"Elysium" by Neill Blomkamp

[quade 3]

I attended a screening of this last night. Visually stunning. Anyone who enjoyed "District 9" is probably going to love this as well. I think it's better in a number of ways. Also like "District 9," it has a couple of logic issues, but I'm beginning to think writer/director, Neill Blomkamp, just doesn't care because without those issues the stories just don't work at all.

Matt Damon is awesome.

Jodie Foster is awesome in a completely different way. I do have a few subjective points I personally didn't like in her performance, but it's unclear to me whether those were her choices or the choices of Blomkamp. I "think" I understand what he was going for and I think it was his decision, but I personally didn't feel it worked.

Neill Blomkamp is a genius when it comes to the visuals. Some might say he's a bit heavy handed when it comes to the social relevance layer of the script, but for me that's what true science fiction has always really been about: social commentary. He takes it further here than he did in "District 9" and I believe all of that works.

I'm not going to go into detail (yet) about what I thought were the gaping holes in logic. I'll leave that for a later discussion once more people have had a chance to see the film.

I am recommending it though to anyone who likes thoughtful science fiction.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,398]

Hmmm...
The snippets I've read about it sound like a cross between "Wall-E" and "Gattaca".

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

Yes, and "The Lion King" is "Hamlet" and "Kimba."

Look, anyone can be glib if they want to. Judge the work based on its merits, not some blogger trying to be "clever."

I mean, come on, what is "The Big Lebowski" other than "The Big Sleep" on weed?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,398]

Just watched the trailer.
It definitely has a "District 9" look in some of the the visuals.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[NorrinRadd 0]

quade

Some might say he's a bit heavy handed when it comes to the social relevance layer of the script, but for me that's what true science fiction has always really been about: social commentary. He takes it further here than he did in "District 9" and I believe all of that works.

There were aspects of District 9 that I enjoyed a great deal, but I found that work to be not simply heavy-handed, but disproportionately representing the negative qualities of humanity. That said, I think that that may have been the point... to highlight these aspects in an effort to comment on them. I think I was perhaps not so prepared on how heavy it was going to be.
I am looking forward to Elysium, though. This time I think I will be in a better head-space for it. I also see some similarities between it and the story of Neuromancer, by William Gibson. World going to hell, while the rich live it up in a space station. Perhaps Matt Damon's character is a combination of Molly Millions and Case.
GOOD sci fi is totally a platform for social commentary. This was driven home to me once, when I was much younger, after having read Dune. A friend said to me "replace 'Spice' with 'oil', and 'Arrakis' with 'Middle East'. A light went off in my head, and suddenly my standards for sci fi rose a great deal.

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[quade 3]

ryoder

It definitely has a "District 9" look in some of the the visuals.

Before Blomkamp was a writer/director, he was an artist. It's only natural his style flows a bit from one project to the next.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[promise5 17]

Crap! I was hoping it was going to be good. But if its anything like District 9 then UGH. To me District 9 came off as a low budget film that just wasn't worth the time it took to watch it.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[NorrinRadd 0]

promise5

Crap! I was hoping it was going to be good. But if its anything like District 9 then UGH. To me District 9 came off as a low budget film that just wasn't worth the time it took to watch it.

I would judge the movie on its own merits :) You never know!

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[ryoder 1,398]

promise5

Crap! I was hoping it was going to be good. But if its anything like District 9 then UGH. To me District 9 came off as a low budget film that just wasn't worth the time it took to watch it.

Check out the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIBtePb-dGY

It is the cinematography that looks like D9;
The story appears quite different.
Rotten Tomatoes is giving it a 73 & 79 score, which is very good.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[promise5 17]

I'll admit trailer makes it look good. Hopefully it will be a thousand times better then 9.

No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

[quade 3]

promise5

To me District 9 came off as a low budget film that just wasn't worth the time it took to watch it.

I would say never judge a film by its budget. ;)

Some of the biggest budget films are completely horrible. Far too many.

Some of the smallest budget films are the most exquisite things you'll ever watch.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[GooniesKid 0]

It was an awesome movie! Saw an advanced screening.

*SPOILER ALERT*
(Highlight post to read.)

the only thing i didn't like is that Max (Matt Damon) dies in the end :(

And it's predictable that max has to choose between his life and saving the world (guess what he choose)

Overall I give it a solid B+

[NorrinRadd 0]

Umm... can you PLEASE give a spoiler alert? Or are you just TRYING to be a jerk?

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[quade 3]

GooniesKid

the only thing i didn't like is that __________

Try not to be a BASTARD who spoils things for others. Geebus.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[GooniesKid 0]

Oh, i thought it was out already in the states.
I added a spoiler alert message to my post...sorry guys

[ryoder 1,398]

Article about Blomkamp: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/07/blomkamp-elysium/all/

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[DHemer 0]

Sharlto Copley one of the actors in Elysium did a reddit IAMA yesterday

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jzdqc/i_am_that_guy_from_district_9_aka_sharlto_copley/

Same actor who Played Wikus in District 9 and Murdock in A-Team

Had not heard about this film but sounds like it will be right up my ally

[ryoder 1,398]

Matt Damon on "The Colbert Report" talking about "Elysium": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/matt-damon-doesnt-rescue-stephen-colbert_n_3731867.html

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

Awesome.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[diablopilot 2]

What a dog of a movie.... If I wanted to be preached at, I'd of watched a Michael Moore flick....

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[quade 3]

diablopilot

What a dog of a movie....

Is this your opinion based on actually viewing the movie or assumptions?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,398]

Article: "Science Fiction Tricked Hollywood Into Making the Year's Most Radical Film".

WARNING: Contains spoilers.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/elysium-science-fiction-tricked-hollywood-into-making-the-years-most-radical-film

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[GooniesKid 0]

GooniesKid

It was an awesome movie! Saw an advanced screening.

*SPOILER ALERT*
(Highlight post to read.)

the only thing i didn't like is that Max (Matt Damon) dies in the end :(

And it's predictable that max has to choose between his life and saving the world (guess what he choose)

Overall I give it a solid B+

Hey Quade that's cool..didn't know you can "white out" a spoiler...will remember for future movie reviews. Thanks!

[oldwomanc6 38]

GooniesKid

***It was an awesome movie! Saw an advanced screening.

*SPOILER ALERT*
(Highlight post to read.)

the only thing i didn't like is that Max (Matt Damon) dies in the end :(

And it's predictable that max has to choose between his life and saving the world (guess what he choose)

Overall I give it a solid B+

Hey Quade that's cool..didn't know you can "white out" a spoiler...will remember for future movie reviews. Thanks!
You can actually render something "invisible" by using " and removing spaces," but no one seems to be able to remember that.

I also think that some people who have a questionable sig line should take advantage of this "glitch" in forums such as "Incidents" and "Blue Skies"(family does read it BTW) by using it at the end of their post and not closing the code, thus "disabling" their sig line for that particular post.

Like this: [#eeeeff]

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[oldwomanc6 38]

It does not work on anything that has a color "code" already on it, though.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9