All of our bus stations around L.A. have been emblazoned with posters demanding that Aliens Go Home, and declaring the space a Humans Only zone, and I figured, FINALLY, Fox News has gotten its way and all of the immigrants were being wiped out. Sure, we’d have no landscaping or food service, but hey, it’s the price we pay for xenophobia.
If you haven’t heart of District 9, which is the second foreign film to feature the number 9 coming out in this the year of our lord Aught 9, have no fear. Mostly content with a viral marketing campaign and some teasers, the alien thriller’s been trying to go for the steady buzz. And to an extent it’s working, as nobody’s openly groaning.
Below we’ve got the newest trailer, which gives a little more meat to the story. I’ve been a little wary, though I tend to trust the fat bearded horror men when they throw me the recommendations: either Del Toro or Jackson kinda has decent taste. I thought it’d be a lot more low tech than it is: there are glimmerings of Independence Day with the action sequences in the new trailer. I had been hoping for a little Alien Nation action — James Caan and Mandy Patinkin with super shotguns and hyperviolence. It’s rated R for bloody violence, which should give us all hope. The fat lady might sing, but that bitch is gonna be covered in a bucket of blood when she do. It seems like it’s got a pretty sinister sense of humor, but I’m not holding my breath. The aliens look like a combination of cockroaches and toasters.
But let’s face it — it can’t be much worse than G.I. Joe — The Rise of My Gorge.
As awesome as it looks, I'm going to have a lot of problems believing that humans can capture and hold aliens who have a giant fucking spaceship. You'd think their technology would, I don't know, be a little above our heads. Kind of like Keanu's big metal buddy.
I was thinking about the premise to this movie in the shower this morning. How is it that humans were able to take over an alien spaceship and hold its crew hostage without any working knowledge of their technology?
And the problem, of course, is that we can't ever let these aliens go, because now that they know how shitty we treated them, if they get away, they're coming back to fucking murder us.
Those black Robot type things???
My little brother... he worked on those suckers!
(he's an animator at Weta)
WHOOT! Colour me proud!
Posted by: missh at July 9, 2009 10:30 AM
and by Robot, I clearly mean Alien. My brain has been muddled.
Posted by: missh at July 9, 2009 10:34 AM
For the aliens, it's like getting stuck in some backwoods hick town when your car breaks down. Or perhaps the ship is not a warship but an intergalactic Carnival cruise line gone very, very wrong. Or the combination of catastrophic failure of systems and an overly trusting nature led them to rely on humans who then exploited them.
Or if were a Micheal Bay movie- BOOM! Tits! BOOM! what now?
Posted by: Mrcreosote at July 9, 2009 10:35 AM
For the aliens, it's like getting stuck in some backwoods hick town when your car breaks down.
Everyone is racist and it always smells like cheese.
As far as the "how did humans keep them trapped" question, there are at least two possible reasons:
1) We have something they need to survive or return home. Something remarkably abundant on Earth, but still with controllable access.
2) There are simply more of us than are of them. From what the trailers show, this is the only ship they have. It is a fairly big target, and we all know there is at least one or two crazy bastards in every alien visitor movie willing to nuke a whole city for a chance at hitting the bastards.
Of course, both can be true.
By the way, when I saw the mech catch the rocket, I may or may not have wept for joy.
I really really hope we're not setting ourselves up for a huge disappointment here, cause this looks the tits.
---
"FINALLY, Fox News has gotten its way and all of the immigrants were being wiped out."
---
How convenient of you to leave out the word "illegal." You are so full of shit on this, Prisco. Nobody in America (very few of us anyway) begrudges anyone who comes to this country and works hard and follows the fucking LAW to become a legal immigrant. I know the process is an expensive bitch, I wish we could make it somewhat easier, but you know what? Call me a xenophobic jingoist hater all you fucking want, but it's fucking PRIVILEGE to be an American. It's a fucking PRIVILEGE to live in this country, and if you want to live in this country you respect the fucking LAWS, even the ones you don't agree with. I don't know what's so fucking hard about understanding that. "Give me your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse ..." I believe in those words. But it does NOT mean you just throw open the borders and let anyone who wants to in, or we'd be in an even bigger hella mess than we are now.
