District 9

District 9 is a 2009 science fiction film directed by Neill Blomkamp, released August 13, 2009. It takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa. District 9 is based on Alive in Joburg, a short film directed by Neill Blomkamp, and features Sharlto Copley, Simon Hansen and Shanon Worley.

The title of the movie is a reference to District Six, a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. The district was declared a "whites only" area by the apartheid government in 1966 and the population of 60,000 forcibly relocated to Cape Flats, 25 kilometres away during the following years.

The film opens with a documentary-style series of interviews that explain events that occurred twenty years prior when an alien ship settled above Johannesburg, South Africa. After three months of speculation as to the ship's purpose, humans cut their way in, discovering a large group of sick and malnourished non-humans. These beings were later assessed as being "workers", with their leadership mysteriously missing. A command module later fell to Earth, although it was never found.

The creatures, primarily referred to by the derogatory term "prawns", were ultimately housed in a government camp inside Johannesburg called District 9. Overcrowding and militarization eventually turned the area into a slum, and a massive black market was established between the aliens and a group of Nigerians. A private company known as Multinational United (MNU), which specializes in weapons research and security subcontracting, eventually came to be in charge of the situation in District 9.

In the present day, an MNU field operative named Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is assigned the task of relocating the 1.8 million aliens to a new "District 10" camp located 240 km from Johannesburg, with help from private security forces working for MNU. As part of the alien eviction process, Wikus handles an alien device while inspecting a suspicious alien residence which sprays a dark liquid into his face. After confiscating the device as evidence, he soon becomes very sick; a doctor at a local hospital discovers his left arm has mutated into an alien appendage. Wikus is then taken into custody by MNU, and a series of tests are performed on him, revealing that his now-alien DNA allows him to operate alien weapons, which are useless to humans due to the weapons' cyborganic reliance on alien biology. The scientists intend to harvest Wikus' DNA so as to replicate it to allow other humans to operate alien technology, but Wikus overpowers his captors and escapes.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a 2009 American live-action film adaptation of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy franchise. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and co-written by Stuart Beattie, based on a 1998 screenplay by John Paul Kay. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the franchise.

The story follows two American soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, who join the G.I. Joe Team after being attacked by Cobra troops. Filming took place in Downey, California and Prague's Barrandov Studios. The film was released on August 5, 2009, in France and Belgium, August 6 in United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and August 7 in the United States and other English-speaking countries. The Rise of Cobra had mostly negative critical reviews, but opened at the top of the box office.

In the near future, weapons expert James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) has created a nanotechnology-based weapon capable of destroying an entire city. His company MARS sells four warheads to NATO, and the U.S. Army is tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are delivering the warheads when they are ambushed by the Baroness (Sienna Miller), whom Duke recognizes to be his ex-fiancee Ana Lewis.

Duke and Ripcord are rescued by Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). They take the warheads to The Pit, G.I. Joe's command center in North Africa, and upon arriving rendezvous with the head of the G.I. Joe team, General Hawk (Dennis Quaid). Hawk takes command of the warheads and excuses Duke and Ripcord, only to be convinced to let them join his group after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.

McCullen is revealed to be using the same nanotechnology to build an army of soldiers with the aid of the Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), planning on using the warheads to cause panic and bring about a new world order. Using a tracking device, McCullen locates the G.I. Joe base and sends Storm Shadow (Lee Byung-hun) and the Baroness to retrieve the warheads with assistance from Zartan (Arnold Vosloo). After a fight, Storm Shadow and the Baroness retrieve the warheads and take them to Baron DeCobray, the Baroness's husband, for him to weaponize, and use them to destroy the Eiffel Tower to serve as a show of the warhead's destructive power. Making their way to Paris, the Joes pursue them through the streets but are unsuccessful in stopping them from launching the missile. Duke manages to hit the kill switch and thus save Paris, but in doing so he is captured and taken to McCullen's base under the Arctic.