"District 9" sequel footage unveiled

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Good God...the horror.

The year sci-fi struck back

The sci-fi genre, like any, has seen quite a few ups and downs. From the early, cheesy B-movies of the 40s and 50s, to the rise of the space opera in Star Wars, to the fusion with horror in the Alien quadrilogy starting in 1979. Now, 30 years later, at the end of the first decade of the 2000s, the film release gods aligned the stars for a spectacular slate of sci-fi films spread across 2009. There were also the Star Wars prequels and two Terminator sequels, which raked in the millions but weren't so satisfying to series fans on many levels. What the sci-fi genre needed was something different, something innovative, something willing to push the conventions of what sci-fi could accomplish as a genre. And thanks to four very different films, that's exactly what happened.

First was JJ Abrams Star Trek reboot, blasting off into theaters in mid-May, and taking in just over $250 million domestically. Add to that the hugely positive response from critics and audiences alike, Abrams reboot became more than just 2009's Iron Man 0f sorts. Boasting snappy editing, and young, fresh-faced cast (with best-in-show honors going to Zachary Quinto as Spock), slick special effects, and quite a few genuinely emotional moments amid the flashing lasers, the film stands as a great achievement not only because it breathed new life into a franchise long on life support, but was also totally accessible to those who have never seen an episode of "Star Trek" before. The humor wasn't always executed sharply, and the final act wasn't as thrilling due to a ho-hum villain, but overall this hip, modern, reboot of the classic franchise deserved every penny and rave it got. Even after seeing it three times, it's still a blast.

Bottom Line: The movie that showed us that not only is sci-fi cool again, but that in the right hands, any franchise can bounce back.

Then we have the midsummer psychological thriller Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. What makes this one different from all of the others? It's *gasp* totally an art house movie. Sci-fi has for decades now been associated the big, the flashy, and the expensive. So for Moon to rank as one of the year's best films, and star the most criminally overlooked performance of the year from Mr. Rockwell, is something special, even if it didn't light up the box office. Duncan Jones' debut feature is an elegant psychological thriller, starring Rockwell and, really, ONLY Rockwell (in dual roles, no less) as an astronaut on contract to oversee a mining station on the moon. In his two roles, Rockwell shines, never leaving the audience begging for something more. It's truly a one man show and Rockwell takes command of it, and the results are excellent. The film itself has a few problems, mostly from hinting at trying to take on something grander, but never actually going there. On the whole, however, Moon stands as a stellar achievement, bolstered by impressive debut direction and Clint Mansell's haunting score.

Bottom Line: The film that showed us that sci-fi could not only work in "art house" territory, but also be driven by performances instead of spectacle.

August isn't exactly the high point of the summer movie season, but along with Inglorious Basterds, August brought us a genuine sci-fi wonder: Neill Blompkamp's District 9. The best part of the film was its premise: aliens have landed on earth not as bringers of peace or destruction, but as lost refugees. Add to the fact that the mothership was stranded over Johannesburg, and not a traditional city like New York, and the parallel's to apartheid, and what you get is a non-stop thrill ride, centered around a surprising performance from unknown Sharlto Copely. Even more impressive is the seamless way in which the effects blend in with the environments, and this is in a film shot for only $30 million. The use of faux documentary and security tape footage throughout helps up the intrigue, and despite the villains being too easily swayed to doing nasty things, the overall result is a charge of energy packed with gritty thrills and a heart-wrenching story.

Bottom Line: The movie that showed us that there are still unique sci-fi ideas out there.

Last is Avatar, which I've already talked about in my review, and still need to see a second time to settle my thoughts on the screenplay and acting (the same is true for Nine). The true star, as I've said, are the special effects, and they are indeed special. The best part of Avatar is simply getting to experience the creatures and vistas all generated from nothing, and how real they feel. The myriad creatures that inhabit Cameron's world are impressive and there were even times when I wished the film had simply been nothing more than a full faux documentary about Pandora. Where Cameron's world comes alive is when the least is said; the epic battle, the soaring flight sequences are all evidence of this. Like a sci-fi equivalent of Moulin Rouge!, sometimes it's not the story you tell, but simply how you tell it, that can make it great.

