This great Science-Fiction Short film was made for $600 and features some great effects for a high concept low budget short. The film is written and directed by Jesse O’Brien, and tells the story of a mercenary stranded on a desert planet. Check out the film below!
Arrowhead: Signal from Jesse O'Brien on Vimeo.
‘Cowboys & Aliens’ from the very talented Jon Favreau merges two of my favorite genres, Science Fiction, and Westerns – but does it succeed? Based on a graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the film opens in the fashion of most typical westerns, a character shrouded in mystery rolls into town.
Our stranger is played by Daniel Craig. He wakes up in the middle of the desert, a strange metal object attached at his wrist. We learn quickly that he’s a wanted man, by the law, as well as an influential land owner/cattle man by the name of Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford).
The aliens are revealed as a showdown is taking place between the law and Dolarhyde’s men. Alien ships swoop down, snatching up the townspeople. Following the attack, the town puts together a posse to set out and save their friends and family.
The juxtaposition of alien lasers and late 1800s weaponry is amazing. How little affect the humans weapons have on the aliens is fantastic. The story has some interesting twists and turns, and the film has a great start, no doubt due to the talented writers behind the film.
Where the story falls apart is in its third act. Without giving anything away, there are a few twists and turns to get us to the finale, but the path in which we get there is riddled with plot holes. But despite these, the excellent casting and talent and of the actors in this film keeps us engaged.
There is a good mix of puppet work vs CG, but my one gripe with the film is one specific action sequence that involves one of the characters jumping onto the aliens ships. There was something about the effect that definitely took me out of the film.
The film was definitely a good western, but I don’t think it went far enough in staying close to that genre. There is something tragic about many westerns, and ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ was missing that sense of tragedy. Don’t get me wrong, it has its tragedy, but, it definitely felt restrained.
Despite it lacking in some crucial moments, ‘Cowboys & Aliens,’ is an excellent film. Daniel Craig’s performance, coupled with some genuine great moments with a supporting Harrison Ford make this film absolutely worth seeing in theater.
There has been a little bit of a controversy amongst some of my friends in regards to ‘District 9′ and its nomination for Best Picture. Although I’ll admit, the genre and class of film it was is not something that you ordinarily see up for such an award like Best Picture, but here I’ll try to defend why I think ‘District 9′ is amongst the better films nominated in the category.
‘District 9′ is a project that came about when producer Peter Jackson and director Neil Blomkamp decided not to produce a movie based on the video game franchise ‘Halo,’ but to instead make a feature film based on a short Blomkamp had produced called ‘Alive in Joburg.’
The film that came out was a daring, and extremely original piece of sci-fi entertainment that rivals ‘Avatar’ in its visual effects, and exceeds that same film in story. We are presented with a film in a documentary style, we follow Wilkus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley in a stand out performance that is up to par with Christoph Waltz from ‘Inglorious Basterds’), a field operative for the MNU, who is in charge of moving a ghetto colony of aliens 200km away from Johannesburg.
**Spoiler Alert**
Then, things take a turn for the worse, as Wilkus is exposed to a strange chemical, merging his DNA with that of the Aliens. An outcast of his own people, he is on the run, trying to find a cure to his genetic transformation. He teams up with one of the aliens to save himself, and hopefully, the alien vistors.
The transformation of Wilkus from an uncaring government official, to a selfish out for himself individual, to finally sacrificing himself to save the aliens is extremely well orchestrated. The transformation wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the solid story, and stellar acting by Copley. The film is a perfect blend of drama, action, and science fiction. All in a backdrop riddled with insanely good visual effects.
It has been years since I’d seen a science fiction movie that felt so fresh and original, so enthralling, entertaining, and exciting. ‘District 9′ runs on all cylinders from start to finish.
‘District 9′ is an unlikely nominee, but when compared to the rest of the films from the year, there is something very special about it. I’d say the only other film nominated for best picture that I can compare it to as far as originality and uniqueness is Pixar’s ‘Up.’ Let’s face it, ‘Avatar’ was good, but only revolutionary because of its technical achievements. ‘District 9′ is much, much more.
With the pre-release rumblings and talk before the release of James Cameron’s latest movie, it’s hard not to walk into “Avatar” without having some thoughts about what you are about to watch. [Read more...]
Dan O’Bannon, best known for writing the original “Alien” movie has died at the age of 63.
O’Bannon got his start in 1975 at USC, where he collaboarated with fellow student John Carpenter to create “Dark Star.” That short was eventually expanded to a full-length feature, which launched both O’Bannon and Carpenter’s careers. O’Bannon worked on George Lucas’ original “Star Wars,” in computer animation, before giving up that career to write full-time. After an adaptation of “Dune” failed to get off the ground, O’Bannon worked with co-writer Ronald Shussett on what became the first “Alien,” film. Along with H.R. Giger and Ridley Scott, O’Bannon is credited with the success of that first movie.
O’Bannon also wrote “Heavy Metal,” “Blue Thunder,” and “Life Force,” before trying his hand at directing with 1985′s “Return of the Living Dead.” More recently, he wrote the script for Paul Verhoven’s “Total Recall.”
O’Bannon died on Friday, after a long battle with Chron’s disease. O’Bannon’s wife says that she plans on trying to publish his un-seen work, allowing fans to see more of his material. For fans of sci-fi, O’Bannon will be sorely missed.
Director Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Friday Night Light) will be tackling a new adaptation of the classic Frank Herbert Sci-Fi Novel Dune for Paramount. [Read more...]
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