George's comments (member since Oct 19, 2008)

George's comments from the Science Fiction Films group.

Yes, thanks a lot. that was very interesting reading.

Well, maybe they'll do a sequel, some sort of Revenge of the Prawns, or perhaps, The Prawns Strike Back or better yet, Prawn Dawn. endless possibilities!

In any case, the fact that the movie has encouraged so much thought about it certainly puts it head and shoulders over most of the summer's fare, most of which vanished without a trace. and it stands above most of the films we've seen of late in the Sci-fi genre. I like it! I'll read all opinions to the contrary, but I will continue to steadfastly like this film.

at the very least it fell off or disengaged. they showed a brief clip of it dropping. Humans never really figured out their social structure, even after 20 years of interaction. the aliens appear to be highly specialized in various roles with most of the aliens apparently worker prawns, not bred for intellectual activity or fighting skills.

Ok, that's cool. I will shamefully confess to actually seeing Transformers. but I wouldn't be caught dead wit a Harlequin novel. I guess if I felt so inclined I'd have to read it alone late at night in my study behind locked doors. Sometimes I go to these things just to keep up on what's going on with popular culture in the US. I once went to go see Disney's Aladdin by myself, but wound up suspected by every parent with a small child there. anyway, I thought that Children of Men was stunning in concept and execution and really is the best Sci-fi film since Blade Runner. but I wasn't sure what to really expect either, so it had no difficulty exceeding my expectations by a very wide margin.

Alex, no, I don't think that trash like Independence Day and I Robot degenerate the market. Neither kept Children of Men from being made. I don't go to the movies looking for the same type of experience each time or to always be intellectually challenged or intrigued. Thank God for that, or I'd almost never go as I personally have strong opinions on the power of my intellect. I also used to read Daredevil and Dostoevsky. Haven't picked up a Daredevil in a very long time and whatever happened to Dostoevsky anyway, he hasn't written anything new lately? But for me, there's room for both and both can be appreciated on various levels. Hollywood has never cranked out only great films. Given the way films are financed and put together, the more amazing thing is that they ever do.

well, for me it really depends on the film itself and whether it succeeds in what it appears it was trying to do. for example, I enjoyed Independence Day for what it was, a very Saturday Matinee thrill ride affair that didn't take itself seriously at all. If you want to talk about logic black holes, that's a film you could talk all week about, but it was fast paced, had decent actors and fun special effects, and lots of very bad aliens went to their just reward. Is it worthy of discussion as a great work of science fiction? hardly, but it made no effort to be. I enjoyed this film considerably as well, as previously noted. Did chunks of it make absolute sense? no, although I could debate more over which chunks and why, I just don't see the point. I don't want it to seem as though I was taking offense. Is it a better film than Children of Men? no, of course not,duhhhh. so what? But how many films are better than that one? damn few indeed. But for all it's faults, I continue to think it's a film worth watching. Quick now, tell me how many better films were released this summer? I'll go look for them when they show up here.

I hadn't meant to take you to task that severely over the name. Wikus is more alien to us both in the normal use of the word. I think Wikus is chosen as the name of the protagonist for all the baggage carried by the Afrikaners and their apartheid past, which the film mines deeply.

In any case,we do disagree over the Wikus character, which is fine, otherwise I would have already gone to bed. Yes, he kills over the fuel, but not without reason as they were after all trying to kill him so I don't see it as murder. He fights to survive and they fight to make money. So the people he kills more or less earn their fate. If he murders anyone it's the egg or pupae prawns early on, which he does without remorse or for that matter, any emotion at all beyond the fact he feels elation in a job well done, a fairly grotesque scene. But, the company is the true face of evil here, personified by his father-in-law, pursuing profits in arms sales and employing mercenary death squads and morally bankrupt doctors and scientists to the point of killing anyone who stands in the way of larger profit margins or in complete willingness to sacrifice anyone to promote profits, not excluding our protagonist, Wikus.

Yes, he is very human in the sense that he's very flawed at the beginning, but he doesn't really care very much for anyone outside of his immediate circle or think about anything. He doesn't connect to much of anyone. My point is that he comes to see things from a larger perspective comes to understand the horrors the system he serves is perpetrating, and comes to value his own humanity more and more as he loses it physically. But he doesn't lose it emotionally, it grows. As for me, I disliked Wikus in the beginning for his simplistic unthinking accceptance of the order of things and his willingness to participate in the supression to the point of accepting a lead role, at least in theory, in the supression of the aliens. His transformation is of course, forced on him by the events in the film, so I don't know how much credit he really earns, but in comparison to most of the humans in the film, in the end he comes off far better than most.

only an American would assume the last man on Earth would have to be in the US.

the only real question would be if you entered the theatre laughing.

well, I thought the catfood thing was funny. and the Nigerians are so over the top as to be satirical to me, maybe I just prefer to think of them as over the top. then there was the pr campaign accusing poor poor Wekus of catching Alien Aids by having carnal knowledge of an alien and the reaction of all the people in the fast food joint when they realize he's the one on television. I would agree it's hardly Space Balls, but then I'm attempted to thank God it isn't.

