Chappie: New Trailer - Cogito Ergo Sum

Director of "District 9" and "Elysium," Neill Blomkamp, has a new trailer out for his latest film "Chappie." 

Chappie is the artificial being created by Deon Wilson, played by Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire," "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") is like a child becoming aware gradually. CNN's Anderson Cooper introduces the world to these robots meant to act in conjunction with police forces. As stated in the above trailer, they will go into force in 2016. 

Vincent Moore played by Hugh Jackman ("Wolverine," "Prisoners")  is a former soldier who is on a crusade against artificial machines taking over the duties of police and soldiers claiming that "they are way too unpredictable."  While professor Wilson is intrigued by a machine that can actually think and feel, Moore is concerned about world domination by sentient machine overlords.

This trailer shows a different side of Blomkamp's new film. The title cards declare that Vincent Moore is "a man corrupted by power," and that Wilson is "a man inspired by change." While the story seems to have Sigourney Weaver playing in her usual role of the woman out to save mankind ("Paul," "The Cabin In the Woods," "Avatar," "Alien," "Aliens," etc.) She tells Moore that, "a thinking Robot could be the end of mankind." She also goes on to command Moore to "destroy that robot," and "burn it to ashes."  

It seems like Patel's Wilson character has gone ahead and done the unthinkable. and gave one of the police scouts the ability to think. Thus creating the conundrum, of creating what could be taken for a sentient being on the same level of humans. 

Cogito ergo sum

I Think Therefore, I am. 

The questions unfold about artificial intelligence as the technology to create something akin to what we call consciousness looms on the horizon. Chappie declares, "I am alive. I am Chappie." as Chris Clark's haunting, but triumphant melody plays in the background. The real question that Blomkamp is asking, of course, "Is it a child, or the next step in evolution."

Sharlto Copley, the star of "District Nine," and co-star of "Elysium," in a motion capture suit plays Chappie the robot. Also along from the Blomkamp retinue of talent is Trent Opaloch as director of photography. Opaloch's credits include "District, "9" and  "Elysium," for Blomkamp and  "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for directors Anthony and Joe Russo. 


Look for "Chappie" hits theaters March 6, 2013

Related

Chappie: First Look At Neill Blomkamp's New Sci-Fi Film

Movie Data

Genre:  Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year:  2015

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Yo-Landi Visser

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Producer(s): Simon Kinberg

Writer: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

Rating: R
Running Time: Unkown
Release Date: 3/8/2015

Chappie: First Look At Neill Blomkamp's New Sci-Fi Film

Director of "District 9" and "Elysium," Neill Blomkamp, has a new trailer out for his latest film "Chappie." 

  Only a few details are out about "Chappie,"   however, we can glean from the trailer above is that Chappie is an artificial being developed by Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire," "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") , and like a child,  Chappie becomes aware of the world around him gradually, "I pulled you into this world -- a machine that can think and feel."  Patel's character, Deon, goes on to say, "Like a child, it has to learn. Any thing you want to do in your life you can do. Like write poetry, [or] have original ideas." A robot that ins some ways seems like a child in a metal rabbit suit, Chappie is in a world not unlike our own with our prejudices, "p[eople are always fearful of what they don't understand." Hugh Jackman's ("Wolverine," "Prisoners") character, Vincent, says, "The problem with Artificial Intelligence is it’s way too unpredictable."  

Click Here!

Neill Blomkamp tends to write and film stories that have a social relevance to today's society. "Chappie" seems to be an attempt to challenge us into thinking about ourselves and our fears. In the trailer, Yolandi Visser, played by Yo-Landi Visser of the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord, asks Chappie, "Do you know what a black sheep is?" Chappie, "No." "It's like when you are different than anyone else."  

The questions unfold about artificial-intelligence as the technology to create something akin to what we call consciousness looms on the horizon. Chappie declares, "I am alive. I am Chappie." as Chris Clark's haunting, but triumphant melody plays in the background. The real question that Blomkamp is asking, of course, "Is it a child, or the next step in evolution."

The star of "District 9," and co=-star of "Elysium," is Neill's childhood friend actor Sharlto Copley in a motion capture suit playing Chappie the robot. Also along from the Blomkamp retinue of talent is Trent Opaloch as director of photography. Opaloch's credits include "District, 9" "Elysium," for Blomkamp and  "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. 

