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Reviews
District 9 (2009)
Seriously good film-making.,,
From the beginning of this film, you get the feeling that you're watching something that's addressing big ideas. South African Apartheid, Slavery, The Tuskegee Experiments, corporate and governmental interests in profits and technology as opposed to humanitarian concerns. Those are things I thought about when I watched this powerful movie.
The acting was great and the CGI was remarkably well-crafted. When I heard that the budget was $30 Million I almost didn't believe it, I couldn't. The Dark Knight and The Half-Blood Prince both cost over $250 million. It just goes to show, that the artists involved know what they're doing. Jackson and Blomkamp got it done.
Originally (or so I've read) Jackson was going to use Blomkamp for a film based on the game Halo, but the project and the money fell through. Well, Jackson, being the stand up guy that he is, wanted to keep his promise to the director, and scrounged up $30 Million for a film. This was the result, and it was fantastic. Big ideas, big effects, big performance by Sharlto Copley, small budget. I will definitely see this one again.
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
One of the Greatest Shows of All Time
Battlestar Galactica is nearly perfect. In a time when the majority of television drama is so formulaic and predictable, BSG towers over other shows. Certainly, within each episode there are conflicts and resolutions, but each episode is not a finality. What is most important with a show like Battlestar is the over-arching storyline, not one character or one purpose. BSG ranks up there with the greatest drama's of all time like The West Wing, The Sopranos, and Lost.
It's sci-fi for adults. It's literate and dramatic without being cheesy and hollow. I have been sincerely moved by this show. The political and religious aspects of the storyline/s only serve to enhance the staggering effect this show is capable of having on anyone who takes the time to engage with this wonderful story.
Forget the original show, forget the cheesy nerdish name, forget all of the age-old sci-fi clichés and stereotypes...this show rises above all of it, and at the end of the day BSG stands alone in the world of sci-fi and drama on television. There are a hundred reasons to like it, you don't need me to convince you that those reasons are valid. Just watch for yourself and let the story and the characters blow you away.
This is truly the standard of the shape of things to come.
Smallville: Reckoning (2006)
Best episode ever?
This may quite possibly be the best Smallville episode of the entire epic series. The writers and director really went for broke with cinematography, the score, and the soundtrack. The twist within the episode is quite compelling as well.
The entire episode is so intensely dramatic, that one finds themselves gasping for air at several points during the episode, particularly during the last sequence when that heart-wrenching Peter Gabriel song is playing. A song originally from the soundtrack of City of Angels, a movie I didn't enjoy with a soundtrack that is phenomenal.
Also, I really like Lana in most of this episode, which is more than I can say for most of the series...personal bias I suppose. Everyone is great in this episode. If you want to get someone into this show without starting from the beginning, this would be a great episode to introduce anybody to this high quality television show.