Things I Did Yesterday 09/09/09

Well, here we are again. Again. Let’s get to it. Yesterday I:

- Got into town and did some writing, which was fine though my thoughts took an unexpected turn for the maudlin. Not sure why, and it didn’t last long, but what funny creatures we are, eh?

- Worked. Not a bad day in all. I caught up on my emails, got some library stuff done and put together this week’s How Late.

- Alex came down to meet me and we went to see District 9. I had been looking forward to this film and, as is unfortunately not too often the case, I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a wonderful mix of action, drama and comedy, all put together in a seamless blend of faux documentary, CCTV footage and standard narrative. The real compliment to this last bit of storytelling is that after a short while you barely notice the shifts. The effects are nothing short of astounding, and given the budget I’m guessing these were done through Weta at some serious mates rates. Honestly, the work is damn near flawless, from the huge, imposing mothership, through mechanised power suits and alien weaponry, to the aliens themselves. They really are quite incredible, probably one of the best full CGI realisations my inexpert eyes have ever seen. The inhuman design of them no doubt helps, their unfamiliarity easing the pattern recognition triggers that make CGI humans (or human-like aliens) look unconvincing. Compare this to what we’ve seen from Avatar (though in fairness we haven’t seen a lot yet). In short, it’s a great film. Entertaining, thoughtful (if not exactly subtle) and moving. Also, lots of people explode real good.

- Schlepped home and had miso soup with toast for dinner (this was about 10-ish). I watched an episode of Band of Brothers (war is even more like hell, but still kind of exciting) then hit the sack.