Category: Fantasy & Sci-fi

Categories
Action & Thriller Fantasy & Sci-fi Horror Movie Reviews

Let Me In – Quite Possibly The Greatest Vampire Love Story Of All

“Let Me In” is not a typical vampire movie, quite possibly something you have not seen before.  That is if you have not watched the original Swedish film “Let The Right One In (2008)”.  We can debate if this is a horror film or more like a thriller later.  For the film characters that are of 12 years of age, “Let Me In” is more mature than any other vampire flicks in recent years.  A vampire romance story does not have to have cliché dialogs.  And “Romeo and Juliet” kind of fantasy is just as timeless.

But don’t let me mislead you.  This movie does have tons of creepy moments, many may not be of supernatural in nature.  A little bit of blood and gore.  Innocent dies.  The theme is dark, with zero morale compass.  It is however emotionally griping.  And it also has a great thriller storyline.  While you may be able to guess more or less where the story is heading, the story is still full of intense yet subtle moments that something may go wrong.

A little boy Owen lives with his mother undergoing a divorce with his father.  In school, Owen gets bullied often.  At home, since his mother is drunk most of the time, he has spend much of his evening time observing his neighbors with his telescope at home, or spending time in the courtyard covered in snow.  One day, a young girl moves into the building.  Soon, the two become friends.  That begins the story of a human boy and a vampire girl.  Kodi and Chloë perform well in this movie.  “Let Me In” does not employ a lot of special effects.  It does not have to.  Quite a few key scenes are shot in the perspective of one character leaving the rest up to the audience’s imagination, which is more powerful that laying out the scenes and throwing in more special effects in my opinion.

I am a fan of the role-playing game “Vampire: The Masquerade”.  Not all vampires have to be charming and glamorous.  “Let Me In” does it in style with a rather unglamorous vampire.  Below is a quote from Stephen King.

LET ME IN is a genre-busting triumph.  Not just a horror film, but the best American horror film in the last 20 years.  Whether you’re a teenager or a film-lover in your 50’s, you’ll be knocked out.  Rush to it now.  You can thank me later.

Personally, I think “Let Me In” is more a thriller than a horror.  Cynthia has zero tolerance to Asian horror movies but she can take “Let Me In” just fine.  Perhaps American horror is not meant to be scary but rather, creepy?  This movie should appeal to both non-horror movie goers (unless you faint seeing blood … I know one of my friend does) as well as to horror movie fans.

“Let Me In” will be released in Singapore on Dec 9.  On a side note, Cynthia and I have attended the movie preview session at Shaw Preview Theatre.  It was quite an experience as it was our first time at that venue.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Inception – Into Subconscious and Dream Whereby Logic Supposes To Dissolve

The idea is tantalizing.  Imagine being able to architect your dream, bring others into your dream or trespass into others’ dreams, and if you wish to retain certain fond memories of the past, lock them up inside your head and visit them as often as you like.  On the surface, “Inception” appears to be a movie with an original idea that is rarely seen since the days of “The Matrix”.  If writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan was to release the film 10 years ago – when the script was first completed – some may find the resemblances to “The Matrix” hard to ignore.  Fortunately, it is 2010.

The beauty of “Inception” is the writer’s ability to create a fantasy world with a set of rules driven by logic.  Some of these rules are intriguing.  For those who watch “Inception” the first time, no doubt it would be a memorable journey.  You could be too busy absorbing new ideas without pondering upon those illogical moments.  While in “The Matrix”, we may relegate the unanswerable questions to a Higher Being (philosophically speaking), the same cannot be said for “Inception” – for it is men who invent the dream machine.  At times I wonder: Is it a good idea to build logic into dream and subconscious in the first place?

