Hello everybody! I just got home from seeing the action-packed and alien-filled District 9 produced by Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Knowing this, I had very high expectations but did District 9 live up to them? Keep reading to find out.
Title: District 9
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley
Genre: Action, Drama
Length: 112 min
MPAA Rating: R
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/
Summary: In 1990, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns" (to be used as a politically incorrect term), appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new non-human friends.
My Review: District 9 fell below my expectations. It is quite saddening because I was really enjoying the Documentry-style shooting of the film but as the movie transitioned from documentry style to Hollywood blockbuster I found the film less and less interesting with all of the violent massacares of humans and aliens alike.
The first half of the film was very interesting, showing the backstory behind District 9 and showing how badly the aliens live. This is what mainly got my attention. It was amazing how realistic the movie was and if you replaced the aliens with people the story would still make sense. It was very saddening watching how horribly mistreated the aliens were and how believable the living conditions and predjudice was.
About 40 minutes in is where the plot changes when Wikus accidently sprays himself with an alien substance. After that, he slowly changes into one of the non-humans. I didn't really enjoy Wikus' character too much. Throughout the film he was very self-centered and the only thing he cared about was how to make himself live up to his recent promotion and how to change himself back into a human and how to stay with his wife.
Another thing I did not enjoy was the frequent use of the f-word and nonsensical violence. But I especially didn't like the room for a sequal probably entitled District 10. They made it very obvious a sequal is probably in the works and is going to be much worse then District 9.
Some of the few things I did enjoy was the message the movie gave. I already told you about how much I enjoyed the documentry style filming but when they showed the fake news feeds I felt like I was in the setting of South Africa watching the news surrounding the mysteries of District 9.
Final Note: District 9 was a film that did not live up to my expectations. Although very epic with great themes the story line was great but could've been represented in a different way.
Do I Reccommend It?: Don't spend $15 going to the theater to see it. Rent it from Netflix or whoever but make sure you have surround sound.
Grade: C+
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Bart Got A Room
Hi Guys! It's currently 12:40AM and my mother and I just watched the hilarious and cute and independent film, Bart Got A Room. Please please please read this review.
Title: Bart Got A Room
Director: Brian Hecker
Starring: Steven Kaplan
Genre: Independent, Comedy
Length: 80 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472050/
Summary: The film chronicles nerdy high school senior Danny Stein and his unsuccessful attempts to secure a prom date while his divorced mother (Cheryl Hines) and father (William H. Macy) are on their own quests to find love. The film's name comes from the fact that the schools biggest dweeb, Bart Beeber not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room after as well. This is a source of tremendous anxiety for both Danny and his family.
My Review: This is one of the funniest independent films I have seen since Juno. It was so many wonderful things and such a great feel good movie even though you feel bad for the main character throughout the film. The movie had many many awkward and sexual jokes but they were just to hilarious to try to not laugh unlike I Love You, Man which is a movie I hope no one ever sees because it is so raunchy and unfunny where as Bart Got A Room doesn't overdo the sex jokes one bit.
Throughout the couse of the film Danny tries to get a date with every girl from his sophmore carpool to anyone his best friend sets him up with. This is one thing I did not like about the film. Danny tries to get every girl he possibly can when all along his best friend for 8 years has already asked him. It helped the plot and ultimatley lead to the climax of the film but the main character was just too incredibly foolish.
Overall, this was a great for an independent comedy but not quite Oscar material. I think most people will enjoy the movie because of its great themes and awkwardly funny and heartwarming comedy.
Final Note: It was a cute movie with raunchy jokes that werent over the top but still fun to watch. Great because of the happy ending and qwirkiness of this independent comedy.
Do I Reccommend It: Sure, it was a great rainy day movie
Grade: B+
Title: Bart Got A Room
Director: Brian Hecker
Starring: Steven Kaplan
Genre: Independent, Comedy
Length: 80 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472050/
Summary: The film chronicles nerdy high school senior Danny Stein and his unsuccessful attempts to secure a prom date while his divorced mother (Cheryl Hines) and father (William H. Macy) are on their own quests to find love. The film's name comes from the fact that the schools biggest dweeb, Bart Beeber not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room after as well. This is a source of tremendous anxiety for both Danny and his family.
My Review: This is one of the funniest independent films I have seen since Juno. It was so many wonderful things and such a great feel good movie even though you feel bad for the main character throughout the film. The movie had many many awkward and sexual jokes but they were just to hilarious to try to not laugh unlike I Love You, Man which is a movie I hope no one ever sees because it is so raunchy and unfunny where as Bart Got A Room doesn't overdo the sex jokes one bit.
Throughout the couse of the film Danny tries to get a date with every girl from his sophmore carpool to anyone his best friend sets him up with. This is one thing I did not like about the film. Danny tries to get every girl he possibly can when all along his best friend for 8 years has already asked him. It helped the plot and ultimatley lead to the climax of the film but the main character was just too incredibly foolish.
