Die Antwoord | Through the Shattered Lens

Happy World UFO Day!

For reasons that I’m not really sure about, World UFO Day is celebrated on two separate days. It’s celebrated on both June 24th and July 2nd! There used to be an official World UFO Day website that undoubtedly explained the whole thing but that site is now apparently offline. Well. here at the Shattered Lens, we celebrate World UFO Day in June because, come July 2nd, we’re usually too busy stocking up on illegal fireworks to deal with any intergalactic visitors.

(For the record, I will be celebrating World UFO Day by cleaning out my DVR.)

So, today is Happy UFO Day and I picked this video because … well, actually, the song isn’t really about UFOs. It’s about someone who feels like an alien because they don’t fit in with the rest of the world. I think we all know what that feels like. As for the video, there’s really no proof that the main character is from outer space. Would visitors from outer space really want to come to Detroit?

But you know what? I like the song. And I like the video.

Maybe you will too.

Enjoy!

Chappie will be the third film from Neill Blomkamp and with the release of it’s second trailer there already seems to be a sort of negative buzz surrounding the film. The first trailer made Chappie look like a modern remake of the 80’s “robot come to life” film Short Circuit. For many this is not a good comparison.

This second trailer pulls back on the cutesy Chappie robot stuff and takes a much more ominous and serious tone. The film seems like it’s all about the danger of artificial intelligence and how Chappie may be the key behind what can make A.I. work or fail.

Yet, despite taking a much more action direct approach the negative buzz is still there. Maybe people are not as quick to embrace Chappie after the underwhelming (some say heavy-handed) result of Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9 with Elysium. It’s an understandable reaction considering how high Blomkamp reached and succeeded with his very first feature film.

Chappie (and Neil Blomkamp) has between now and March 6, 2015 to convince people that it will not be another Icarus-like release.