District 9

I watched 25 minutes of this in bed last night. Going to watch the rest today.
So far there is actually no real story being set up and it's just some guy frantically trying to get some hooligan aliens to sign a peice of paper. I can't work out if it is supposed to be a light hearted comedy or not.
Hoping it improves.
 
What's the point on saying that after 25 minutes? I never understand when people criticise a film after watching an eighth of the thing.
 
cina said:
What's the point on saying that after 25 minutes? I never understand when people criticise a film after watching an eighth of the thing.
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Because so far it's shit and I'm wondering if it gets better? I just summed up the first 25 minutes that I've seen. If I'd paid to see this in the cinema I'd expect the start, middle and end to be decent. Luckily for me I'm a pikey student and haven't paid to watch it.
Like I said, hoping it improves.
 
It's the best movie of the year, and if you've stopped it after 25 minutes then there's really no hope for you.
 
It really is a building type of movie though, Viva hit the emotions I felt after about a half hour DEAD on... Confusion, and to be frank a whole lot of mis-understanding about the point of the movie.
 
Just saw this and read the thread. It was a good film, the first half was fantastic, very powerful and I really thought I was being set up for a masterpiece. The second half though was a bit too hollywoody for my liking eg the bit when Wikus tells Christopher to go ahead without him and the caricatured characters like the Nigerians and the bald policeman. Saying that I still enjoyed it thoroughly, probably the best movie I've seen this year.
 
Holds up on second viewing. Watched Avatar again, it wasn't shite, but it doesn't really hold up when you're not getting dazzled by the effects and all you can see is the drab story.
 
I've seen Avatar twice and I would rather skull feck a diseased rabbit after orally pleasuring Dale Winton's armpit than see it again
 
Wonder Pigeon said:
Holds up on second viewing. Watched Avatar again, it wasn't shite, but it doesn't really hold up when you're not getting dazzled by the effects and all you can see is the drab story.
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District 9 was about 5 times better than Avatar, easily. While both of them have a message that is very blunt and obvious, District 9 gets points for essentially not being the Ewok battle from Return of the Jedi stretched out over three hours. There was a harshness and high impact nature in District 9 that Avatar didn't manage to nail. It looked and was acted out like a cross between a video game and a Saturday morning cartoon series.

That and I come across pretentious pricks talking about how deep and meaningful Avatar is all the time.
 
Good movies IMO.
But then again, I only watch movies to be entertained. some others seem to take them a bit more seriously
 
I left the theater after 30 minutes. I can't stand gore not to mention I was with 3 girls all of whom started crying and moaning about it.

So after a few days I downloaded it and tried to watch it again. It's a shit movie, I'd give it 0/10.

Inb4 apartheid connection etc.
 
Mockney said:
I've seen Avatar twice and I would rather skull feck a diseased rabbit after orally pleasuring Dale Winton's armpit than see it again
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Yeah but you watched Lost for SIX years. SIX years that is. I think it'd rather watch sexy blue aliens with lovely tails. .
 
Uncle Junior said:
I left the theater after 30 minutes. I can't stand gore not to mention I was with 3 girls all of whom started crying and moaning about it.

So after a few days I downloaded it and tried to watch it again. It's a shit movie, I'd give it 0/10.

Inb4 apartheid connection etc.
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And yet The Sopranos is your favorite show?

0/10 is crazy, it's a great film.
 
R.Nilsson7 said:
Is Avatar worth a watch? I heard it's like Pocahontas in space and that it's meant to be watched in a movie theatre.
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Watch it the first time in a cinema and you'll love it, because it's a brainless popcorn flick in proper 3D that looks amazing. Whether you want to watch it again after that is up to you, because once the experience has worn off it's a very predictable film - as you say, Pocahontas in Space.

You might find you're a massive Avatard like me, though, and love it :p
 
Spoony Youngblood said:
Yeah but you watched Lost for SIX years. SIX years that is. I think it'd rather watch sexy blue aliens with lovely tails. .
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I didn't pay to watch it though, and I'd rather watch the last episode of Lost on repeat forever than watch 20 minutes of Avatar again.

Unobtainium? You fecking kidding me?
 
Mockney said:
I didn't pay to watch it though, and I'd rather watch the last episode of Lost on repeat forever than watch 20 minutes of Avatar again.

Unobtainium? You fecking kidding me?
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Unobtanium was clearly a joke, Mockney. Not to mention there's a real compound called Unobtanium, so it's not as ridiculous as you seem to think.
 
Uncle Junior said:
I left the theater after 30 minutes. I can't stand gore not to mention I was with 3 girls all of whom started crying and moaning about it.

So after a few days I downloaded it and tried to watch it again. It's a shit movie, I'd give it 0/10.

Inb4 apartheid connection etc.
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You should drink some concrete and harden the feck up
 
Got the DVD yesterday at the local car boot sale for two quid. It was the second of two DVDs I watched last night and I'd thought I'd fall asleep midway through it but didn't. Not only did it keep me awake but it also kept me engrossed.

One of the best sci-fi's I've seen in recent years, it got me wondering why it's so under-rated in sense that apart from the caf, it's not been talked about anywhere else.

I liked the semi-documentary style of the film and I thought the lead character was superbly acted (why wasn't he up for an Oscar)?

Hoping for their return in 3 years time. ;)

District 9 get's a 9 from me.
 