I have heard a lot of praises for Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “Inception”.  I would say other actors and actresses such as Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page are equally brilliant.  This film is loaded with stars, and special effects.  It is a solid two and a half hours of entertainment.  And you would probably walk out of the theater with more questions than answers, while thoroughly entertained of course.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – So Far So Good

OK.  I promise I am not going to poke fun at the Twilight Saga like before.  Looking at the record breaking ticket sales, I think the fanatic fans have gone beyond caring about what the critics say and have dived straight into yet another episode of this bizarre love triangle of a vampire, a werewolf, and a human girl.  I for one have convinced myself that what I see is not bad acting.  You can’t expect a several centuries old vampire with no beating heart and cold to touch to be more animated than Robert Pattinson, can you?  Perfect casting.  And I suppose the over-reacting, hot blooded Taylor Lautner is merely acting to the role of an animalistic werewolf.  Or did he take it out on the break-up-make-up experience with Taylor Swift?  Cynthia asked if I am a Team Edward or Team Jacob.  My reply?  I am Team Bella.  I think in this entire saga so far, only Kristen Stewart can act well (while the other two are improving, so it seems).  Without Kristen, there will be no Twilight Saga.

In fact, I think I am Team Alice.  She is by far the hottest vampire I have seen.  Please bite me, Alice!  Come to think of it, I begin to be able to relate to Bella’s strong desire to be bitten by a – I presume in the eyes of the girls – hot vampire.

As though the filmmakers have read my lament earlier on, they have done something positive to the new soundtrack.  “Twilight” soundtrack is great.  There are good tracks by Muse, Paramore, and Linkin Park.  “New Moon” soundtrack is forgettable.  As for “Eclipse”, while there are quite a few album fillers, Muse has returned.  Howard Shore’s composition on “Jacob’s Theme” is beautiful.  He is the composer for “The Lords of the Ring” and “The Avatar”.  And another strong track is “Heavy In Your Arms” by Florence + The Machine.  The Australian jazz-pop singer Sia’s “My Love” is soothing to listen to and not to be missed.

This third instalment has the advantage of diving straight into the drama without the need to go through how vampire (episode one) and werewolf (episode two) in this bizarre Twilight Universe works.  In addition, since the romance between a vampire and a human and the friendship between the same human and a werewolf have already been established, there are more rooms for drama beyond Bella and Edward or Bella and Jacob.  For example, we now have Bella and Edward and Jacob locked in a PG version of a threesome.  And there is story development for other characters too, which I enjoy watching.  Less CGI, more dramas.

Cheesy dialogues still exist.  Jacob still takes his shirt off – twice (if you miss it the first time he shows off his torso, you will have a second chance).  Dakota Fanning’s involvement with the movie is still disappointingly minimal.  The scale of the movie has grown and it begins to look more like a blockbuster, which is good.  I feel that Edward the vampire does not seem to demonstrate his power as much as before, Jacob the werewolf does not seem to be as uncontrollably dangerous in wolf form as before, which is strange.  What is missing, currently, in this Twilight Saga is for Bella to fall in love with a human boy.  That would make a wonderful foursome.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Iron Man 2 Bled My Ears

Normally, I love watching movies at Cathay’s cinemas.  Unfortunately, the Digital 4K version at Cinelesiure bled my ears.  I found it hard to enjoy the movie when the volume is so high.  The low frequency vibration was impressive though.  My entire body shook as Iron Man and the pursuing enemies fly low underneath the highway.  That vibration, those powerful sub-woofer speakers behind the screen.

I remember loving the first installment.  As for “Iron Man 2”, I suppose the beginning is OK.  Maybe because I love F1?  The racing track in Monaco looks authentic.  I remember that famous tunnel.  The ending chapter is comparatively exciting.  Finally, some actions.  Some real good action (two men in iron suit fighting over I-don’t-know-what doesn’t count, does it?).  If you don’t know how red flag in F1 works or how large a particle accelerator is, you probably buy into those far fetched moments.  But still, someone can punch in a pass code, enters into Tony Stark’s laboratory, “borrow” one Iron Man suit like someone walking into a friend’s bedroom and borrows a shirt from the wardrobe – Wow.  How about in “Iron Man” when Tony has to learn how to use the Iron Man suit when in “Iron Man 2”, anyone could just step into the suit, bypass the security (which I presume there is some sort of artificial intelligent?) and fly off with it like a pro?

