District 9...

For one reason or another, I hadn't been paying too much attention to this flick. I'd seen the teaser trailer when the alien's look was first revealed, and then months and months later I saw the trailer in the cinema a week before we went to actually see it.

I'd been aware of it in various discussions, or in magazine articles - I knew it was Neill Blomkamp's debut with Peter Jackson producing after their ill-fated attempt at getting the Halo movie off the ground (the trial/teasers of which were fucking awesome by the way) ... but yeah, I hadn't been paying a great deal of attention to this movie.

I'm kind of glad I didn't either, because that way I went in with zero expectation - hell, I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for. I had a good idea, but not entirely.

Well - put simply - I finally have the best movie I've seen so far this year (aside from Inglourious Basterds), and a sure-fire winner of a place in my Top 5 of 2009. There's been numerous movie's we've been to see this year...

*Role Models (Jan) - good fun, not incredible, but good fun.
*The Wrestler (Jan) - actually, come to think of it, fucking awesome.
*Friday the 13th 2009 (Feb) - slick pish, only the Jason stuff was any good, Derek Mears deserves better fare.
*Gran Torino (Mar) - classic Clint.
*Watchmen (Mar) - best Zack Snyder movie thus far (Yawn04 sucked copious balls, 300 was pish), but I didn't cream over it.
*Lesbian Vampire Killers (Mar) - has its moments, otherwise a let down.
*Crank 2: High Voltage (Apr) - actually, it was seriously bloody good fun.
*I Love You, Man (Apr) - solid fun, better than Role Models.
*Observe & Report (Apr) - crap.
*X-Men Origins (May) - decent action, not as good as X-Men 1 or 2, but better than X3.
*Drag Me To Hell (May) - seriously kick ass horror, despite the PG-13 rating.
*Terminator Salvation (Jun) - has a few moments, but overall it's limp ... better than T3 ... sucks compared to T1 or T2.
*The Hangover (Jun) - surprisingly good fun, crap trailer though.
*Doghouse (Jun) - solid horror comedy fun, but Danny Dyer's "geezer schtick" is wearing seriously thin.
*Transformers 2 (Jun) - TF1 was a lot better than this inconsistent, over-long, self-indulgent, curiously-sordid-for-a-family-blockbuster mish-mash.
*G.I. Joe (Aug) - some kick ass bits (the Paris chase, which is essentially real-life Team America haha, and Levitt's awesome Cobra Commander)
*Inglourious Basterds (Aug) - kicked ass, but a smidge too long.
*Funny People (Aug) - a let down from previous Apatow-directed flicks, but plenty of chuckles.

...it's been a mixed bag. The Wrestler, Crank 2, Drag Me To Hell, and Inglourious Basterds would have to be my highlights so far - so there we have it, those four and District 9 - that's my Top 5 of 2009 thus far.

However, it has been a year of many dashed expectations, as well as a number of modest let downs ... so it seems even more "hip-hip-hooray" when something seriously kick ass comes along - such as District 9.

It did perhaps lose some momentum when it shifted from pseudo-documentary to Fly-like tale of desperation, but even still, this is a seriously good sci-fi flick, and like all good sci-fi, it's not necessarily about the aliens, or gadgets, or guns or whatever. It's about ideas - in this case, apartheid, racism, segregation, immigration, untrustworthy governments, and slum-life.

Fortunately it didn't get too overt with these themes - they were just there within the film for those that wanted to find them could do, but even then it didn't beat you over the head with subtext. I was fearing that could happen, as the whole "white gubment evil, black gubment good" simplistic argument that gets trotted out by various Guardianistas all the time is tiring - life, simply, isn't that straight forward. Besides, the idea that skin colour affects the quality of governing intelligence is nothing short of insulting to any and all human beings, regardless of their colour or creed.

But yeah - fortunately it didn't get into club-heading political territory at all. Both the whites and blacks in Jo'burg are equally evil or equally innocent, heck, the main character starts out like a bit of a pitiable twat and then becomes a genuine hero who you can really respect - same goes for the aliens (or "prawns" as they're nick-named by the humans).

Also, on a budget of a relatively mere $30 million, the scale is damned impressive, and while the CGI aliens may not be the most convincing CGI you'll have seen, their innate humanity (in their movement and their dialogue and how they're treated by mankind) will easily make you overlook the downside.

Visually the film is arresting, the constant mix-up of pseudo-documentary footage, CCTV clips, and docu-style traditional-fourth-wall stuff works perfectly. It's mixed from pretty much the beginning, so it never feels clunky, or out-of-pace throughout ... which had been a slight worry ahead of time, but I needn't have fretted.

Why bother ranting on and on though, District 9 is a seriously good sci-fi outing, and while a sequel isn't necessary, I'd still go and see one (just as long as they keep the quality up, naturally). Hopefully this can act as a calling card to re-open the Halo movie door, because ... yeah ... those teasers on YouTube kick ass.

Gaia & Genesis online clips, and Sex & Ethics review...

Click your way in this direction:
http://www.ethicsonline.co.uk/pages/environmental.html
And you'll find five clips, one from each of the five films that make up the Gaia & Genesis DVD.

...

Then head over here:
http://news.reonline.org.uk/article.php?34
And you'll find a review of the Sex & Ethics DVD, an excerpt of which is below.