Just seen it again last night. What a fecking movie, seems I didn't appreciate it enough the first time round. Looking at the underlying messages, especially me being South African, it really is a stand out movie. There are so many subtleties that South Africans would get yet somehow they've managed to make it universal enough for a greater audience. Brilliant.
 
Uncle Junior said:
I left the theater after 30 minutes. I can't stand gore not to mention I was with 3 girls all of whom started crying and moaning about it.

So after a few days I downloaded it and tried to watch it again. It's a shit movie, I'd give it 0/10.

Inb4 apartheid connection etc.
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Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft.
 
Stretch said:
Just seen it again last night. What a fecking movie, seems I didn't appreciate it enough the first time round. Looking at the underlying messages, especially me being South African, it really is a stand out movie. There are so many subtleties that South Africans would get yet somehow they've managed to make it universal enough for a greater audience. Brilliant.
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Mind expanding on these underlying messages and subtleties? The ones I noticed were Apartheid was bad but lets not think about that because we can have pretty explosions to distract us, and Nigerians are all cnuts.
 
Ivor Ballokov said:
Mind expanding on these underlying messages and subtleties? The ones I noticed were Apartheid was bad but lets not think about that because we can have pretty explosions to distract us, and Nigerians are all cnuts.
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Ok here goes:

Somehow everyone seems to think it is just about Apartheid when in fact the movie shows the Xenophobic tendencies in South Africa. For example, the men in the Nigerian compound are all South Africa, some them speak Zulu during the movie and only the leader is seemingly Nigerian. Furthermore, it becomes clearer that these people/prawns don't belong here and need to return to their homelands. This equates to the local situation in SA where you have a lot of Zimbabwean and Somalian refugees in South Africa. There is a large number of Nigerians and they seem to be involved in anything 'black market' related hence the Nigerian compound in the movie. If you look at the scene of the crowds when the alien ship leaves at the end, notice the different races in the crowd. It's not just the whites but the blacks as well, see the scene where Wikus wants to buy food in the shop and his mug shot is shown.

The Apartheid references is just there to drive home the point of the new type of Apartheid which in reality seems to be developing in my country, Xenophobia.
 
Ivor Ballokov said:
Mind expanding on these underlying messages and subtleties? The ones I noticed were Apartheid was bad but lets not think about that because we can have pretty explosions to distract us, and Nigerians are all cnuts.
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To be fair...all the villians in the film are crudely 1-dimensional. The Task Force commander and Wikus' father in law for example are just as bad as the "Nigerians"

It's still a good film. Those who didn't like it seemed to want more of a political message from this film but not any semblance of one from, say, Predator. This film at least tried to (and as Stretch says, some of which was probably under the radar for Non-SAs) whilst building a strong central character and a good action yarn.....for which I think it deserves some credit. To get too bogged down in the politics it would've been a far less enjoyable movie, and probably wouldn't have featured any action at all.

So you can either see it as a political film which sold out...or an action film with a deeper meaning. I chose to see it as the latter, since the former is an unfair way to judge it IMO..since it never really tried to be that, and clearly wanted to be the latter.
 
Stretch said:
Ok here goes:

Somehow everyone seems to think it is just about Apartheid when in fact the movie shows the Xenophobic tendencies in South Africa. For example, the men in the Nigerian compound are all South Africa, some them speak Zulu during the movie and only the leader is seemingly Nigerian. Furthermore, it becomes clearer that these people/prawns don't belong here and need to return to their homelands. This equates to the local situation in SA where you have a lot of Zimbabwean and Somalian refugees in South Africa. There is a large number of Nigerians and they seem to be involved in anything 'black market' related hence the Nigerian compound in the movie. If you look at the scene of the crowds when the alien ship leaves at the end, notice the different races in the crowd. It's not just the whites but the blacks as well, see the scene where Wikus wants to buy food in the shop and his mug shot is shown.

The Apartheid references is just there to drive home the point of the new type of Apartheid which in reality seems to be developing in my country, Xenophobia.
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Which would have made for a good film if they didn't decide about an hour in to forget about all these issues to blow stuff up. They took the easy way out in my opinion when they could have really explored the issues that you talk about.
 
Ivor Ballokov said:
Which would have made for a good film if they didn't decide about an hour in to forget about all these issues to blow stuff up. They took the easy way out in my opinion when they could have really explored the issues that you talk about.
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Not really. Just how would you have done so if you didn't even pick up any of it in the first hour? The beauty of the movie is in the fact that they've balanced it for someone who doesn't care about the underlying message and for someone who does, like myself. I've been satisfied both ways. I actually thought it was quite hilarious the way people/things blew up. Plus they do take it further in that Wikus repents and fights of the MNU and helps the 'aliens'. This is not uncommon in South Africa as the majority of South Africans want to help their fellow Africans or 'aliens' as depicted in the movie.
 
Ivor Ballokov said:
Which would have made for a good film if they didn't decide about an hour in to forget about all these issues to blow stuff up. They took the easy way out in my opinion when they could have really explored the issues that you talk about.
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See my post above...Viewing it as a political film which sold out is hugely unfair...It isn't trying to be that. It's trying to be an action film with a bit more thought and meaning than your average one.

You wouldn't say "well, Predator was really good until they started blowing shit up" because, well, you wouldn't. It was an action film, and wanted to be. So I don't really get people who blast it because they didn't want it to be.
 
Just finished watching it in HD. I thought it was effing excellent. Loved it. Graphics were superb and really loved the ending. Kept me on the edge of my seat for 100 minutes!
 
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