Both of these films had their moments, especially with the special effects, but some of the story lines could have done with a lot of tweaking (from me of course).
District 9 (2009) was produced by Peter Jackson, (who did Lord of the Rings and King Kong), and it is about clearing away aliens who have landed and been housed in Johannesburg (albeit in a slum), to another district. Obviously it draws parallels with the apartheid situation in South Africa, as the aliens are referred to as 'prawns', and everyone thinks they are thick, dirty and lawbreakers. The main human in the film Wilkus, (played by Sharlto Copley), is a manager at an arms company. He just wants to do his job, until he becomes infected and starts to turn into an alien. The more alien he becomes, the more he identifies with them, and he then ends up trying to defend them. This is all well and good, and the film is done in a really believable documentary style. The trouble for me was I hated the end. Wilkus gets inside a metallic fighting machine, and the film ends up like Transformers or something. This really let it down in my opinion, plus (as usual), there were lots of little things that bugged me during the film, even small things like there being no cobwebs in the run down shacks. As is always the case, the army can shoot aliens with ease from helicopters, but when they try to hit Wilkus later on, they miss. Still thought the film was well done though, and I preferred the early part of the film to Lord of the Rings. I just really hate stuff like Transformers.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) was also excellent during the early part, as the effects (Benjamin being born looking ancient) were fantastic. The film was good, but dragged on a bit, and could have done with some editing, as it was about three hours long. Brad Pitt stayed looking suspiciously good for a long time when he was (supposedly) getting younger, and Cate Blanchett took a while getting older (as Benjamin's love interest). it was also a bit like Forest Gump in reverse, as some key historical scenes were played out in the background, or as a back story (space rockets, the Second World War). Once again, as it is Hollywood, it was different from the book, (where Benjamin is born old looking but also bright), Some of the scenes are not too believable, such as Benjamin walking out on his wife and child, then going exploring for a few years, when he could have spent longer with her. I would have preferred it to be shorter and to have been able to have cared for the characters more. Once Brad Pitt started getting young, I lost more and more interest in what happened to him. You could definitely empathise with the cast in District 9 more, and I much preferred that.
Still, always good to see films.
toodle pip
Although Manchester United are my favourite team, I used to go and watch Oxford United a lot when I was younger, as I lived in between Oxford and Reading, so I still look out for their results, and was henceforth chuffed earlier on after watching Oxford beat York 3-1 to get promotion back into the league. They scored two quick goals (One from James Constable above, who has had a great season) and were coasting it until a mistake from their goalkeeper Ryan Clarke cost them a goal, as he fumbled a cross into his own net. It was then a bit nervous until they scored again in injury time, as York were trying to press or an equaliser. It was a miserable day in the pouring rain at Wembley, but a great result. It's a pity Darlington have just been demoted as I could have gone to watch Oxford play there, as I now live about 12 miles from the Darlington ground. Never mind, onwards and upwards.
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