Top 3 Movies of 2010

1. District 9

District 9 is simply amazing. District 9, written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, (and based on his own short film) is a science-fiction film set in South Africa in the future where extra- terrestrials have become refugees and sent into internment camps. The film is centered around Wikus Van De Merwe, an operative who is charge of foribly evicting the population of extra-terrestrials. Without giving any of the plot points away: everything goes wrong from there. Blomkamp has given us a fantastic, gritty masterpiece. Not only is it eye openeing, but it's darly funny, entertaining and thoughtful all at the same time.


2. The Hurt Locker

Much like District 9, The Hurt Locker is made on a shoe string budget, yet looks phenominal. And where much war films about Iraq fail, this one utterly succeeds. It's a gripping and searing look at a bomb diffusing soldier who is obssessed with war. Unlike war films such as Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker doesen't hammer us with self prophesying speeches, it feels all too real.

3. Up

If Pixar ever fails at making a film, then this one is definitely not it. The film centers around a 72 year old curmudgen, aided by a an 8 year old stowaway, traveling to South America, finishing a long dream he and his wife once had. The first ten minutes alone are one of the most poingant moments I've ever experienced in an animated film.

Attack of the 3-D movies!

Back in 1923, the film, "The Power of Love" premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angelas, and was given little attention by the American audience. Little is known about the obscure film and it is now considered to be lost among various film archives. But it has a rather mportant distinction among pop culture: it was the first 3-D film to be shown to a paying audience. 3-D (an abbreviation for three dimensional) in essence provides the allusion of depth perception, aided by a special camera that is used to record images as seen from both prespectives. Using





Fast foward to 1952 and 3

Why Low Budget Movies Are Saving Hollywood

Big budget movies that apeal to the masses are pretty much killing the integrity of modern film making. Being my very first post on this blog - this accusation probably seems harsh, unamerican even. I enjoy a movie that's bombarded with special effects, violence and sex (all at once) as much as the next guy - but it gets tiring after a while. Take the summer blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen directed by Michael Bay, which to me is one of the worst films of the year; it's basically two and a half hours of noise and special effects with lame humor (a six inch robot calling a young actress a bitch just doesen't strike my funny bone) and racial stereotypes (another robot calling another robot the "N" word isn't funny either.)

But enter recent films like District 9 and Paranormal Activity, a complete godsend compared to the dreck of G.I: Joe and X-Men Origins. Both of these films cost under 30 million dollars, and made it to the top of the box office without millions of dollars being thrown at the screen. Oh yeah...and they have great stories to tell.