A solar flare erupts on the sun causing it to emit energy that heats up the Earth’s core. This makes the Earth go completely nuts sending out large earth quakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. The story follows John Cusack who plays a divorced father. As has become the unwritten rule of Hollywood movies, there is nothing quite like an apocalyptic disaster that allows fathers to become closer with their children and earn the respect of their ex-wives.

The movie is based on the non-fictional book of the same name by author Ron Johnson. The plot is based on the creation of the Psychic forces unit in the US military. This dark comedy follows the techniques developed by the unit and the exploits of its personnel.

The Gist:

As a result of the war in Vietnam, the US military found itself highly discouraged. So much so that they funded a veteran from the war, Bill Djando (Jeff Bridges), to go on a mission to develop alternative fighting techniques. Bill decided to use the funds and conduct his research by attending naked group hot tub gatherings, yoga sessions and drugs.

The movie is an adaptation of the book series ‘The Saga of Darren Shan”. Although its world is filled with abnormal humans, the freaks, the story mainly focuses on the conflict between two rival factions of vampires. At the heart of it are two teenage friends that join opposing factions and will ultimately have a major role to play in the ancient long conflict.

The movie attempts to be a cat and mouse chase that stars Jamie Foxx as the assistant district attorney and Gerald Butler as the psychotic killer. In terms of entertainment the movie exceeded my expectations. But my expectations were set quite low.

Rule #1: Know the subject matter:

Zombieland is a comedy that follows four uninfected people trying to survive in a world where almost everyone else has transformed into a zombie. A large part of what makes the movie great is that the creators know it is a zombie comedy and at no point try to make it otherwise. The movie does not waste time on the origins and spread of the virus and neither does it focus on saving the world.

Aliens have entered the Earth’s atmosphere and have landed above Johannesburg in South Africa. Malnourished and devoid of resources, the humans decide to help them out and set up a camp labelled District 9.

The movie is set twenty years after the aliens have landed. Due to physical and lifestyle differences, the humans in Johannesburg become less acceptable of having the aliens as their neighbours. Rumours about aliens start to go around.  The lives of the aliens get associated with that of lower value and class. District 9 becomes a refugee camp which lacks hygiene and bare necessities. Influenced by the apartheid, the movie carries a strong message about segregation and dehumanizing a race that ultimately leads to false justification of abuse.