Here is the synopsis I grabbed off of IMDB:

"After being kidnapped by two criminals during birth, Chappie becomes the adopted son in a strange and dysfunctional family. Chappie is preternaturally gifted, one of a kind, a prodigy. He also happens to be a robot."

Look for "Chappie" hits theaters March 6, 2013

Related

Chappie: First Look At Neill Blomkamp's New Sci-Fi Film

Movie Data

Genre:  Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year:  2015

Staring: Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Yo-Landi Visser

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Producer(s): Simon Kinberg

Writer: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

Rating: R
Running Time: Unkown
Release Date: 3/8/2015

On the Road with Paul

He's Not Evil. He's Just Rude 

W hat do you get when a creationist meets an extraterrestrial? Well, that is just one of the many questions that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost try to answer in the duo's latest offering, Paul. Kristin Wiig from "Saturday Night Live," joins the cast as Simon Pegg's love interest. Her part as a Jesus freak brings another layer of comedy to this already sidesplitting film. The nerdy Brits run into her along the way, while running from the FBI. Leading the charge in search of the alien, Paul (voiced by Seth Rogan), is Jason Bateman as the crazy ass agent who will stop at nothing as he pursues Pegg and company across the back roads of the USA's UFO trail. Throw in a fanatical father with a bible in one hand, and a shotgun in the other, two infantile rookie FBI agents and you have the makings for some crazy laughs. Paul has an R rating for language mature themes, and yet the theater was packed with preteen kids.

If the premise of Paul seems a little too familiar, that is because you have seen it somewhere before in several Steven Spielberg films. The two movies that Pegg and Frost parody the most are "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and "E.T the Extraterrestrial." However, Paul is also quite a bit more than just that. Pegg and Frost have penned a story that not only spoof Spielberg, but also take aim at the whole of the Sci-Fi pop culture. They poke it, they play with it, they take some extraordinary liberties with it, and they present it back to you with a charm and nostalgia that reminds one of a Crosby and Hope Road picture. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play two fan-boys from England, illustrator Graeme Willy and author Clive Gollings, as they journey on holiday to Comic Con Vegas to meet and greet their hero, author Adam Shadowchild (Jeffrey Tambor). They find him rude and obnoxious, not just to them, but all his fans. The two friends are about to embark on a zany adventure of the American Southwest in true Twilight Zone fashion. However, sixty years prior in Moorcroft Wyoming, a German Shepherd named Paul wakes at night to an eerie display of lights and noise, pawing at the beam of light shining under the door, little Tara, opens the door, and the dog runs out. Classic scenes from "CEot3rdK" depicting a windmill, and bright lights, the dog barking, Tara calling to her dog, lights getting brighter, a space ship is landing - - but no -- it crashes on top of the dog killing it instantly. Do you see where this is going?

After some awkward scenes in a hotel after the convention, their sexuality is questioned, the subject of immigration is poked at, and the details of their road trip explained in detail. Like following the pilgrim trail from the Eastern Empire, the two set out to explore America. From reenacting Kirk's fight with the Gorn at Vasquez Rocks, to locating the infamous black mailbox in the lonely desert, the two are having the time of their lives. The film includes the typical encounter with the local yokels, which allows for some Deliverance references, and all this before the two meet Paul. The meeting is comical, and for two Sci-Fi nuts, the meeting isn't all that predictable. Frost faints and wets himself and it is up to Pegg and Paul to get him back into their RV. Seth Rogan ("The Green Hornet") voices Paul, and from what I can gather, acts out the part himself while dressed in a special effects suit like Andy Serkis who played Gollum in "LOTR" wore. Depicting Paul as the conventional "little green man with big eyes and long fingers," the film explains that the aliens were just trying to get us used to them before they came here. Apparently, Paul isn't very good at driving cars or at flying spaceships.

