Library Videos for June 2013--Invaders from Outer Space

 Attack the Block, starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail and Leeon Jones. Written & directed by Joe Cornish. 2011. Call Number:
 PN 1995.9.A48A88 2011. 
          A British import by the producers of Shaun of the Dead follows serious delinquents who find themselves the first line of defense for their housing project against big-toothed aliens.  It’s a genre-busting, low tech flick that won’t make the Hall of Fame, has no blue screen, or CGI, but still gets high marks for its wit and ingenuity.

 

Battle: Los Angeles, starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynihan and Ne-Yo. Directed by D.J. Caruso.  Call Number: PN1995.9.A48B38 2011.

         Aaron Eckhart is the staff sergeant on the edge or retirement when aliens invade Los Angeles and other coastal towns around the world.  In the panic to evacuate, the Staff Sergeant’s squad is sent to pull civilians out of a surrounded police station only hours before the Air Force bombs the entire neighborhood.  Nice camerawork, interesting and unique aliens and smart soldiers make this a sleeper in the realm of sci-fi war movies.

 The Day the Earth Stood Still
, starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. Directed by Robert Wise. Call Number: PN1995.9.A48D39 2002.

          One of the classic apocalyptic “visitors from outer space” movies of the 50’s, feeding on the repercussions of the nuclear arms race. A mysterious visitor to Earth lands in America with a message he won’t share with the President—he wants to talk to all the world’s leaders at once. This makes everyone in the Cold War era nervous and when shots are fired, the Army suddenly sees how outclassed it is with the appearance of the visitor’s guardian a giant robot named Gort.

District 9, starring Sharlto Copley and Jason Cope. Directed by Neill Blomkamp.  Call Number: PN1995.9.A48D57 2009.

          A splendid South African film, about a stranded spaceship above Johhannesburg, unable to leave the planet.  Thousands of lobster-like aliens are taken off the ship and exiled to a fenced relocation camp, guarded by a private security company that’s becoming rich in the process.  When one of the company’s managers is accidentally infected by a virus that slowly begins to turn him into an alien, he finds himself to be the only human who can unlock the fierce some alien weapons technology. It’s an ability that leaves him isolated in his own land and may cost his life.