If I was the filmmaker, I would humbly change two things in “Iron Man 2”.  The palladium in the arc reactor that supposes to keep Tony alive is slowly killing him.  Robert Downey Jr. is one talented actor.  Give him the script to expose the emotional vulnerability of Iron Man, the positive change in attitude towards those who love him.  And if the theme of the movie is about the passing of knowledge from one generation to another as the hero and villain come face to face, develop the story of the previous generation as it should be.  Give us the texture of what the battle is all about.  It is hard to love or hate any characters in “Iron Man 2” as it stands.

On the more positive note, the presence of Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle dwarf the rest of the casting.  I love this pair of actors.  The combat scene of Scarlet Johansson is satisfying to the eyes.  I can picture her staring in a Matrix kind of movie.  The special effect looks great too.  Like “Iron Man”, this second installment has a small bonus clip at the end of the credits.  A very short clip that perhaps doesn’t say much if you are not familiar with the comic.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Alice In Wonderland

3D or not 3D?  I say 3D, and go for the experience.  Pleasantly surprised I was, the overall 3D effect seems to have better clarity than Avatar.  I wonder why.

It must have been a long time since I last read the book “Alice In Wonderland”.  All I remember were the rabbit hole, the potions, the card soldiers, and the little girl called Alice.  I wonder what makes this story lasts through the century.  There have been films made in the name of Alice, believe it or not, since a century ago.

Pleasantly surprised I was, with the film’s adaptation as the story is more like an extension to the original series.  Tim Burton’s Alice is now a teenager revisiting the “Underland”.  While the storyline can be predictably simplistic, the graphical effect is very pretty to look at, magical in some scenes.  Figures are artistically distorted – be it as the overall size, or the enlarged head or eyes.  The line of realism and illusion has blurred so much these days on the big screen.  How technology has progressed.

Cynthia seems to love the film.  My mother too, even though there is no subtitle for her.  I am thrilled by the 3D experience, more than anything else.

Now, why is a raven like a writing desk?  It is a riddle in the original story.  And I still don’t quite get it in this movie.  Looks like I have to watch it again!

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

20th Century Boys 3 – A Closure, Finally!

It’s a no-brainer.  If you have already followed the Japanese movie adaption of the manga series, you wouldn’t wish to miss the last installment of the trilogy.  If you have not heard of “20th Century Boys”, I doubt if this 156 minutes film would make much sense to you.

I was struggling to like the first installment when it arrived in Singapore, 2008.  By the time I have watched the second installment (2009), the trilogy has grown to me.  Perhaps because I was beginning to recognize the characters.  The “20th Century Boys” casting is massive.  And I need a super memory to familiarize myself with who is who.

The last installment offers good closure to all the loose ends of the previous installments.  That is satisfying.  Although at times I wonder how far this child play would go, I can tolerate some elements of childishness in this last episode because like it or not, if you look deeper inside, men are in fact boys.  And since I too am born in the 20th century, I can relate that rock music should save the world.

PS. Someone should start creating a new manga series called “21st Century Girls”.

Categories
Diary Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Celebrated Christmas Eve With Avatar, An Impromptu Dinner Party, And A Midnight Mass

A Merry Christmas to my readers.  ¡Feliz Navidad!

While we were queuing to enter the AMK Hub car park, out of nowhere, Cynthia asked what do people really mean when they say Merry Christmas to one another.  Good question.  I wonder how many of us genuinely ponder upon the good news of the birth of a savior – God in the flesh of a man – when delivering or upon receiving such a wish.

*     *     Ø     *     *

I have a theory.  I think “Avatar” has some borrowed ideas from the game “World of Warcraft”.  No spoilers here of course.  And I bury my theory at the bottom of this entry.

*     *     I     *     *

The question is not whether you should watch “Avatar” or give it a miss.  It is an experience not to be missed.  If ticket price was to be pegged with the movie budget and if you are happy to pay S$10 for “He’s Just Not That Into You”, watching “Avatar” would have cost you S$100.  So, what motivates the filmmakers to pour in $240 million – a budget is closed to what it took to create the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy – to make a movie?  I suppose pushing the film boundary with new technology (and hence money) so as to give the audience a never-seen-before experience often pays off.  I remember how the first installment of “Lord of the Rings” wowed me to the core.  And somehow, the next two installments did not seem to be as visually stimulating as the first one.