My day's already off to a bad start. I don't need this bullshit on top of it. You want us to just let anyone walk in? Fine. How about they all come live at your house, and you can pay for their health care and education and anything else they need. Sound fair?
Grrrr ...
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 9, 2009 10:42 AM
By the way, when I saw the mech catch the rocket, I may or may not have wept for joy.
I also may or may not have wept. I *also* may or may not have leapt out of my office chair and done a little dance, not dissimilar to Jeremy's happy sandwich dance.
Don't be fooled - bucdaddy's rant is just another piece of viral marketing for the movie.
Really well done, too.
Posted by: Neodiogenes at July 9, 2009 10:56 AM
"heard" not "heart"
Posted by: Free Edit at July 9, 2009 10:57 AM
Whattsamatta, schwookpock? (that's the sound a comma makes.) did they took yer jooorb?
Posted by: hatemail at July 9, 2009 10:53 AM
---
Now THAT made me laugh.
Seriously, though: Are you advocating that we have no immigration laws at all? That we have no borders, no rules whatsoever about who can be in this country, no rules whatsoever about who qualifies for government benefits and who doesn't, no rules at all? Really? We should just throw open the doors to everyone, all 6 billion people on the planet are welcome here if they can fly, walk, swim or crawl here? Really?
Tell you what, you start advocating that policy at your own house and I'll start agreeing with you. Just leave your doors open all the time. Anyone who wants to can wander in, sit in your chair, eat your food and "borrow" your wallet.
Deal?
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 9, 2009 11:02 AM
Well no, tcfkab, of course I don't want unlimited immigration, I'm hard up enough as it is. But you kind of exploded at an offhand joke Prisco just tossed out. He makes off-color comments and jokes in every review he writes, it's sort of his thing.
Seems weird to suddenly take something he said so seriously and get all Limbaugh on us.
because now that they know how shitty we treated them, if they get away, they're coming back to fucking murder us.
I'd be just as worried about their friends coming to look for them. 30 years seems about a good time to mount up a search party with a couple dozen more ships.
Posted by: twig at July 9, 2009 11:11 AM
I have been dying for this movie since the first trailer you linked to... and it looks like its actually going to get a wide release! happydance!
Posted by: Moi at July 9, 2009 11:13 AM
I kept seeing the viral ads for this on S(hut up)Y(ou)F(ucking)Y,(appy ass whiners) and didn't know what the hell it was all about!
I have a friend who lives in South Africa, and there are separate settlements there, so this isn't much of a stretch, from what she's told me.
My fear is this movie is designed to be some sort of heavy-handed metaphor, designed just to push people's buttons. I.e. ALIENS = The poor/immigrants (illegal or otherwise). I don't like my emotions force-milked. It makes my tits hurt. (FUCK YOU, My Sister's Keeper).
I don't mind a well-crafted allegory, but it has to go with a good story and blend really well with the plot. No morality-shaped anvils dropping on our heads, please!
On that note, I'm still hoping it's going to be an awesome flick. Nothing has really thrilled me, movie-wise, so far this summer.
Posted by: malechai at July 9, 2009 11:22 AM
That trailed just made me cheer out loud. It's been awhile since any have done that. I will definitely be seeing this one.
Posted by: MelBivDevoe at July 9, 2009 11:30 AM
Snath: "How is it that humans were able to take over an alien spaceship and hold its crew hostage without any working knowledge of their technology? "
Did you see what WE landed on the Moon in? The Eagle was three layers of aluminum foil. If there had been Moonvians, it would have been really easy for them to capture the humans who were wearing bulking spacesuits, not used to the gravity or lack of atmosphere, and living in a Jiffypop container.
Posted by: BWeaves at July 9, 2009 11:33 AM
That's true, BWeaves. Good thing those Moonians ignored us.
Well no, tcfkab, of course I don't want unlimited immigration, I'm hard up enough as it is. But you kind of exploded at an offhand joke Prisco just tossed out. He makes off-color comments and jokes in every review he writes, it's sort of his thing.
Seems weird to suddenly take something he said so seriously and get all Limbaugh on us.
