Panic Attack!

It's very likely that you've never heard of Fede Alvarez until now that I have mentioned his name. Alvarez, an Argentinian film-maker derived from clues featured in this short movie, has made a kick-ass little moving picture for an amazingly slim budget. About $300. American. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that his short: "Panic Attack" (or "Attaque de Panico" for our Spanish reader[s]) has already landed him a $30 million movie deal. Good for him. I just want more of this visuals on either the proverbial big screen, or I could settle for BAFW HQ's big screen. Either way, BAFW wants more Fede Alvarez. Check out the movie. You won't be dissapointed.

BAFW TV Guide - Flash Forward

Flash Forward
This is a brand new hour-long show for the Fall 2009 season. Based on a book of the same name, "Flash Forward" tells the tale of a global event where everyone blacks out for just over 2 minutes (127 seconds) and sees a glimpse of their future 6 months from now. The show, playing on ABC on Thursday evenings, looks impressive at times thanks to a generous budget (it shows). It's not as action packed as I was expecting, but the slow unraveling of the mystery is keeping me hooked in right now.

The cast does a fairly decent job. There are a couple of "Lost" cast members that make up the ensemble cast here. No relation to their previous work on that other ABC show. When it comes down to it, if you're looking for a drama with a sci-fi twist, "Flash Forward" doesn't disappoint. There are about 5 episodes so far, with more to come. Check your local listings for times. And catch yourself up over at ABC.com if you still haven't had a chance to watch this yet.

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

TR2N Footage

The movie "Tron" is not one that I have fond memories of. Sure, I've seen it, but it was a case of the "before my time" situation. It came out when I was just 3 years old, and to tell you the truth, I was not in my sci-fi geek mode just yet. So, while I might not think that a sequel to that movie is something I've been waiting for my whole life, some people out there might, and this is for you. And yes, I think the name is atrocious. I don't like it when people put numbers in the title to get clever. It's totally unnecessary. Like "2 Fast 2 Furious". That was just retarded. But, history is doomed to repeat itself if we don't learn from the mistakes of our past. Looks like we haven't learned yet. Sorry about the video quality. It's not great by any means, but it still beats your Betamax tape of the original "Tron".

Oh, and "The Dude", Jeff Bridges is still in the movie. At least it has that going for it.

The New Old Enterprise

If you're a bit of a geek like myself, you already know all about the upcoming Star Trek movie that JJ Abrams is coming out with in 2009. May to be exact. This picture was just released this week, showing what the new Enterprise will be looking like when the movie is released. It's a bit of a homage to the original starship, but that's because this movie is supposed to be the first ever mission for the crew. I'm definitely looking forward to this movie. I'll post more stuff as it becomes available.

Bikini-Star Galactica

"Battlestar Galactica" is one of my favorite shows. Period. Everything about the show, from the writing to the acting to dramatic scenes to the full blown space sci-fi action is pitch-perfect. And they have some hot ass robot babes to boot. So, here they are. Two Cylons and a human (at least for now) cast members have stripped their flight suits and slipped into bikinis for a photoshoot. I don't know what the publication is, and to tell you the truth, I don't care much. It's just a shame that "Battlestar Galactica" is ending with its fourth season. I'm going to miss the show. Enjoy the pictures and check out the show, airing tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel. Check your local listings for times. What the fuck do I look like, your own personal TV Guide.







Many thanks to Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer for putting in great performances on the show. Kudos on the camel-toes as well. The science fiction fanbase should go nuts for these pictures.

Battlestar Galactica Promo

I've been waiting, for far too long, for the 4th and final season of "Battlestar Galactica". Maybe it's because I'm a total geek, but this little promo gave me goosebumps. Watch it, and then check out the show on SciFi. Yes, I know they play a lot of goofy shit, but this is rock-solid, quality television that should not be missed.