In which I talk about a movie

[danceswithwords]

Which is something I almost never do! It's been a while since I've gone to the movies; most of what comes out these days can't overcome my inherent laziness, it seems. But after brunch on Sunday, Mrs. D. let me borrow D. and we went to see District 9.

Comments

[troyswann]

Thank you for this thoughtful review. This helps me get over my disappointment at being driven from the theatre by the jiggle-cam action, and at the same time makes me wish even more that I could've stayed to the end.

[danceswithwords]

It sucks that somewhere along the line, "artsy" and "making part of our audience barf" became confused.

[sweet_ali]

Fantastic review. I'd say more, but my brain is currently mush.

P.S. I totally suffered at the hands of the "shaky cam". I was glad that the last part of the movie, there was considerably less.

[danceswithwords]

I usually have a pretty strong stomach for such things (I don't get motion sick easily), but between the shaky cam and the really, really graphic vomiting, my gag reflex actually kicked in once.

[asta77]

I saw the film this afternoon so I could finally read your review. :) Great write up. So much so I don't have anything to add. The film was not perfect (I felt it began veering into standard scifi/action territory towards the en), but it made me think and a film hasn't forced me to do that in quite some time. I was also blown away by the realism achieved on a much smaller budget than a typical Hollywood summer blockbuster.

The shaky camera work didn't bother me at all, but the numerous images of vomiting and limbs and heads exploding made me cover my eyes on a few occasions. I'm still debating if all that was necessary to convey the horror of what was going on or if they could have succeeded in having the same emotional impact with more cutaways.

[danceswithwords]

The film was not perfect (I felt it began veering into standard scifi/action territory towards the en), but it made me think and a film hasn't forced me to do that in quite some time. I was also blown away by the realism achieved on a much smaller budget than a typical Hollywood summer blockbuster.

It became clear at a certain point that the chase, and the final fight, were the big action sequences the entire film had been building up to. I didn't begrudge it to them because it's required of summer films at this point; at least it had an emotional resonance. In general, there was a momentum to the plot, building up to that, that was gripping.

I gather from an interview I read that both Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson were metaphorically jumping up and down and clapping at the idea of making things go "goosh"; that was a feature, not a bug. It was, at least, making a point. I'm still thinking about why it bothers me less than your typical Quentin Tarantino film.