| Author | Message | ||
     Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.6.13 |
A creative, entertaining, thought provoking piece of Science Fiction. Also very funny. The central role was remarkable, played with much verve, intelligence, and just laugh out funny at times as well. Setting the story in post apartheid South Africa allows the filmmakers to draw all sorts of parallells. Very good special effects which were used in just the right way, and particularly effective when coupled with the documentary style of the photography. This film I believe cost 18 million to make, and it made that back in the first day of its release. Good for it. District 9 I'm sure will achieve its classic status pretty quickly. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.187.112 |
I'm looking forward to seeing this one, Karim! I'm surprised nobody else has commented about it - has no one else seen it? | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.108.231 |
That budget is incredible. The effects in the trailer alone look like they cost more than 18 million. This does look good. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.247.176.185 |
I will definitely see it, but on the other hand the trailer made it seem to me that the racial prejudice concept is brought in a simplistic way, even by my shallow standards... | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 62.31.153.8 |
It's not out in the UK yet but I've seen the trailer a couple of times in the last week & I may well take a look when it's eventually out. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I'm looking forward to seeing this one, too. the trailer made it seem to me that the racial prejudice concept is brought in a simplistic way, even by my shallow standards... Well, it is a commerical mainstream sf flick, so I think it's expected that the treatment of social and political issues will be heavy-handed. Conext, brother: context. :-) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Context, even...my kingdom for an edit button. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.6.13 |
Correct, and the film does in fact have some issues when it comes to the portrayal of the cannibalistic gangsters. (There's a t-shirt!) | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.220.148 |
Wasn't this done 20 years ago in ALIEN NATION? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Wasn't every romantic film, comedic or tragic, done 500 years ago by Shakespeare? It is allowable to use the same themes in more than one movie/story. we'd be a bit short of films if you could only use the same ideas once only. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
 | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Oh yeah, I forgot how broad that aliens-arrive-on-Earth-as-crude-metaphor-for-refugees genre is. Infinite possibilities there. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Is District 9 about a human cop teaming up with an alien cop on the streets of san Francisco(?) to investigate drug dealing murderers? No? It's not the same thing then is it? It just has similar underlying themes. That's allowed... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Ha! You're funny. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Good thing one of us is. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Have a think about it and you'll see the problem is not one of repeating plot, but reheating the same metaphor -- a more problematic... problem. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Nope Going by that logic, all romances should have stopped after Shakespeare. All monster stories should have stopped after the greek myths etc. You can do new takes on old ideas. There is no problem with that. Alien Nation was just Lethal Weapon with an alien instead of the black guy. District 9 looks like it's going to be a lot more than that. I fail to see your point. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I'm struggling to think of a vampire story that doesn't contain all the same underlying metaphors as Dracula. Are you suggesting that all vampire stories are invalid. And thinking about it, Varney the Vampire predated that, so even Dracula must be invalid and a poor story by definition by following your argument | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
"I'm struggling to think of a vampire story that doesn't contain all the same underlying metaphors as Dracula. Are you suggesting that all vampire stories are invalid." Er, yeah, okay. If that'll make this end quicker. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.68 |
Never heard of District 9 until the other day, when a friend of mine told me they'd remade Alien Nation and set it in South Africa, riffing off Brother From Another Planet or whatever it was called. Seems interesting. Certainly more so than the boyband remake of V appears to be... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
No need to take that tone. I was just trying to clarify the central point of your argument. Not my fault if it's intrinsically wrong is it? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
crossed posts there with Mr Lynch. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
D9 seems to me to be a riff on the theme of Apherteid rather than a remake of Alien Nation. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.66 |
We notice "stale" story formulas and elements, only when the other elements of a given work (film, prose, etc.) are not entertaining us: characters are flat, say, or the plot plodding, or purple writing, etc. Masters of a form, are able to take all the familiar, vital elements - one can't have a vampire story without blood drinking - and able to present them as if they were fresh and new... though it's all an illusion, because of course, nothing is. Harold Bloom has a way of putting it, when applying this to the greatest of artists: they are able to borrow/echo their predecessors, and yet transform the borrowed elements so magnificently and create works so powerful, that they actually seem to predate their ancestors - the effect eerily created, as if the precursors borrowed from the latecomers.... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Ok, last attempt. An artist can spin gold from tired metaphors, but all things being equal, beginning with someone else's metaphor rather than one of your own is not a promising sign. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Mediocre artists borrow. Great artists steal. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Sometimes the metaphor isn't an invention; it's the only one there is to capture some immutable aspect of experience. Hardly surprising, then, that such metaphors attract many artists and repeated elucidation. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
If it was a theme that had been used a thousand times recently you might have a point. But the most recent example you can think of is more than 20 years old. And, once more, this is only thematic similarities. IMHO that's not an issue. In any case, can any of you writers out there tell me, when you write a story, do you start by trying to work out what your underlying metaphors are going to be in this one? Or do you start with a story idea and let any metaphors work their way in by osmosis? I know in the plays wot I've written, I've always started with the story idea. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Just a thought, but . . . maybe we should all see the film first and then discuss this? Too radical? Too crazy? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Here's another fly in the ointment: if the film is just about Apartheid, why does it need to be tackled metaphorically at all? As Raymond Chandler said, real artists do not produced unreal art. In other words, if you're good enough to tackle Apartheid, tackle Apartheid. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Doesn't work, Gary. By then they've got your money and don't care about your opinion. Your choice is between having an uninformed opinion or an irrelevant one. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
