Word To The Ys

If you’ve been keeping track of our little movie project, you probably noticed we’re a wee bit “behind”.  This is causing the type-A me to develop a serious case of twitchy-eye, while my more laid-back husband assures me that we will catch up later on, and that the point of the project is not to stress me out.  But!  But!  I have an assignment!  To watch MOVIES!  That I assigned to MYSELF!

Okay, I guess he’s got a point.

Anyway, just a quick run-down on two of the movies:

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs was really, REALLY funny.  Really.  We definitely recommend; both the adults and the kids on our house loved it.  Four thumbs-up.  I think Seth liked it, too, but baby thumbs aren’t inclined to “up” when attached baby is asked for a movie review.

A Mighty Wind was not as funny as other Christopher Guest movies we’ve enjoyed (Best in Show, anyone?  Or my all-time favorite, Waiting for Guffman?) but it was pleasant enough.  Some chuckles, but I wasn’t clutching my sides or anything.  Maybe if I was more of a folk music fan it would have been funnier…though I’m not a dog show person and Best in Show had me rolling for multiple viewings.

Which brings me to the most recent selection, which I’d been looking forward to seeing since hearing a piece on it’s filming and location on NPR: District 9.  We saw that it was on its way from the great Netflix gods and set aside our Tuesday evening post-kid-bedtime to watch it.

Wow.  Wow wow wow.

I don’t want to describe it here, because I think a big part of the experience for me was not knowing much about the movie.  I mean, here’s what I knew: This is a movie with aliens.  They have arrived in Johannesburg and have been sequestered in a slum.  The aliens’ slum is Soweto; the scenes filmed there (with many South African actors) are supposed to be incredible, because that’s what Soweto really looks like (minus the aliens).  The movie is probably an allegory about human aliens and/or apartheid.

It was one of the most uncomfortable movie-watching experiences I’ve had in a really long time.  The environment depicted was harrowing.  The story was even more so.  I will warn people who haven’t seen it that it is really gory, which was something I wasn’t expecting at all.  I usually avoid gory movies at all costs, and wished as I watched with twisted stomach and active gag reflex that I had known beforehand; though, truthfully, I might have skipped it if I’d known.  And I’m glad I didn’t skip it.  It’s definitely worth watching, but have a bucket handy.  And something to wring in your hands.  Besides your husband’s foot.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 am and is filed under Mostly Me, The Movie Project. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.