The Time Traveler's District 9

The movie titles this weekend don't quite flow together as well as last week. Someone needs to tell Hollywood that movies released on the same weekend need to have titles that mesh well together (a la G.I. Julia). Moving on...

District 9
I wasn't sure what to expect with the movies, but whatever it was I never could have imagined what happened in it. In case you haven't seen the preview, basically it takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa where this is a slum for aliens. As you might expect the race inter-species relations are so great. Based on the basic outline I was thinking it would be someone of a drama. But considering its an alien moving I was also expecting a good amount of action.

The movie was both of those and so much more. There were part when I was a little scared by what was going on and I didn't want to watch. There were some parts where I didn't want to watch more out of horror and disgust. There were exciting thrill induced chase scenes. And there were some parts that were so sad and a little bittersweet that actually cried a little. Basically, hit almost every emotion I could have imagine.

A lot of the movie is based on what happened when ending apartheid in South Africa, and having to integrate blacks and whites. For example, like blacks were "give" English names, the aliens in the movie were given English names. I have heard some people thought this was a little over the top, but I don't think it was done in an overkill scenes.

Honestly, the past way I can describe the movie is unsettling. I definitely dreamed about it the night I saw it, and its not a movie you can easily forget about.

Moving to the complete other side of the spectrum, we also saw
The Time Traveler's Wife
The movie has gotten very good reviews, and in general movie adaptions aren't nearly as good as the actual book. So going into the movie I was a little wary of what I would be seeing. Maybe partly due to my low expectations, but mostly due to the fact I've read the book I loved the movie!

I can see why people who hadn't read the book didn't really enjoy it. There wasn't a lot of character back story, and there wasn't a lot of development to their relationship. But since I knew what happens a was able to fill in a lot of the blanks. The did take out a lot of the scenes where his visits her growing up, and there were a few scenes added and details changed that weren't in the book.

Also the movie itself was almost completely chronological. Normal for a movie yes, but not so normal compared to the book. I do think if they had tried to match the back and forth order of the book viewers who hadn't read it would be even more lost than they our with the current movie. I do think considering how hard it must have been to adapt a book written the way The Time Traveler's Wife was written they did a very good.

I would say this weekend is a tough weekend to make a definite pick. I glad I was able to see both of the movies. I guess it just depends on what type of movie you're into. If you're like my boyfriend and you hate love stories, then District 9 might be the way to go. But if you're looking for something romantic that will make you cry clearly The Time Traveler's Wife would be it. I would still recommend reading the book first.

~Shoshanah