Now, the question is: Should you watch “Avatar” on 3D or not?  We picked the 3D version.  It was an unique experience.  It works especially well with computer generated imaginary.  It makes sense when you think about it.  For real life objects, the 3D effect has already been take care of by the field of depth.  Objects in the background are often blurred out.  Using the current 3D technology on real life objects as seen in the film tends to make the image less sharp with washed down color, though it is without a doubt a wow factor to see a gun or grass bushes popping out of the screen – however blurry it seems.  The same effect on the computer generated imaginary is absolutely stunning.  Personally, I find the 3D goggles occasionally gave me a faint headache.  It is like the discomfort I experience when an object is placed very close to that one point between my eyes.  Cynthia finds the goggles keep slipping down and of course, you can wear the 3D goggles on top of your spectacles.  Also, if I am to watch another 3D movie, I would bring along a cloth wiper to clean the goggles.

Back to the question.  3D format is for an unique cinematic experience and the non-3D format is for the visual effect in its full glory.  Either way, you can’t be wrong.

After watching “Avatar”, I asked myself: What moves me a great deal when watching “Avatar” or “Bodyguards and Assassins“?  I think it is bravery against formidable adversary.

*     *     II     *     *

Just before we entered into the movie theatre, my sister texted me and asked if we wanted to catch up in the evening.  Did I have plan on the Christmas Eve?  A Christmas Mass and my ‘date’ with Mark to show him how to joust in the World of Warcraft.  I guess jousting would have to wait (sorry Mark!).

After the movie, TK asked what’s-for-dinner.  Good question.  In this two weeks holiday of ours, Cynthia and I have hardly put our heads together for any planning.  So, why not invite our good buddy and my sister and her hubby for a home cook dinner?  One minor logistic challenge though: we don’t have meat in our refrigerator ever since we have become vegetarians.  TK volunteered to buy roasted duck and we boosted our menu to a 4-course meal: green salad, soup, pasta with roasted duck, and our dessert was a birthday cake for TK.  So few stones, so many birds!

We had a lovely time.  And it is good to spend Christmas Eve with family and friends.

*     *     III     *     *

We did not plan to attend the Midnight Mass for we planned to attend one of the earlier slots.  Personally I prefer the one at midnight.  It appears to be more authentic.  Cynthia feels that Midnight Mass is a bit too late.  It is true.  The calling of my bed or the comfort of my home was hard to ignore especially when the Mass has passed the 1 am mark.

We arrived at the Church before 11 pm.  Seats are hard to come by on Christmas.  11.30 pm the choir started singing the Christmas songs.  Surprisingly, the quality of the choir this year was really good, at Christ the King.  Even the priest commented that how nice if we are to have this level of standard for our Sunday Masses.  The Church was full, our priest was exceptionally energetic, and the congregation was in high spirit.  Personally, I would like to thank those who have made this Midnight Mass such a memorable experience.  I think the nonstop rounds of applause said it all.

*     *     IV     *     *

I think this section may not make me the most popular guy in the planet, as everyone loves “Avatar”.  While watching the show, I could not help but to associate some of the scenes to an online game that I live and breath for 5 years.  If you have not watched “Avatar”, the following slideshow probably would not make sense to you (and it certainly would not spoil your “Avatar” enjoyment if you see it either).  It is hard to explain in words so I took my avatar in World of Warcraft, traveled around the world, and took some screenshots for illustration’s sake.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Foreign Movie Reviews

The Storm Warriors – Huh? What The …

For the record, I am a huge fan of the Wuxia genre.  I am also a fan of the original Chinese comic book series “Fung Wan”.  OK, where shall I begin with this second installment?  Part one is my casual thoughts, which fans of the movie may disagree.  Part two is my deeper albeit random thoughts, which those with little background of the genre who may find interesting to read.

*     *     *     *     *

Cynthia seems to like “The Storm Warriors”.  My mind seems to have paralyzed by the movie not sure if I like it or not.  Casual thoughts as follows.