I see the metamorphisis of Wikus somewhat differently. He's a pretty shallow human being, doesn't give much thought to anything beyond his immediate needs or his immediate circle of family and friends. Not especially good or bad really. doesn't care overmuch for prawns or question the system that has kept them supressed if alive on a very subsistance level. Obviously, not being especially bad puts him up a few rungs up over many of the others in the film. But, in reality, he doesn't have much going for him and interesting enough doesn't question his good luck in being chosen as the head of this mission to completely separate the Prawns from the rest of humanity, in creating an alien Bantustan in South African terms, although there's clearly no reason why he should have been chosen.

He doesn't really become human, or something more than barely sentient until he's exposed to the fuel and begins to transform. Yes, he continues to lose his human features, but he doesn't lose his human identity, he finds it. In the end, he's no longer recognizable as a human, but his humanity is not in question. It's far stronger at the end of the film than at the beginning. His tragedy is that he didn't really understand or value his humanity until it was physically taken away from him.

But the film itself has many holes. It's not only impossible to understand why humans aren't crawling all over this space vehicle that has suddenly appeared over Joburg. One wonders why no one seems to have given any thought as to just how long that damn thing is going to hover there before it comes down? We don't really know much of anything about how it got there or why, so questioning the fuel situation is ok but fruitless as there's no way to know as with many other things. It was sitting there for quite a while, until humans finally decided to break into it. Nothing appears to have been working well on the ship, certainly the workers appeared to be about to die when the humans got there. The workers obviously know what their weapons are for, but either can't operate them themselves or lack any desire to do so. Obviously not so for Science Officer, Christopher Johnson, but no explanation is given for that either. By the way, shame, shame for saying that Christopher Johnson is a more "human" name than Wikus van de Merve. What an English thing to say. what are you trying to do, start another Boer War?

now, there's an idea.

Rob wrote: "Whenever you get back from SOUTH Korea, George, we'll have to get together and partake...then watch 2001 or something. You supply..I have no idea where to get it anymore. ;)

I was impressed ju..."

Sorry, Rob, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. wouldn't know where to begin these days. nice thought though.

As for the film, I thought the shakycam thing was ok as it was limited in use. It would have been interesting to get some insight into the thinking of the worker aliens. The one guy we really get a look at is the alien intellectual. I suppose they still would have looked good compared to the Nigerians though.

I went to see Reefer Madness once in the early 70's. You didn't have to toke up first, you would have gotten a contact high just breathing in the theater. And in addition, people were just passing along joints down the aisles. Those were the days, my friend. But, I digress.

I really enjoyed District 9. There are certain elements it shares with other films, especially Alein Nation, but with much more of an edge. Not too many nice humans standing tall either, including the protagonist for that matter during much of the film. and the aliens aren't exactly warm and fuzzy spotted humans either. All in all, I thought it was a pretty original effort that didn't pull many punches on what it was trying to portray. I wonder if it will show in Nigeria?

but if I were on the Enterprise heading into harm's way, I'd much rather have Jean Luc Picard in the captain's chair.

I agree all around. ok, maybe Kirk was a bit too much the bad biker boy, but he was never my favorite character anyway, much less a sacred icon. It's a very credible addition to the Star Trek movie list, far better than the original Star Trek one. The Romulans make great enemies, lots of great actions scenes, the right amount of humor, and a very strong cast all in all. Let's hope they continue to venture forth.

Kyle was a peculiar and unhappy choice. He seemed more at home in Show Girls, frankly. but Lynch certainly liked him. considering so much of the book takes place inside Paul's head as the focus of time, I think Lynch never really solved what to do with it. It seemed ok to me when it came out, but I watched a little while back and just kept repeating the words, the horror, the horror, over and over.

I think it's going to be released in a week or two,not sure since I'm not in the US.

Hey, how about that new Star Trek movie coming out?

I agree, I enjoyed it trememdously. I watch it occasionally, but it's incredibly hit or miss.