I loved it, thought it was magnificent entertainment, but also spent a lot of time wondering how much of it was a commentary on post-Apartheid South Africa, what with the AIDS metaphor and the controversy over the government's heavy-handed treatment of economic migrants. Not being overly familiar with the country or its troubles, I felt like I was just there for the cool robot fight.
As many commenters have noted, there was the Black Oil riff borrowed from The X-Files, but it gleefully ripped off any number of movies and whatnot, so the more the merrier. But I was more interested in the whole theme of the Other and becoming the Other and all of that, which is one of the reasons I did that monster post on Invasion, a movie which apparently no one who reads this blog has seen. But take my word for it- watch that frickin' movie. The worst that can happen is that you'll be hypnotized by Rebecca Gayheart's lips .
So, in short District Nine was great entertainment, probably more salient for South Africans, but an interesting entry in the ongoing alien movie meme, which to tell the truth is already starting to wear out its welcome with me.
Well, at least until The Fourth Kind comes out. They played the trailer for it at D9, but I was thinking it looks like it would play a lot better on the small screen. Seeing lumberjacks get all freaked out with no obvious stimulus looks a bit silly in a theatre.
As many commenters have noted, there was the Black Oil riff borrowed from The X-Files, but it gleefully ripped off any number of movies and whatnot, so the more the merrier. But I was more interested in the whole theme of the Other and becoming the Other and all of that, which is one of the reasons I did that monster post on Invasion, a movie which apparently no one who reads this blog has seen. But take my word for it- watch that frickin' movie. The worst that can happen is that you'll be hypnotized by Rebecca Gayheart's lips .
So, in short District Nine was great entertainment, probably more salient for South Africans, but an interesting entry in the ongoing alien movie meme, which to tell the truth is already starting to wear out its welcome with me.
Well, at least until The Fourth Kind comes out. They played the trailer for it at D9, but I was thinking it looks like it would play a lot better on the small screen. Seeing lumberjacks get all freaked out with no obvious stimulus looks a bit silly in a theatre.
But it planted the 3:33 meme in my head, thanks for nothing. I went to sleep with my Ipod on last night and woke up as "Home" by David Sylvian was playing and I had one of those unconscious revelations about life and the ultimate meaning of everything and I looked at the clock and it was 3:33 AM, which it seems to be a lot lately. And of course, my grand revelation evaporated as soon as I woke up.
The good thing about my job is that I can kind of half-watch movies while I work. My wife had rented 17 Again, which I thought I'd take a crack at and see if there were any semiotic goodies on hand. There may have been a million, but I couldn't make it past the 15-minute mark.
The good thing about my job is that I can kind of half-watch movies while I work. My wife had rented 17 Again, which I thought I'd take a crack at and see if there were any semiotic goodies on hand. There may have been a million, but I couldn't make it past the 15-minute mark.
I will say that with all of the money Hollywood wrings out of geeks, it should probably be a little less mocking of them. But then again, the teenaged girls 17 Again was made for think sci-fi fans are all icky closet cases, so maybe it's just good market research.
But I did do a bit of musing on people as archetypes, inspired by Leslie Mann. Doesn't it seem like you've known her all your life? Same with the entire cast of The 40 Year-Old Virgin, come to think of it. Go re-read my monster post on it.
I rented Race to Witch Mountain, but haven't really got the chance to pore over it frame by frame like a mental patient. I half-watched half of it, and I gotta say it played better on the big screen. And of course, there's the ridiculing of UFO "buffs" while presenting aliens as a self-evident reality. That's getting pretty tired. More self-loathing, maybe?
What else- GI Joe? Haven't seen it. Might rent it, might not. 9? The missus is interested- me, I can RedBox it. Men Who Stare at Goats? Awesome, but I'll probably rent it. Or maybe not- I need to get out of the house more often.
Then of course there's the ridiculous Pythonesque farce called the Obama Administration and the so-called "health care debate," but my suspension of disbelief has its limits. If I want to watch a stupid cartoon, I'll put on American Dad.
But I did do a bit of musing on people as archetypes, inspired by Leslie Mann. Doesn't it seem like you've known her all your life? Same with the entire cast of The 40 Year-Old Virgin, come to think of it. Go re-read my monster post on it.
I rented Race to Witch Mountain, but haven't really got the chance to pore over it frame by frame like a mental patient. I half-watched half of it, and I gotta say it played better on the big screen. And of course, there's the ridiculing of UFO "buffs" while presenting aliens as a self-evident reality. That's getting pretty tired. More self-loathing, maybe?
What else- GI Joe? Haven't seen it. Might rent it, might not. 9? The missus is interested- me, I can RedBox it. Men Who Stare at Goats? Awesome, but I'll probably rent it. Or maybe not- I need to get out of the house more often.
Then of course there's the ridiculous Pythonesque farce called the Obama Administration and the so-called "health care debate," but my suspension of disbelief has its limits. If I want to watch a stupid cartoon, I'll put on American Dad.
