Film: District 9

I've tried to watch this film several times, but always been variously interrupted by takeaways arriving, needing to leave as it was not my house, my mother pitching a fit about wanting to watch something easy and so on. So I've seen the documentary-style beginning quite a few times and always thought it was a really interesting idea. I think it's pretty difficult to make alien plots original these days, but this is by far the most outside-of-the-box approach I've seen. For more details on the plot, there's the IMDb page and TV Tropes (which, as always, is far more entertaining).

What I Liked:
As mentioned above, the approach to aliens is truly off-the-wall and unique - if you went into this film knowing absolutely nothing about it, you would not know what the bloody hell was going on for a long time; but not because it's confusing, just because it's like nothing you've ever seen before. That said, the film does an excellent job of using something decidedly not-ordinary to comment on Big Issues that are upsettingly ordinary - none of the metaphorical aspects are too heavy-handed, but very perceptive and clever. Though it's a small thing (and repeatedly lampshaded in the film), I really appreciated the action being set in Johannesburg, rather than your standard New York or London. Also, I've never really been a big fan of mockumentaries, but I really enjoyed the way this was filmed - the documentary elements were used brilliantly towards the beginning of the film, but you don't notice when they start being phased out to make way for more traditional film-making - again, very subtle and very clever.

What I Didn't Like:

I'm not really sure whether I actually considered this a good or bad thing, but the film-makers, clever, introspective and subtle though they were, were certainly not above your standard action movie shoot-'em-up. What I definitely DID object to was watching the main character PEEL HIS OWN FINGERNAILS OFF. That was very much a:

moment.

****

(My laptop is allowing gifs again! I'm sure you're all thrilled.)