#2009 film

[cameronmccoy9161994]

Three more days until Christmas! Watch out for Scrooge!

"Christmas, BAH! HUMBUG!"

- SCROOGE

[yesterdanereviews]

District 9 (2009)

Film review #619

Director: Neill Blomkamp

SYNOPSIS: 28 years after an alien ship arrived on Earth hovering over Johannesburg, the alien inhabitants are confined to a section of the city known as "District 9." When the decision is made to "relocate them (forcibly) into a new camp outside of the city, Wikus van de Merwe is put in charge of leading the relocation, but when he is exposed to a strange substance, he finds himself slowly turning into one of the aliens, and is confined to be experimented upon. When he escapes, he seeks the only place where no one will look: district 9...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: District 9 is a 2009 sci-fi film. 28 years after a spacecraft arrives to Earth, stopping to hover directly over Johannesburg. The alien inhabitants were cut free and settled in a sealed-off region of the city known as "District 9." Now, after resentment has grown by humans for the "prawns" living in the city, seeing them as responsible for crime and costly, the government has decided to relocate them to a camp outside of the city, and hired weapons company Multinational united (MNU) to oversee the relocation. The head of the company chooses his son-in-law Wikus van de Merwe to oversee the operation, and they begin the task of delivering notices of eviction to the residents (and relocating them whether they agree or not). Wikus is exposed to a strange substance that slowly turns him into a prawn, which leads to him being contained and used for experiments (particularly in using the alien's weaponry which only they can use). The film's method of storytelling and giving the backdrop to the film through reports, interviews and documentary footage is a bit chaotic but it nevertheless gets the background of what is going on well, and makes it interesting without devolving into just plain exposition. Being set in Johannesburg brings us a setting different from the usual settings of films in New York or Los Angeles, and the location obviously brings up echoes of apartheid with the prawns being fenced off from humans. The film doesn't really lean too much into that though: maybe it's fine with just the setting being enough to offer an analogue between fiction and reality, but it does feel like it's something that should be more of a focal point given the setting, but isn't. There's an element of satire that pervades over proceedings, which complicates things further, but the film is put together in such a way that you don't need to understand all the different levels it is operating on.

The film is at it's best when it offers a raw storytelling, told through all the different types of footage, offering flashes of lore and plot points from all angles that comes together quite nicely. The raw, messiness of the events of the film disrupts a more clean, sterile narrative, and keeps the stakes high. On a negative note, the film does have to fall into very cliché action scenes at points to move things along, which feel very out of place. The scene where Wilke escapes from the lab where he is held makes it seem a bit too easy, given that he was being held under maximum security, he manages to run up some stairs and out into the world with very little issue.

Wilke as a character starts off as a pencil-pusher promoted way beyond his ability, thanks to his Father-in-Law giving him the job (and maybe to take the blame for anything that inevitably goes wrong, the film leaves that open). Wilke seems to have a typical attitude to the alien "prawns," in that he clearly has a negative view of them. His attitude towards them, interestingly, doesn't really change much, even when he is turning into one himself, and he relies on them for help: he is always only thinking about himself. He doesn't really get much of a redemption arc, but he is certainly a victim of humanity, but in a different way to the prawns themselves. It's murky and not clear-cut but I suppose that's what makes it stand out in the sci-fi genre. The prawns themselves are quite convincingly portrayed and brought to life, and though we're not given too much backstory about them, we don't really need it to understand their motives.

Overall, District 9 offers something original enough in the genre, weaving together complex elements and footage to disrupt a typical narrative and brings its messiness to the forefront of the experience, without alienating the viewer. It's chaotic and messy, but clearly intentionally so. There are definitely parts where the film has to resort to more typical filming techniques and narrative points to bridge the gaps, but on the whole it offers enough to make it stand out in the genre, and entertaining enough regardless of how far you wish to dive into the satire and the sub-text of the story.

[blanc-ci]

I just can’t get over that Spock didn’t die alone

So many sad postings about how Spock had to spend his final years in a not-quite-right universe, watching younger versions of himself and his friends live on while he can’t be apart of it, can’t ever see his friends again. Kirk is alive and yet totally unreachable.

But against all odds! There’s Jim! His Jim!! Through time and space just to find him again. To be by eachother’s side again. His wayward sun finally dawned.

[antiquecorse]

[mr--spock]

Admit it, Spock. For people like us, the journey itself… is home.