I just assumed it was a sensitive topic for him; everyone has one ya know? I'm passionate about animal welfare so any off-colour comments or jokes about animal death or abuse and I'm immediately up-in-arms about it. I'm generally an easy-going person but make a joke about animal abuse and I'm not saying I'm gonna cut a bitch but I'll definitely do my best to make your life miserable.
Seriously, though: Are you advocating that we have no immigration laws at all? That we have no borders, no rules whatsoever about who can be in this country, no rules whatsoever about who qualifies for government benefits and who doesn't, no rules at all? Really?
I don't think anybody's advocating that, buc. But consider something else you wrote:
Nobody in America (very few of us anyway) begrudges anyone who comes to this country and works hard and follows the fucking LAW to become a legal immigrant.
This is a pretty common sentiment among people who have a problem with illegal immigration: "I don't mind that they come here, I mind that they jumped the line."
The problem, for most illegal immigrants, is that there is effectively no line for them to jump. The biggest immigration stream coming into America is Mexican/Central American manual labourers and tradespeople; that's honestly the biggest labour need of the American economy, even now. The immigration quota for unskilled labourers from the America is 500. As in "five hundred per year."
That's simply not a serious policy, and it's not serious to ask poor Mexicans or Central Americans that they ignore the fact that American employers are bending over backwards to attract them up here because the immigration quotas that apply to them date back to the time of We Are Scared Of Those Brown People. If there's no realistic legal alternative for them to explore, don't bitch when they take the illegal one.
For those questioning earth's ability to defeat aliens who have spacecraft and WMDs, it's been done before, in the 1300s yet: See Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade." It's a fun read, or was, IIRC from 30+ years ago.
Posted by: brm at July 9, 2009 1:08 PM
I just can't keep myself away from alien stories. I'll have to trust Mr. Jackson.
Posted by: Cindy at July 9, 2009 1:25 PM
Buc, nice snarky bitchy comment. Not sure if it was totally true, or if you are doing some meta-joke there, but still.
Mightygodking, good point, although I still have to side with Buc. The quota issue is something that must be dealt with, if only to spotlight its stupidity and inherent racism, however, ignoring it will not help anything.
Speaking as a former legal alien, the immigration process is ridiculous, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored.
Also, I take issue with the whole, it's a privelege to be an American bullshit. Give me a fucking break. You can add yourselves to the list of Germans who think it's a privelege to live in Germany (esp if you're a Turkish immigrant), Poles who think you'd better kiss the ground in Warsaw (especially those Ukrainians and Lithuanians coming over the border), etc etc etc. You know who can best determine whether or not it's a privelege to live somewhere? We immigrants, cuz we can tell the fucking difference. What's more, please keep in mind there are plenty of people all over the world who are quite happy in their respective countries. Not everyone is dying to get to the US.
Perhaps that is not what you intended by that comment, but Jesus. H. Christ. the America is #1 tripe makes me livid. I had some lawyer in bumfuck Texas [who'd never made it out of LUBBOCK] get in my face when I remarked that near Polish Sausage should never include jalapenos and still be called Polish. He got all upset and said that clearly Texas Polish sausage is the best there is, because it's made in America. What. the. fuck. ever.
o, and the viral campaign has hit Austin, too. They were playing 'PSAs' on the radio. The new trailer looks fantastic, and I hope hope hope it's as good as it looks!
Seems weird to suddenly take something he said so seriously and get all Limbaugh on us.
Posted by: Snath at July 9, 2009 11:07 AM
---
Yeah, I was kinda touchy this morning, a lot going on around my house. But (I'm pretty sure) there are people who actually think that way, that we ought to just throw open the doors and let anyone in who can get here, and that's just the height of stupidity. And I have no way of knowing whether Prisco is making a joke or is one of the believers, but now that I'm calmer I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Anyway, I stand behind what I wrote but I retract the harsh tone.
I wish I could remember the actor ... someone asked him what he thought of illegal immigration, and he said, "It's illegal, isn't it?"
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 9, 2009 3:02 PM
Sonny Bono made that "It's illegal, isn't it?" comment while serving in Congress.
Posted by: Cody Owens at July 9, 2009 3:39 PM
I made Gooseberry Fool tonight. First time even tasting it. Niiiiice.
