NeilBlomkamp

[Welcome to the Sci-Fi Lunch Break, where every day we'll be supplying you with a cool bit of audio/visual goodness to break up the monotony of the work day. You bring the turkey on rye, we'll bring you something out of this world to watch while you eat it.]

By now most people have already seen the short film Alive in Joburg that District 9 was based on, though I think few people realize that short is not what proved D9 could be done. As pointed out in our list of A Dozen Things You May Not Know About District 9, there exists a second short film predecessor to the current king of the box office, a demo reel Neill Blomkamp made specifically for D9's financiers at the request of Peter Jackson starring, for the first time, Sharlto Copley as Wikus.

Sadly, that last piece of the D9 puzzle remains locked away in a vault somewhere, no doubt tucked inside a Raiders'esque crate alongside the film's never-to-be-seen alternate ending. However, that's not going to stop us from retracing the steps Neill Blomkamp took towards becoming the next big thing in Hollywood.

Conveniently embedded for your viewing pleasure is a YouTube playlist charting all of Blomkamp's pre-D9 work. From Third World Robocop, the short that inspired Alive in Joburg, to the series of commercials showing what could have been of a Halo film, to Blomkamp's award-winning take on transforming cars. Enjoy it after the jump:

Last night Ain't It Cool News held a screening of the much anticipated District 9 in Austin, TX followed by a Q&A with Writer/Director Neill Blomkamp and D9's charismatic star/first time actor Sharlto Copley. It was a tremendous film in its own right, but hearing the behind-the-scenes devotion that went into even the smallest of details made me fall farther in love with this special brand of Peter Jackson produced sci-fi adrenaline that Sony will be releasing in the US on August 14^th.

The hour long probing covered everything from what was shot that didn't end up in the film (a 900lb pig launched from a gas powered cannon), to what was written but never shot (including creatures not seen in the film), to what was in the film but never written (the majority of the dialog). I think it's all must-know stuff about what I'm sure will end up being one of the geek community's most talked about films of 2009.

Oh, and don't worry, I've kept the following spoiler free:

Last night Comic-Con was put on pause while we attended a screening of the Peter Jackson-produced District 9. We were prepared for massive amounts of CGI, but we were definitely not prepared for the huge amounts of awesome that were dumped into our eyes and brains. Honestly, I haven't been this moved by a film or a performance in quite some time. Lead actor (and relative unknown) Sharlto Copley brings such a dynamic human performance to the role while going through an extremely satisfying character arc. And in a sci-fi movie to boot.

This movie has flown under the radar for a lot of people, and Jackson himself said that no one contacted them during filming to try and get interviews and set visits, so they just quietly worked on churning out a movie that you'll definitely want to see when it opens on August 14.

Read on for some impressions, and expect a full review from us closer to the opening date.