A little R&R

Review and Recommendation that is

District 9
Pre- Release: The Good

• The director of District 9 (Neill Blomkamp) was supposed to make a Live action Halo movie and came out with this short.  Unfortunately, they won't be making it, but anyone talented enough to make that had me excited
• It had been too long since there had been a good Sci-Fi Aliens on Earth film (Predator, Alien Nation), as apposed to horror (Every Alien-on-earth movie since). 
• Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson was producing it

Pre-Release: The Bad

• There was a ton of Viral marketing done for this film (try this) which hasn't worked on me since I got a call from Samuel L Jackson telling me to go watch Snakes on a Plane!
• Was I getting too excited for it?  I felt like I was being set up to be let down (Terminator Salvation/ Wolverine anyone?!)

The Film Itself: The Good

• THE ALIENS DIDN'T COME TO THE USA!!!
• Looked and felt like a documentary as apposed to some people holding shaky camera's as they ran around
•  The Aliens were ALL CGI... God damn they looked 'real' (as in the actors could touch them).  That was some of the best CGI work I've ever seen
• The Aliens name is "Christopher Johnson". I knew a guy from China with that same name. Love it

The Film Itself: The Ugly

• I get it, the aliens represent black people in South Africa. And that during Apartheid they were segregated.  And people are racist towards people who are different. And that part of the problem is the situation that was created by white people.  I GET IT!!!  But didn't we learn anything?  Couldn't someone have said "Hey, this situation seems awfully familiar! Maybe we should try something else!"
• Why must films hit us over the head that there will be a part 2?!  Not since the ending of Back to the Future 2 has it been so blatant (I'm sure BTTF didn't affect you like it did me, but for those of you who care, at the end of the film, they actually played the beginning of BTTF 3 and then ended it with "To Be Continued...").  Okay, maybe it was worse at the end of the first Lord of the Rings... You get the point

Overall: All Good

• I liked it!  It's a good example of how a small film can start out as a hidden gem, get over-hyped (the killer of many movies), and end up showing us why we wanted to see it in the first place.  Because a talented filmmaker had a good idea, surrounded himself with successful people and executed!  I can't wait for District 10 ;)

Do you have any films that you want to know what I thought?  Do you have a film that you liked and want some recommendations on others like it?  Let me know so I have something to write about!