Uh, what? Aliens?
Posted by: Donal at July 9, 2009 3:39 PM
I've never heard of Gooseberry Fool, but Gooseberry Falls is a pretty cool place in Minnesota.
Well I, for one, am glad that I was born on one side of an imaginary line. It makes me special.
I'm also hoping that this movie warrants the awesome marketing campaign. Now I am afraid of disappointment.
Posted by: imk at July 9, 2009 4:03 PM
Maybe the humans are keeping the aliens' spaceship because its fitted with an obnoxious spoiler and hydraulics kit and it keeps earth up at night when they're trying to sleep in preparation their Graduate thesis proposal the next morning because they kept driving their spaceship up and down the street for no Goddamn reason. And also, earth know plenty of people that would do and have done jobs that other earthlings say that only aliens are willing to do, which pretty makes makes those other earthlings full of shit.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah. This movie looks pretty fucking sweet. It does what good science fiction should do-address a real-world issue and actually makes people THINK about things, instead of just sit in movie theaters drooling into their popcorn. That being said, if this turns into some stupid heavy handed ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE DOWNTROTTEN PROLETARIAT SAINTS after school special I'm going to be pissed.
Posted by: Matt 2.0 at July 9, 2009 10:16 PM
Take it from me, trying to get into the US the legal way is one of the most painful experiences I've ever had to go through. And it isn't over. Sometimes I wonder if just jumping the river might be easier, and I see why the hell so many people do it.
This movie could be crap, or this movie could be gold. But, keeping with Peter Jackson's MO, I doubt it will be anything in between.
I will go see it, and be glad of it! I'm always a P.J. fan.
Posted by: Sarah at July 10, 2009 12:02 AM
bucdaddy throw open what doors, exactly?
Mexico's border towns and other rural areas are overrun with poverty, crime, corruption, drugs and gangs, along with all the lovely violence that comes with those things.
Mexico sits right next to a relatively affluent (certainly by comparison) country in which kids have to go to school and if you can physically work, you can get paid. A country in which you don't have to bribe the local police chief so he won't rape your wife. Anymore. (By the way, who do you think sells the guns to the gangs in Mexico? You guessed it, Americans. And who do you think buys their drugs? You guessed it again, Americans. There's a nice little trade going on all the time.)
The people who come here illegally don't enjoy this, believe me. They would MUCH rather be doing this on the up and up. But when there's a country right next door in which your kids can actually *survive*, in which your family can actually have a shot at life, well, come on, it's common sense that you'd want to get your kids somewhere safe. Hell, they LOVE their country! Wish they could live there in safety and with jobs and education. But it's not in the cards right now. Things are bleak as HELL down there.
Seems like as a country we should be looking at ways to get Mexico safer and working out a lot better economically and in the long run that would work out a lot better for BOTH countries.
But all I ever hear is the yelling about the illegals.
And mostly, around here (Texas), I hear yelling about the illegals from people who benefit from their cheap labor. Talk about hypocritical. Next door neighbor is one of the worst: bitches about illegal immigrants all the time, but then drives his truck up to the nearest convenience store first thing in the morning where they all hang out and loads 'em up in the back, ten dollars a day man, to lay ceramic tile or paint his house, whatever.
Posted by: Snuggiepants the Deathbringer at July 10, 2009 12:32 AM
snuggie, So the solution to all Mexicans' problems is to let all 110 million of them move here? I'm missing something.
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 10, 2009 1:57 AM
I too have issues with the idea that we could contain any lifeform with the technology to travel between planets, but as long as they provide a halfway plausible excuse, I'm OK with it. Actually you guys came up with a few good ones.
I am a wee bit tired of the aliens always appearing insect-like. That makes it easier to fear them, I know, but for once I'd like them to look somewhat cute and innocent (not at an Ewok-level, but something unassuming), and we learn to fear them from what they do and not just what they look like.
I love the guy saying, "It's definitely not a weapon" before getting a blast of alien smog in his face and turning into a freak. First, it's alien, how the hell do you know for sure what their weapons look like? And second, it DOES kinda look like a weapon--small, pointy things on the end, big colorful warning symbol on the side--at the very least it looks like a tear gas canister. Might not want to aim it at your face while fiddling with it.