"Here's another fly in the ointment: if the film is just about Apartheid, why does it need to be tackled metaphorically at all?" To let fanboys feel that they're deep? | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.6.13 |
The Harold Bloom interview from Danish TV on Shakespeare, Stephen King, the Anxiety of influence, politics etc, can be found in the very long link below. It is 30 mins. There is a 30 second intro in Danish, the rest is in English. Sorry for the very long link: http://www.dr.dk/odp/player.aspx?uniqueid=A942217A-42E5-4C0B-B7C0-40E16698ECAB&m t=programstab&st=&furl=http%3A//www.dr.dk/odp/default.aspx%3Ftemplate%3Dprograms erie%26guid%3D203AF6C5-45FA-40FF-8761-B6BF7AE17AF5%26back%3D%252fodp%252fdefault .aspx%253ftemplate%253dprogrammer%2526&surl=http%3A//www.dr.dk/Forms/Published/P laylistGen.aspx%3Fqid%3D579502%26odp%3Dtrue | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.8.96 |
Actually, Gary, the giant umbrella story-type "allegory" is a totally valid one, and was dominant for more centuries than our current giant umbrella, which I will at this moment quickly dub, "character arc." Not a very good term, but you know I mean. Shakespeare basically cleared the boards of all other competing types, and this has remained the over-arching form for now 4 centuries.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.8.96 |
Thanks, Karim - I was not aware of this!!! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"Here's another fly in the ointment: if the film is just about Apartheid, why does it need to be tackled metaphorically at all?" Because a lot of people will find it more interesting and may well be able to connect with the material easier? How many people are there who would look at a movie about apartheid and say, "Can't be bothered with that?" but who'll happily go and see this and absorb the message, thus becoming better human beans. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"Doesn't work, Gary. By then they've got your money and don't care about your opinion. Your choice is between having an uninformed opinion or an irrelevant one." An uninformed opinion is completely irrelevant - I believe you were having a go at Craig about that on another thread. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.184.3 |
I'm already a good human bean. I don't need no smartypants scifi flick tellin me how to be a better human bean.  | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Would a human bean be soylent green? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
All art is shit; it's just different grades of shit. There. Argument settled. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Except Ghoulies II. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Which is, like, the Bible. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.104 |
'Is District 9 about a human cop teaming up with an alien cop on the streets of san Francisco(?) to investigate drug dealing murderers? No?' More or less - it's about a guy befriending the aliens. It IS samey. There are many westerns but only one Searchers, one Rio Bravo. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
And only one High Noon, one Once Upon a Time in the West, one Dollars Trilogy, one Outlaw Josey wales, one Unforgiven, one Ulzana's Raid, one The Wild Bunch, one Run of The Arrow...and on and on and on (Ariston)... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.11.2 |
Rather than the elitist view of opinions, I prefer the more common, humane, knowing, world-weary view - you know, the one that has to do with all opinions being like arseholes? That being said, Ramsey's opinions on movies/literature/art I will treat with a great deal of respect, and value higher than a whole host of others. Ramsey c(sh?)ould be staring down his nose at so many other lesser opinions, of all varieties... the fact that he's not yet is evidenced by this very board, and a daily testament to every one of us here, his devoted (often loud, obnoxious, insufferable, etc.) readers and fans.... Now, there is such a thing as a WRONG opinion, forget ignorant or ill-informed. For example: if you liked THE MIST, you are wrongly opinioned. But if you think I'm wrong about opining this, well, refer to paragraph #1, above....  | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.100 |
"An uninformed opinion is completely irrelevant - I believe you were having a go at Craig about that on another thread." We have the same amount of information, but it didn't stop you engaging in the debate, did it? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.4.231 |
Everybody has them and they all stink. That's the punchline. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
I agree with Gary F's comment above. Let's actually try watching the damn film and then get into a discussion over its merits or lack thereof. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.104 |
Thing is, tackling an 'old' problem like apartheidt feels sort of irrelevent. I fancy seeing the film but don't feel excited. I mean, what's it aiming to do with that message? We'll see, I suppose. Anyway - forget District 9 - go see Funny People. It's great. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I agree with Gary F's comment above. Let's actually try watching the damn film and then get into a discussion over its merits or lack thereof. No, no, where's the fun in that when we can dismiss it blindly for being old hat and derivative instead? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.11.215 |
>>>Thing is, tackling an 'old' problem like apartheidt feels sort of irrelevent. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Old? Irrelevant? Maybe you should go to SA, Tony . . . | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.11.215 |
And that attitude would render, say, The Pianist irrelevant, then? Or Tolstoy's War and Peace? Or Shakespeare's Julius Caesar? Sorry, Tony, not having a go: I just think you need to rethink that attitude. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.104 |
Oh, it's just on the face of it it *feels* old, and that matters. If it had come out in the eighties it might have had more power. It's like that Free Nelson Mandela song; no more need to play it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Jesus wept. Tony, I'm speechless... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.11.215 |
(Zed, I was in the office yesterday and my Virgin email was down all day. Michelle told me when I phoned her last night from Bradford that you'd emailed me there. Catch you later.) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.11.215 |
