Sep 21 2009 Nigeria Not Pleased With 'District 9' -- And Not Just Because They Felt the Film's Epilogue Was Unnecessary
Bad news if you wanted to see District 9 and are in Nigeria:
Nigeria's government is asking cinemas to stop showing a science fiction film, District Nine, that it says denigrates the country's image.Information Minister Dora Akunyili told the BBC's Network Africa programme that she had asked the makers of the film, Sony, for an apology.
She says the film portrays Nigerians as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes.
I'd be weary bout sending an apology, Sony. As soon as you open a line of communication, you know this "information minister" isn't going to let up until you've wire-transferred her some money in exchange for a later payoff in gold bullion.
Sep 8 2009 'The Final Destination' Somehow Still Really Popular
Box office totals for Friday through Monday, our day of labor:
1. The Final Destination - $15.5 million. Good to see I'm not the only one who enjoys spending a leisurely weekend watching teenagers die strange, elaborate deaths.
2. Inglourious Basterds - $15 million. Did you realize inglorious and glorious aren't the same thing? It's not like flammable/inflammable. Just in case you haven't seen the movie yet, I don't want you to go in confused.
3. All About Steve - $13.9 million. A 5% Rotten Tomatoes rating does little to tarnish the glistening star power of Miss Congeniality.
4. Gamer - $11.2 million. Look, I know Gamer looks stupid, but does it really look this much stupider than The Final Destination? Yeah, I guess it probably does.
5. District 9 - $9 million. This film's clear allegorical message really taught me something about not letting alien fluids spray in my mouth.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 31 2009 Weekend Box Office: 'THE Final Destination' Fares Better Than Holiday-Themed Film
The Sirens' call of teenagers dying overly-elaborate deaths was too loud to resist:
1. The Final Destination - $28.3 million. I can't figure out if the third one was that good or if everyone just forgot prior Final Destinations existed.
2. Inglourious Basterds - $20 million. I saw a preview for this and the ABC series Shaq Vs. within a few minutes of each other, and it gave me a good idea for a show. Let's just say it loosely involves Shaq versus Nazis.
3. Halloween II - $17.4 million. An underwhelming showing, but, sadly, still enough to easily make back the $15 million budget and continue Rob Zombie's horror career.
4. District 9 - $10.7 million. Let's hope aliens don't land here while this is still in theaters. We shouldn't reveal how we're going to force them into a bottom caste until they start getting really annoying.
5. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - $8 million. Goodbye, final blockbuster summer movie of the year! See you again as an even more poorly-reviewed sequel!
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 24 2009 'Inglourious Basterds' Prove Nazi Killin' Profitable
The weekend's box office top five as determined by man:
1. Inglourious Basterds - $37.6 million, Quentin Tarentino's biggest opening weekend and his first film to feature Mike Myers in any capacity. That can't be a coincidence.
2. District 9 - $18.9 million. Between Nazis and aliens, this weekend's top moneymakers were chock-full of groups I will always consider enemy.
3. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - $12.5 million. You may think I forgot to include Cobra in the above list of groups I will always consider enemy, but that's not the case. Remember when Roadblock and Cobra Commander were helping each other out in the 1987 animated G.I. Joe movie? Cobra Commander seemed like a decent enough guy for a while there.
4. The Time Traveler's Wife - $10 million in ticket sales, with another reported $4 million for selling photos of the Time Traveler's Newborn Baby to Us Weekly.
5. Julie & Julia - $9 million, holding Robert Rodriguez's Shorts down at 6th and ensuring Kazaam remains the superior wish-granting kids' film.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 17 2009 Weekend Box Office Report: Everything with the Word 'District' in the Title Did Great
Sci-fi social commentary faced off against sci-fi marriage last weekend, and it's now clear we're far more likely to see a District 10 than we are a Time Traveler Jr.'s Wife:
1. District 9 - $37 million. That already makes back the $30 million budget, so now they can just waste the rest on snacks.
2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - $22.5 million. Down almost 60% from opening weekend to be beaten by a film with 1/6th the budget? Maybe the inevitable G.I. Joe sequel can learn a lesson from this and be twice as loud next time.
3. The Time Traveler's Wife - $19.2 million. Really should have just focused on the time traveler himself; I would argue his ability to time travel makes him more interesting than the wife, in a way.