  • Those hair!  Oh my.  The hairstyle redefined the art of messiness.  I don’t recall it is that messy in the comic book.
  • I think all the characters in the movie are badly in need of a good bath.  Maybe the costumes are badly in need of a good laundry.  OK, maybe with the exception of the two girls.  Just maybe.
  • Lord Godless reminds me of the Lich King in World of Warcraft.  The evil Wind reminds me of the vampires in Twilight.  Maybe that’s why Cynthia likes the movie.
  • Wow, you call that romance?  The relationship between Cloud and Chu Chu is lifeless.  The relationship between Wind and Second Dream doesn’t even go beyond a good hug.  One may say, so what?  Well, the love relationship between, say, Cloud and Chu Chu is supposed to be epic, for those who have read the comic book series.  Epic!  So epic that makes people cry.  So epic that makes me cry watching “The Storm Warriors” for what it could have been.
  • For those who have forgotten the storyline of the previous installment (11 years ago, who would remember?), this part two does not quite help to refresh our mind.  The storyline of this installment – deviates from the original plot I reckon – leaves much to desire.  The climax, to me, would have been a joint force battle between the two main characters against an evil character.  If the story development is intended for a part 3, I would expand on the battle with Lord Godless, keep the long battle between Wind and Cloud short, and keep the ending as it is (though I still don’t like the bad romance).
  • The original language of the movie is Cantonese I believe.  In Singapore, for reasons beyond my comprehension (or my acceptance), it is dubbed in Mandarin.  Often, I can deal with it if I have to though I would love to watch it in my language (and hence, I seldom watch Hong Kong films in Singapore’s theaters).  The issue I have with dubbing is a missing in synchronization between the acting and the voice emote.  At times, the voice seems to more involved into the plot than the acting (especially so for the two girls).  Just not natural, to me that is.
  • The subtitles are laughable.  I have this urge to re-translate the dialogs just for Cynthia’s sake.  OK, without the background of Chinese and Wuxia, I admit some if not most of the concepts are hard to grasp.  As I read both the Chinese and English subtitles, some of the essence of the dialog could have been better preserved.
  • Computer generated imaginary does not make great movies.  And we know that.
  • 11 years we have waited for this 2nd installment.  Back then, in the year 1998, Ekin Cheng (Wind) was 31 and Aaron Kwok (Cloud) was 33.  Now, imagine if the 3rd installment is to come in the year 2020 with the original casting …

What I do like are the Thai-powered martial arts and the collateral damage incorporated in the storyline.  I think the movie comes alive after some innocent lives are taken.  Look.  If there is no sex and money in the plot, at least give us blood that pops our hearts.  No?

*     *     *     *     *

Wow, part one of this entry is a lot longer than I have anticipated.  Perhaps I am passionate on this genre after all.

For those of you who may not be familiar with this genre, I have a few random thoughts to share.

  • Unlike some of the Western fantasy series, Chinese fantasy series seldom have the demon and angel entities.  Seldom do we summon anything demonic from Hell, or battle the evil with the blessing of God.  In Chinese, characters are gods of good and evil.  It is the person who follow the path of good or evil, not an external divine entity.  We have celestial entities like the dragons and we have evilness in the form of greed and power and the desire of immortality that corrupts.
  • Those who choose the path of good often take years to master the martial art.  In fact, the moral compass is often incorporated into the ‘form’ of the martial art.  If you recall, after the master Nameless has inspired Cloud to create his own martial art, Nameless comments that what Cloud lacks is the ‘form’.  Unfortunately, it is lost in translation.
  • One could also master the martial art without going through the fundamental of the moral values embedded within.  I believe in real life, learning Yoga in its truest form requires practitioners to meditate.  If one is to master the martial art by taking shortcuts, one could be consumed by the chaotic power within and turns ‘evil’.  Why evil?  That goes back to the common observation that anything good be it as reputation, relationship, communal infrastructures, and etc. takes years to build.  Destruction takes seconds.  The same pair of hands spend years building a school can also detonate a bomb that destroys it all.  In the movie, Wind took a shortcut and has become ‘evil’.  So that he can be so powerful in just 3 days.  Interestingly, Cloud also gains a new martial art technique that makes him powerful in the same 3 days.  What gives?
  • Are there any shortcut then for those who choose the path of the good?  According to the famous Wuxia writer Jin Jong, yes we can.  Decade worth of power can apparently be transfered from one character to another, in rare instances.  But that is beyond the scope of this movie.  In retrospect, I suspect the filmmaker wanted to incorporate this concept in the boosting of Cloud’s power by what remains in Nameless (the 10% after some bad wounding from the previous battle).  That would have made more sense as the path to good is often a long process.  I caught that in the dialog between the two.  But somehow, it is not executed that way in the movie.
  • While characters in a Wuxia setting often wield or in perpetual search for the ultimate weapon and armor – one that destroys all and one that is invincible to any attack – even the martial art technique to shield one from all harm, there is always a weakness somewhere (otherwise the story would be incredibly boring, no?).  That is what the repeated clumsy subtitle “his weakest point is hiding behind his strongest point” tries to convey.  Since the intended audience of the English subtitles are the ones who should have some concept of the Western culture, I personally would simply use the term “Achilles’ heel” to help with the translation.

