Watch and Listen

Today marks the release of Elysium, Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his well regarded epic District 9. A lot is riding on this film not only for Blomkamp, but for heavily inspired original creations in film as they fall further and further down the rabbit hole of consideration. So for those who have been anxiously waiting but may not get there on opening night, or for those who have seen it, love it, and want more of its bread and butter, this week’s Watch and Listen is highlighting a few creations following similar protocols. Or you can just skip this list and go for Robocop, Total Recall, or Judge Dredd.

This week’s topic: Elysium, Elysium

1. The Fifth Element: It still holds up after all these years as one of the best products of the nineties period.

2. Lockout: Of the same stock as The Fifth Element, but with Guy Pearce instead of Gary Oldman, though he is playing more of the Bruce Willis.

3. Dredd : One of the best movies of 2012 barely seen in the theater.

4. Aeon Flux (TV, not the movie): One of the only good reasons for MTV’s existence beyond music videos.

5. Strange Days: Well under-recognized piece of brilliant filmmaking by a pre-Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow.

aeon flux, anobium, anobiumlit, bruce willis, district 9, dredd (2012), elysium, experimental, fifth element, film, garrett tiedemann, gary oldman, guy pearce, hurt locker, judge dredd, Kathryn Bigelow, lockout, matt damon, Neill Blomkamp, robocop, slider, strange days, total recall, watch and listen