Moon
I'm a trifle late reviewing this film, since it actually came out in 2009, but since it only recently reached my end of the planet and has probably slipped under most people's radar, so be it.
This little film represents the kind of sci-fi they don't really make any more (although they occasionally remake it - Solaris, anyone?). It's a "low-budget" (ie, five million dollar) indie piece that eschews flashy effects and alien hordes in favour of atmosphere, character-driven storytelling, and contemplations on themes like isolation, identity, injustice, the future development (and degeneration) of mankind and what, when you get right down to it, a human being actually is. You know, the kind of stuff sci-fi is actually supposed to be about.
Sam Rockwell carries the show as "Sam Bell", an overseer on an automated mining base on the lunar surface, digging up and shipping a clean-burning energy source back to Earth. His only companion on his three-year tour of duty has been a sentient computer called GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) who caters to his every need, but can't quite provide the human companionship required to keep a man sane and happy. Sam keeps himself occupied with exercise, old TV shows and making model houses, but is gradually losing his marbles and starting to hallucinate.
Then, with two weeks left until the flight home, an accident on the base leads Sam to discover things he wasn't supposed to know, and come face-to-face with himself - quite literally...
It's hard to say anything substantial about this film without dropping spoilers all over the place, but I can only agree with the reviewer who said that it gives you something new to think about every ten minutes. There are several twists, but none that are shoved spectacularly in your face (something I now refer to as "getting Shyamalanned"). The film unfolds at an unhurried pace while telling an interesting and moving story which, while somewhat surreal, is pretty firmly achored in human concerns. I want to say more but, well... spoilers.
Suffice it to say that it's a welcome return to thinking man's sci-fi, and you might want to keep the tissues handy.
I'm not entirely happy with the trailer (I think it misrepresents things a bit, marketing being what it is) but here it is anyway...
This little film represents the kind of sci-fi they don't really make any more (although they occasionally remake it - Solaris, anyone?). It's a "low-budget" (ie, five million dollar) indie piece that eschews flashy effects and alien hordes in favour of atmosphere, character-driven storytelling, and contemplations on themes like isolation, identity, injustice, the future development (and degeneration) of mankind and what, when you get right down to it, a human being actually is. You know, the kind of stuff sci-fi is actually supposed to be about.
Sam Rockwell carries the show as "Sam Bell", an overseer on an automated mining base on the lunar surface, digging up and shipping a clean-burning energy source back to Earth. His only companion on his three-year tour of duty has been a sentient computer called GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) who caters to his every need, but can't quite provide the human companionship required to keep a man sane and happy. Sam keeps himself occupied with exercise, old TV shows and making model houses, but is gradually losing his marbles and starting to hallucinate.
Then, with two weeks left until the flight home, an accident on the base leads Sam to discover things he wasn't supposed to know, and come face-to-face with himself - quite literally...
It's hard to say anything substantial about this film without dropping spoilers all over the place, but I can only agree with the reviewer who said that it gives you something new to think about every ten minutes. There are several twists, but none that are shoved spectacularly in your face (something I now refer to as "getting Shyamalanned"). The film unfolds at an unhurried pace while telling an interesting and moving story which, while somewhat surreal, is pretty firmly achored in human concerns. I want to say more but, well... spoilers.
Suffice it to say that it's a welcome return to thinking man's sci-fi, and you might want to keep the tissues handy.
I'm not entirely happy with the trailer (I think it misrepresents things a bit, marketing being what it is) but here it is anyway...
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