District 9 is the best film of the Summer…I used to think it was Star Trek, but it has been beaten in every way by a superior science fiction film that cost far less to make and has a longer lasting emotional impact. It might be premature to make that statement though…we’ll have to see if Inglorious Basterds is as great as everyone that has seen it has said it is. Back to District 9: What made the film so special is that going into it, most people only knew that there were going to be aliens and some explosions. The fact that a story was to be had in this film wasn’t really known at all due to an amazing viral marketing campaign by the film studio. The movie is based on District Six. An inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa that was declared “whites only” in 1966. The population of the area: 60,000 was forced to move 25 kilometers to Cape Flats during the Apartheid movement.
On Saturday, August 1st, Dave Grohl was given a hero’s welcome by rock fans of all ages when he arrived in Warren, Ohio for the dedication of David Grohl Alley. The drummer for Nirvana/singer and guitarist for The Foo Fighters (he also has worked with other bands and solo artists such as: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Tenacious D) was born in Warren, Ohio and moved away when he was a young child. He told those in attendance at Courthouse Square that he often came back to Trumbull County (where Warren is) on vacation.
If anyone remembers Jake Lloyd at all, they probably remember him as being a child actor or the kid in Jingle All the Way and “Star Wars:Episode 1” (because he hasn’t really been in any movies since). He had the chance when he was a child to live out the fantasy of a lot of sci-fi fans…to be a part of the Star Wars universe. Unfortunately, he was given the hardest role of all. He had to play one of the biggest badasses ever portrayed on screen…Darth Vader…as a child.
Do you know what “Tron” is? Let me refresh your memory. It was a 1982 film made by Disney starring Jeff The Dude Bridges. He played a programmer that ended up getting stuck in a computer world with light bikes and all kinds of cool things that people in 1982 had never seen before. Now people watch poor “Tron” and say “Wow…really? That kind of sucked. The special effects were horrible. The dialogue was cheesy. I could make a better looking movie on my home computer.” Growing up I liked “Tron” because I thought the possibility of going into a virtual world was cool. So when I saw the trailer for “TR2N” which had been “Tron.2”, Tron 2” and probably a slew of other bad names, filmed by this cell phone (I’m guessing) I was very excited…beware the quality is horrid.
Comic-Con in San Diego has been the mecca of video game, film and comic fans since it’s inception. 2009 appears to be one of the better years with some great exclusive looks at awesome games. The game that they’ve showed that I’m looking forward to the most is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. The concept of superheroes fighting amongst each other to the brutal death (outside of a fighting game) appeals to me greatly. The fact that it holds the story of one of the best comics written within the past ten years: “Civil War” makes it even better. The main story is that the government of the United States of America has turned its back on superheroes and wants them to register. Iron Man is for it, Captain America (our nation’s most trusted supporter) is against it. With the cast of twenty-four characters, I’m presuming that each side has twelve and eventually you’ll be able to download more online.
When I heard that Jake Gyllenhaal was cast as the Prince of Persia in Disney’s film adaptation of the beloved video game series, I was kind of worried. Then I saw that Jerry Bruckheimer was also involved and I remembered that Disney + Jerry Bruckheimer = Pirates of the Caribbean. That means that there’s always the possibility that people will actually be stabbed with the swords that are present in the poster that I found at aintitcool today. The film also stars Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina which adds to my excitement. It is due to be released in theaters on May 28, 2010.
Today, the news was broken that Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch has a cancerous tumor in his throat. When I first heard the news I thought immediately of The Beastie Boys concert that I saw right before the 2008 election. I couldn’t help but wonder if someone had Sabotaged the results of his test…no one wants to see anything like that happen to a Beastie Boy!
