Lawrence.com

Anybody else see District 9 this weekend? Personally, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It may, however, be the most overhyped film of the year. Critics are tripping over themselves in a mad dash to find the thesaurus so they can look up new variations of “orgasmic.”

Gene Shalit is all like, “District 9? More like ‘District FINE’! This aliens-among-us drama is a close encounter of the WONDERFUL kind! Director Neil Blomkamp has abducted my heart and has probed the anal cavity of my imagination! This apartheid parable was so good, I wish they’d bring back segregation! I hate minorities and sleep with a gun under my pillow!” Okay, Gene Shalit is not all like that.

As a result of this hyperventilating word of mouth, I have a feeling it’s going to suffer a “Blair Witch”-style backlash among multi-plex audiences who were expecting more action and less social commentary. I also have a feeling it might suffer a backlash among art-house crowds expecting more social commentary and less action. Although, boo hoo, it made a metric butt-load of money this past weekend.

Anyway, via Buzzfeed, here are a bunch of shorts from Neil Blomkamp. “District 9” is his first feature length film, but he’s had a long career as a computer animator and director of short films/commercials. Regardless of what you thought of “District 9,” it can’t be denied that this guy has a singular vision. The themes and style of “District 9” can be seen in all of these little incubators.

Tempbot

A fascinating short film about a robot in the workplace. Think of it as “The Office” meets “A.I.” with Wonder Woman.

Alive in Joburg

This is the short that got Peter Jackson’s attention and convinced him to produce a feature length version that would become “District 9.”

Halo: Landfall

Based on the strength of this extended ad for “Halo 3,” Blomkamp was going to direct a screen adaptation of the video game franchise, but that was scuttled for probably stupid reasons. I have a feeling it might be back on track after the success of “District 9.”

Yellow

A freaky mini-movie promoting Adidas somehow.

Tetra Val

A short film disguised as a corporate video for an organization that manufactures security-bots. I’m guessing it’s the same company that made the Tempbot.

Citroen Ad

Lastly, something much lighter in tone. It’s a dancing robot commercial. This 30 second spot has more life and creativity than all 17,640 seconds of Michael Bay’s robot spew.