Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Moon

Moon (2009) Dir. by Duncan Jones (Zowie Bowie)



I just going to go ahead and say this is the best movie I have seen in maybe the last five years. The movie starts off on the far side of the Earth's moon, where one man named Sam (Sam Rockwell), and one robot GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), are in charge of harvesting material under the moon's surface, and relocating it back to Earth to be used as a means of energy.

I was hoping not to get too hyped up about this moving going into it. Everyone kept telling me how good it was,and that I needed to see it. So I waited til the hype had settled, and I could focus on the movie and not what others were saying. Some people might not think of this movie as a horror movie, but I do. Who says you have to have monsters, blood and guts, or some psycho killer to be titled as a horror movie? This movie prays on more simple fears. The fear of being somewhere so desolate and alone. The fear of where technology is going today. The fear of not having control over where your life is going, and most importantly, the fear of the unknown. I'm not going to elaborate on the unknown just because it has so much to do with the plot of the story, but when you watch it, think real hard about what you would do if you were put in that situation.



Ive never really been that big of a fan of Sam Rockwell, but after viewing this movie, I think he deserves an Oscar for Best Actor this year. I have not seen such a strong emotional performance like the one he conveys in an extremely long time. I felt for his character. I almost felt like I was there, wishing I could help him. He hits on every emotion in the human feelings guide book. I almost cried at one point in the movie. Kevin Spacey only adds to fear and to the story. His voice, although never changing tone or volume, can sound scary and soothing at the same time. I feel like I could write a hundred page review on this movie, but I'm trying to hold back.

Now on to Duncan Jones. Changing his name, in my guess, to avoid living in the shadow of his father David Bowie, was the smartest move he could have ever done. If a friend of mine had not mentioned it, I probably wouldn't have known until I looked him up on IMDB. He has made only one other movie besides Moon, and I shall be watching it as quickly as possible. Duncan started his career in special effects, which is extremely apparent in this movie. The movie was completed on a $5 million budget. You can't tell one bit, that it cost so cheap. He made sure it was filmed in 33 days. He filmed it all in one studio in London. He had the smallest cast he could afford to have. To top it off, he utilized special effects people who were out of a job, due to the writer's strike, and put money in their pockets to help him. I'm sure it didn't hurt that he already knew all the cheap tricks to special effects to begin with. I foresee a strong career in his future, and if Moon is any indication, he may be up there with the greats.



Strongly paced, great build in character, well written story, and extremely strong acting directly add to what Duncan wanted to accomplish. He wanted to make a movie to go along with his favorites, 2001:A Space Odyssey, Outland, Silent Running, and Alien. I think he accomplished that, and perhaps surpassed them all. All parts of the story colliding to a bitter sweet ending. This movie will remain in my top ten for a very long time.

Entertainment Value: 10 Talking Robots out of 10
Cinematic Value: 10 Talking Robots out of 10

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