Steve42's Blog

District 9 Or Should I Say District 6?

stever42 — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:20:19 +0000

During the summer of 2009 the director Neill Blomkamp released a movie named District 9 which achieved a certain success, as it was nominated for four Oscars. I will be stating why District 9 would be considered the best movie of the decade to at least make this review somewhat credible. District 9 should be considered the best because it diverges from the traditional sci-fi genre and the underlying | message of the movie or at least the ethics questions the movie brings up. The special effects used in the movie are not the be left out for its nomination as best movie.(8,6)

First of all, this movie diverges from the typical sci-fi feature. It happens in modern days, on earth; (2,16) Already you can see the lack of space in the setting, but fear not there are at least aliens in the movie(16) which is why it is categorized under the sci-fi genre. The movie actually starts off in documentary style, and it isn’t until the second and third act of the movie that it takes on a more conventional(16) approach to sci-fi movies; A “you-are-there style” as James Berardinelli says in his review. The movie makes a parallel with current and past situations in South Africa regarding segregation(16) although in the movie the director uses aliens as the segregated group being kept in an area aptly(11) named district 9; As Roger Ebert brings up: it evokes a certain town (district 6) in South Africa in(18) which there was a forced removal of the population because of the Apartheid (which from here on will be called prawns as this is the name given to them in the movie). The movie mostly shines light on(18) the xenophobia which the Apartheid created and obviously keeps an over-arching plot. Regarding ethics, you can see that initially the intent of the humans is to help the aliens, although in the movie(15) they go and impose what are the ideal to human even though these might not apply to these prawns. As it is stated in the movie, these prawns have no idea of what property is and yet the humans enforce these concepts on them.

Lastly, the movie brings up great subjects of debate and this is why I would consider this movie the(9) best I have seen recently. It also has exceedingly well choreographed action scenes – as James Berardinelli (reviewer) and I thought– and convincing CGI which will appeal more to the masses as a reason for this movie to be at least nominated for a best movie award.

-426 words

And Then He GAINS Information

stever42 — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:49:32 +0000

well to start off , I have to introduce myself . I am Steve a 22 year old student from Cegep de Saint -Laurent. With this post i will be introducing: my Goals in life, the Acheivements I have acquired, my Interests, what my Network consists of, and finally my Skills. Thus the name of this exercise: a GAINS interview.

As it was stated above, I will express my goals here. I currently am working towards getting into the field of Social Psychology (thus why I am in currently in the social studies) and I am also trying to learn Korean. On that subject, I am actually trying to reach fluency with the language and not just settling with the basics as with my German class I am taking at the moment. Concerning my achievements I have have to say I have to think harder on that subject. I guess I could say that me visiting the Rocky Mountains is an achievement. Other than that most of my achievements concern video games; as they were and are still my favorite interest in life, spending a near totality of my free time playing. I have an interest in movies as well due to my brother mostly. Mainly because through him I learned to have a more critical eye in regards to movies, subsequently being able to discuss movies with him. Anything that enters into the typical geek interest is something that I adhere to: be it comic books, sci-fi literature, tabletop games, amongst others. Another interest I have gain recently rises from the fact that I am learning Korean: I like listening to K-pop and have been avidly searching for new groups to listen to. Moving on to the network part of this self-”interview”. As I don’t quite understand what is insinuated with Network. I will just say that most of my friends are people I have never actually met; They’re from the internet. Here’s hoping that I answered that part correctly. Finally, the only skills i have that I can think of right now are: I’m good at video games, I’m good at drawing ( even though it has been a while I haven’t drawn anything) and I don’t know if this could count as a skill or an achievement but I can currently speak and write in three different languages ( English, French and Spanish). So there you have it, a rough idea of who I am and mostly of my proficiency in the English language

First assignment

stever42 — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:50:57 +0000

Where is Mr. B’s office? – His office is in C-150.
What percentage of the course is reading and listening worth? – They are worth 30 percent each.
How can I communicate with Mr. B? – by phone (747- 6521 Post: 7446), by email (francis.bonkowski54.gmail.com) or by visiting him at his office during his office hours
What are Mr. B’s office hours? – He is available at his office on Tuesdays from 11:30 to 2:30, on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 and on Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:00.
What is the 48 hour rule? If perchance a student misses an evaluation, s/he has to get in contact with Mr.B. within the span of 48 hours after the evaluation to be informed on the procedures to take in order to take the evaluation. Failing to do so, a mark of zero will be given to the student.
What is the first assignment? – The first assignment was to write a short paragraph from the gains interview we did in class ( which I didn’t do and am missing some information on what a gains interview consists of) and to fill out this quiz.
How many ways can I contact Mr. B.? Name one. – There are three ways to contact Mr.B. one of which is by visiting him at his office during his office hours.
What is the name of the class textbook? Do you need to buy it? – The required textbook is named: Inside Reading, and it is required to attend the classes.
What is the “Writing Correction Code”? – It is a guideline with which written essays are corrected.
Write two questions you have about the course. – Will it be as easy as I figure it to be? Humor aside, Will it help me get better at writing in English?