Movie Review: District 9

Imagine the aliens come to Earth and are stuck here. Their ship has broken down and remains hovering above south Africa while the inhabitants of the ship are weak and in need of care. In steps an organization to provide shelter and protection for the alien life forms, referred to as prawns, but the new residents wear out their welcome and face discrimination from the humans.

District 9, though I expected good things, was better than I had anticipated. The plot of District 9 was unique and the movie did not count on stunning visual effects as I had feared initially. With director Neill Blomkamp recognized more for his visual effects work (Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1) you can probably see why I was concerned that District 9 would turn into the next Independence Day.

Not knowing much about the story line heading into seeing the movie I had a belief that District 9 would be almost like an adaptation of Independence Day. You can see why one might assume that just by looking at the screenshot up above. Look familiar?

But really even though the premise of aliens coming to Earth in order to fight for survival is a recurring theme in cinema, that is where the similarities between Independence Day and District 9 come to an abrupt end.

District 9 is a story of compassion and dealing with differences in a political world. The typical characteristic of aliens in movies has long been the desire to annihilate the human race and take control of the Earth whether for inhabiting for a new home or destroying it for other reasons. Not so in District 9. In this case the aliens are stuck here and require the humans to help them survive. Some humans are willing to help while other seek to take advantage of the stranded alien race.

The movie is shot in the form of a documentary, following the actions of Wikus van de Merwe, played by Sharlto Copley. Wikus is in charge of relocating the alien community to a new location that is isolated form the citizens of Johannesburg, South Africa, where they have lived since 1982. Along the way he crosses paths with Christopher Johnson, one of the more intelligent prawns living in the camp ground. Johnson has been working over the past 20 years to build a ship that could move him to the mother ship and return him to his home planet, along with his young son and fellow aliens. Johnson's plans get derailed after encountering Wikus, but I will leave the spoilers out from this point forward.

Movie Info
District 9 from TriStar Pictures
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writer: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Genre: Dramatic sci-fi
Rated: R
Running time: 112 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 8.8

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Movie Review: Funny People

What do you do when you are a box office superstar comedian but now find it difficult not having a sense of humor any more? And what if you are a struggling stand up comic and given a terrific opportunity to assist a star but must keep one very important secret out of the public?

This is essentially the plot for Funny People, starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogan. If you are looking for a movie with a ton of non-stop comedy, this may, ironically, not be what you are looking for. Sure, the story focuses on a couple of comedians and their struggles, but this is more than a comedy. It is very much a drama.

Written and directed by Judd Apatow the audience is introduced to comedian George Simmons, played by Sandler. Simmons is told by a doctor that he has a life threatening disease and only had a certain amount of time to live. Simmons instantly goes from the easy going people person never afraid to greet his fans to a stoic melancholy man who does not know what to do with himself.

Through his career Simmons had achieved greatness as a comedian, but his personal life was not as glorious. Simmons finds himself trying to make amends with old friends, family, and an old flame as he tries to make things right before his untimely demise. Along the way Simmons makes a surprise appearance at a stand up comedy club, where he crosses paths with unknown comedian Ira Wright, played by Rogan. After their chance encounter at the club Simmons asks Wright to help him write some jokes and act as his assistant, possibly a ploy to find some companionship.

Personally I felt the movie went a little longer than it needed to but I do not want to seem like I am complaining. I found myself to enjoy the movie's lengthy plot with the help of numerous guest appearances. Look for guest spots from a number of famous comedians, including Ray Romano, Andy Dick, Paul Reiser, and Norm MacDonald. The guest list does not end there, with musicians James Taylor and Eminem making memorable appearances.

The movie may be titled Funny People but again, there is much more to it than jokes. You are not getting a Sandler from a movie like The Waterboy or Happy Gilmore. The truth is Sandler has matured over the years and this may be one of his better movies as far as acting goes.


Movie Info
Funny People from Universal Pictures
Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Judd Apatow
Genre: Dramatic comedy
Rated: R
Running time: 146 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 7.4

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Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Full disclaimer: I have never read a Harry Potter novel in full, but I do enjoy the movies. I also fully realize that this review is a few weeks behind.

Not being as familiar to the Harry Potter story line as many of the fans of the movies I can tell you that I have thoroughly enjoyed the latest couple movies the best. With the first few big screen adaptations of the smash hit novels geared towards children I fell asleep watching them. It was not until Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I really found myself enjoying the story of Harry Potter and his friends, and enemies.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix turned out to be one of my favorite movies from 2007, and with director David Yates back to work on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I was eager to see how it would turn out.

Let's just say I was disappointed, but not because of Yates. The story line in Half Blood Prince, from what I gather is somewhat dull but sets up the final installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So while Yates has little to work with content wise, he makes the best of it with some fantastic directing. Half Blood Prince is a dark story and the movie comes off in much the way it should, with dark scenes from the start to the end.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince finds Potter back at Hogwarts and skeptical about his young nemesis Draco Malfoy's shady personality. It turns out that Potter's speculation is right on track in that Draco is being recruited by the Death Eaters in a plot to kill Dumbledore.

Potter also teams up under the guidance of Dumbledore to lore Horace Slughorn back to teaching at Hogwart's, but Dumbledore has ulterior motives to having Slughorn teaching again. It is Slughorn who can uncover a dark secret pertaining to Voldemort. Potter must seduce Slughorn into speaking of the secret memories of a young Voldemort, giving fans a chance to soak in Voldemort's origins.

