an attempt to make bank at the summer box office. Luckily for us, District 9 is a tight-rope walker extraordinaire. Achieving the perfect balance of action and suspense, District 9 is one of the best sci-fi films I've seen in years. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, District 9 proves that good summer movies still exist and that filmmakers don't have to throw out smart dialogue and a deep, thematic plot in order to deliver spectacular action and visuals.

Following Wikus Van De Merwe, tasked with relocating over 1 million aliens out of Johannesburg where they arrived some 30 years ago, the film takes viewers somewhere very unexpected, greatly differing from the cliche human-meets-alien plot-line. Surprisingly, the film bypasses the usual "what are these things?" introduction and cuts straight to 30 years later, when humans and aliens must find a way to coexist. Behind the mask of some of sci-fi's most recognizable subjects (aliens vs. humans, grotesque deformations, high-tech machinery, etc.) lies a deep, thematic character commentary highlighting some of mankind's most infamous qualities: racism, greed, and the unquenchable desire for power. Wikus tackles these demons head-on throughout the film as he is quite literally put into the skin of the thing he knows the least about and thus fears the most: an alien species.

It was not by accident that this film takes place in South Africa. Just as Nate mentioned below, the film seems to be reminiscing about a nation torn in two by apartheid. Much of the film takes place within District 9, a militarized slum where the aliens have been forced to live since their arrival. Filled with pieced together sheds amongst heaps of garbage, District 9 is massive evidence of the oppression forced upon the aliens. Of course racist ideals fuel the human populace's toleration of such miserable living conditions. This deep-seeded racism is the general theme of the film as Wikus must deal with his own view of the aliens which continual changes as the plot advances.

Wikus Van De Merwe is a seemingly oblivious character to begin with, baring a striking resemblance to Murray from “Flight of the Concords” in both look and speech. Despite being somewhat of an “expert” when it comes to the alien species, Wikus has the longest to go in reversing his racist tendencies and thus proves to be the perfect character to follow. His “playful” racism, however, is juxtaposed with the supporting characters' “murderous” racism and a clear distinction between good and evil is made.

The imagery of District 9 is simply haunting. Think City of God meets Signs. To think that people actually do live like the aliens in their slums is enough to make you lose sleep. The aliens look perfect, despite the few minutes it takes to get used to them; not once was I forced back into the reality of the theatre to think “that's fake.” The nonstop violence of the second half rarely gives the viewer time to take a breath. Despite the few comedic moments designed to break the ice, District 9 is an intense film that does not get bogged down with making the viewer feel safe. Each piece of the narrative, from Wikus' efforts to redeem himself to the aliens' attempt to return home and the forces that be fighting against them both, ties together in one neat package with no thrown in side stories that go nowhere or useless characters that just get in the way. Blomkamp does a great job keeping the plot focused and every character doing exactly what they should be doing.

Overall District 9 is an amazing achievement that greatly exceeded any expectations I had going into it. Thus far it is easily one of the top five movies of the year and probably the most entertaining and masterful sci-fi movies I've seen in quite a long time.

District 9 (Review)

I think by now, everyone knows the story of how District 9 came to be. At least I assume everyone does. Well the story goes 3 or so years ago Universal and Fox came to Peter Jackson offering him a live action adaptation of Halo. Jackson enlisted a then-26-year-old South African filmmaker by the name of Neill Blomkamp to direct. But later on, the project kinda collapsed and the studios pulled the plug. But being interested in Blomkamp, Jackson still wanted to make a movie with him. District 9 is the result.

Made for $30 million and shot in Johannesburg and Wellington, District 9 tells the story of Wikus Van de Merwe, an agent put in charge of kicking aliens out of their slum. The role is played brilliantly by first-time actor and Blomkamp's school friend Sharlto Copley. Copley is apparently a man with a great sense of fun and humor, and it shows in his character. Wikus is friends with everyone, he even can talk to the aliens easier than anyone else. He treats them like humans (albeit incredibly dangerous ones), which helps us sympathize with them.


I'm not particularly familiar with South African history and apartheid and all that, but District 9 is clearly a statement about that and it's obvious even to this outsider. The aliens appeared in the city nearly 30 years ago, unable to get home, and were put into a massive slum where the population and violence escalates, just as it would if they were human. The way Blomkamp portrays the aliens' situation does make one feel bad for them, especially knowing places like that exist around the world and are occupied by humans.

To me, a lover of the works of Orson Scott Card, District 9 was like a Speaker for the Dead/Halo mash-up set in present-day South Africa. I invoke Speaker because the relationship between the humans and aliens in D9 is much the same as the Buggers or Piggies and humans in Speaker. Are they "ramen", able to communicate and coexist? The humans and non-humans in both works speak, or at least understand, each others' languages. And humans in D9 can't use the alien weaponry. Or are they "varelse", unable to coexist and therefore war is inevitable? This is left up to interpretation in Card's book and Blomkamp's film, but in both cases I'd like to think it was the former.


But enough philosophy, let's talk action. If anyone was highly anticipating a Halo movie (and I can't say I was), then District 9 will be upsetting. Because it would have been real good. The drama in the film is perfectly balanced, and the documentary-style shooting mixed seamlessly and without distraction with the more conventionally-shot parts. The action was tense and exciting, at one point my palms were sweating, which hasn't happened in ages, because I haven't cared this much about what happens to the characters in a long time. I find that to be utterly essential, and the best judge to how good a movie is. WETA's effects were some of the best I have ever seen. I said this out loud in the theater, thanking any of the crew who might have been within earshot. The original plan was to use puppets and costumes for the aliens, but they decided against it and went full CG, though in some close-ups you could hardly tell. Especially in the day and outside oddly enough, the aliens are truly believable. Their ship, too, looks excellent silhouetted against the Jo'Berg skyline.

Overall District 9 was an entertaining action flick with some deeper thinking, easily the best of it's kind of the summer. So far it's in my top 5 for 2009 and depending on one other film with "9" in the title it may stay there. And it's definitely worthy of its position.