District 9 Tops Box office

District 9, written and directed by South African expat, Neill Blomkamp, has topped the box office in the US with a whopping US$ 37 million ticket sales in the first weekend. The movie cost approximately US$ 30 million to make and the way things are going it will surely top US$ 100 million after the world wide release.

Critics say it is the best movie of the year and maybe one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. The South African actor Sharlto Copley that plays the lead in the movie, has been praised with one of the best acting performances of the year.

Before the opening of the movie, there was fears that a two hour movie filled with South African accents, which played of in Johannesburg, will be a little too much for American audiences.

There are already talks of a possible sequel as well as a possible Oscar for special effects. What makes the good box office earnings so special is that the movie is rated R, which effectively keeps out kids. Family films traditionally earn on average much more at the box office.

Well done guys! Also a great thanks to Sony pictures that took the risk on the unknown South African cast and director to make this movie.

District 9

The South African expat movie director, Neill Blomkamp, has made his award winning short film, District 9, into a full length feature film. The movie which was written by himself is also being directed by him and is being produced by none other than Peter Jackson. For those of you who don’t know who Peter Jackson is, he is the dude that made Lord of the Rings and King Kong.

District 9 is a action packed movie located in Johannesburg. The underlying theme pokes fun at the South African mindset. The movie deals with Aliens (the space kind) that has landed in South Africa. They are being kept separate (like in apartheid SA) in a location called District 9 (shacks) and are being treated, well, pretty much like black people was treated in apartheid SA.

The Aliens will off course complain about not getting jobs and being oppressed and not getting any service delivery.

The special effects in the movie looks absolutely amazing.

Below is the trailer for the movie.

Meteor shower

If you have a little free time tonight, step outside and if the skies are clear, have a look at the stars. The chances of seeing a couple of "shooting stars" is very good. This is thanks to the annual Perseid meteor shower, when the earth moves through the debris left by comment Swift-Tuttle. As I write this the meteor shower has already moved past its peak but it should still be pretty good tonight.

South African Braai in Europe

There will be a South African braai 22 August @ 15:00 at Gasthaus zum Schwanen Oberursel. Go here to book and see this for more info.

Enjoy.