Tony: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6343784518626528037# Careful, tho: it's obviously biased to the hilt. [irony] | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"An uninformed opinion is completely irrelevant - I believe you were having a go at Craig about that on another thread." We have the same amount of information, but it didn't stop you engaging in the debate, did it? I merely pointed out that we can't judge the film just because it has a similar theme to something that was made 20 years ago. Let's face it Proto, the only post you've made on this thread with any validity to it was "Ha! You're funny." which as we all know is incontrovertibly true. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
Well done. You won the message board. The basket of pleading eyes is yours. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
"I merely pointed out that we can't judge the film just because it has a similar theme to something that was made 20 years ago." I'm not judging the film, just the premise. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Still not a valid point - for all the reasons given so far. I'll enjoy the basket of pleading eyes. You can make a lovely casserole with them. Just need some garlic, coriander, cumin, some onions and the entrails of a weeping virgin. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
I disagree. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Should I not use the coriander? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"We have the same amount of information, but it didn't stop you engaging in the debate, did it? " It wasn't me having a go at Craig for spouting uninformed opinions... I can't believe I'm almost defending Craig here. And I ain't stated any opinions one way or another towards this film. Merely stated that the re-using of ideas is entirely acceptable because otherwise fiction would be an incredibly small playing area. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.126 |
See above. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
No coriander? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.104 |
hey this is Marie...tony left the board open so i thought I'd say heloo! this is hilarious; 3 years and you guys are having the same argument about whether it's ok to do the same stuff over and over again....I have to say that those of you who are saying you shouldn't do the same stuff over are hoisted on your own petard. And also you need a big bucket of salted water for those virgin's entrails and casseroling is all wroing for eyes - stirfry much better option love guys - none of the filmakers are listening m xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Thanks Marie. Would you use coriander in the stir fry? I can't get an answer from Proto | ||
| Mrs_fry (Mrs_fry) Username: Mrs_fry Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Marie, this is Mrs Fry, Gary's mam. I can't believe you're taking that tone with my lad. He's a good lad, is Gary. A bit excitable and flippant but his heart's in the right place. The same place as all the others he's collected over the years...I must clean that coal cellar out... Anyway, I just wanted to say that if it's a fight you're spoiling for, you can come down to Bradford any time you want - though not on a Thursday morning, cos that's when I have my feet done, and Sally has kids, so it's not always easy for her to rearrange. But any other time, LET'S HAVE YA!!! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Mam, let me fight my own battles. I've told you about this before. | ||
| Mrs_fry (Mrs_fry) Username: Mrs_fry Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Oh! You bring them up . . . and they break your heart . . . | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
She wouldn't hurt a fly... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.154 |
It wasn't me having a go at Craig for spouting uninformed opinions... I can't believe I'm almost defending Craig here. *Sigh*... must I ever tip my hand?... you do know, there was another person who went around saying (as I did) that he was ignorant of the facts, and that the other side was much more knowledgeable on the issues than he, before he dove right in anyway... yeah, uh-huh, him.... How's that mind-control on me going, btw, Weber?... Soon you will be thinking you've bested me on a countering film opinion - wait for it.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.91 |
Jesus wept, it's like I've never been away. Leave you boys for five minutes, and the asylum's in the hands of the unstable. Then again, it always was. Just for the record, I agree with Zed. Different shades of shit. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.91 |
You chaps might want to check out Yahoo News for a report on District 9. It's been accused of racism. Couldn't be arsed to read the report, it just stuck in my mind. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.108.231 |
Mrs Fry, email me. I still owe you last month's maintenance money. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.91 |
 | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Alien Nation was actually on Film Four last night. I've taped it and I'm going to watch it tonight. Then I don't need to watch District 9 because apparently AN says everything there is to say about the particular themes. (Do I need a sarcasm emoticon here or is it clear) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.85 |
Sarcasm emoticon for dullards such as I  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.50 |
You, Frank? A dullard? Stop! ( ) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.103 |
Craig - I see you're still harping on about The Mist. So, what about the Donnie Darko sequel? Seen it yet?  No...didn't think so! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.88.46 |
Sparkle Motion. I still have the pink bunny/Donnie Darko mask I made for my daughter's Easter bonnet parade. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.237.221 |
I actually want to see S. DARKO, to see how bad it is... can't be worse than my recently-seen THE UNBORN; which to be fair, is so bad, you laugh at it. I mean, it's classic Italian horror we-have-no-idea-we-just-made-a-comedy bad.... | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
I am off to see District 9 today...It looks interesting, hopefully better than the appalling Inglourious Basterds.... gcw | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
District 9's had a splendid write up down here in Bristol from the same guy who trashed Inglourious Basterds & loved FD4 so I trust his opinion & I'll be off to see it later. Mrs Fry - you weren't Biffa Bacon's mum in a different cartoon were you? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I'm off to see D9 tomorrow morning... | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
After watching this film you will never see a prawn in the same light ever again! Soozy | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
Went to see this Friday; it's not Alien Nation and is only subtley about apartheidt. I found it more developing the themes of The Fly and loyalty as much as difference and 'otherness' than anything. I didn't like it for forty minutes. It didn't sit straight in my summer-blockbuster addled mind, didn't even feel like a film. But then I really warmed to the entire perfection of the amatuer actor central performance, the determination of the director not to do anything too familiar. Thus after that forty minutes I was doing something McDonald's would sue me for quoting. Better and richer than Moon anyhoo(though like that film it also lacked awe - however that felt deliberate here though, not a result of lack of skill). But yes, it did sit awkwardly in a multiplex; felt more arthouse. An odd, salty, ultimately pleasant experience. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
