District 9 (SPOILERS CONTAINED)

Whilst it is a good film, almost a very good film, its a perfect example of a film that doesn't quite live up to the hype.

The premise is a very good one, and I like the main character, the typical unassuming office worker.

That said, the plot does have some holes in it, the mothership came to earth, and stopped over JHB, for 20 years?, why?, the Aliens have been searching for "fluid" for 20 years to power this command module, and just so happen to find some on a scrap pile, convenient?.

Why did the command module drop in the first place?, why did the Aliens stay in the ship for 3 months and not come out untill we cut in?.

The Aliens are setup in an obviously secure, militarized slum/detention camp, however, they let a gang of evil Nigerians take up camp there too to extort the Aliens and procure Alien weaponry in exchange for catfood, I mean, come on, I am all one for fiction, but it just doesn't make sense.

So leaving the plot holes behind, the rest of the film is good, although the first 30-45 mins is a bit bang, bang, bang, it seems like they are trying to smack the viewer between the eyes with so much info in the vain hope that they won't question why things are happening, maybe if they slowed down a little and had a bit more narrative it would have worked better.

Overall, good film, but nowhere near the 5 stars, 10/10 film the media have been hyping it to be.

Just saw The Final Destination in 3D

****ING GREAT.

Memento
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/

Quote from danowat :

That said, the plot does have some holes in it, the mothership came to earth, and stopped over JHB, for 20 years?, why?, the Aliens have been searching for "fluid" for 20 years to power this command module, and just so happen to find some on a scrap pile, convenient?

The aliens have a hive mind societal structure and the leadership got cut off somehow. Those remaining, with the exception of CJ and his bud, are sort of mindless drones for the most part--or at least more mindless than those who were running the ship.

Quote :

Why did the command module drop in the first place?, why did the Aliens stay in the ship for 3 months and not come out untill we cut in?

See above. The command module dropped because CJ was smart enough to figure out that it needed to be hidden while they gathered the fuel to return home (which was contained in various pieces of alien tech in less readily accessible form).

Quote :

The Aliens are setup in an obviously secure, militarized slum/detention camp, however, they let a gang of evil Nigerians take up camp there too to extort the Aliens and procure Alien weaponry in exchange for catfood, I mean, come on, I am all one for fiction, but it just doesn't make sense.

I think of this mainly as the laziness that sets in after decades of what feels like very put-upon caring for the "prawns." (And I'm sure the Nigerians pay MNU [or whoever] some under the table money to keep their operation afloat. Corruption!) And it's not like there Nigerian gangs would have been out of place in past or current South African slums, which is clearly what the allegory was going for.

Hmmm.......do you not think the narrative should have explained in a bit more depth the above points?.

I am still confused how, and why, the fluid was found, after 20 years, on a scrapheap.

Don't get me wrong, its a good film, but the plot holes are gaping.

I was under the impression that the amount of fluid needed to fly home was a rather large amount in comparison to how much fluid is in the alien "parts" therefor it took them 20 years to come up with this amount.

Never the less, brilliant film, It was a good watch and eh, I wonder how long it will be before District 10 is out...

Just watched Appaloosa yesterday. Western from 2008. It was awesome

Trailer

Eagle Eye was reasonable, Watchmen was very good.

Quote from danowat :

Don't get me wrong, its a good film, but the plot holes are gaping.

Not telling everything is not the same as gaping.

Yes, it's convenient that one of the tag lines is 'There's a lot of secrets in District 9' but come on, we can't solve how two sky scrapes came tumbling down like a deck of cards and you want movies to be idiot proof?

Not idiot proof per say, but at least have some conherence, rather than just hoping the audience doesn't ask any questions.

The story is incomplete, there are areas that could have, and should have, been focused on more, we are asked to take too much "on faith".

I am still perplexed at this "fluid" thing, they have been searching for it for 20 years, and they find it on a scrap pile, where did it come from?.

Like I said, its a good film, but you can't argue it doesn't have plot holes.

