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District 9
This is a film which has received a lot of hype recently, about a spaceship which stops over Johannesburg, unlike other films where it is always New York and Washington. The story is set 20 years on where more than 1m aliens, known as Prawns by the locals, have been shoved into chaotic refugee camps called District 9. Wikus van der Merwe (played by Sharlto Copley) is not really a hero type, more like an office nerd, and is person put in charge of evicting the aliens to a camp over 200 miles away from the main centre of population.

Spoiler Alert

During the eviction procedures, he is exposed to an alien liquid and Wikus starts to turn into a prawn alien. Because he can now use the DNA Weapons that the prawns use, he is very valuable and is hunted by the MNU corporation that he once worked for.

Overview

The film which is by Neill Blomkamp is shot like a documentary, with news footage, amateur footage, one on one interviews and live footage. At one point it reminded me of Cloverfield!

What I will say is that at some points it seems more comical than serious. Without too much warning it then moves from comic to squeamish. There are some references to the race card and apartheid as well as referencing the attitudes to refugees.

The film has no real draw and there is very little to keep you interested all of the time, especially later in the film when its run, shoot, run, shoot, bang, splat – nothing really new here.

Go to this film if you like

- new fresh films

- Sci Fi

- great special effects

- lots of action

- a fairly good story

Don’t go to this film if you don’t like

- films which show cruelty (even if it is to CGI Aliens)

- People Exploding in a big bloody splat after being hit by laser beams

- squeamish scenes like peoples fingernails falling off, peoples arms being blown off and people vomiting

- a grown man eating cat food from a tin

Finally : Have a listen to the Wikus character pronouncing the work F**k , as Fooock – it gets really annoying the more you listen to it.

District 9 – Official Trailer I had here was removed from YouTube
so the link to the District9 Trailer is available if you click here.

Overall : 7 ½/ 10

I was tempted to give it 6 out of 10 but the
effects are very good and redeem the films
weak points… I later increased the score
for District 9 due to the performance of the
main actor who is in line for a part as
Howling Mad Murdoch in the A-Team film.

Having seen all previous Harry Potter films, I saw the preview in Storm Cinemans Waterford on Wednesday evening.
You won’t be disappointed – good story, good effects and a bit of humour thrown in also.

It is very hard to review the film without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t read the Harry Potter books.

Basically the plot for this film continues with Harry and friends still in Hogwarts. Voldemort is all around and is impacting the Muggle and wizarding worlds. The normally secure Hogwarts is no longer the safe – students are being attacked and dark forces are apparent from the outset. Harry has a sneaking suspicion that certain teachers in Hogwarts may have been in league with Voldemort. Whether he is right or wrong, Dumbledore helps Harry, by giving him advice and showing him the past, in preparation for a final battle against the dark forces. There are plenty of those “nice guys” the Death eaters and Bellatrix Lestrange, played by Helena Bonham Carter makes a reappearance. Also, look out for the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare which make an appearance in the film.

There is lots going on and if you haven’t seen the previous films, you will get more from the film if you can do some cramming before seeing this one.

There is a lot of Lovey Dovey stuff at the start of the film, which I think goes on for a bit longer than I think was necessary, but overall the film flies along like the train to Hogwarts. Very enjoyable even for a non-Harry Potter fan. The Next film will be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) and I’m sure as soon as Harry Potter fans across the world exit cinemas and theaters, the will all be looking forward to that next film in the series.

Verdict: I didn’t really like the last film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but this certainly made up for it.
One small comment about the Storm Cinemas showing of the trailer for the film 2012 which depicts the end of the world, was NOT in my view suitable for an audience which was comprised mainly of children, who are easily affected by imagery such as this – the trailers should not end up giving kids nightmares!!

Running Time : 2h 33mins (153 mins)

Overall : 9/10

Official Trailer – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Another good choice from Waterford Film for All. The Class (or Entre Les Murs in French … don’t know where they got the translation from) is about a teacher in a French secondary school trying to reach out to a troubled and troublesome class of underprivileged kids.

The style of the film is quite unusual, in that you feel you are sitting in the class, the camera panning around the room as comments and chaos fly around the class room. The dialogue is very fast in parts but is witty also. The actors who play the students are very good and the classroom scenes have a bit of improvisation in the dialogue which adds to the realism.

Some reviews claim this is a feel good film – I think, it could have been, but did not succeed. The film starts going in one direction, and you think you know where the film will end up, but I felt at the end it didn’t achieve its potential. Its about 40 mins too long, it has a weaker than expected conclusion (I don’t like films that just leave you hanging), and some loose ends were not resolved.  Just because it has weak points does not mean I didn’t enjoy the majority of the film, it was entertaining and compelling in parts.

The Class was directed by Laurent Cantet and won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year and was very unlucky not to get an Academy award.

For more on Waterford Film for All and The Class, click here

Overall 6½/10