BTw there may be sarcasm emoticons knocking about but it also feels very bitter and inflexible here sometimes. Leaves a nasty taste. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Well, that's life, Tony. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
I know; shame, innit. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
What, that a hermetically sealed form of interpersonal communication keeps splitting open? Yes. A tragedy. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Sometimes it gets like real life round here: horrifying! Forgive sarcasm. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
See. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
See what? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
Sort of snipey here, little digs and stuff that make *me* unhappy. It's not like my life, anyway - I usually encounter people who don't do that. I hear of them, encounter the odd twunt in the street, but I don't 'know' any. It's like there's an umbrage taken if there's disagreement, a line drawn in the sand. It's odd. I hope I'm alone in feeling it | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
So what do you propose? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I propose hilarity. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Three options, aren't they? 1. Make a plea for tolerance and decency. (Liberal) 2. Get shut of the troublemakers. (Conservative) 3. Reconstitute the whole of humanity. (Old Labour) Elections will be held this afternoon: one vote per member. Sarcastic - me? | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
Rise above Tony. You have to, it IS life. I was bullied terribly at school..I aren't bullied now. You have to get a little hard, the world won't change for you, you have to deal with the world. This place is an oasis of calm compared to the bitter, backstabbing shit I have to deal with on an everyday basis in 'real' life. gcw | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Exactly. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
Anyway, I saw District 9 yesterday, and I was very impressed with it, I do think it is heavily influenced by Alien Nation (the premise...the 'catnip')but that isn't to it's detriment. It was intelligent, surprisingly action packed, sad in places, and also quite funny, the scene where 'Christopher' the Prawn read the eviction notice and said "This isn't legal" and the earlier scene where he told his friend to 'be polite' when he opened the door were wry, subtle and very funny, particularly effective as the scenes were also full of cruelty too. After the awful Tarantino effort last week this film was a breath of fresh air - highly recommended. gcw | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.208.68 |
"See what?" Read the thread back and it's pretty clear, Gary. Just one example is Weber is clearly embarrassed that I took him to task for saying something unpleasant on another thread about a woman who died of cancer, but without the maturity to talk about it openly. Hence the sniping. There's definitely an unpleasant vibe from some people here, though many others are absolutely lovely. Who could ever have a bad word to say about Mick, for instance? I love his holiday snaps. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Just got back from District 9 and thought it was bloody amazing. Like a gritty, low-fi, gonzo re-imagining of The Quatermass Experiment, which somehow also manages to channel The Incredible Melting Man. Ambitious, funny, sad, scary, vicious, and beautiful. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.220.42 |
Maybe I'll give it a whirl. It's that or FUNNY PEOPLE. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
So what do you want me - as moderator - to do about it, Proto? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.219 |
I gotta say, just totally honestly, that I take all the "ball-breaking" with a laugh and let it roll off my back. Because clearly, no one here's a hater, no one here's cruel and vicious, stomping kitty-cats in their spare time. The only thing that makes me get my own hackles up, is when someone tells someone else they "have no right to an opinion," for whatever reason given (irony alert there too, often). It's just the utter arrogant elitism of that, that's so amazing... and hey, arrogant elitism is just a personal pet-peeve, that's all... really, please God, spare me from ever saying such things seriously out loud, if God forbid a thousand times I ever even think them.... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.191.247 |
'So what do you want me - as moderator - to do about it, Proto?' I must have a problem, it must be me, because THAT feels like a barb. Craig - the things you mention are the things that get me. It's like you aren't allowed to think, aren't entitled to your own thoughts here sometimes. And is it me, or is there sometimes little flexibilty of opinion? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I'm simply asking - in my role of board moderator - whether there's anything I can do that might tackle the issues that some members are finding irksome. (If that's perceived as a barb, then perhaps I'll have to be careful how I phrase things in future. So you're right in one sense, Tony: it is getting pretty inflexible around here.) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
(However, for the robust fun I had above, I apologise. Sheepishly, perhaps.) | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.233.62 |
Tony, I don't mind strong opinions; but it's like you say, flexibility of opinions. Sides not willing to see the other, I hear you. But I think it starts and ends with the attitude. Since my "uniformed opinions" were mentioned above, let me relate two parables, analogies about "uninformed opinions" - draw your own moral-of-the-stories: 1) I have suddenly become informed, through my extensive study of science, that God either doesn't exist, or is illogical. I interrupt the local Catholic mass, telling everyone that they're not entitled to their opinions on God, because they're just not as "informed" as I am.... 2) A company opens up, selling Elephant-Repellent Balm, in Southern California. I ask the spokesman, how does it work? "Too complicated a formula," he responds, "it would take years of study to understand it." Well, I've not seen any elephants around here, or heard about any. "That's because of the balm," he says. But, I counter, I'm not talking about the balm - I'm saying that I'm disagreeing with the very premise of the balm's existence, that elephants are even a problem, as the balm manufacturer is stating. "Do you know anything about how the balm works?" he asks, "the specific science of it all?" No - "Then shut up," he says, "you're clearly uninformed." | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
Come on Boys....play nicely!! Now lets have a group hug and say nice things Soozy x If not I will have to give you all a spanking! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.7.186 |
But - I thought you were hugging me, Soozy... then whose arms are -- AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!! | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
Life is far too short to be falling out with people...for silly reasons...like opinions! It's what you expect from kids in the play ground Soozy | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
