The premise for District 9, a film produced by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and directed by Neill Blomkamp, is that about thirty years ago a giant alien space craft filled with alien refugees arrived on Earth.
The premise for District 9 sounds very much like Alien Nation, a movie and TV series about the arrival of a ship filled with alien refugees. But there the resemblance seems to end. Instead of being settled in the United States, mostly in sunny Southern California, the aliens in District 9 are locked away in a slum in South Africa.
The aliens in District 9 seem to be regarded more as a nuisance than as a danger or a boon. The aliens are obviously not here on Earth to attack, as in War of the Worlds or Independence Day. They aren’t here to make us change our evil ways, as in The Day the Earth Stood Still. But neither have they been very helpful in providing access to advanced technology. The alien devices, particularly their weapons, require a being with the alien DNA to operate them.
So while the aliens fester in South Africa’s District 9, despised by both whites and blacks, the world argues over what to do with them. Clearly there is no ACLU (as in Alien Nation) to sue to allow the aliens to live freely among humans. One suspects that the international human rights groups in District 9 are as impotent as they are in the real world.
The story of District 9 takes place in our time in the alternate world. The supervision of the aliens have been contracted out to a private corporation (likely an evil corporation in the grand old movie style) which wants access to the alien technology and is rather uncaring about the welfare of the aliens. Multi-National United, as the corporation is called, is clearly up to no good. One would suggest that the concept of the evil corporation is a well worn cliché. Governments, especially Apartheid era South Africa, are more than capable of doing bad things as depicted in District 9.
The operative of the corporation, Wilkus van der Merwe, played by Sharlto Copley, contracts a mysterious virus that begins altering his DNA. They may allow him to be the first human to operate the alien technology. Thus Wilkus becomes the most hunted man on the planet.
A new viral video and poster for District 9 has just been released. The viral video purports to be a lecture by a scientist on the alien biology. District 9 opens wide on August 14th.
Mirroring its half-blood vampire-slaying heroine, the English-language Blood: The Last Vampire is a hybrid child created by the production arms of Hong Kong’s Edko and France’s Pathé. It’s a mixed gene pool of talent with Korean sweetheart Jeon Ji-hyun (acquiring the moniker Gianna) in her hyped Hollywood debut. She displays ample aptitude for being an action heroine, doing most of her own tendon-twisting martial-arts stunts and looking utterly fetching in a sailor suit that could turn any guy into a uniform fetishist.
Blood will spill across Asia’s action-packed market as a swankier-than-average item. A summer release stateside through Samuel Goldwyn confers some mainstream status on it. Specialty fans of Japanese manga or games will more readily plug into its CGI-centric world.
With Asian stars Gianna, Koyuki and Yasuaki Kurata raising the bar in skill and glamour, the entire Western cast (including second lead Allison Miller from 17 Again) appears to be tagged on to make the production look more “Hollywood.”
Chris Nahon is the director, and Chris Chow wrote the screenplay. VFX and overall aesthetic design are cool. Corey Yuen helms a seasoned Chinese stunt crew that features high-concept action choreography.
Adapted from the 2001 anime developed by Mamoru Oshii, Blood opens in 1970s Tokyo. Saya (Gianna) has been raised by loyal retainer Kato (Kurata) to kill Onigen (Koyuki, regal in white), the oldest and wickedest of mutating bloodsuckers. This Japanese Buffy is a fast sword-wielder who tracks Onigen down while ripping through low-rung demons with an entourage of Men-in-Black in tow to clean up after her.
Tipped off by a secret society called the Council that vampires are making mischief at the Yokota U.S. Airbase, she enrolls at the precinct’s school and rescues Alice (Miller), the general’s daughter, from demonic bullies and murderous “X-Files”-type agents. That Saya is 400 years old but passes for 16, is invulnerable and craves human blood suspiciously suggests vampire DNA. What sets her apart is the possession of a soul, plus table manners—she sips blood from nicely refrigerated bottles, while demons are messy diners who maul their prey.
Editing is a snappy mishmash of jump cuts and slow motion that has comic-book or gaming effects. The first big fight makes nifty use of tight corners in a street set where Gianna does some knockout stunts that connect fluidly with a thrilling CGI-enabled shot of her charging through a dozen walls.
The second is set in a forest. Corey Yuen is of course aware that Kurosawa, King Hu, Ching Siu-tong et al. have made it the archetypal action location. His choreography is a fun homage that integrates the vertiginous moves of Chinese martial arts with the rigorous symmetry of Japanese tate sword-fighting. Kurata, who was a huge crossover action star in Asia during the ’70s, fights fabulously, making one wonder why he is not put to better use earlier.
The final confrontation between Saya and Onigen seems more predictable by comparison. It does use elaborate wire work that makes the actresses look as invincible as their immortal roles.
“MacGruber,” the recurring “Saturday Night Live” skit that parodies the action series “MacGyver,” is one step closer to going before cameras as a big-screen movie.
Ryan Phillippe is in negotiations to star in the feature, with Val Kilmer in negotiations to join the Paramount and Relativity Media production. Will Forte and Kristen Wiig are reprising their roles from the skits.
Jorma Taccone, who created the character and directed most of the skits, is at the helm of the film; “SNL” producer and creator Lorne Michaels is producing.
“MacGyver” starred Richard Dean Anderson as an especially resourceful secret agent and aired on ABC from 1985 to 1992. The “MacGruber” sketches star Forte as MacGyver’s son, with Wiig as an assistant. They always find themselves, along with that week’s host, in a control room with a ticking bomb about to go off. MacGruber gets sidelined by personal issues, and the bomb explodes.
Forte and Taccone wrote the parodies with John Solomon. The trio wrote the feature script, which, finds the legendary, much-decorated MacGruber retired and living as a monk in Ecuador — until he’s enlisted to fight the evil Cunth, who has a nuclear warhead; the mission is personal because Cunth killed MacGruber’s bride.
The movie version would see Phillippe playing Piper, an Army officer forced to pair up with a reluctant MacGruber. Kilmer would be Cunth.
The project has been an open secret around Hollywood, with Forte even talking about it on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” last month.
The film harks back to an earlier era when comedies based on “SNL” skits were commonplace, especially in the wake of the massive success of 1992’s “Wayne’s World” and its sequel. The trend eventually faded, seemingly with the relevancy of the show itself. But in recent years, the late-night mainstay has regained popularity and critical acclaim. The box-office fate of “MacGruber” could foreshadow whether a new crop of “SNL” movies invades screens.
At this stage, the “MacGruber” movie looks likely to hit the screen before a “MacGyver” movie, which is in development at New Line.
Phillippe recently wrapped production on “The Bang Bang Club,” a true-life drama about four photographers set in apartheid-era South Africa.
Kilmer recently finished shooting “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” directed by Werner Herzog.