Bottom Line: The movie that showed us what special effects were capable of, and that motion capture can actually look realistic.

Neill Blomkamp talks about "District 9" sequel and "The Hobbit"

Source: Ain'titcoolnews.com

In THIS INTERVIEW with SciFiMoviePage, writer/director Neill Blomkamp reveals that The Powers That Be want a "sequel" to DISTRICT 9 - which he "jokingly" (although not unexpectedly) refers to as DISTRICT 10.

The interview discusses whether to prequel or not to prequel, what to do with Wikus, etc.

Neill also mentions D9 producer Peter Jackson's work on del Toro's HOBBIT adaptation - indicating that current plans call for 370 days of shooting on that film, starting in April. Not sure that length of shoot has been mentioned elsewhere before (although maybe it has) - 'tis a long haul indeed.

"District 9": Oscar Hopeful?

Source: Incontention.com

The unexpected fiscal and critical success of “District 9” has stirred the proper awards talk in the right circles. The film looks to be pretty stiff competition in the nomination races for sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects, perhaps even film editing. But given the mood of a recent Academy screening here in Los Angeles, as conveyed by Variety’s Peter Bart, one might want to consider the film’s reach elsewhere.

Applause is a difficult thing to understand in circumstances like this. Generally, a big ovation at the end of, say, a well-attended press or industry screening, can be chalked up to ever-manipulative publicists doing their part to raise the roof. But at a screening such as the one this weekend at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, a screening meant specifically for Academy members, the claps take on a different meaning. I have a friend, AMPAS member, who always says you can place a smart bet on a film’s Oscar chances across the board based on the way applause ebbs and flows during the closing credits.

If that’s the case, Sony might have stumbled onto a real live Oscar horse for the season. Because the response was uncharacteristically enthusiastic for the sci-fi summer closer.

Says Bart:

Some critics missed the boat on this one (including Variety), but at a packed Academy screening over the weekend at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, the film received the most applause of any movie in a couple of years. That’s usually a signal.

Maybe something like an original screenplay nomination could be in the cards? Or — hey, there are 10 — a Best Picture berth? In a perfect world, Sharlto Copley would be in the BEst Actor running, but let’s not get carried away.

Bart then gets into something that could really cause this film to register in an industry that finds itself struggling to maintain profit margins in the current economy: “District 9” is a film made on the (relative) cheap in the face of similar projects with inflated budgets that bring back dwindling returns. The year after “Slumdog Millionaire” was crowned largely for turning chicken poo into chicken salad with a fortunate acquisition and a decent box office run, “District 9” could be held up by the Academy as an example of how to not only make smart films, but how to smartly make smart films. You know, the kind that pay dividends. Remember those?

More from Bart on that:

The success of the film serves as another reminder that the acquisitions business is far from dead – perhaps some of the acquisitions folks are simply too timorous. Hats off to Peter Jackson for fostering this movie and to Sony’s Peter Schlessel for zeroing in on it so fiercely. The director is an unknown named Neill Blomkamp and the producers are Ken Kamins and Bill Block – a one-time agent who keeps popping up with intriguing films.

A year ago “Slumdog Millionaire” went begging for attention until Peter Rice locked it up at Fox Searchlight. This year “Hurt Locker” had trouble finding a buyer and now along comes “District 9” – another superbly made film that any studio should have been proud to release

So the big question: Are there more potential winners out there that the majors are too timorous to touch?

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"District 9" - REVIEW

Thank you Peter Jackson. Thank you Neill Blomkamp. Thank you to everyone who helped make this film possible. I'm speaking of course, about "District 9", the directorial debut from Blomkamp, a protege of Jackson, which has to be the perfect summer surprise and deserves to be a huge hit in every regard. If it does strongly at the box office this week and over the coming weeks, it will be a triumph for originality in Hollywood, and a well deserved one at that.