Wow, an equally long part two!  Thanks for reading.  Peace.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews Romance

The Twilight Saga: New Moon – The Non-Fans Won’t Get It

2nd Installment

The question, I think, is why “New Moon” can get away with the disjointed subplots and cheesy dialogues and yet able to make tons of girls in the theatre we visited swooning all the way from opening to the end credits – literally so.  Some guys would play along and ‘swooned’ ahead of the girls causing lots of giggles from the audience.  We love the crowd at Cineleisure.  Movie distributors seem to know that this second installment of the Twilight Saga would be a hit in this small island of ours.  Multiple theatres are playing “New Moon” simultaneously to meet the demand.  Cynthia and I  forcefully brought our buddy TK to watch “New Moon”.  He has not watched the first episode and at the end of the show, he said to us, “There won’t be a third for me”.  And we had a good laugh.

The answer, I think, is fantasy.  It is fantasy beyond the beautiful cold-blooded vampires that shimmer under bright daylight (?!) and the over-sized hot-blooded werewolves (?!) that transform from human form at will (and back with the pants on); it is a fantasy beyond the teenage flirtation of lips licking, body hugging, almost kissing, countless promises of the forever-and-ever; it is simply a fantasy of a regular girl becoming the object of great desire and a man’s desire to protect the vulnerable girl at all cost.  Who wouldn’t want to be Bella?  Who wouldn’t want to protect Bella?  And hence, the ticket sales.

To say that Cynthia adores the Twilight Saga with a capital A is an understatement.  It is almost illegal for me to raise the question on what she sees in the pale withering malnutritional vampire played by Robert Pattinson who was named as one of the “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2008 by People magazine (?!).  Equally illegal for me to ask why she has so fallen in love with the werewolf played by Taylor Lautner – like I suppose many of the fans of the saga – who mind you has a stunningly solid body at the age of 17 and a beautiful smile.  The filmmakers seem to play that to its fullest.  Every time Taylor takes off his shirt, all the girls simply melt and swoon and cry for more.

Right.

I for one am not complaining watching Kristen Stewart playing the role of Bella.  I am a big fan of her since the days of “Panic Room”.  Nor any complain with some of the vampire girls like Ashley Greene (plays the role of Alice) and the brief appearance of Dakota Fanning, which I hope I can see more in later episodes.  My only complain is the weak soundtrack compares to the first episode.  There were Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole”, Paramore’s “Decode”, and Linkin Park’s “Leave Out All The Rest”.  What does the soundtrack of “New Moon” have?  Terribly depressing, terribly boring.  I really hope that they can make a better soundtrack for the next installment.

By the way, “Twilight” the first episode will be on Star Movies tonight.  “Haven’t you watched that on TV recently?” I asked over breakfast.  “It doesn’t matter.  It’s Twilight!” Cynthia answered.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

District 9 – Got Me Thinking

You are not welcome here (lol!)

