District 9 – This was a movie I avoided, the preview left me uneasy. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t think I wanted to see it, despite all the good things I’d heard about it. Now I’m glad I’ve seen it. It was quite unusual. At least in my experience. This idea of “first alien contact” is usually grand, with the aliens being much advanced technologically, and seeming hugely superior to humans. This is not remotely the case here. How humans deal with these miserable aliens is abominable. It’s more realistic, in that the humans stick them in a ghetto, try and take their technology, and secretly do experiments on them.

The story is told from the perspective of a middle management government man who hates the “Prawns” as much as everyone else, and is just helping serve eviction notices in the alien ghetto when things go horribly wrong, and he gets tangled in a huge mess. It’s a well told story, and I recommend it. Just don’t expect it to be pretty or happy.