Overall, this was a great for an independent comedy but not quite Oscar material. I think most people will enjoy the movie because of its great themes and awkwardly funny and heartwarming comedy.
Final Note: It was a cute movie with raunchy jokes that werent over the top but still fun to watch. Great because of the happy ending and qwirkiness of this independent comedy.
Do I Reccommend It: Sure, it was a great rainy day movie
Grade: B+
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunshine Cleaning
Hello people of the interweb! Today in the mail I got a Netflix film entitled "Sunshine Cleaning". My mother and I have been wanting to see this movie for a while so we watched it! Here's what I thought:
Title: Sunshine Cleaning
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt
Genre: Dramedy
Length: 91 min
MPAA Rating: R
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862846/
Summary: Financially on shaky ground yet determined to send her son to a top private school, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) teams up with her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to start a new company that specializes in biohazard removal and crime scene cleanup. Tired of doing all of the work for other people, whether in her job cleaning homes or in her failed relationships, Rose is finally ready to use her entrepreneurial spirit to tidy up her own life.
My Review: This movie was a very good film. It was alot darker than expected from previews and other things yet it exceded my expectations in the comedy and drama department. I thought this film was Amy Adams second best peice of work I've seen her in (next to the Academy Award nominated "Doubt" which I highly reccommend). I also found that Emily Blunt's acting also exeeded my expectations. She did a wonderful job in the film "The Devil Wears Prada" (which I also reccommend) but I really saw her true potential "shine" in this film. She did a wonderful job being the hilarious and yet terribly troubled little sister Nora. It was a very enjoyable experience seeing her play such a different and darker and more troubled character then her character in "The Devil Wears Prada". It was quite a suprise and I really felt bad for her during the conclusion to the mysterious and hopeful sub-plot of the film where she tries to connect with a woman who had gone through what Nora thinks is nearly the same horrible experience she went through as a child.
I would also like to add that Alan Arkin did a great job in the supporting role as Rose and Nora's father. And the little boy (Jason Spevack) did an outstanding job as Rose's son, Oscar.
This film was very charcter driven and had a climax that was shocking. After the climax (which I cannot tell you about because I like to keep things spoiler free) Rose and Nora are broken apart after so much bonding through the cleaning service which serves as an emotional therapy for both of them and the near end scene brings them back together in a very special way.
There are no downsides to this dark comedy and it was a very great piece of art.
Final Note: Sunshine Cleaning was a terrific film showing great morals and themes alike.
Do I Reccommend It?: You should definitley get Sunshine Cleaning from Blockbuster or Netflix or even buy the DVD because it was great.
Grade: A
Title: Sunshine Cleaning
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt
Genre: Dramedy
Length: 91 min
MPAA Rating: R
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862846/
Summary: Financially on shaky ground yet determined to send her son to a top private school, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) teams up with her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to start a new company that specializes in biohazard removal and crime scene cleanup. Tired of doing all of the work for other people, whether in her job cleaning homes or in her failed relationships, Rose is finally ready to use her entrepreneurial spirit to tidy up her own life.
My Review: This movie was a very good film. It was alot darker than expected from previews and other things yet it exceded my expectations in the comedy and drama department. I thought this film was Amy Adams second best peice of work I've seen her in (next to the Academy Award nominated "Doubt" which I highly reccommend). I also found that Emily Blunt's acting also exeeded my expectations. She did a wonderful job in the film "The Devil Wears Prada" (which I also reccommend) but I really saw her true potential "shine" in this film. She did a wonderful job being the hilarious and yet terribly troubled little sister Nora. It was a very enjoyable experience seeing her play such a different and darker and more troubled character then her character in "The Devil Wears Prada". It was quite a suprise and I really felt bad for her during the conclusion to the mysterious and hopeful sub-plot of the film where she tries to connect with a woman who had gone through what Nora thinks is nearly the same horrible experience she went through as a child.
I would also like to add that Alan Arkin did a great job in the supporting role as Rose and Nora's father. And the little boy (Jason Spevack) did an outstanding job as Rose's son, Oscar.
This film was very charcter driven and had a climax that was shocking. After the climax (which I cannot tell you about because I like to keep things spoiler free) Rose and Nora are broken apart after so much bonding through the cleaning service which serves as an emotional therapy for both of them and the near end scene brings them back together in a very special way.
There are no downsides to this dark comedy and it was a very great piece of art.
Final Note: Sunshine Cleaning was a terrific film showing great morals and themes alike.
Do I Reccommend It?: You should definitley get Sunshine Cleaning from Blockbuster or Netflix or even buy the DVD because it was great.
Grade: A
Friday, August 28, 2009
OMG MY FIRST POST!