In some ways this movie reminded me of the Star Wars saga. Luke Skywalker goes about his ways to uncover the past of his father, Darth Vader, while the prequel episodes detail the path to Anakin Skywalker's demise to the Sith and turning into Darth Vader. In Half Blood Prince you get a sense of how a young Voldemort dabbles in dark magic and turns more towards the forces of evil rather than using his power for good.

The ending also reminds me of Empire Strikes Back, in the way that the story ends on somewhat of a down note, but leads the story to the conclusion. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will actually be done in two parts on the big screen, and having not read the books I am actually clueless as to what will happen. You may already know.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, and have read the books, what did you think of the recent movie? Are you one who wants the movie to be as close to the book as possible, or are you like me and can appreciate the movie as its own entity aside from the novel? What did you think of Half Blood Prince?

Leave you thoughts, or rants, in the comments section.

Movie Info
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from Warner Brothers
Director: David Yates
Writer: Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel)
Genre: Adventure fantasy
Rated: PG
Running time: 153 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 7.9

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Movie Review: The Proposal

There are some actors in Hollywood who can make movie good just by being cast in it. It is these kind of actors who can provide a real charm to any scene at any time and if the rest of the movie is poorly put together it won't matter to most people because that one actor was terrific. Now imagine if a movie had two of those actors in the same cast, playing opposite of each other?

What you would get would be The Proposal, from Touchstone Pictures. The romantic comedy written by Pete Chiarelli (producer for the Terry Tate series of commercials for Reebok) and directed by Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up) stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Both lead actors have demonstrated their own appealing characteristics in previous films and today they were as genuine as you could imagine, which translates to great on-screen chemistry.

Bullock stars as a tough-as-nails editor for a publishing company and learns that her job will soon be in jeopardy as her work visa application was denied, which would force the Canadian back home to her home land. On a whim she tries to convince her boss that she is engaged to her assistant, played by Reynolds. Under the impression that if his boss were to be deported to Canada than he would be out of a job, Reynolds plays along.

Convincing the United States immigration officer in New York was just the first test. Trying to play off the engagement as genuine to Reynolds' family on a trip to their home in Alaska would be the other, which would prove to be more difficult than it would seem.

The plot is not exactly the most unique and some of the scenes are at times foreseeable, but the story is well written and the humorous scenes are plentiful. Even guys will enjoy this date movie. The supporting cast is incredible with Craig T. Nelson playing the role of the not-so-supportive father who wants his son to come home, Mary Steenburgen playing the role of the loving mother, and Betty White playing the role of the eccentric grandmother.

The Proposal gets a seal of approval from me, so take that for what it is worth. It is a movie that most everyone will enjoy for its plot, cast, and humor.

Movie Info
The Proposal from Touchstone Pictures
Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Pete Chiarelli
Genre: Romantic comedy
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 108 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 7.3

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Movie Review: Up

Animation has always fascinated me. When I was a kid in elementary school I could draw with the best of them. I never fully immersed myself in to producing animation but there was always something about the latest Disney releases that would capture my eyes. While my sister would enjoy The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast for its typical Disney formula of girl meets boy, over comes differences and lives happily ever after, a theme as old as Cinderella and Snow White, I was sitting with wide open eyes marveling over the brilliant animation.

Then came the age of CGI. I was torn at first. On one hand I lamented the trend of CGI as it dismantled the glory of hand illustrated frames, but on the other I could not help but be captivated by the smooth lines and realism. Jurassic Park set the tone for the wave of CGI, but Pixar has mastered it with their own flare. Up is their recent claim to fame.

What other company could pull off a storyline regarding an elderly old man that closely resembles Joe Paterno and his house that flies with helium balloons? Naturally the story line is deeper than that.

Carl Frederickson grew up idolizing famed adventurer Charles Muntz. Muntz battled naysayers who refused to credit him for discovering a rare species so Muntz vows to never return from a strange land known as Paradise Falls until he captures the live bird creature. He is never seen again. Young Carl meets the girl of his dreams, Ellie, who also is an admirer of Muntz. The two form a special bond and live a long and happy life together, dreaming of moving to Paradise Falls to spend their lives together in peace.

Ellie though passes on before the elderly couple get a chance to move to their dream home, once again showing that Pixar has no problem illustrating sad and painful scenes for all audiences (some people will tell you that Wall-E was one of the saddest movies, not just animated, in a long time). As Carl faces a law suit that could force him to a retirement home so his house could be leveled in favor of commercial zoning, he takes flight in his house using an incredible amount of balloons. Young Russell, a local wilderness scout looking to do a kind deed for Carl so he can earn his final merit badge, unknowingly to Carl, is standing on the deck of the house as it flies away to Paradise Falls.

Imagine Dennis the Menace and Mr. Wilson flying away to a strange land and you have Carl and Russell. The boy never intends any harm and Carl wants to ignore the boy as much as possible so he can live in peace. Along the way of course they develop a unique bond as they try to save Carl's house from flying away in the wind as well as try to get it to its final destination before the balloons lose their helium.

Pixar is terrific at telling a good friendship story. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E may be the best. Up though should be included in that same mix. Personally I would not put Up at the top of the list for Pixar movies, but I found it to be very enjoyable. Brilliant animation adds to the most unique story in movies.

Do yourself a favor and go see Up if you have not already. Also, if you get the chance, spend the extra couple dollars where required and watch Up in 3D! It is well worth it.

Movie Info
Up from Disney-Pixar
Directors: Pete Doctor, Bob Peterson
Writer: Bob Peterson
Genre: Animation, Family
Rated: PG
Running time: 96 minutes

Score of 1 to 10: 7.8

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