We Are ODST Trailer

The new "Halo 3" campaign is due to come out September 22nd. Titled "Halo 3:ODST", it puts you in the boots of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper rather than a genetically enhanced Spartan super-soldier. But, from the looks of this live action trailer, that doesn't make it any less exciting and action-filled. Did I mention the video is also gorgeous to just look at. It also looks a lot like "District 9". Not sure if Neill Blomkamp directed this or not, but he had directed a few shorts in 2007 for the "Halo 3" release.

This video is also making me yearn for a live action "Halo" movie. It can be done. Just check out the trailer and get ready for a pretty badass experience when it comes out. A movie might just be a pipe dream, but we still get to play the game.

District 9 Mini-Review

"District 9" is the must see movie of the year. And it's most definitely one of the best scifi movies of the decade. What Neill Blompkamp and Peter Jackson have crafted, for not much money at that, looks better than any big budget action movie out there. But, if you've been trapped in a basement over the weekend and didn't have a chance to watch it and you're thinking: "What's this 'District 9' all about?", read the following.

The movie starts off with documentary-style interviews. Right off the bat, you learn that 20 years prior, an alien mothership stopped right over Johannesburg, South Africa, for unknown reasons. Eventually, humans cut their way into the ship, and find a race of extra-terrestrials in dire need of help. So, what do we benevolent humans do? We put them in a shanty-town/ghetto, perform medical/science experiments on them, and pretty much treat them like 2nd class citizens. The movie makes a parallel with South Africa's apartheid that is pretty hard to miss.

We then meet the protagonist, a low level bureaucrat in the MNU, who gets put in charge of relocating the alien population from the run down District 9 to the brand new District 10 that has been erected outside of the city. Lots of unrest amongst the human populace has caused the government to take action, so they're evicting the aliens, who are referred to using the racial/derogatory term: prawn. For that, they enlisted the help of the MNU, one of the world's largest weapons manufacturer, who has a secret agenda of course. They want to use alien weaponry. Only problem is that it only works with alien DNA.

I could keep telling you what happens from there, but I don't want to spoil the movie too much. Suffice to say, the low level MNU bureaucrat gets something sprayed on him during one of the routine evictions and things start to change for him. The truth of the company that he works for starts to be revealed to him, and he makes the choice to go against everything he has believed to try to help the alien visitors.

This movie made love to my eyeballs. It's fantastic. Everything from the story (which should always be the main focus in a movie) to the SFX work. Pitch perfect. It's no wonder it's getting rave reviews from pretty much anyone who's seen it so far. I highly recommend this to anyone that's interested in seeing something great. It's a hell of a lot of fun as well. Even though there are some heady issues that the film tackles, it's never boring. It might even make you rethink if it's OK to pee on yourself in public. It's so good you don't want to get up to use the bathroom if you've been drinking gigantic sodas like I do whenever I go watch a movie. Don't worry, I didn't soil myself, but I might have done irreparable damage to my bladder by holding it in for too long. Fuck it, it was worth it.

BAFW Classic - Alive in Joburg

In honor of the sci-fi must see of the summer, "District 9", here's a classic BAFW post from the past. This is right around the time that the director, Niell Blomkamp had been tagged to direct the then in pre-production "Halo" movie. That fell apart, but it enabled him to make the full version of "Alive in Joburg", which is now titled "District 9". It's a fantastic little film. I'll be watching "District 9" tomorrow, and who knows, I might even review it. Here's the original post, coming back all the way from August 2006. Enjoy . . . again.

It has officially been announced that the director for the upcoming Halo movie will be . . . Neill Blomkamp? I know, you're wondering just who the hell that is. He's done a couple of cool short films and those boss Citroen commercials I posted a few months ago. YouTube's got his work uploaded, but, if you're too lazy to go looking for it, here it is, for your convenient viewing pleasure.

Alive in Joburg


Temp Bot