Hello blogosphere! This is my very first post on my new blog! As you can tell from the title, it is about books and other things. Whenever I post an entry I feel like people are going to read this and love it or hate it. But the main reason for this blog is to be a Kicker. For those of you who dont know what a Kicker is, it is a person who kicks stories about stuff and tries to get people interested in whatever he/she/it posts about. Mine centers around kicking books. For those of you who are reading this and have deja vu of the term kicker, you have probably seen it in the book "Extras" by Scott Westerfeld www.scottwesterfeld.com/blog As a matter of fact in this post I will be reviewing "Extras" by Scott Westerfeld. What a coinkidink! (Great segway huh?)
Title: Extras
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies
Genre: Sci-Fi (but this book was a little more mysterious than the others in the series)
Page Count: 417 (hardcover edition)
Price: $16.99 hardcover, $9.99 paperback
Barnes and Noble Link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extras/Scott-Westerfeld/e/9781416971214/?itm=1
Blurb On The Back (Or Dust Jacket): Fame. It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge-monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.
As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451, 369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. Her only chance to escape extra-land is to find a big story to kick - something wild and unexpected.
Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secritive about it. But the Sly Girls are hiding something bigger - an explosive discovery that may change the face of the brave new world forever. If Aya kicks this story, she'll be propelled into the world of fame, celebrity... and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.
My Review: This book was PHENOMINAL! Probably my favorite in the four part trilogy (yea you heard me). The reason I say four part trilogy is because the first three books (Uglies, Pretties, and Specials) were supposed to be a trilogy in itself but mastermind author Scott Westerfeld wrote Extras as an unexpected fourth part due to popular demand of the series.
I think that one reason I liked the book so much is the way the author used the same universe as in his previous books but changed it around so much by adding new cliques and characters and so many twists and turns. Some of these are bringing old characters back as well and changing the whole idea around in a story that you would've never imagined to be true until it all the puzzle peices come together.
This book also had some very good themes including some very good ones about friendship and trust and honesty as do all of the other books in the series have. Trust and understanding definity come together with this story very well indeed and the author just makes his views so simple and honest in the book.
One thing that kind of bothered me was a left open sub-plot that had really nothing to do with the story but was still very interesting in itself (but i guess that just leaves more room for a FIFTH book!). But that barley changes the reading experience.
Something that I liked yet disliked at the same time was how easily you could just pick this book up without reading the other three (but dont mix up the order when reading the other three trust me you will get confused!). I know what you're thinking "How is this a bad thing? It seems good to me!" Well I just think that you won't like and appreciate the book's twists and turns as much as i did if you haven't read the other 3.
Final Note: READ THE DAMN BOOK! IT'S AMAZING! TRUST ME.
Do I Reccomend This Book: Hellz yea.
Grade: A-
Title: Extras
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Uglies
Genre: Sci-Fi (but this book was a little more mysterious than the others in the series)
Page Count: 417 (hardcover edition)
Price: $16.99 hardcover, $9.99 paperback
Barnes and Noble Link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extras/Scott-Westerfeld/e/9781416971214/?itm=1
Blurb On The Back (Or Dust Jacket): Fame. It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge-monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.
As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451, 369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. Her only chance to escape extra-land is to find a big story to kick - something wild and unexpected.
Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secritive about it. But the Sly Girls are hiding something bigger - an explosive discovery that may change the face of the brave new world forever. If Aya kicks this story, she'll be propelled into the world of fame, celebrity... and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.
My Review: This book was PHENOMINAL! Probably my favorite in the four part trilogy (yea you heard me). The reason I say four part trilogy is because the first three books (Uglies, Pretties, and Specials) were supposed to be a trilogy in itself but mastermind author Scott Westerfeld wrote Extras as an unexpected fourth part due to popular demand of the series.
I think that one reason I liked the book so much is the way the author used the same universe as in his previous books but changed it around so much by adding new cliques and characters and so many twists and turns. Some of these are bringing old characters back as well and changing the whole idea around in a story that you would've never imagined to be true until it all the puzzle peices come together.
This book also had some very good themes including some very good ones about friendship and trust and honesty as do all of the other books in the series have. Trust and understanding definity come together with this story very well indeed and the author just makes his views so simple and honest in the book.
One thing that kind of bothered me was a left open sub-plot that had really nothing to do with the story but was still very interesting in itself (but i guess that just leaves more room for a FIFTH book!). But that barley changes the reading experience.
Something that I liked yet disliked at the same time was how easily you could just pick this book up without reading the other three (but dont mix up the order when reading the other three trust me you will get confused!). I know what you're thinking "How is this a bad thing? It seems good to me!" Well I just think that you won't like and appreciate the book's twists and turns as much as i did if you haven't read the other 3.
Final Note: READ THE DAMN BOOK! IT'S AMAZING! TRUST ME.
Do I Reccomend This Book: Hellz yea.
Grade: A-
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