Posted by: DeadBessie at July 10, 2009 8:46 AM
I'm looking forward to District 9, mostly because this summer has been so fucking awful, i need some kind of hope otherwise I might just have to ... I dunno, read a book.
Unfortunately, the comments left by 'tcfkab' have put a bad stink over this whole link.
Narrow-minded, racist, ignorant, uninformed...
Posted by: OldSchool60 at July 10, 2009 10:15 AM
OldSchool,
Glad you showed up, you're exactly the person I meant. So I get to ask a genuine liberal idiot:
What's racist about maintaining the integrity of your borders? What nation in the world is OK with any and all of its neighboring populations streaming in in an uncontrolled flood? In war-torn areas where refugees flee, that's usually termed a "humanitarian disaster."
(Granted, most nations have fences on the borders to keep the citizens IN, because given the means and opportunity most of them would leave in a heartbeat -- for the USA.)
Bottom line: I'd feel exactly the same way if thousands of Canadians were pouring in illegally every day.
And since when did "Hispanic" become a race?
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 11, 2009 1:02 PM
Which reminds me ... Since Canada is often upheld as an example of an enlightened nation, I'd like to ask the Canadian Jib contingent:
Last year ,daughter, a U.S. citizen, was considering attending grad school at the University of Toronto. As part of her inquiry she found there was some rule or law that she could not hold a job for the first year she was in the country. If that is in fact a law, what is the purpose of it, if not to discourage a flow of immigrants taking Canadian jobs? And I believe Canada has other laws (about things like media ownership and content) intended to protect Canada's cultural integrity, am I correct?
So ... Are Canadians "narrow-minded, ... ignorant, uninformed"? I don't think so, I've enjoyed every time I've been to Canada, but what do I know? I'm just a silly old racist, so maybe they are and I'm just too ignorant to see those motherfuckers for the haters they really are.
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 11, 2009 1:27 PM
bucdaddy, where did I say all 110 million Mexicans need to come to the US?
Posted by: Snuggiepants the Deathbringer at July 11, 2009 7:29 PM
snuggie, You make Mexico sound like a hellhole that all Mexicans would be out of their minds NOT to walk across 40 miles of burning desert in the dark to escape.
Not that it isn't ...
Anyway, I think the notion that I'm some kind of Hispanic "racist" is hilarious considering I've been trying to talk figgy into my pants for about six months.
Love ya, figs! Look me up when you cross 40 miles of burning desert in the dark to get here!
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 13, 2009 12:28 AM
Wow - pretending that we need illegal Mexicans to do the work in America is not only a horribly racist statement to make about Mexicans - it's also a lie. More than 95% of all labor in the US, is performed by American citizens.
I get the funny feeling that most here have never worked, or even been on an actual job site. - Sad.
Also - In Mexico - if you cross their southern border illegally, you get your head blown off.l
Posted by: Dan at July 28, 2009 12:57 AM
What nation in the world is OK with any and all of its neighboring populations streaming in in an uncontrolled flood?
This actually describes the United States immigration policy, on and off, for much of our history. Quotas really only started when too many of the "wrong" kind of immigrants (Italians, Jews, etc) started coming in.
buc, a question for you: are you in favor of liberalizing immigration rules? I ask because most people who I've met that say they're in favor of legal immigration but opposed to illegal border crossing are also opposed to allowing more immigrants to come in legally.
But the thing is, if there were no market for immigrant labor, there would be no immigrants coming into the US. Immigrants have always been beneficial to the US economy.
Posted by: the essence of fanciness and class at August 1, 2009 12:09 AM
Crap, sorry, that first paragraph should have been italicized to indicate it's a quote.
Posted by: the essence of fanciness and class at August 1, 2009 12:10 AM
The Los Angeles Times' Calendar section had an article on the director,
just this past Sunday. He apparently grew up in South Africa and the movie's connection / parallel to themes of segregation &/or aparthied are intential. Just thought the Pajiblets would be interested in more about the film.
The flick does look quite good. I'm feeling tingley about it.
sah-weet