District 9

[UnSub]

Peter Jackson is producing this film with a newcomer director.

What is it about?

The concept involves aliens who have landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and are living as refugees there. It has a very Cloverfield feeling to it, and is shot like a documentary, following around the MNU (essentially, the local government-run police) who are trying to keep them contained in certain areas of the city.

The website plays it pretty straight: http://www.d-9.com/

Might be good, might suck, is at least an interesting idea.

[Morfiend]

Peter Jackson is producing this film with a newcomer director.

What is it about?

I also was surfing their site after being linked from i09. I am interested too.

[DraconianOne]

Peter Jackson is producing this film with a newcomer director.

What is it about?

The concept involves aliens who have landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and are living as refugees there. It has a very Cloverfield feeling to it, and is shot like a documentary, following around the MNU (essentially, the local government-run police) who are trying to keep them contained in certain areas of the city.

The website plays it pretty straight: http://www.d-9.com/

Might be good, might suck, is at least an interesting idea.

The director, Neill Blomkamp, is the guy who made the short Halo inspired films (Halo: Arms Race) that looked like they were teasers for a feature length movie. Jackson has been a fan of his for a long time and I think he got WETA to do the effects for those films. They're pretty cool even to a non-Halo fanboi like myself.

Link to all 3 parts (which I think were also used as promos for Halo 3)

As an extra and as a potentially huge spoiler, District 9 is, allegedly, a full length version of Blomkamp's short "Alive in Joburg" which I've linked below.



Edited because I haven't had enough coffee today

[Mattemeo]

I highly recommend checking out the HD trailer at Apple Trailiers.

There's a less high quaility trailer doing the rounds with a translation which either adds or detracts from the feel of the trailer depending on how you see it, but I think this is going to be a proper little sleeper hit when more people catch on to it.

[Nevermore]

So it's Alien Nation only instead of being a stupid buddy cop movie with a pumpkin-head Mandy Potemkin, it's going to look at the much more interesting 'Holy shit, there's aliens here!'  The background looks interesting enough, but it's really going to depend on what kind of movie their making. What the story is and what the conflicts are.  Making it like a documentary is all well and good, but there still needs to be a solid story.  It'll also be nice if it doesn't turn out to be nothing more than a ham-fisted allegory about racial (in)tolerance.

[ashrik]

It'll also be nice if it doesn't turn out to be nothing more than a ham-fisted allegory about racial (in)tolerance.

I doubt we'll be getting anything but this. While the concept of highly advanced Aliens living in Shitcity, Africa could be an interesting take on racial intolerance or rising tribal tensions in Africa... blaaa I think I'm boring myself with that concept. I'll go in not expecting much and will hopefully be surprised.

[Mattemeo]

So it's Alien Nation only instead of being a stupid buddy cop movie with a pumpkin-head Mandy Potemkin, it's going to look at the much more interesting 'Holy shit, there's aliens here!'  The background looks interesting enough, but it's really going to depend on what kind of movie their making. What the story is and what the conflicts are.  Making it like a documentary is all well and good, but there still needs to be a solid story.  It'll also be nice if it doesn't turn out to be nothing more than a ham-fisted allegory about racial (in)tolerance.

The execellently put together website(s) suggests it might be a little more, or at least that's what I in my aging cynicism am hoping beyond what you've already suggested. That it's cinema verite scifi already pushes it into the realm of the unknown, and the fact that they're really not pushing the movie at all, rather letting the viral and alternate reality game aspects of it sell it makes me think they're already thinking about how people are going to perceive it. This was a fun little find. I got 7/10, bet there's some higher scorers around here.

[Surlyboi]

Look at Blokamp's original proof of concept trailer from '05 or so on Youtube.

It's called "Alive in Joburg" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1hI8c8HzxU

Bleh, missed the spoiler tag.

That said, I saw this back in '05 and loved it and hoped someone would give it a longer treatment. Lucky me.

[NiX]

Friend linked the trailer for this today, very interesting. He said that, had they actually signed a deal for a Halo movie, they had this guy lined up to do it. I think he has a thing for portraying human <-> alien interaction.

[UnSub]

His Halo movie teasers are on youtube.

[dd0029]

New trailer that gives an entirely different view of the film.

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/district-9/1809961221/trailers/215

Looks cool, but in a much different way.

[Goreschach]

That's looking very Hollywood.

[HaemishM]

It's looking about sixteen kinds of awesome to me.

[Lakov_Sanite]

First guess? Aliens aren't aliens but transformed humans.  Maybe something along the lines of all the ship was empty when it landed and was designed to transform the native species into whatever those are.  Original search parties that went in got hit was that gas stuff and boom, aliens.  Might be contagious, who knows.