well, he started it. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I jest, but having a healthy sense of humour helps around here. Learn to chuckle rather than flinch, I say. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.7.186 |
Life is far too short to be falling out with people...for silly reasons...like opinions! Absolutely!!! Let's all forget about what came before, and start over everyone, okay?... as if for the very first time?... is it possible?... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.214.252 |
"So what do you want me - as moderator - to do about it, Proto?" Nothing. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
OK. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.178 |
I have to say that despite all the great reviews it's Zed's mention of 'The Incredible Melting Man' that has meant I have to see 'District 9'! | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.150.109.19 |
Nice to see that My Missus's basic common sense has calmed you bunch of sillybillys down. (Just don't tell 'er I said that!).. gcw (the one & only) | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
"Just one example is Weber is clearly embarrassed that I took him to task for saying something unpleasant on another thread about a woman who died of cancer, but without the maturity to talk about it openly. Hence the sniping. " Stop trying to patronise me. I would have picked on your first comment on this thread regardless. I probably would have let it drop sooner if you hadn't pissed me off with your "Oh I'm so superior to you, you pleb" attitude on the other thread. And if you hadn't continued to spout your uninformed opinions (which was kind of hypocritical after your lambasting of Craig on another thread for giving opinions without knowledge). Jade was a rich source of jokes for her complete lack of brains when she was alive. I see no reason to stop now she's dead. I have no reason to show her any respect as she was a vile character - as evidenced by her choice of husbands - a violent thug who's just been arrested on rape charges. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Gary, can you remove the words "you idiot" from the above post. Monday morning, slightly hung over and generally pissed off eith the world at the moment. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I will, though I'm not sure it makes much difference to the tone. May I request that we all let this lie now? It's started to bring the board into disrepute. Thanks. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Anyhew, shenanigans aside... saw District 9 last night and was very impressed. The main guy in it was superb and his journey was at times utterly horrifying. Ali said that she was about ready to walk out in the weapons testing scene just because it was so upsetting. (I had a similar moment in The Pianist). The CGi was also beautiful and very well thought out. Usual don't extol the virtues of computer graphic but these were so well thought out and seamless that they were a work of art. 10/10 - A brilliant SF film which touches of dark comedy and intense action. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
My last word - honest! Weber; are you prejudiced against people less gifted or able than yourself? If not you're doing a very very good job of acting so (in fact please say that deep down this is a joke you don't realise you're attempting). You see it sounds like you hated Goody simply because she wasn't very clever. Last time I checked this wasn't a crime but rather something unfortunate. It also sounds like you're blaming her for her choice of boyfriend. That doesn't sit right with me. Thing is, no-one is asking you to like her; just not mention her ever again. I'm sorry but you're making me dislike you. It may well bring disrepute to the board but I think we need to be seen to be trying to sort this stuff out. Now, to District 9 again. I've not seen Melting Man but maybe that influenced Cronenberg's Fly, for out of all the films we've discussed this one never cropped up, and I thought it had very much to do with it. But yes, Quatermass too; well spotted (not that this is a game of bingo you understand). Jon - yes, this might well be some of the best cgi work I've seen. None of it stood out as unreal. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
This is what the crunch comes down to, what has been niggling; some people here don't get on with certain others too much, and instead of coming out straight with it they use the weapons of film review. It FEELS like, I hasten to add! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I didn't like her in BB3. I hoped never to see her again. The more ubiquitous she became the more she irritated me. The next time I saw her on TV for more than the length of time it takes to hit the next button on the remote was when I saw 10 minutes of CBB where she was spewing a continuous stream vile racist abuse at the top of her voice at Shilpa Shetty. She barely paused for breath in the ten minutes I watched. This was the moment when she went in my mind from being irritatingly stupid to being a vile racist ignorant b****. In her rant against Shilpa she also went on and on about how great SHE was compared to Shilpa. That was when I started actively hating the woman. So when I get people telling me I need to show her respect... Sorry there's no hope of that. I don't hate her because she was stupid. I hate her racism and ignorance and the fact that she was so full of her own self-importance when in reality, if she'd never been on BB most people would have crossed the street to avoid her. That's hopefully my last word on the woman. Stupid people do irritate me. But it takes more than that to really make me hate someone. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Sorry, one more "It also sounds like you're blaming her for her choice of boyfriend." Who else chose him as her boyfrriend? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Tony: >>>My last word - honest! Weber: >>>That's hopefully my last word OK, that's two last words. Now, about this film . . . | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
The Fly -yes. You're right. I emant to mention that, but somehow forgot. :-/ | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
That first Quatermass is fast becoming one of the handful of stories there are in the world, isn't it? Weber - never saw that ep. But I had heard Shilpa had been a bit of a pain, too. But that's it - I'll let it go if thou do. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
And I meant not having known what her boyfriend would be like. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Er, guys: Big Brother - a bunch of carefully manipulative shite designed to wind folk up. Let's move on . . . | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
A man of many last words, Tony, aren't you? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.98 |
Weber; are you prejudiced against people less gifted or able than yourself? Proof, Tony, that perception is everything - I NEVER once got that, from any of Weber's posts. I can't even imagine anyone gleaning that from Weber's posts on this subject, start to finish. Pushing an envelope's edge even I'd have been leery of pushing, maybe, but... wow, how disparate reading experiences can be.... But yes, Quatermass too; well spotted Not seen DISTRICT 9 yet, but are you saying the aliens there look like the wriggling rubber doo-hickeys from QUATERMASS AND THE PIT?... because you're right, now that I think lightly on it with groggy brain cells, they do kinda.... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
