where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, August 14th, 2009
show: 8:50 pm
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $4.25 medium Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke + $5.00 small Popcorn.
auditorium: 14
seat: 4th row, 2nd column
synopsis: An alien mother ship malfunctions, veers off course and stalls suspended above Johannesburg, South Africa. Its crew is rescued and kept in a refugee camp where, for the past 20 years, they remain largely ignored by humans who simply covet their technology, especially their weapons technology. When a refugee relocation official with the MNU ( Multi-National United ), Wikus van der Merwe ( Sharlto Copley ), accidentally discovers how a human can activate the alien weapons, he soon finds himself hunted by those in authority. With nowhere else to go, Wikus seeks refuge in the one place where his hunters would least likely suspect as his hide-out. Meanwhile, the home-sick alien "Prawns" long for a saviour as they become increasingly abused and exploited in cold blood!
prediction: Sharlto Copley might get nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Foreign Film. This might also get nominated for Best Visual Effects.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) The Alien ship; 2.) The squalid slum; 3.) Riots; 4.) Eviction; 5.) "Aborting" the Prawns' eggs; 6.) Rummaging through garbage; 7.) The canister; 8.) The "sweetie" treat; 9.) The vomit; 10.) The nose bleed at Gunter's hamburger restaurant; 11.) The nails; 12.) "Cannibalism;" 13.) The surprise party; 14.) The hospital; 15.) Weapons tests; 16.) The escape; 17.) TV news report; 18.) Cell phone talk with wife; 19.) The hidden shuttle craft; 20.) Alien father and son talk; 21.) Trying to buy weapons from a slum lord; 22.) Raiding the MNU headquarters; 23.) Missile strike; 24.) The gang attack; 25.) The Alien war-machine; 26.) "Tractor Beam;" 27.) The rescue; and 28. ) The Flower.
audience reaction: The audience loved this movie, a satire on race relations, politics, religion, morals, and ethics.
recommendation: You cannot help but root for the Aliens. Go see this movie!
spoiler alert! You don't send soldiers into an unknown extra-terrestrial environment ( i.e. the spaceship ) without equipping them first with bio-hazard gear and suits, as you'll notice in the soldier tasked with breaching the closed door of the ship. How the aliens seem adapted to life on Earth is not explained. Why would the aliens put their mother ship's command module on the exterior of the ship's hull where it can be subjected to numerous stresses and can even become detached ( as in this ship's case ) instead of centrally locating it in the command room? Any government in the world with an expressed interest in alien technology could easily smuggle the "Prawns" out of the refugee camp. As Wikus and his men ride into the refugee camp to serve eviction notices, you can see an alien hiding behind a shanty and holding what appears to exactly be a human rifle even though they still had weapons hidden here and there despite the confiscation program and the illegal "guns for cat-food" barter trade. The alien "Prawns," although scientifically superior to humans, have no qualms about rooting through garbage dumps for discarded human appliances and the occasional "snack;" and they seem to display a RAIN MAN-type idiot savant reasoning inability when it comes to assessing the extreme value, to humans, of their own technology and weaponry--you'd expect even the so-called "workers" of such an highly-advanced species to be capable of higher than average thought processes. The doctor at the hospital didn't wear gloves. Even when faced with a potential threat for infection and contamination, the soldiers and the emergency team didn't put on bio-hazard suits. Wikus should have known better than to use a cell phone because calls from such 'phones can be easily recorded and, more importantly, triangulated! The sound wave that was set-off when the mother ship was re-activated which shattered windows in downtown Johannesburg would have been strong enough to rupture eardrums--except of those people who were listening to their I-Pods at the time. The alien war machine, although mechanically coordinated with its operator, should still have been able to gather-up incoming bullets in a force field during the subsequent frontal assaults as part of its self-preservation program instead of holding-up its robotic arms to shield itself from potential harm. Again, just like in the G.I. JOE movie, the stabilizer fins on the rocket-propelled warhead didn't extend ( where in Hell do they get cheap props like this? )!
fyi: In 1969, Christian Theologian Hal Lindsey wrote his best-seller: The Late, Great Planet Earth, which claimed that the world as we knew it would end in 1988, forty years after the founding of the State of Israel. Through extrapolation, this movie's story started sometime in late 1988 or early 1989. And the Aliens' supposed return will be sometime in 2012! Coincidence ...?
If you're into Conspiracy Theory as much as I am, you'll notice that this movie is quite a departure from that which is held as common belief among conspiracy theorists.
There are actually "alien encounters" coming out of Africa. Read a first person account on www.bibliotecapleyades.net's article based on a four-hour long-distance telephone interview with Great Zulu Shaman and Elder Credo Mutwa On Alien Abduction & Reptilians: A Rare, Astonishing Conversation, as reported by Mr. Rick Martin--not the Ricky Martin of "Living La Vida Loca" and "She Bangs" fame. This recorded conversation is more in keeping with the prevailing belief.
This movie is based on a short film ( six minutes long ) by the same director ( Neill Blomkamp ) titled: ALIVE IN JO'BERG ( 2005 ). You can see it on YouTube. You should see it just to compare and contrast it with DISTRICT 9.
word of advice: "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you."
tidbits: My alternate title suggestions for this movie would be: Close Encounters of the Apartheid Kind or Alien Crustacean.
It was a nice touch to have the auditorium, itself, and the rest-rooms posted with the sign, "For Humans Only."
For an idea of what an alien Grey is like, go on Google and type-in: YouTube's Live Alien In Isolated Room ( parts 1 & 2 ). This was supposedly filmed somewhere in Brazil and purports to show a real live alien kept in some sort of interrogation room. I don't know if it's real or just SFX trickery but it's worth watching if you haven't seen it yet!
According to Credo Mutwa, the Greys are "edible." But he was sick for a long time and almost died after sampling the E. T. ( extremely toxic ) meat. You will not find this exotic meat anytime soon in the local supermarket. Perhaps, the first place to serve it will be a Sushi Restaurant where Fugu Fish Sushi is listed on the menu. Bon appetit! ( As for me, I'm getting a craving for some lobster. Hmm ... yummy! )
