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Guest Review By Troy Wagner

Sometimes movies completely surprise you. They leave an impact that you never saw coming. Perhaps it’s because you go in with lowered expectations, believing that what’s to be on the screen will be nothing more than a formulaic summer movie with some explosions and, get this, aliens. While District 9 has both of those things, there’s no way you will be calling it formulaic, and is likely to be one of the best movies you see all year.

Okay so, movies about aliens. That should seem pretty familiar to most people up to this point. We’ve seen them terrorize countless space crews, attack arctic research labs, and outright invade on plenty of occasions, be it on patriotic national holidays or not. The main problem with these, however, is the fact that they’re not all that rooted in reality. What would realistically happen if aliens were to come to Earth? District 9 has a pretty good guess.

The aliens, later known as the “prawns”, have arrived. Their enormous mothership comes to a stop over Johannesburg, South Africa. Once the millions (yeah, MILLIONS) of prawns are taken off the ship, they are placed in holding areas sectioned off by the government, the eponymous district 9. Time passes and these areas soon become slums, occupied by the prawns, who have now become dirty, diseased foragers. The government decides to rellocate them to a more isolated area to appease the paranoid public. A beaurocratic pencil-pusher named Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copely) is appointed to lead the massive undertaking.

In all honesty, that’s all you should know when going into the theater to see District 9. It is made all the more fantastic the less you know beforehand. This could be said for any given movie, but it really needs to be emphasised in this case. It’s inspiring to see how the filmmakers turn such a simple premise into something pretty remarkable.

Essentially every aspect of District 9 is masterfully executed. It’s director Neill Blomkamp’s first feature, yet it easily excells above other, more well-established films of the genre. However, while nearly all of it deserves praise, lead actor Sharlto Copely is the centerpiece that holds everything together and makes it work so well. He’s the lead amongst very few flesh-and-blood counterparts, and plenty of CGI prawns (not to mention the fact that many of his scenes are improvised AND District 9 is Copely’s acting debut). Wikus is a very complex character to watch on screen. He goes from being despised, to tolerated, to loved, and back again multiple times. It’s just staggering to realize that Sharlto Copely had never truly acted for the camera before until District 9. His performance is incredibly powerful at points. It really just blows you away.

District 9 is right on the verge of being revolutionary. But it’s not flat out perfect. Jumps from the documentary style to being behind the fouth wall can be jarring, and the CGI is dodgy in rare instances. But those are relatively small blemishes on an otherwise amazing film. As long as you’re not squeamish about intense violence, of which there is only a handful, District 9 is a fresh and exciting film that absolutely deserves to be seen.

9 1/2 out of 10

For the record, Rescue Dawnis not a war movie. If you go in expecting heavy action, lots of gunplay, and large-scale battle sequences, you will be horribly disappointed. Rather, the film is about friendship, hope, and survival. It’s a character study. The pacing and method of storytelling is more like The Shawshank Redemption- short episodic sections that, when assembled together, form the overall narrative arc.

Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a Navy pilot stationed on an aircraft carrier just off the coast of Laos in 1965. The story follows Dieter’s first mission, subsequent capture by the Vietnamese, and his life in a makeshift POW camp deep in the jungle. Director Werner Herzog made this film as a follow up to his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Flyin order to expound on more of the story and complete what Dengler himself saw as “unfinished business.”

The film itself is honest in its approach. It’s incredibly genuine and we feel as though we are watching actual events as they unfold. Bale’s dedication to the role is admirable and the investments he makes in his portrayal pay dividends in the final cut. Bale and the supporting cast of fellow POW’s (including Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies) succeed in developing a level of realism that fills in the for the lack of action and digital effects.

The biggest problem with Rescue Dawn is the fact that it has no real emotional impact. It fails to create a level of intensity that is to be expected from this type of story. At times the narrative seems content just to flow along slowly, like the lethargy of a meandering river. Therefore, it’s hard to connect with Bale’s character. You want to commit to the story 100%. You want to cheer for Dieter. But in the end you just sit back and say to yourself, “Whatever. If he makes it, he makes it.”

4 1/2 out of 10

Bill Simmons competes in the Wing Bowl

SnagFilms is an excellent place to find documentary films, including the one I saw over the weekend -  Swallow Your Pride, a story about the rising popularity of competitive eating. What I love about documentaries is their ability to expose viewers to subcultures that the general public doesn’t notice, like a group of people totally committed to eating as much as humanly possible.

The film follows five competitive eaters as they prepare for and compete in Philadelphia’s annual Wing Bowl, an event wherein contestants eat as many wings as possible within a certain amount of time. The winner receives a crown and a brand new car.

The important thing about this documentary is that it avoids becoming superficial. The upcoming Wing Bowl drives the movie forward, but directors Josh Camerote and Brian Dwyer do a nice job of rounding out the story with great character insights and solid subplots. The film resolves around issues such as the motivations driving each eater, the impact on their health long-term, the credibility of eating as a sport, and the organization and governance of competitive eating. And all of the above is portrayed in an entertaining, humorous, yet honest way.