Let's face it, we've seen a summer that, even in its best moments, made the most money in tried and true formulas. "Star Trek" was a repackaging for the current generation, "Transformers" and "Harry Potter" were sequels to established hits, and "Wolverine" was a superhero origin story. So even though "Trek" and "Potter" were wonderful films that deserved their success, they still weren't bringing anything terribly new to the table. And that's where "District 9" comes in to save the day.

Adapted from Blomkamp's 2005 short film "Alive in Joburg", "District 9" takes us on a very different close encounter with the third kind. Instead of aliens arriving over New York or Paris or Washington with a mission, they've landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the landing is a total accident. They don't leave their massive ships for nearly three months, and when they are broken out, they don't wage war, but rather settle quite passively into a massive slum known as District 9. Of course, apartheid comparisons are obvious, but Blomkamp and crew are wise enough to let the idea remain present, without beating the audience over the head with any contrived "message". The first 45 minutes are built primarily on fake news footage, interviews, and security camera footage, yet it all feels strangely real. Once the introductory interviews are out of the way, we join a news crew following MNU agent Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copely) as he and other MNU forces (think of them as something like the Blackwater corporation...) announce to the alien residents that they are being relocated. Of course, this threatens to upset the chaotic that's been established over the past 28 years, including the rise of Nigerian drug/arms dealers. Yes, nothing is kept sacred in "District 9". Neither humans nor aliens get to the the "good race"; each side has plenty of good and bad, and it's here where the film soars. Wikus starts off as a typical MNU biggot but comes to see District 9 as something quite different...although to say too much of anything plotwise would be criminal. Let's just say that even when it devolves into its most conventional moments, there's still a tremendous force carrying the film along.

Perhaps one of the things that Blomkamp and crew do best is ensure that "District 9" is a movie that you "feel". They use closeups of the right sights, and the world they have created allows for more than a few icky moments, which, despite making you wince and squirm, only make the film hit you harder. I dare you not to be at least slightly unnerved at the hospital scene...so much so that I don't mind revealing that there is a "hospital scene". Much like "The Hurt Locker", "District 9" grabs you by the gut early and rarely, if ever, lets go. And of course, then there are the visual effects. Shot for a paltry $30 million, the film's digital inserts look marvelous and blend beautifully with their environments, enough so that you feel things when you see something bad happening to an alien. But the bigger surprise, yes, bigger than the quality of the effects, is Copely's performance. In what should have been nothing more than a "yeah he was fine with what he had to work with" role, Copely gives it his all, without ever feeling over the top. He, along with an alien who has taken the name of Christopher, give "District 9" a heart amid the harsh realism surrounding the events of the film.

Of course, and I hate having to say it, there are a few problems. For one, the villains in the film just seem to become "villians" without any moral dilemma considering Wikus' relation to someone high up in MNU. And even if we discard this, one of the "bad guys" starts to laugh evilly at Wikus as he closes in on him to "finish him off" at some point, and there are a few coincidences that upon closer examination are a bit much. But at the end of the day, with its stellar idea, strong impact, and generally fantastic execution, it's hard to deny that "District 9" is one of the most satisfying sci-fi films to come around in a long time...and to think that it's a purely original idea as well...that just makes it seem even better.

Grade: A-

New "District 9" featurette

A look at "District 9"'s crazy alien technology, a more detailed synopsis, and a new TV spot

Source: Slashfilm.com

Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them.

Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare – they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens’ awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

Chilling theatrical trailer for "District 9"

New "District 9" poster

Three very cool viral marketing posters for "District 9"

New "District 9" teaser poster

Teaser poster for "District 9"

"Uncensored" version of the "District 9" trailer

Trailer for the Peter Jackson-produced "District 9"

Finally, an alien movie with something unique going for it. There wasn't one ridiculous explosion in the entire thing....