What we find out from Paul, is that for the last 60 years the government kept him locked up in Area 51 (picture the room where the government stashed the Ark of the Covenant after Raiders of the Lost Ark). In all this time, he has been acting as a consultant for the US Military and for director Steven Spielberg (he plays himself). Paul is irreverent, sarcastic, crude, rude, and hilarious. When the fellas ask him if he was going to probe them, his reply was " Why does everyone always assume that? What am I doing? Am I harvesting farts? How much can I learn from an ass? " Much of the dialog runs this course. Other dialog has to do with pop culture and ranges from scenes where Agent Zoil (Bateman) pays homage to Han Solo as he shoots the radio in his car and exclaims "boring conversation anyway." In another scene, Pegg, while drawing Paul reclining on a couch, reminds one from a scene from "Titanic" "Are you gonna draw me like your French girls, Jack?" The odd part was that many of the young kids in the theater got a lot of these jokes, even the dirty ones.

Either from the "X Files" or the "Men in Black" series (you choose), dark suited FBI agents are on the hunt. Leading a pair of incompetent rookies is Agent Zoil, played by Jason Bateman. I think Bateman has found his niche in the movies as a solid supporting actor in this and the many films in which he appears. A couple of films where his performances shine are Hancock, Juno, Up in the Air, and The Kingdom. Agents Haggard and O'Reilly look surprisingly familiar, as they are both Superbad alumni. Bill Hader, one of the cops in the aforementioned film, plays Haggard and Joe Lo Truglio portrays Agent O'Reilly. You may remember Joe as the driver in "Superbad," or from "Role Models." Jane Lynch, who is everywhere now, makes a couple of brief appearances, as well as many recognizable character actors filling in the cast in minor supporting roles.
So, when it comes to aliens, who would you want on your side, backing you up or kicking their asses for you, huh? Would you want Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Superman, Schwarzenegger, or Adrien Brody? As Richard Dawson would say on TV's "Family Feud" - "And the answer is:" Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley. Who else has kicked more alien ass than Sigourney Weaver? Weaver is "The Big Guy," taking over the case in order to clean up the mess Zoil and his cohorts made while tracking Paul down. Although Paul is a comedy, people do die horrible fiery deaths in this movie, which the film just shrugs off. Director Greg Mottola, whose credits include the successful teen cult hit "Superbad" as well as Adventureland, pulls out all the stops to get a laugh. As the audience should be more mature than his teen flicks, you find that both Pegg and Frost are just big goofs at heart.
Like the Crosby and Hope Road pictures, there is a girl in this movie too. Kristin Wiig plays Ruth Buggs. She is the daughter of the trailer park owner where the three are staying. Ruth lives an almost solitary life with her father, who raised her to be a fanatical fundamentalist Christian. Wiig gets into her part and goes along playing the demented Christian, the foul-mouthed rebel, the stereotypical first time pot smoker, and the bounty hunter. So the question begs an answer, what happens when a girl who wears a shirt depicting Jesus shooting Charles Darwin say when confronted by an alien being? The answer is; watch the movie!

Movie Data

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Year:  2011

Staring:  Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio 

Director: Greg Mottola

Producer(s): Eric Fellner, Nira Park

Writer: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Rating: R

Running Time: 104 minutes

Release Date: 3/18/2011

Originally published on 3/21/2011 with Associated Content/Yahoo Voices

Avatar

I would go anywhere as long as Ripley covered my back!

I saw Avatar in theaters, in order to get the big-screen experience; and I wasn't disappointed and won't be either. Although this is a story about an alien civilization, the themes are familiar, repackaged for a new audience, in this new age. To explain the plot in this review would be a disservice to the film and to you. I will discuss some of the themes that writer/director James Cameron retells for us in this two hour forty-two minute action-adventure, sci-fi, romantic epic of a story. If you are a science fiction fan, you will buy the DVD. If you are an action-adventure film buff, you will buy this DVD. If you are a war film fanatic, you will buy this DVD. Even if you are not a James Cameron fan, you will go out and buy this DVD. However, don't rush out on April 22nd (Earth day) and get the highly touted DVD and Blu-Ray version; as it will not include special features. Wait until later in the year. Let me tell you why.

