Other Films Watched in October

Obsessed (Steve Shill, 2009)- Very Good

Police Academy 4: Citizen’s on Patrol (Jim Drake, 1987)- Okay

Wild Child (Nick Moore, 2008)- Good

Jumper (Doug Liman, 2008)- Very Good

The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006)- Good

Calamity Jane (David Butler, 1953)- Very Good

Fallen (Gregory Hoblit, 1998)- BRILLIANT!

Four Lions (Christopher Morris, 2010)- Very Good

District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009)

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, Vanessa Hayward

Summary: An extra-terrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.

Genre: Sci-fi, Action, Thriller

Now let me start off by saying that I absolutely loved this movie.

The beginning plays out in a documentary style telling the story of the organization MNU (Multi-National United) and bureaucrat Wikus Van De Merwe. Then there's first-time actor Sharlto Copely who plays Wikus and does a really great job, which became an amazing job when I found out that he apparently improvised all of his dialogue.
Personally I think it’s a good thing that the story focuses on Copley’s character as he is pretty much the only good actor in the film, don't get me wrong the aliens are pretty good as well.
The story’s one we’ve all seen before in a number or films; but District 9 does it in a pretty cool way, starting with the faux-documentary style filming. I loved the use of this filming as that’s what got my attention, because it makes you feel as though you’re involved, that you’re there. Secondly the special effects look great! The ‘prawns’ (a derogatory term for the aliens) look fantastic, that left hand, the mechanical alien suit and that spaceship just make everything so much better.

As much as I liked It the biggest let down for me was also documentary style filming as it seems to just stop after about 30 minutes, before randomly appearing every again so often with the added extra of interviews that seem to come out of nowhere.

I also visited the site (while it was up and running) and it was absolutely brilliant. After being given the choice to pick either human or non-human; being the rebel that I am (well not really I just wasn't paying attention) where I clicked on the red area of the map and I was blocked from the site for trying to access human content.

Very cool marketing and an even better film.

My Rating: 10/10
One Final Word: Excellent

Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005)

Cast: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Jennifer Lim, Jan Vlasák

Summary: Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that awaits them.

Genre: Horror

Not much to say about this film except that I was super nervous about watching this film (especially with my friends) because as we all know I'm a bit of a wimp and I'm not a fan of horror films.

I was right to be wary of this film because it was super creepy and totally gruesome, despite that I think I would watch this one again and I definitely want to watch the sequels.

My Rating: 6/10
One Final Word: Strange

Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)

Cast: John Cusack, John Malkovich, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener

Summary: A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the mind of the movie star, John Malkovich

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Drama

Beware there be spoilers!!

This is the second film that I have watched as part of my surrealism course in my A-Level Film Studies class, where we used another of Freud’s theories to analyse a particular scene from the film.
We analysed the scene where Maxine and Lotte enter Malkovich’s subconscious discussing Freud’s theory of what happens in your childhood effecting you adulthood.

The scene begins with Maxine entering Malkovich’s subconscious before being followed by Lotte. They end up in Malkovich’s childhood where we see a young Malkovich watching his parents have sex, this could possibly affect him in his later life as he may become sexually obsessed.

The next room we enter shows us a teen Malkovich being bullied in the locker room by his fellow students. In this scene you can see that the teacher is condoning the behaviour of his students by taking part, and the fact that Malkovich is naked during this ordeal could definitely have an effect on his confidence in adulthood.

Upon the entering the basement Maxine discovers a young Malkovich who has been locked in and is repeating the words “I am bad” over and over. Maxine then sees Malkovich as an adult smelling ladies underwear through a grate in the wall. His behaviour seen here can clearly shows that he has some unresolved sexual issues most likely partially caused by the experience of watching his parents have sex.

The next room we enter shows an older teen Malkovich with his girlfriend, at first nothing appears to be wrong but as Lotte continues to chase Maxine we hear the girl say, “You’re creepy”. The final place we are taken to within Malkovich’s subconscious is a school bus from his childhood, where he has wet himself and all the children are singing “Little Johnny Malko-pee, wet his pants so all can see”.

My Rating: 6/10
One Final Word: Good