Movie Critic Friday

I Promise that I'm still working hard on my new surprise(s)!!! 

Hang in there, its going to be awesome!!! 

Below is a Movie Critic Friday review that has been written by my friend Tiffany. 

I know. 

I cheated. 

To be honest, when Tiffany was describing the movie... 

my first thought was, 

"I actually have to watching this!?!?"

and then my second thought (that I blurted out) was, 

"Could you do a guest post for me?!"

Tiffany is a huge fan of movies in general...

(She has the largest collection of movies I have ever seen!!)

So this movie review came naturally - oh and the fact that she is a writer helps! 

So enjoy today's review of (drum roll......):

District 9

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I can count on one hand the number of movies I’ve walked out of. (Okay, I’ve only actually walked out of one movie. The rest were DVDs that I just had to turn off.) Usually I’ll stick with a film to the end. But I have to say that in most cases, the ending never does make up for the rest of the movie and I leave wishing I’d “walked out.” Such was the case for District 9. It’s pretty much a stinker. And I even have a confirmation on this one. The other day I was at our local BX perusing the new DVDs. Two airmen came up to do the same and I got to witness the following conversation:

Airman 1 (pointing to the movie with his foot): That movie sucked! 

Airman 2: Dude, I know.

I couldn’t agree more, guys.

In case you’re curious about the story, here you go (if you’re not interested, I totally understand and please feel free to skip down a couple of paragraphs). District 9 tells the story of an alien ship that has stalled over Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1980s. The government decides to investigate the ship and there they find a race of aliens who are sick, starving, and in need of a place to live. So the South African government sets them up in a location deemed District 9--I know, I was asking the same question: what the...why? Over the next 20 years, the area falls into overwhelming disrepair and the government decides to move the however-many-million aliens to a new place cleverly titled District 10. But first, bureaucratic officials have to serve eviction notices to all the alien households.

So, the eviction crew is headed up by this guy who’s a total toolbox trying to advance his government career and impress his father-in-law boss. He and his team go into District 9 where some stuff happens and the guy gets hit in the face with some kind of alien goo. Fast forward to that night (believe me when I say, I wish I would have), the guy gets really sick and goes to the hospital. It’s soon discovered he’s beginning to turn into one of the aliens.

The government now wants to pull the guy apart and do all kinds of tests on him. He escapes but has nowhere else to go but District 9. The rest of the movie is him trying to get the alien who poisoned him in the first place to change him back; the government trying to capture the guy before he completely transforms; and the scientific, goo-toting alien trying to get back to his ship.

The plot didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the CG aliens just looked ridiculous. None of the characters (earthlings or aliens) were remotely relatable so I never really cared what happened to any of them--live, die, change into another life form, didn’t really matter. The whole thing is shot mostly in a documentary-style. It’s gritty, it’s shaky, it’s violent, it’s gross. I realize the story is far-fetched, but at no point did I ever feel compelled to just go with it. I just kept wondering why I was still watching. (The story on that one: by the time I started it, the movie was overdue and didn’t want to have to explain to my husband why I was late turning in a movie that I didn’t even watch.)

Basically, skip this one. I mean, even if someone you know rented it on their dime and offered to make you dinner, just walk away. Do something more fun with those couple of hours--hours that me, and those two airmen, can never get back.

If you’re looking for a good “aliens and government bureaucracy” movie, stick with Men In Black. 

Better yet rent ET and rediscover a classic. That’s my plan.

Happy movie watching!