Avatar" is a story we have all seen before. If you live in the planet Earth, I guarantee that you have seen this tale told hundreds if not thousands of times before -- and that is why it works. If you have seen Dances with Wolves, you have seen this theme before, the white man migrating into territory of the American Indian. Alternatively, you have seen the man of two worlds theme with Shogun, or The Last Samurai, or once again, Dances with Wolves. We have seen the indigenous peoples of Pandora in the Amazon. I have always maintained that the best stories, the ones we remember the stories that ring true those stories are the ones that are part true, and part lie. Cameron does this well, by taking a subject, and reworking it into something, usually more attractive than before. I said his stories were more attractive, not necessarily better. In Titanic, we have a true story mixed with a totally fictional account of two lovers. In Terminator, a story inspired by earlier authors, reworked and reshaped in to the franchise we know today. In "Avatar," we see remnants, of the style of hardware and aircraft we saw in Aliens another story Cameron took and reworked. Taking the truth of human history, the archetypal heroes and villains, and adding some embellishment, creates a story that becomes legendary. Unfortunately, the authors of these true stories on which Cameron based "Avatar" on are the same people who brought us Christopher Columbus and the conquering of the New World -- Hernan Cortez -- and the exploitation of the Aztecs -- Francisco Pizarro -- Captain John Smith -- Lewis and Clark -- English East India Company-- Virginia Company and any other conquests and genocides that you care to mention. All these figures were searching for the one unobtainable prize that will make them wealthy, famous, and immortal. For Ponce de' Leon it was the fountain of youth, Columbus’s search was two fold, open up a trade route by sea to the Indies, and to find the Garden of Eden. Cortez and Pizarro, their search was for gold. Whatever humans find unobtainable, we want it. James Cameron even mocks us with the name Unobtanium for the resource that the humans want but the Pandorans have. We are also fascinated with the mythology as we dig back into our primordial memory of the two trees in the Garden of Eden, represented by the Home-Tree and the Tree of Souls. We harken back to the Greeks with the concepts of Mother Earth and oneness of the land and the life it sustains. We look to the Judaism, with the name of Eywa, perhaps the female Yahweh (awye).

James Cameron provides his cinematic baby with "Lord of the Rings" imagery. He shows us the moon Pandora, with its vast landscapes, beautiful waters, and luscious rain-forests  all filtered with subtle shades of blue, and depicts the innocence of what the Earth once was. Directly from "The Golden Bough," Cameron guides us through the aboriginal rites of passage with his main character, Jake Sullivan (Sam Worthington), a man ready to be reborn into Pandoran society. Like "The Matrix," in many ways this is a social documentary on civilization, and the rush to destroy ourselves. The Pandorans represented by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), reminding us of Mariko from "Shogun," a woman who mediates between the hero and her people, trapped in a role that naturally forces the theme of forbidden romance. Neytiri represents Artemis the goddess hunter, assisting the hero during the battle and coming to his rescue. We can look at "Avatar" as allegory or metaphor for ourselves. Like Narcissus we are in love with ourselves, we want to watch people like ourselves and hope this time we don't screw things up. Wes Studi plays the tribal patriarch Eytukan, a role that I am sure Studi is familiar with as he is famous for his part of Magua in "Last of the Mohicans," yet another film about culture-class, domination, conquest, and forbidden love.

The music for "Avatar," is remarkable. Composer James Horner provides a memorable score that reaches deep into your emotions and helps move the story, accent the wonder, and emphasize the destruction. Utilizing over fifteen visual effects companies, ILM and Stan Winston being the most notable, the effects are nothing less than spectacular. Except for first forty minutes or so while James Cameron introduces the setting, the characters, and the context of this story, the remainder of the film are a fast-paced roller coaster ride. To create a language that sounds alien yet somewhat familiar Cameron hired Paul Frommer to create the language of the Na'vi, which, like Klingon and Elvish is taking off on its own.

If after reading this review you don't go out and buy the DVD it is probably because of the lack of bonus material. We all saw this coming from merchandisers back when Lucas released his gold version of "Star Wars," then re-released and re-released etc. I can say the same thing for "Lord Of The Rings" and the "Alien" movies. Special editions, director cuts and re-cuts, any way to get their hands in our pockets for recurring cash. This is a great movie for your collection. Just wait until the distributors have everything on one disc... Then don't be surprised a few years later when the "lost footage of "Avatar" makes an appearance.

Movie Data

Genre:  Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Year:  2009

Staring:  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang

Director:  James Cameron

Producer(s) James Cameron, Jon Landau

Writer: James Cameron

Rating: PG-13