DISTRICT 9 Film Review - 29/9/09

A spaceship arrives on Earth and turns out to harbour several thousand drones of an insect race who seem to have no control of their ship or themselves. They end up getting all transported to Earth and stuck in a shanty town and get left to themselves. With a number of political wrangles and demonstrations from the local human populace the authorities after 20 years decide to forcefully evict them to a new area far away from humanity. Unbeknown to the humans it turns out that not all are drones and that some of the 'prawns' (which is the derogatory term humans use for them) are actually far superior and have been spending the last few years trying to return to their ship and leave Earth after their disgusting treatment at the hands of their human masters. Filmed in a documentary style the MNU organisation which is the overseer of the aliens sets up a task-force with a new leader in place to push forward the major eviction. After becoming infected by an alien substance he actually starts to side with the alien underdogs.

This story can be taken on various levels: It has an amalgam of several sci-fi stories which have covered this ground before. But it is also very plausible for it's current thinking of an underclass thrown aside and treated like shit. If the human race can do this to each other they certainly would not have a problem exploiting an alien species. The war & weapons faction features strongly with the MNU going to any lengths to harvest the alien technology even at the expense of it's own people.

If you avoid the political overtones then you have big guns blazing and lots of explosions as bounty hunters take on the aliens and the local inhabitants. Let's face it if an alien weapon can reduce someone to just a puddle of blood then everyone would want one!

A timely reminder that humanity can bring out the worse in us . . .



POPCORN RATING:

SMALLVILLE {8th. Season} (DVD Review) - 25/9/09

I think there is nothing better than when a Production Company like WARNER slaps it's fans in the face. This current Season of 'Smallville' is awful - The budget has been cut (and it shows) but this loathsome company has no problem dredging out the storyline and even announcing Season 9. With most of the characters not even appearing in this Season (Only 2 of the leads were contracted for every episode) and you seem to be hanging around for the rest of the cast to show up. The story arc is pointless as they string you along with a Lex isn't dead storyline - Pity that the actor playing the character left last Season. The tiresome Lana Lang/Clark Kent romance gets stirred up for a guest appearance - For fucks sake - Just let it go! A character gets written in then killed off, a major pisstake with another character who also gets killed off but just happens to be playing his elder brother is a real letdown after previous Seasons. Most of the careless writing has characters doing things they really would not do and one episode is so lazy it's just an excuse to start up the Lois/Clark relationship. I also like the fact that alien artefact's seem to be ten-a-penny - Need an alien device? Then just open up Lex's old storeroom and there's one in a case waiting on the shelve for you - Absolute rubbish! Having plowed through 22 episodes this Season was a major disappointment. DULL is what you could describe it!

Throw in some Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentaries and a couple of Featurettes and this rounds off this 6-disc DVD Boxset on Region 1 (USA)



POPCORN RATING:

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY (DVD Review) - 22/9/09

I was recommended this by an acquaintance of mine and if you really reaLLY REALLY want to burn away two hours of your life on this tedium then go ahead! Basically kid cleans up flat slits his wrists and ends up in a crappy waystation for suicides (Purgatory?) of a life that is like reality but just shittier. Going on the road with his Russian rocker pal they set out to find his dead girlfriend and pick up a sassy young lady looking for the 'people in charge'. Two hours later with a blind-numbingly stupid ending it's all over.

POPCORN RATING:

ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS Film Review - 20/9/09

Caught this on it's last run but unfortunately not the 3D version and like banging a tube of toothpaste with a lump hammer to get out the last of it 'Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs' wrings out the last few dregs while selling off a tonnage of cute furry plush toys & beanie babies. Yes - The animation was even better again and there were plenty of laughs & sniggers but it all feels oh-so-samey? Let's call it a day on this franchise and Shrek as well PLEASE!!!


Manny & Ellie the mammoths are about to have a baby. Diego the sabre-toothed tiger is fed up and has had enough and set's out on his own and Sid the sloth feels totally left out until he comes upon a clutch of eggs that hatch out into baby dinos that he looks after. When the real mother turns up and grabs Sid & the baby dinos the whole herd race off to save Sid. Coming across a hidden underground world of 'lost dinosaurs' they meet a new character called Buck (Voiced by Simon Pegg) and battle their way across the landscape with Buck guiding them. Along for the ride in the background is Scrat the squirrel who seems to have found himself a female companion along the way as they fight over 'the acorn'. Everything ends well with everybody singing and dancing all happy clappy over the credits.




POPCORN RATING:

DEAD SNOW (Dod Sno) (DVD Review) - 19/9/09

After last weekend's Frightfest this time we turn to Norway with the film 'Dead Snow'. Starting off fairly atmospheric with boots crunching on fresh snow and something in the woods, this rapidly goes from chiller down the comedy tube unfortunately. With a nod towards 'The Evil Dead' the usual mis-matched misfits are isolated at a snowbound cabin retreat for an Easter break. Cue the usual running around in trees and tramping through snow as a horde of Nazi Zombies pick them off one-by-one. The usual genre staples are here with a gun rapidly running out of ammo, the chainsaw and the various head-lopping. Add in your bad CGI blood splatters and a couple of admittedly laugh out loud funny bits and there you go.


Nice selection of Special Features with a Making of, a Make-Up & Special FX Featurette plus the Cast & Crew At Sundance and a pile of Trailers. Only problem with this is they seemed to have just left the camera running and there's a lack of information into the actual background of the filmic process.



POPCORN RATING:

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Lat Den Ratte Komma In) (DVD Review) - 13/9/09

This Swedish film looks like it was filmed in the 1970's on some crumbling sinkhole estate - Actually the film was supposed to be set in 1982 - Either way it looks old and that just adds to it's distinctive charm. Like a cross between a teenage version of 'The Hunger' mixed in with a little 'Crying Game' it has some spot on scenes which obviously blew it's budget; but makes it better for the spit & polish attempts at getting it right. The acid faced killer falling from a window to his death, the psycho killer kitty attack, the vampire without an invite, the body in the block of ice, the occasional glimpse of possible claws and more. The yearnings of childhood, the losses of that, the isolation and the realisation. Running slowly (Which is a pity) it comes in at a runtime of 110 minutes but strangely enough it didn't feel that long. Released as the title 'Let Me In' in it's first US edition of the book because the Publishers felt the original title too long; the Producers of the 'Hollywood Version' are also using the same title. So expect shoulder held ground-to-air missiles, flamethrowers and gothed up black clad vampires for the turgid re-make with none of the nuances from the Swedish original left. Although drifting in places this is a nice spin on the vampire genre.

Unfortunately for Special Features we only get a Director's/Author Commentary, some short Deleted Scenes and a Trailer. I think a half hour Making Of Featurette would have added greatly to this - Never mind.



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