Quote from danowat :

Not idiot proof per say, but at least have some conherence, rather than just hoping the audience doesn't ask any questions.

The story is incomplete, there are areas that could have, and should have, been focused on more, we are asked to take too much "on faith".

I am still perplexed at this "fluid" thing, they have been searching for it for 20 years, and they find it on a scrap pile, where did it come from?.

Like I said, its a good film, but you can't argue it doesn't have plot holes.

Don't know about the plot hole but at least let me clarify it a bit for you...The fluid was stored in that cylinder over the 20 years. This fluid was the product of the liquid they found in pieces of their own tech. If you notice well, when we see them finding the last piece, they empty the can but only a drop comes out as the final product of the chemical reactions, filling subsequently what has taken 20 years to fill drop by drop. I guess this fluid must have been some sort of alien fuel that is used in different parts (small machines, strange tech), but needed to be condensed in order to be able to power the ship...

Christ, need I say more?.

The other thing, how do "we" understand the Aliens language, and vice versa, its quite clear that boths races understand each other, what did they do, sit down in schools and drum out some lessons?.

How did they manage to force the aliens into District 9 and basically taking away their power? They had much more powerful weapons, why didn't they use 'em?

How can the alien ship stay stationary in the air above ground if it's not working anymore?

How did they manage to build a whole small spaceship underground, with what technology?

Blabla, so many things you could go on about if you want to be overly realistic. But doesn't that ruin the movie somehow? Why can't you just let some things unexplained and use a little immagination? It's not that hard.

EDIT: About the language... The aliens were on earth for 20 years. Some people go to other countries and learn a language that's new to them within a year. How do you think humans managed to understand each other when they first encountered a new civilization that was speaking another language "never heard before"?

Of course, movies are designed to suspend the imagination, but District 9 is so, so blatant, its clear that the pace of the movie in the first 1/3 is such that it bamboozles the audience in such a way that they don't question anything.

We are expected to take so, so much "on faith" that it becomes almost laughable.

The movie doesn't answer ANY questions that it poses, it just "is" and we are supposed to take it as read.

Me thinks someone is over analysing. I approached it with the "turn off brain at the door" attitude.
I questioned nothing and sat back for the ride

Quote from Paranoid Android :

Don't know about the plot hole but at least let me clarify it a bit for you...The fluid was stored in that cylinder over the 20 years. This fluid was the product of the liquid they found in pieces of their own tech. If you notice well, when we see them finding the last piece, they empty the can but only a drop comes out as the final product of the chemical reactions, filling subsequently what has taken 20 years to fill drop by drop. I guess this fluid must have been some sort of alien fuel that is used in different parts (small machines, strange tech), but needed to be condensed in order to be able to power the ship...

Yup.

Inglorious Basterds, it's great just to watch people cringe in the cinema at the gory bits

Quote from The Moose :

Me thinks someone is over analysing. I approached it with the "turn off brain at the door" attitude.
I questioned nothing and sat back for the ride

Maybe

+1 to that, also loved the scene that resembled one of which from Reservoir Dogs....

I couldn't really falt any part of the movie and Tarantino, just epic.

Cloverfield, not a bad movie at all considering it's all shot through a video camera.

Quote from AlienT. :

Cloverfield, not a bad movie at all considering it's all shot through a video camera.

If you think it's recorded with a cheapo handheld consumer camera you're wrong But it's a good movie overall.

Hehe I'm not that much of a numpty (arguably), I meant the cinematography showing the complete film through the perspective of a cheap video camera can be tiresome due to the constant camera movement. This was what I first thought may be the case, but it is very well done actually, I was surprised.

The movie I just saw is The Brave One. Good movie right there! Somewhat sad ending to it, but the song fit the ending. I totally recommend this movie. Also, it is rated R so for those who aren't old enough to see it, too bad.

ill just recommend it too...

inglorious basterds

District 9
just watched it, pretty interesting have to say.