District 9

This film was like a breath of fresh air. New director/screenwriter and new actors all of whom have created a great twist on your basic apartheid/alien invasion/mockumentary/buddy flick. Neil Blomkamp wrote the script (with Terri Tatchell) and directed the film. The previews had me tantalized from the moment I first saw one. I could not wait to see this film. There was something about the rawness of the shots and the teasing of an alien flick in which the humans are the baddies. The full blown product did not disappoint. Blomkamp has a great eye and makes the most of his $30 million budget (10 times less than Transformers 2 cost apparently). The film intertwines a documentary about the events of a film we also see played out before us. At first I found this off putting trying to get my head around outsiders narrating what I was experiencing. Once I stopped fighting how I wanted these two threads play out and just accepted how they were designed, I was able to really enjoy the film for what it is and not for what I wanted it to be based on my American film going prejudices. Sharlto Copley is amazing as the main character Wikus Van Der Merwe. He plays Wikus as a bit of a bumbling, ladder climbing tool who is rather funny to watch at first. As his character slowly wakes up to the dark reality of his situation, Copley deftly shifts gears back and forth between denial, loneliness, confusion and anger. This man really knows how to act. This summer he and Christoph Waltz are making a very good case for casting non-American leads in US films. The two of them are far more talented than many US actors trying to obtain A-list lead status and can appeal to worldwide audiences which potentially means bigger international box office. District 9 is funny, violent and in the end sad and heartfelt. I have not stopped thinking about the film since I saw it a few weeks ago and I look forward to seeing it again.
Memorable moment: Wikus and the garbage rose.