Category Archives: Five Stars

District 9 (Theaters)

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Alien movies are a dime a dozen. Everyone has their favorite incarnations of visitors from other planets. Everything from a reeses pieces eating, bike riding friendly alien to vicious, war mongering aliens with advanced weaponry who hunt humans for sport, the idea of visitors from another planet is nothing new. District 9 comes along and presents yet a new race of aliens unlike any ever seen on screen before.  In doing so it not only highlights the aliens, but also takes a look at humans and our basic nature. To call District 9 a simple alien flick is such an understatement, as this multi layered film explores so much about human instinct while at the same time being an all out action packed masterpiece.

I won’t get too deep into the plot of the film, as it is something that each viewer should discover for themselves. Basically, 20 years ago, a large spaceship descends over Johannesburg. After 3 months, nothing has happened, the ship is simply hovering there. The military finally decides to voyage up to the ship and cut their way inside. Once inside, they find the aliens huddled in the center of the ship, many of them malnourished to the point of death. It is then decided that the “humane” thing to do is to shuttle tthe aliens to earth and establish a camp for them to stay.

The aliens seem almost primitive in their mentality. After a while the humans living in Johannesburg want the alien colony, consisting of 1.8 million “prawns” (nickname for the aliens since they look like walking jumbo shrimp) to be relocated to the middle of nowhere, far from human contact. The story is about the man appointed to be in charge of the relocation, Wikus Van Der Mewe (Sharlto Copley) and his quest to relocate the prawns, many of them unwillingly,  to their new home. If it seems like I’ve given away a lot, I haven’t. all of this is revealed within the first 5 minutes of the movie.

On the surface, the aliens are disgusting. Visually, there is nothing appealing about any of them. Yet, by the end of the movie it is the humans who seem the most appaling, due to their barbaric actions and treatment of the prawns.  District 9 is shot in a sort of mockumentary style, following Wikus as he and his crew embark on their relocation mission. For such serious topics as the film addresses, it manages to stay pretty humorous throughout.  Then the action kicks in, and let me just say there are sequences here that are so crazy and intense they would slap the Transformers back to Cybertron.

As deep as this film’s subject manner can be, it is all maintained with a steady pace. I can honestly say that I was never bored at all for the duration of the film. A large part in this is due to the incredible acting of Sharlto Copley, whose Wikus is both despicable and sympathetic at the same time. Copley doesn’t have any acting experience credited prior to this film, yet he manages to carry it with all the chops of some of the most revered actors around. If this film doesn’t make him an instant star, I will definitely be surprised.

The direction of first timer Neill Blomkamp is also fantastic. He manages to slip between real time action and documentary style almost seamlessly. The pacing of the film is also spot on, as it manages to address some heavy issues but never seems to get bogged down by the weight of its subject matter. This is the guy that Peter Jackson wanted to direct his Halo movie, and if District 9 is any indication of Blomkamp’s potential (and if the movie ever gets off the ground) , the Halo film will certainly be a cinematic force to be reckoned with.

While this summer was full of highly hyped movies, very few of them lived up to their potential. It is refreshing that District 9 comes out of nowhere, with an even smaller budget than The Hangover, to be the film that stays with viewers long after the credits roll. I remember after we watched it, we were almost ready to go to the very next showing to check it out again- it was that good.

I don’t want to overhype the movie for anyone. I went in expecting a pretty decent sci fi flick. What I got was something so much more, and so far it is the best movie I have seen this summer. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is not only looking for an incredible thrill ride of a movie, but also for something a little deeper with some serious substance.

Funny People (Theaters)

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While many comedies are flat out hilarious, once in a while you come across one that is something much more than just a laugh fest. Whether it be a life lesson conveyed by the film or just something provocative enough to keep you thinking after the credits roll, these comedies offer much more beyond the initial layers of laughter. Funny People is just such a movie.