In Singapore, District 9 is a prime location.  In Johannesburg, it is an asylum for the aliens.  For the aliens?!  I swear I had no idea what “District 9” is about.  I thought it has something to do with “District 13”.  I thought it was a reference to non-citizen, like some countries do.  At the end of the movie, I wanted more hoping that there is a sequel.  Maybe “District 10”.  Cynthia on my left and TK on my right both collapsed onto their seats wanting to puke.  Normally, they are amongst the first who get onto their feet wanting to leave the theatre the moment the show ends.  The shaky camera effect certainly has made their stomachs and knees go weak.  I am an avid gamer and I handle visual motion sickness well.  Poor Cynthia and TK.  If you can’t handle “The Tony Blair Witch Project” kind of effect – although I thought “District 9” is pretty mild compares to that – pick a seat somewhere as far away from the big screen as possible.  It helps.
The idea behind “District 9” is original.  And it got me thinking on our humanity.  No one knows exactly why an alien mothership hovers on top of Johannesburg and stops right there.  Politicians, academics, civilians, and media are brought in to cover this strange event.  Not long later, the military has found a way to cut into the ship and is greeted by more than a million malnutrition and leaderless aliens on board.  Human then has decided to bring the aliens out from the ship and reside them directly underneath.  “District 9” is then formed.  The story continues with how the two interact and co-exist.
“District 9” triggers many thoughts in me.  Not sure why, I associated the beginning of the show with how Israel was re-established in the Middle East.  But of course, later on I read that the film is inspired by a “whites only” District 6 in Cape Town in the year of 1966.  That makes perfect sense.  Also, while I shall be disgusted by the insect-like aliens, I was in fact disgusted by the flaws of the humans.  How we act selfishly out of greed and self-interest.  Aliens, on the other hand, are portrayed as noble advanced beings.
I enjoy watching how the characters – aliens and humans – emotionally react to the situations.  I enjoy watching so much realism and details go into the filming of this movie.  Some parts are pure hilarious (like those posters and signage on “no aliens are allowed”).  The ending does seem open to me.  So I hope there is a “District 10” in the near time horizon.

In Singapore, District 9 is a prime location.  In Johannesburg, it is an asylum for the aliens.  For the aliens?!  I swear I had no idea what “District 9” is about.  I thought it has something to do with “District 13”.  I thought it was a reference to non-citizen, like some countries do.  At the end of the movie, I wanted more hoping that there is a sequel.  Maybe “District 10”.  Cynthia on my left and TK on my right both collapsed onto their seats wanting to puke.  Normally, they are amongst the first who get onto their feet wanting to leave the theatre the moment the show ends.  The shaky camera effect certainly has made their stomachs and knees go weak.  I am an avid gamer and I handle visual motion sickness well.  Poor Cynthia and TK.  If you can’t handle “The Tony Blair Witch Project” kind of effect – although I thought “District 9” is pretty mild compares to that – pick a seat somewhere as far away from the big screen as possible.  It helps.

The idea behind “District 9” is original.  And it got me thinking on our humanity.  No one knows exactly why an alien mothership hovers on top of Johannesburg and stops right there.  Politicians, academics, civilians, and media are brought in to cover this strange event.  Not long later, the military has found a way to cut into the ship and is greeted by more than a million malnutrition and leaderless aliens on board.  Human then has decided to bring the aliens out from the ship and reside them directly underneath (wouldn’t all the aliens or “prawns” be killed if the mothership was to fall one day?).  “District 9” is then formed.  The story continues with how the two interact and co-exist.

“District 9” triggers many thoughts in me.  Not sure why, I associated the beginning of the show with how Israel was re-established in the Middle East.  But of course, later on I read that the film is inspired by a “whites only” District 6 in Cape Town in the year of 1966.  That makes perfect sense.  Also, while I shall be disgusted by the insect-like aliens, I was in fact disgusted by the flaws of the humans.  How we act selfishly out of greed and self-interest.  Aliens, on the other hand, are portrayed as noble advanced beings (OK, more like the main alien characters and not all).

I enjoy watching how the characters – aliens and humans – emotionally react to the situations.  I enjoy watching so much realism and details go into the filming of this movie.  Some parts are pure hilarious (like those posters and signage on “no aliens are allowed”).  The ending does seem open to me.  So I hope there is a “District 10” in the near time horizon.