Watch the trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s District 9

When it was announced that Peter Jackson was going to be producing the Halo movie, you could practically feel the collective nerdgasm. After all, Jackson had proven himself with the Lord Of The Rings films, showing that it was possible to take a seemingly impossible work — and one that is extremely near and dear to the hearts, minds, and souls of people everywhere — and film it in a manner that was both unique and original as well as faithful, even reverent, to the source. In other words, he had enough geek cred to last a dozen lifetimes.

But when it was announced that Neill Blomkamp would be directing the Halo movie, that announcement was met with one big “Neill who”? A quick scramble to the IMDb reveals that Blomkamp, up until then, had never directed a full-length, but only a couple of acclaimed short films and commercials. Oh, and he’d done 3D animation for Stargate SG-1 and Dark Angel.

Well, as we all know, the Halo movie was shelved due to financial reasons (though Blomkamp did shoot a couple of related shorts that became Halo: Landfall). But Jackson and Blomkamp have kept their partnership alive, and now the trailer for District 9, Blomkamp’s debut full-length feature, has just arrived on line. District 9, which is based on Alive In Joburg, one of Blomkamp’s earlier shorts, deals with a group of aliens who have arrived on Earth and are forced to live in South African slums as slaves and migrant workers.

If you’ve never seen any of Blomkamp’s work, then you’re in for something quite interesting. Blomkamp’s style is an adept mix of live action and special effects, with the results looking more like a documentary than your typical special effects-laden sci-fi feature. I love the gritty, grimy look of his work and I can’t wait to see the full movie when it arrives in theatres on August 14, 2009.

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