He had to be let out of prison for battering a taxi driver with a baseball bat so they could marry. If you can't read that as a sign that someone's scum... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
That wasn't about her, it was about the boyfriend... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I give up. Here's the keys. Lock up when you're done. Make sure Cell 45 gets his meds, tho. You know what he's like . . . | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
Craig - I do read too much into stuff. If I've done that here I apologise to all of you. Honestly. And no - it's not Pit we're referring too but the first one. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
Last word EXTREME! - I don't read about these people, so I might have missed some stuff...  | ||
| Steve Jensen (Stevej) Username: Stevej Registered: 07-2009 Posted From: 82.0.77.233 |
Well done, chaps, you've convinced me to go see District 9. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Is cell 45 my cell number? Coz I've not been taking them anyway. I have now officially made my last comment about her and about him. Unless someone winds me up about them again. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
I don't actually know who's in Cell 45, only that s/he's deeply paranoid. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.98 |
Surprise twist ending - IT'S YOU YOURSELF, GARY!!!! | ||
| Mrs_fry (Mrs_fry) Username: Mrs_fry Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
it wasn't a surprise to me . . . | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.98 |
Hey, I just looked up images of both the Quatermass/PIT aliens, and the DISTRICT 9 aliens - they do look very similar! I'd post pictures, but Gary's stupid dumb BB keeps giving me problems... and no, I can't blame myself, that'd be too painful.... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I blame you though you ignoramus-faced oik | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.98 |
I had a funny come-back, but it's too gallows humor, I'm afraid... it'll just rile everyone up all over again... so (*sigh*) I'll self-edit, and just say -- Shaddup, you. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
email it to me. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.98 |
I've lost your email, or I would.... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Ooh, my Foucauldian power . . . | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.8.101 |
Your Foucaldian smell, more like. ... er, not sure what that means, but... I hate succumbing to covert, individualized power structures, so I gotta rebel any way I can.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
District 9 isn't out here for another month! So, could you chaps put up spoiler alerts when you mention it again, because it does indeed sound like something special...though from what I've managed to understand from this thread, it does appear to have similarities to Alien Nation. Then again, Alien Nation was dreadful, as was the series which followed it. Just an opinion | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.26.90.161 |
Take comfort in the thought that my power is only slightly less forceful than your rebellion. Keep pushing and we'll hear you squeak in the streets, bringing insects to riot. Brother, rejoice: your time approaches; the huddled masses are taking wing from dogshit as we speak . . . | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
Since I don't know what any of you guys look like I've cast you all as buff homoerotic icons sitting around discussing films whilst wearing only cravats. And taking a break every few seconds to pummel the shit out of each other. Yeah, baby! | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Damn Niki- how the hell did you know?! (Searches for hidden webcam) ;) | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Bloomin' 'eck, I didn't realised I'd missed another fight by not looking at this thread! District 9 doesn't sound too interesting to me - not my cup of tea at all. I didn't know they'd done a (bad) sequel to Donnie Darko though - the original DD is one of the best films I've seen in recent years. OK chaps, have you finished fighting now? I wonder what would happen if you all got together in the same room at the same time? And have you noticed that it's always the ladies who come on and try and calm things down (like Mrs CGW)? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.142 |
... Donnie Darko though - the original DD is one of the best films I've seen in recent years. You call that trying to "calm things down"?!?! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.142 |
Since I don't know what any of you guys look like I've cast you all as buff homoerotic icons sitting around discussing films whilst wearing only cravats. And taking a break every few seconds to pummel the shit out of each other. Yeah, baby! Whatever it takes, darlin'....  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.88.46 |
This will cheer you up Craig. S.Darko is shit. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Craig, you can't mean it? You don't like Donnie Darko? Have you no taste, man? (sorry - couldn't resist trying to wind you up. Forgive me - big hug ) | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.76.180 |
My thoughts on DONNIE DARKO are well (nauseatingly?) documented here, Caroline.... That's good to know, Ally - maybe I'll actually see it now! Did anyone see SOUTHLAND TALES? Constantly I want to, to enjoy a little schadenfreude... but I can't make myself sit through the three hours I'd need to, to feel that.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
Carolinec - please, oh, please, ask Craig for his erudite mutterings (for they are surely that ), on DD. It is alone worth the price of admission. I for one, take extreme pleasure in reading (and sometimes I swear I can hear him from all the way across the POND)on the subject of DD. To be entirely honest, though I disagree with some of the things Craig holds forth on, such as The Mist, I actually enjoy what he has to say. I may not agree, and sometimes I think about jetting across to his part of town, donning a rabbit mask and stalking him as he goes about his daily business, but he sticks to what he believes, never falters, never deviates, and I respect him for that. Still, he does talk out of his ass most of the time. See that, see what I did Craig, I substituted the more superior arse for ass, just so I could bridge that almost unbridgable gap between us DD fans, and you poorly educated non-DD fans. Grammar not withstanding. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Ah, Frank, you're a DD fan too - excellent! Actually, I would be interested in hearing what Craig has to say about it, but that's on the understanding that Frank and I have our positive opinions about it, and Craig has negatives ones - all opinions equally valid and to be respected. Frankly (no pun intended!), I've never heard anyone who's had a bad word for that film, so it will be interesting to hear what Craig thinks of it ... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