The premise of the movie is fairly simple. It follows the life of comic actor George Simmons (Adam Sandler), who after numerous box office hits, has discovered he has leukemia.  In an effort to make sense of it all, he returns to his comedic roots by doing standup comedy, yet quickly realizes he no longer has anything funny to say. He enlists the help of a struggling up and coming comedian, Ira (Seth Rogen) to not only help write jokes for him, but to be his assistant through his time of ordeal. Along the way, the two become friends and Simmons realizes that despite all of his succeess, his existence has been empty and shallow up until this point.

When his latest set of blood tests comes back clean, Simmons is granted a new lease on life.  He immediately decides to try and make up for everything he has missed out on over the years, including regaining the love of his life, Laura (Leslie Mann).  George soon finds that things are not always that simple and despite having another chance at life, he must come to the realization that some things are just the way they are.

Sandler is excellent in this film. While watching, you can’t help but feel that the character of George is loosely based on Sandler’s life. He began as a small time comic for the sake of making people laugh, yet somehow alll of that got lost in the shuffle of making bigger, sillier, and funnier movies. Sandler’s portrayal of a man coming to grips with his own mortality is really genuine. As sad as it is to watch him sufferring, it is equally funny watching him as he uses his amazing humor to cope with his situation. 

Rogen is equally good. For the first time in any of his movies, he tones down his abrasiveness and brings to life a genuinely likeable character. You really feel for him struggling to make it as a comedian, and later as his standup improves, the sense of accomplishment is clearly evident in his portrayal. With so much comic presence on the screen in this movie at any given time, Rogen’s subdued approach is dead on.

The rest of the cast is straight up amazing. Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzmann are hilarious as Rogen’s two roommates. Leslie Mann is great as George’s love interest, yet also manages to provide qutie a few comedic moments of her own.  Last but not least, scene stealing Eric Bana is just awesome as the jealous Aussie husband.

For a movie about life and death, it also has a comedy within a comedy element going on. There are famous commediennes up the ying yang in this film, with cameos from start to finish. I think it’s safe to say that this film has more jokes per minute of movie than any other comedy that has come out in a long time (and at a whopping 2.5 hrs of running time- that’s a lot of jokes!!). Unlike other comedies which sometimes tend to overly rely on insane situations for humor, Funny People just looks at life through the eyes of well..funny hilarious people. 

While the film doesn’t have the craziness of Superbad or Knocked Up, it does have a lot more soul…while providing just as many laughs. I highly recommend this movie to anyone. While the film willl no doubt have you cracking up, it may also cause you to take a moment and look at your own life and the choices you’ve made.

Pixar’s UP 3-D (Theaters)

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Up, Up and Away! Pixar’s latest release UP, was easily the best animated movie I’ve seen so far this year. Bob Peterson and the rest of the Disney/Pixar team have come together to produce yet another exceptional film. Without giving away too much, I will mention that UP begins with a sweet but very emotional and gut wrenching beginning. Similar to Pixar’s 2008 summer blockbuster Wall·E, the story begins with minimal dialogue, relying heavily on the expressions of its characters and mood of the music to carry the story.

What makes this film work is the outstanding development of its characters. Pixar has this uncanny ability to create characters who can easily personify themselves with a touch humanity and soul that we can easily relate to. Carl Fredrickson is a seventy eight year old widower, who loses everything he loves and becomes this grumpy old man who keeps to himself. With nothing to lose but the fond memories of his past and a “promise” he has yet to fulfill, he embarks on an incredible journey in a house carried by thousands of helium balloons.

Before embarking on his journey however, Carl is introduced to Russell, a young fun-filled boy, who is more of a comical character than anything else. Russell’s original intention was to earn an “assist the elderly” badge to complete his collection of boy scout merits, but he finds himself in the middle of something much more exciting than he can imagine.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed this film from beginning to end. My wife and I happened to watch this on our fourth year anniversary, and it was absolutely the perfect film for this occasion. Although UP is a childrens feature, I think that it will appeal to the older “married” folks much more than the kiddos. The story just has much more meaning to those who can relate better to it and truly appreciate its overall meaning and value.

OT: Did you get to watch the short film before the feature started? My wife really enjoyed interaction between the clouds and the storks. haha. I thought it was sweet. I think I’m getting old!