"‘Neat’ is an expression that was perhaps overused by students when I was at university, but it is one that I am more than willing to use for this DVD. It is not only neat but it is also simple, user-friendly and self-contained. You have everything needed to enliven your teaching of one particular unit from the A2 Religious Ethics syllabus, namely ‘sexual ethics’..."

Sex & Ethics has had a lot of positive feedback since its release, so hopefully Gaia & Genesis will follow suit.

Funny People...

Judd Apatow - he's a funny bastard, isn't he? Naturally, anyone with any common sense, would say "yes, yes he is" to such a question. The 40 Year Old Virgin was a seriously funny flick, with a lot of heart to it - although I had no idea from the trailer I saw in the cinema when it was about to be released. From the trailer, 40YOV looked like a poor man's American Pie cash-in for middle aged people ... thankfully I did eventually see it, and a whole world of Apatow comedy was opened up to me.

Knocked Up was, similarly, filled with jokes and raw human emotion and honesty - helped in no small amount by the casting of his real-life wife & kids in the movie ... just like he did here in his latest flick as writer/director.

However, although Funny People has a lot of raw human emotion and honest running throughout it ... but it's not as funny as 40 Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty damn funny (you'd have thought the Apatow gang would have run out of dick jokes by now, but nope, they're still going strong). Unfortunately the film indulges in Apatow-style meandering comedy too much.

Virgin and Knocked Up were both long films (for comedies anyway), especially in their extended cut forms, but Funny People is seriously long for a comedy, and feels too unrestrained - it feels flabby and in serious need of a diet. This is really the only thing harming Funny People though, I feel. For such a long running time, with this amount of raw human reality and impending-death depression, you really could use a few more jokes ... or a shorter running time with the same amount of gags.

It doesn't go for the knock-out punch that his previous two flicks have delivered, but it does an admirable job of pummelling through the full fifteen rounds (if I dare labour this boxing metaphor any longer, that's come from out of nowhere).

Character wise, however, Eric Bana plays a good loveable bastard, Leslie Mann plays a complex house wife having to balance love, life, marriage and commitment ... and then, Adam Sandler.

I've never been a fan of Sandler, I've not disliked him, but I've not been bothered to watch any Adam Sandler movie - I've seen a couple, but I've generally been "meh" about the whole Sandler thing. However, here he gives a cracking performance - the man needs to do more of this kind of raw, open and honest comedy, rather than the sort of gimmicky shite he usually does (which is sent up here in Funny People with "Re-Do" and "Merman").

Apatow fans, like myself, will most likely dig this movie ... not as much as his previous efforts, but it's easily in-line with the better quality Apatow-produced spin-offs (such as Pineapple Express, or Forgetting Sarah Marshall). If only it had entered the ring in full fighting shape, rather than being a bit pudgy around the midrift ... yep, there's that boxing metaphor again ... where did that come from today?

Skinner (2009)...

I got an email from an actor friend of mine on a Monday (Sean - who also starred in 2008's "Signing Off"), who was going to be back in town for a week, wondering if I had anything to film. At this point I had been cooped up at home recovering from an operation, and was very eager to make a new DeadShed short film.



As such I used the Robert Rodriguez mantra for indie filmmaking - what do I have at my disposal, because it's going in my movie.



I had a few props lying around which were at the time unused (bought for another project), so that formed the basis - a gas mask, boiler suit, and two horror props (a skinned head and arm). I had a title suddenly - "Skinner" - and then I thought about how these elements (additionally a plastic sheet, garden implements, Christmas tree lights, and a dark garage) could go together.



Within 48 hours I had the script knocked together - it was going to be a horror noir - influenced in the back of my mind by the likes of Se7en and Dexter, as well as a list of exploitation horror flicks I'd been re-watching back-to-back while laid-up in bed recovering from the aforementioned operation. Added on top I placed a noir-inspired voice over (think Sam Spade meets Max Payne (the videogame that is) meets the horror genre), laden with grisly descriptions and tired-soul musings.



Come Sunday, we filmed the short (I decided to plan my shots quite clearly in advance, in a way I hadn't done before) quickly and efficiently, and then I was able to edit it together at my own leisure in moments of spare time.



"A forensic detective attends the latest in a long line of grisly, unsolved crime scenes - murders committed by the titular serial killer whose modus operandi remains so varied and vague that those tracking him have been unable to gain any traction on the case. It is here that we see a gruesomely festive tableau set aside for the detective - a tired-eyed, noir-like protagonist - replete with a note left at the scene; the product of a diseased mind that continues to goad those who seek to bring him to justice."

You can view the film via the YouTube link below, also available in High Quality:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA0gD60edHI

N.B. Click the images to go and see full size versions, as well as the rest of my Flickr Photostream.

Gaia and Genesis (2009)...

Following on from 2008's Sex & Ethics, this educational DVD focussed on the environment from religious, philosophical and scientific viewpoints - covering five topics over five films (Gaia, Genesis, Stewards & Slayers, The Rapture, All Things Are Connected), with a follow-up group discussion with A-Level students for each of the main films.





This was a great opportunity to expand and improve on what we achieved with Sex & Ethics, and I am very proud of the final product, which we also cut together in a feature-length format for festival purposes.





I acted as editor and lead cameraman on this project.





N.B. Click the images to go to see full size versions, and to see the rest of my Flickr Photostream.