Carolinec - before I retire to do a spot of Ramsey reading, let it be known that Craig's opinions on DD are to be taken for that of a madman. His opinions are not be respected, but negated with full force and venom. He knows not what he speaks. And as for not knowing anyone who's ever had a bad word for DD, then please take a few cautious steps back and be prepared for our American comrade's usual diatribe. To be fair, he is dealing with monumental hair loss at present, not to mention a rapidly diminishing hairline (how utterly witty I hear you clamour), and the fact that his only true connection to the world is through the medium of the WORLD WIDE WEB, poor Craig needs to be humoured like most delusional crackpots...incorrect political language not withstanding also. Remember, Carolinec, you have been warned. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.241 |
You're all just trying to torture me, of course.... But now that I'm on the spot, I feel it would be unfair - I'm now going off fuzzy memories that have been increasingly tainted by negatively: it's possible I'm not judging it accurately, and will need to see it again, to be fair to it, which is what I like to be.... I don't know when I can stomach that, but I'll watch it again at some point - who knows, maybe my opinions will have been cooled off by then. What I remember it being?... Utterly slow, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and ludicrously pompous, with a storyline that was a big ol' "So what?" by the end. Again, only if memory serves.... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.88.46 |
About DD and Craig. What Frank said. Hang on - did Craig say that he was going to watch it again.... Puts mask down and backs off... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
* grins * | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.192.107 |
Can I just add that District 9 is very good, but not great? I really liked it, but it didn't really reach my depthy bits. I save 'great' for the really great. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.235.25 |
Per Frank's comments above: And people wonder why I got nuts sometimes and shoot and random passers-by.... (My hair is quite robust by the way... now I've been for years taking a topical combination of minoxidil and polysorbate 80, so... if it were to be scattering loose without those or not?... I'll not experiment to find out, thanks very much....) | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.188.242 |
I'm going to see this is soon as it comes on (or comes out on DVD), if my health permits, and I'm hoping it will reach my "depthy bits". Tony, I assume Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Innocents are a couple of films that reached those deep parts for you... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.80 |
Craig - you utter bastard! Are you messing with me mind, kidder, or what? I go out of my way to state quite clearly that you stick to your proverbial guns, and then you go and confuse the issue by sounding 'not oh quite so sure' of yourself anymore. What in blue blazes is going on, man? Eh? It's bleedin' 7.40 am in the morning...I'm not prepared for this kind of ground-shifting, monumental evolution in your psychic landscape. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.80 |
Craig - can hair be robust? I quibble, but it seems rather tenuous at best for your usual impeccable descriptive language. Then again, perhaps I have heard 'robust' used to describe the state of one's hair. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.252.190 |
I guess, Frank, it's more common in the phrase, "robust head of hair," but there's really no reason hair itself can't be robust. (A "robust head of hair" is ambiguous as it is: I have a robust head, and oh yeah, it has hair on it, too....) I am sticking to my guns, in that, I still think DD sucks. BUT, I'm willing to give it another go, and struggle to stay open-minded throughout my viewing experience... I just need to steel myself up for that.... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.80 |
Craig - don't try hiding behind a retraction, mate. It's too late. Admit it, subconsciously you believe us DD fans are spot-on. It's okay. Relax. Come join us. Take my hand. Take Ally's hand. Grab a hold of Caroline's. What, you've got three hands have you?? Now, doesn't that feel better? Course it does. See. There was nothing to worry about, was there. Now, put the mask on...go on...don't be afraid...go on...there...how's that? Isn't that better. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.80 |
As for robust hair, I was being joyously, or is that playfully, pedantic. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.18.104 |
Finally got to see this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it as a fun, gruesome romp with the balance between humour, horror and thrills judged just right. The understated and convincing special effects made it for me though I found the whole 'alien refugees as metaphor for apartheid' idea laboured and distracting. It's still an excellent sci-fi movie though that pisses all over your average Hollywood blockbuster - I'm thinking the atrocious 'Terminator Salvation' for example, why did I ever go see that? 'Moon' still gets my vote for sci-fi film of the year. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I found the whole 'alien refugees as metaphor for apartheid' idea laboured and distracting. Could you elaborate, Stephen? Because I found it well handled and rather brilliant. Not having a go, btw; just genuinely interested in your opinion. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.4.18.104 |
I just found that side of the film a bit obvious and clunky which detracted from what was otherwise a brilliant piece of escapism. We all know apartheid and racial bigotry in general is a very bad thing and having alien prawns standing in for downtrodden black people was a bit unsubtle for me. It did have some of the manic energy and attitude of Peter Jackson's early zero budget films so I could see what attracted him as a producer. It gets a big thumbs up from me but isn't a masterpiece. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
That's why I felt the apartheidt thing was irrelevant; we have accepted that situation exists, not that it's over. I think the film would have benefitted from being set elsewhere. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
We all know apartheid and racial bigotry in general is a very bad thing We do, yes, but there are people who don't. For instance, I know a bloke who denies the holocaust ever happened. I felt the apartheidt thing was irrelevant Irrelevant? Are you serious? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
It was over-egging it. The IDEA of Apartheidt might have been best served if the story were in a different, perhaps supposedly enlightened environment. I think, anyway. It's like a film telling us child abuse was bad; we do know there are people who ignore that but to make another film about it overtly *feels* a little obvious. I'm not doing very well with this... I dunno - let's just say it feels a bit 'Legz Akimbo' and have done with it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
 Legz Akimbo.. tee-hee. I appreciate yor opinion, mate, but don't really get it. I thought those elements pushed the film into being something special. Horses for courses. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
Thing is, I felt the film was about more than that and that the apartheidt drew away from it, distracted it from its richer ideas. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
I am prepared to give it another go, you know. And will. I liked it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Film of the year for me - but Let the Right One In is the best film I've seen all year.. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