Swallow Your Pride has all the right elements - a good pace, a strong story arc, firm direction, unique and off-beat subject matter, and interesting characters. Anyone else craving chicken wings?

7 out of 10

Before director Danny Boyle was winning accolades for Slumdog Millionaire, he shot a little film about two English brothers who fall into an incredible amount of money. In the film Millions, brothers Damian and Anthony re-locate to a new area of town with their father Ronnie. All three are still reeling from the death of Ronnie’s wife and the new house gives them a chance to move past the grief.

Damian is an imaginative little boy, always conscious of others and always willing to help. So, when a duffel bag full of British pounds literally falls into his lap, he’s motivated to use the money to help as many people as possible. His brother Anthony, in contrast, wants to keep the money to himself and use it for his own benefit. But complicating their situation is the fact that England will switch over to the Euro in only 14 days, leaving their cash worthless.

Millions is told from Damian’s perspective, and the fanciful special effects and vibrant colors throughout reflect Damian’s imagination and his view of the world around him. Each scene becomes a visual treat, especially the opening sequence when the two brothers venture on to the empty lot of their soon-to-be-built house. They start to imagine what the house will look like and as they dream, the house builds itself around them.

The film has a distinctive charm that’s brought out both through the wonderful visual elements and the performances. Alex Etel’s portrayal of Damian is heartwarming, and although the character is naive and innocent, he teaches us a lot about humanitarianism. Overall, Millions is a delightful story with identifiable characters, a solid plot, and an emotional appeal that doesn’t become overly sweet.

7 out of 10 stars

Knowing Poster

Knowing, the latest Nicolas Cage film, paints a bleak picture of man’s future and delves into philosophical questions pertaining to the order (or lack thereof) of life’s events. Themes of destiny, futility, and spirituality are all wrapped up in a suspenseful plot that’s entertaining, yet entirely predictable.

The film begins in the year 1959. To commemorate the opening of their new school, a group of elementary school students lower a time capsule into the ground. Inside the capsule is a drawing from each student, illustrating his/her vision of the future. However, one disturbed little girl named Lucinda inserts a piece of paper filled with numbers.

Flash forward to present day. John Koestler (Cage) is an MIT professor and single dad with his own set of emotional issues. His son Caleb is handed Lucinda’s paper when the capsule is opened at a school ceremony and John starts to believe that the numbers have accurately predicted world tragedies from 1959 to the present. Only three events have yet to happen and John’s hope is that he can stop each tragedy before it occurs and uncover the truth about the origin of the numbers.

Although entertaining, Knowing has an abundance of plot holes and scenes that feel way too expository. For example, at one point in the film John’s sister confronts him about his fractured relationship with their father. It’s a scene that tries to bring some humanity to Cage’s character, but it seems out of place and forced.

The film also becomes a mixture of several genres. Dramatic and emotional scenes between father and son are followed by moments of intense action; those moments are followed by elements of mystery and suspense; and in the wake of those scenes are moments suited for sci-fi. Some might see this as a case of identity crisis - a movie trying to be too much of one thing without really developing it’s strongest point. Others might see this as a device to hold an audience’s interest and maintain quicker pacing. By movie’s end, however, Knowing becomes a bit muddled by all these devices and the overall impact is weakened.

5 out of 10 stars

Recently I watched the film The Prime Gig
on IFC - a story centered on Pendelton “Penny” Wise (Vince Vaughn), a smooth-talking small-time phone scam artist who wants to score some big money. As the film opens, Penny is working in a low-level telemarketing office with other sales people who are trying to scrape by. It’s obvious from the start that Penny is a big fish in a little pond and he knows it. He wants more. He wants a bigger challenge with a bigger payoff. Through his connections, Penny hears about an opportunity with Kelly Grant (Ed Harris), a well-known figure within their world. Penny knows that if he can get on board with Grant that he will earn more in one week than most people do in six months.

The Prime Gig follows other grifter and con-artist films and I fully expected the plot to be a tangled web of double-crosses, leaving me guessing until the very end. However, the difference with The Prime Gig is the fact that it’s focused more on the Penny character, not an ensemble cast or a multi-layered plot. I don’t mind the strong focus on character, but this premise lent itself beautifully to the type of plot one comes to expect from this genre and it didn’t capitalize on the opportunity.

The first act of the film was very promising, but there was nothing in subsequent acts to really heighten the tension and propel the story to a new level. After hooking the audience, the story seemed to level off. And the subplot between Penny and his good-for-nothing bum of a friend went nowhere.

Julia Ormond did a wonderful job as Caitlin Carlson, a sexy and strong love interest for Penny. The script developed her character really well. The same can’t be said however for the mysterious Kelly Grant. Ed Harris did what he could with what was given to him, but I really wanted more from this character. Grant was set up early on as an antagonist for Penny’s character, but the conflict never did build.

Overall, The Prime Gig is a film with great promise that goes flat less than half way through.

3 1/2 out of 10