Uh-oh! Alien prawns have taken over Nakatomi Plaza?! Somebody had better go get the dad from "Family Matters" and clear this up pronto! This is "Movie Night."
*theme song plays*
Hello, and welcome to "Movie Night." My name is Jonathan Paula. Let me be among the last to wish you a merry Christmas and among the first to bid you a happy New Year.
Once again, we're broadcasting from inside Mann's Chinese Theater in downtown Hollywood, where, coincidentally, is where I saw tonight's first film, "District 9."
Released on August 13th, 2009, with a relatively small budget of just $30 million, "District 9" is the rookie entry by director Neill Blomkamp and no-name actor Sharlto Copley in the ever-expanding sci-fi genre.
Told in an alternating pseudo-documentary/traditional fictional narrative, "District 9" is a story of South African immigration officer Wikus, played by Copley, who is assigned to relocate a race of extraterrestrial creatures living in a refugee camp...
...Within the borders of Johannesburg. The movie's real focus, though, is that of the character art of the racist Wikus, who is incredibly harsh and unforgiving towards the alien prawns.
This is until an incident early in the film leaves him slowly mutating into the creature he once detested. Eventually, he befriends and starts working with one of the prawns named Christopher.
Unlike so many other sci-fi movies that are just flash and bang, "District 9" has real heart and a real message behind it. The relationship between Wikus and Christopher is as inspiring and as fascinating as any other relationship in movie history.
And it's the kind of characters and situations in this film that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
The artistic and nuanced approach to this age-old story of man becoming what he hated and learning the errors of his ways is expertly executed by first-time director Blomkamp here.
The human characters seemlessly interact with their CGI alien counterparts with such believability that you generally forget you're watching a film during the 112-minute run time.
While this film does borrow some elements from other works like "The Fly", the approach to the story, the cinematic execution, and the outstanding acting from our unknown lead characters absolutely sets this movie above the rest.
Although some third-act action sequences dampen the film's overall tone into something more Hollywood-esque, these scenes are handled organically, so I don't feel as though they bring down the movie's credibility too much here.
That's what I thought about "District 9." Let's see what you guys had to say as we read some YouTube comments.
Jon: ShepGTHollywood wrote... (reads ShepGTHollywood's comment)
Jon: Schmindabob wrote... (reads Schmindabob's comment)
Jon: Skonkfactory wrote... (reads Skonkfactory's comment)
Some very strong positive reviews there, with really the only negative comments I read about "District 9" coming from people who were likely too impatient to appreciate the film's true brilliance and intelligence.
That being said, let's see how "District 9" did on the Rate-o-Matic.
A 9-10 split. Very impressive. You guys gave it a perfect "amazing", and much like last week's "Inglourious Basterds", I actually thought "District 9" is probably the best film of the year, actually.
It was not quite enough for me to give it that perfect "10." There were a few things that were not quite perfect. But speaking of perfect "10" movies, let's take a look at tonight's second film, "Die Hard."
Released in the summer of 1988, "Die Hard" stars Bruce Willis as NYPD officer John McClane, an off-duty cop attending a Christmas party with his wife at Nakatomi Plaza, an unfinished skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles.
Then, all of a sudden, a bunch of German terrorist thieves led by Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber take the partygoers hostage, and they start making demands.
McClane is able to slip out the back, and the film follows his exploits as he slowly engages the bad guys one at a time on his mission to save his wife and stop the terrorists.
The sarcastic nature of McClane's character versus the whimsical Gruber makes this hero-villain pairing one of the finest in film history, second probably only to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
"Die Hard" stays small-scale throughout, with 98% of the 131-minute movie taking place entirely within a few floors of the Nakatomi Plaza building.
The action, the characters, the story- it's all condensed and simplified in such a way that lets the characters and the action really develop and shine through.
Far too often, big-budget movies like "Transformers 2" and "Terminator: Salvation" go for this big, explosion-filled action sequences, which, although they look nice, leave the audience disconnected from the characters and the storyline...
...Whereas "Die Hard"'s light-hearted approach to the genre, incorporating many less-than-serious elements and one-liners really keeps the movie fun and enjoyable, no matter how many times you watch it on Christmas with your family.
Today, the plot and simplicity of "Die Hard" may seem rather rudimentary and unoriginal, but in 1988, John McTiernan was really the first director to create this type of limited space, small cast action film.
The formula was so immensely successful that, not only did "Die Hard" spawn three great sequels in its own right, but also an entirely new subdivision of the action genre.
"Die Hard on a _____" quickly became the easiest pitch point for any action movie of the 1990s.
For example, "Speed"? "Die Hard" on a bus. "Air Force One"? "Die Hard" on a plane. "The Rock"? "Die Hard" on Alcatraz. You get the point.
It also helps "Die Hard"'s legacy that people are still quoting McClane's famous "yippie-kay-ay" line all these years later, and movie villains are still compared back to Gruber as a measure of their greatness.
"Die Hard" is an action masterpiece and a staple of any respectable movie collection. From the first time I watched the film when I was 14 to this week when I watched it again for probably the 10th time, "Die Hard" never disappoints and always delights.
That's what I thought of it, and it seems most of you agreed with me, but let's take a look at the YouTube comments just the same.
Jon: ColwellAlec wrote... (reads ColwellAlec's comment)
Jon: Glitch3s4Lif3 wrote... (reads Glitch3s4Lif3's comment)
Jon: Spatzar wrote... (reads Spatzar's comment)
It would appear that "Die Hard" is on the "best-ever list" for more than a few of you. So, let's fire up the Rate-o-Matic, and put "Die Hard" to the test.
As pretty much what you expected, a double "10", and deservedly so. "Die Hard" is one of the finest movies ever made. If you haven't already seen it, you're a failure at life.
Please rectify this situation immediately upon closing this video!
Looking forward, let's take a look at some of Hollywood's latest releases as we read your Tweet Critiques.
I happened to go to the movies this week, and I got a chance to check out "Sherlock Holmes", and I Tweeted... (reads his Tweet)
DJDanvey Tweeted... (reads DJDanvey's Tweet)
Jon: Z_Man12 Tweeted... (reads Z_Man12's Tweet)
Well, thank you for your Tweet Critiques. Now looking forward to the new year, let's take a look at the films we'll be reviewing for next week's episode.
"A Perfect Getaway" is a medium-budget thriller from earier this year, just released on DVD yesterday, and "Money Train" is one of my all-time guilty pleasures and, as far as I know, one of the only movies that takes place on New Year's.
Speaking of which, have a safe and happy holiday tomorrow. I wish you a happy new year. I will see you next decade. And for this decade, once again, my name is Jonathan Paula. Thanks for watching. Have a good night.
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