I liked that, too. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.177.179 |
Similiar theme in some ways. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.6.13 |
You mean that both films have prawms? | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.6.13 |
prawns | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.72.14.113 |
I may be inviting a storm of disapproval but after much soul searching I'd say 'Antichrist' is my film of the year so far... One of those rare movies that having seen it I can't exorcise it from my mind - in an increasingly good way. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Antichrist? talking foxes? Pah! Basil Brush did that 30 years ago. Don't need to watch Antichrist. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.72.14.113 |
The scene with the fox made me jump out of my skin in the cinema before freezing me in shocked astonishment - it really is one of the most nightmarish sequences in an extremely disturbing movie. To add to the fun I had to run the gauntlet of protesting religious fruitcakes outside the cinema. I don't think even they knew what they were protesting about (Norn Iron will never change). Yep it's my film of the year... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
I haven't seen 'Antichrist' yet. I'm almost sure I will, but Lars Von Trier annoys the absolute hell out of me, which I'm sure doesn't amount to a hill of beans to a man who annoys quite a few people. It's not his films which do this, I've loved or at least enjoyed nearly everything he's done, especially Dogville, and his series 'The Hospital' (the latter is genius), but whenever he's interviewed his cock-sure arrogance ruins my respect for his work. I tell myself it's merely an act, that he's got better things to do than answer stupid questions from arsehole journalists, but I'm not sure. I should concentrate on his work, but the work is an indefinable part of the artist, and so inseparable. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.72.14.113 |
Read my comments on Lars Von Trier on the 'Antichrist' thread Frank and you'll see I've never been a fan. I really had to coerce myself into going to see this and even went to 'North By Northwest' instead one night when I saw it was on at the same time. But by heck it's a powerful piece of work and a textbook example of how to make a serious adult horror film within the conventions of the genre but that also brilliantly subverts them. It's his first film to have unequivocally impressed me on every level and possibly will come to be judged his masterpiece and the finest/most important horror film of this decade. For me 'Inland Empire' is its only serious rival in recent years. Now surely that's put the cat amongst the pigeons! | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
Stephen - what with Craig telling me to go and take Inland Empire off the shelf, and now a non-Triers fan advocating 'Antichrist' with such sterling recommendations, I'll have such a depressing, but revelatory weekend of movies. One of the things which has really pissed me off about Triers is the numerous pseudo intellectuals, usually middle-class kids berating the state of cinema in general, who have no grounding or knowledge of anything before Triers, who insist on raving about how clearly they understand where others fail to grasp. They use Triers as some kind of intellectual tool or weapon to ridicule anyone brave enough to say they don't think this film, or that film, is particularly good. And God forbid we challenge them to interpret when we claim a lack of coherence within the structure. They are the same folk who claim to have understood everything ever written or filmed within second of having finished it, as if to ask questions undermines their superior intellectualism. Rant over. I think that was a flashback episode. I hated university, so please forgive my OUTBURST  | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.72.14.113 |
I went out with a film studies lecturer at Queens Uni for 2 years Frank who idolised Von Trier. Many's the argument I tried to have with her over his "relevance" none of which I could ever "win" of course. He's undeniably talented, sometimes inspired and also wilfully pretentious without always having the intellectual clout to back up his pretentions. He does appear to have a feel for genre cinema however and manages to extract extraordinary performances from his actors. Personally I think Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Michael Powell, Ingmar Bergman, Sergio Leone, et al knock him into a cocked hat as a filmmaker! Theories about cinema are never more than opinions no matter how many academic credentials the theoriser may have. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
Well, said, Stephen. Your list of directors is spot on, in my humbled opinion. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.68 |
Humble opinion, that should read. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.72.14.113 |
I have to warn you Frank you may find 'Antichrist' utterly repellent if you are at all squeamish or easily offended. It is by no means an easy watch but I believe worth the effort. If you're familiar with the work of David Lynch and like long, slow, hypnotic, visually stunning movies without a set narrative structure then you'll love 'Inland Empire'. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
'Inland Empire' is a truly amazing filmic experience. I adored it. 'Antichrist' sounds like my kind of thing. :-) | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.229.90.65 |
I went to see District 9 yesterday I don't think it's a classic, but it IS very good, and has moments that are brilliant. I've trawled this thread to dig out the few posts that are relevant and include the thoughts of others who've actually seen it and I'll agree with Tony that until about 40 minutes in I was thinking 'there's not much to this - it feels like Michael Moore does SF'. Of course when it takes a turn into 'Quatermass Expt / Melting Man' territory my interest increased, and it was this middle third that I loved - cruel, heartfelt, brilliantly played and so much better for not being directed by Michael Bay or having been made 20 years ago and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The last third of the movie didn't work so well, feeling like a combination of James Cameron weaponry-porn and a Disney movie (help the alien & his little boy get home). So I don't think it's a classic, but it's probably one of the best SF movies of the year (I actually liked MOON more). | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I was going to go and see it then I realised I haven't seen District 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 or 8 yet. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.0.47 |
I'll buy that joke off you for, let's see... I got a nickel on me, some pennies... a stray button... a piece of lint... meh, fuck it. You keep it.  | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 213.158.199.97 |
You two are like Little and Large on prozac (Craig, look them up if you don't know what I mean...try googling, comic geniuses from 70's - 80's British TV...you won't be disappointed)! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.178.83.10 |
Watched DISTRICT 9 tonight and thought it was excellent. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.157.25.30 |
Watched DISTRICT 9 tonight. I'm too old for this film. Too noisy. Too crazy. Loved it! |