4. Julie & Julia - $12.4 million. Probably could have made twice as much if they'd done it like Kill Bill and released Julie as one movie and Julia a few months later.
5. G-Force - $6.9 million. Shouldn't this movie be screaming for me to buy it on Disney DVD and Blu-ray by now?
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 14 2009 Opening This Weekend, in the Movie Theatres
So many movie choices this weekend, you'll feel even more miserable when you just stay inside eating Stouffer's French bread pizzas:
Bandslam
Director: Todd Graff
Starring: Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell
Good if you want to see: that this wasn't just a bizarre nightmare you had when you passed out on your couch with the Disney Channel on--it's real!
The Time Traveler's Wife
Director: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston
Good if you want to see: time travel; monogamy; borderline pedophilia?
District 9
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, aliens!
Good if you want to see: apartheid with an alien twist; well-reviewed, grounded sci-fi; what this ninth district is all about.
Ponyo
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: A bunch of celebrity voices replacing the Japanese voices, making it less offensive to our stupid American ears.
Good if you want to see: I think there's like a fish who becomes a girl, and the ocean turns into giant fish? I don't know. I'm sure it's pretty good if you take a child who won't freak out at seeing a fish/girl hybrid.
Spread
Director:David Mackenzie
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche
Good if you want to see: an hour-and-a-half Nikon CoolPix commercial; who's been sending all your favorite Twitters.
The Goods
Director: Neal Brennan
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames, David Koechner, Ed Helms
Good if you want to see: Jeremy Piven being Jeremy Piven--now in a car sales environment!
Grace
Director: Paul Solet
Starring: Jordan Ladd, Samantha Ferris, Gabrielle Rose, a gross babything
Good if you want to see: a gross babything; flies.
Jul 8 2009 New 'District 9' Trailer: This Time There Are Mechs
In this latest trailer for the sci-fi apartheid film District 9, the uneasy truce between man and giant bug comes to an end when human officials discover one of the aliens has an alien meth lab and some alien pepper spray, and then shit goes down. And by shit, I mean awesome mech suits:
Continue Reading " New 'District 9' Trailer: This Time There Are Mechs "
Jun 24 2009 'District 9' Level 5 Alert: Do Not Apprehend Insanely Frightening Alien Freaks
New online marketing from the alien apartheid film District 9, this one in the form of a video clearly aimed at people who don't dial 911, warning not to approach any of the terrifying, agile, bug-like aliens that have escaped from the titular sector.
I swear the voice-over guy giving us this "level 5 alert" is the same guy that delivers a similar warning during commercials alerting local news viewers to "emergency factory closeout sales in your area":
Continue Reading " 'District 9' Level 5 Alert: Do Not Apprehend Insanely Frightening Alien Freaks "
May 8 2009 'District 9' Poster: Alien Silhouettes Replacing Taped-Up Photos of Osama bin Laden
In fairness to whoever was shooting at this, I don't think we can say this guy was definitely using this to practice killing real aliens. Don't judge him as an alien murderer. Firing at a target does not necessarily imply intent to actually shoot at the subjects on the said target. As a kid, I used to pin Nintendo Power posters to a dartboard and throw at them, and it didn't mean I held any animosity or ill intent towards the Battletoads. I was just a bored kid with a stack of outdated video game magazines and a dartboard in his basement.
'District 9' Poster [Yahoo]
May 7 2009 'District 9' Delivers Hot, Uncensored Alien Action
Remember that District 9 trailer from a week ago? It was the one about alien apartheid, where the alien's face was pixelated and his alien language left untranslated. Anyway, there's a new version with no pixelation and translated subtitles, and it turns out these aliens might be alright guys:
Continue Reading " 'District 9' Delivers Hot, Uncensored Alien Action "
May 1 2009 'District 9' is Clearly an Alien District of Some Nature
Very little is known about Neill Blomkamp's upcoming sci-fi film, District 9, but a teaser has just been released that makes it seem like it's a mixture of the extra-terrestrial-coexistence film/TV drama Alien Nation, a little Independence Day, and apartheid, but also likely better than all of those things. Particularly apartheid.
Here:
Continue Reading " 'District 9' is Clearly an Alien District of Some Nature "