[NiX]

His Halo movie teasers are on youtube.

Yes, I know. I mean had they signed a deal on the MS script for a real movie.

[Mrbloodworth]

Looks awesome.

[HaemishM]

First guess? Aliens aren't aliens but transformed humans.  Maybe something along the lines of all the ship was empty when it landed and was designed to transform the native species into whatever those are.  Original search parties that went in got hit was that gas stuff and boom, aliens.  Might be contagious, who knows.

That's exactly what it looks like, and if that's the case, it might be a bit of a letdown, mainly because the trailer will have given away the twist. I'm still looking forward to it.

[Nevermore]

If that's the case, it reminds me a bit of this, which itself would make an interesting background for a movie.  I don't particularly like Gerrold's writing style though, and I don't recall the characters or plot being all that memorable.  But I always thought it was a really interesting idea that a better writer could do a lot with.

[Mattemeo]

No idea how rated/hated AICN is on f13 but I tend to read it occasionally as it's pretty much the most 'unfiltered' movie news on the net. The one regular writer who I've ever regularly agreed with is Massawyrm, who seems to think District 9 is A very good thing indeed. His review is pretty much spoiler-free, if you've been keeping up to date with the trailers, and he seems to hint that said trailers are actually somewhat deceiving and that there's a whole lot more going on... I'm getting a bit of a Children of Men vibe from it now, which is exciting in and of itself.

[Abagadro]

I'm really getting giggity about this.  The reviews so far are 100% and quite glowing.

[Ookii]

Seeing it tomorrow!

[Abagadro]

Please report back promptly. 

[lamaros]

Blah, both this and Moon were at the film festival and I missed out. Why! Watched that shithouse Eden Log instead!

[Ookii]

Got there early but not early enough, they oversold the the screening.

Guess I'll see it this weekend.

[Nerf]

Saw it tonight, fucking awesome.

[Surlyboi]

Seeing it tonight.

[lamaros]

I've heard it can give a bit of the hand-heldmotion sickness? Anyone have trouble with that?

I had to walk out of Blair Witch because the movement in that gave me motion sickness, as a point of comparison.

[Abagadro]

How is the gore level? I've heard conflicting reports.

[HaemishM]

Going to see it tomorrow. Please make sure to use spoilers until at least next week.

[LK]

Amazing film. Really great story and whoever the lead is did an amazing job acting.

[dd0029]

Its not really gory in the Saw sense.  There is some gross stuff and you do run across a number of camera splash scenes.  On the hand held motion sickness, I generally get that but this was not a problem.  It shifts between hand held documentary and straight camera work often enough that I did not have a problem.

The lead is really good.

[Demetra]

Most amazing movie I have seen in some time.  I don't ever recall having had my emotions screwed with so thoroughly by a movie ever.  Given the violence I was trying to avoid caring about any of the characters but I just couldn't make it stick.  Go see it and don't let anyone tell you anything about it in advance.

[Murgos]

Totally worth seeing.

[jpark]

I was very impressed.

Fortunately "shaky cam" was kept to a minimum and was largely at the start of the film.

This shows an entirely different side of science fiction as a force for good in the film industry.

I am intrigued by some of the decisions in the film that worked so well.  Ultimately, the Director wanted us to side with the oppressed - which was achieved - but only AFTER the audience eventually got past their revulsion.  If the aliens were to be a surrogate for an oppressed group in our society, one would have thought they might have been depicted as "pretty" aliens here to help win the audience over exactly the opposite was true but with the same outcome.

* Possible SPOILER Below *

When I saw our "hero" threaten to have the child taken away and was annoyed at the child's brief display of violence - I would have been less forgiving as a viewer if the child was "human".  In my ignorance I would have assumed that at some level the child new the act was belligerant.  Depicted as an alien, however, I was divorced from any assumptions that he would understand our cultural norms and was sympathetic.  

The "alien" mechanic, ugly ones at that, worked so well in this film in depicting important social issues it has left a real impact on me.  All teh while when I saw the MNU I kept thinking "UN" and the Balkans.

The film really moved me - excellent on all accounts.

[Aez]

Great movie.

I liked how human were depicted.  The only character with heroic attributes is the green alien.  It was nice to see humans from an other specie's perspective.
I also liked the concept of a dump worker/warrior race needing leadership from a genius and compassionate leader race.  It was refreshing from the usual cruel hive mind with drone.
The Nigerians were hilarious.

Minor gripes :

- MNU was too stupid and incompetent.  The security was a joke.
- The aliens physiology was too cliche and did not seem like a plausible produce of evolution.