[trashraccoongirl]

[nipuni]

Sweet prince Hamlet 👑🗡️💀

[trek-tracks]

Being a cadet is rough

[rubbish78]

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/James Logan Howlett 👌👀👌👀👌👀

[forecast0ctopus]

not divulging my thoughts on star trek (2009) rn. but this scene is like a cartoon to me

[finalgirlbarbie]

HOT HORROR GIRL WALK

The Craft (1996) Ginger Snaps (2000) Jennifer's Body (2009) Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

[mmelarts]

big brain idea that these 3 share the same universe and are friends

long time no render

[yesterdanereviews]

Summer Wars (2009)

Film review #606

Director: Mamoru Hosoda

SYNOPSIS: Kenji is persuaded by classmate Natsuki to visit her family with her; posing as her boyfriend for the approval of her grandmother, who is celebrating her ninetieth birthday. As if that wasn't enough trouble for Kenji, he inadvertently sets off a virus in the OZ network, a digital network that governs most of daily life, causing a rampant AI to seize control of people's accounts, and control of many systems in the world, causing him to be a suspected criminal...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Summer Wars is a 2009 anime film. Kenji, a high school student and part-time moderator for the OZ, a digital network that spans the entire globe and almost all aspects of daily life. He is persuaded by fellow student Natsuki to visit her Grandmother, and pose as Natuski's boyfriend at a family gathering for her Grandmother's ninetieth birthday. As all of these shenanigans are unfolding, a rogue AI has infiltrated OZ, and is slowly taking control of systems all over the world, with Kenji being a suspect in the attack as he inadvertently solved a decryption key without knowing what it was for. The film is a combination of this slice-of-life melodrama, with the more dramatic and wide-reaching effect that this rogue AI is having. The film places them both on equal footings, and balances them fairly well; interweaving the two into a considered tapestry that ties the fate of the characters to what's happening in the film as a whole. The threats are threatening thanks to some neat designs, and the family has a messy feel to it, but feels full of life, again just like how you would expect a large family to interact when they're all placed together.

While the film has a positive reception from a lot of people, there are definitely some blind spots which hamper enjoyment of the film for me. Firstly, the main characters, Kenji and Natsuki, are very bland, and don't bring much unique much to the film in terms of their own personalities and quirks, and as such, they are a bit cliché. They also don't have that much time on screen together, so it's a bit awkward when the film tries to push them together for more emotional scenes. Another issue I had is that the characters don't really contribute that much to the action scenes in OZ: the Ai just does it's own thing most of the time without much interference and a few fight scenes, and I felt like this connection between the two realms could have been developed in a stronger manner. The film is, as you might expect, heavily embedded in Japanese customs and traditions, but I don't think you need too much knowledge of them to enjoy the film, but knowing what the card game Koi-Koi is, for example, would certainly be beneficial for understanding what's actually happening in the film's climax, but you can get the gist of what's happening without it.

The animation and visuals are pretty good, with the world of OZ being colourful and fluid. The "real world" contrasts this with a more simple and faded colour palette and style which works well to contrast, but perhaps that extra bit of detail would have been nice to get across the character's feelings and actions, which as mentioned is one of the film's weaker points. The film bears a lot of similarities to one of director Mamoru Hosoda's previous films based in the Digimon franchise: Digimon Adventure: Our War Game very similarly had the main characters have to defeat a rogue digimon that was taking over systems through the internet, and Summer Wars does feel very similar to that. The studio which made this film also made The Girl Who Leapt Through Time previously, which was a huge hit, and similarly combined a slice-of-life drama with more fantastical elements. However, Summer Wars doesn't have the emotional weight that TGWLTT placed on it's characters, and fails to reproduce that magic: maybe a rogue AI on the internet (or OZ) just doesn't seem that fantastical of a concept compared to time travel, and so the different elements of Summer Wars just don't produce a more exciting reaction when they're mixed. Summer Wars is not a bad film: it's well crafted and considered, and balances it's different elements well, but the blind spots I have mentioned with regards to the characters and such are a bit too prevalent for me, and overshadow a lot of the film's positive points to dampen them just enough to leave a lasting impression of something flawed amidst the good that the film does.

[ningadudexx]

he has something wrong with him i love him a lot

[escapismthroughfilm]

⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆. ⋆˚｡Coraline (2009) dir. Henry Selick⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆˚｡⋆⋆˚｡⋆ ⋆