Moon (2009) [Spoilers]

fluffmct · 14 Jul 2009 at 10:53

Hadn't heard of this until now but Sam Rockwell has pulled off some fantastic acting before. Think this might be awesome if it's all him

Dark_Angel · 14 Jul 2009 at 12:13

Release date is the 17th of this month right?

VaderDSL · 14 Jul 2009 at 12:16

Was that Kevin Spacey doing the voice for the computer? sounded a little like him.

Edit - Yep

Zeroecho99 · 14 Jul 2009 at 12:55

This does look good although unsure I'd go to the cinema to see it. Just wait for DVD.

TriedandTested · 14 Jul 2009 at 15:53

Johnnytoxic said:
89% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Will be nice to see a film that isn't a mind numbing action fest.

See my signature then.

Spunj99 · 14 Jul 2009 at 16:24

Looking forward to this personally, directed by David Bowie's son isn't it? Therefore it should be great by association.

Didn't know it was a Clint Mansell job...interesting!

naknakkus · 14 Jul 2009 at 16:43

This looks brilliant. It also has Dr Sanchez from Garth Merenghi...

Johnnytoxic · 15 Jul 2009 at 00:41

TriedandTested said:
See my signature then.

Have to keep an eye out for that film too. Looks good.

GizmoTheMogwai · 15 Jul 2009 at 02:27

Seems like a extremely personal film, and I for one cannot watch deeply personal films in cinemas.

molinari · 15 Jul 2009 at 16:33

Looks really good but reminds me a bit of Solaris with George Clooney in.

denyerec · 15 Jul 2009 at 16:44

Can't decide from the trailler whether this is going to be genuinely engaging, or vacuous predictable holywood nonsense.

elroberto · 15 Jul 2009 at 17:37

Gustov said:
EFFY

YES!

Mmmm! Thinkimaywatchthis!

Colossus · 17 Jul 2009 at 20:47

Well as luck would have it I'm going to be in London tomorow on un-related business, so I think a visit to the cinema is in order.

I'll report back when I can. Still think it sucks the way its been releaced though. Would much rather be at my local with friends with the over pint analysis after.

Lysander · 17 Jul 2009 at 23:49

Saw this tonight. The only way I can think of describing it is a self-indulgent 2001 wannabe that thinks it's far cleverer than it is.

VaderDSL · 17 Jul 2009 at 23:57

Lysander said:
Saw this tonight. The only way I can think of describing it is a self-indulgent 2001 wannabe that thinks it's far cleverer than it is.

Bah, on this alone not going to bother. Cheers for the heads up.

Carzy · 18 Jul 2009 at 03:46

90% on rottentomatoes - not bad

titchard · 18 Jul 2009 at 10:48

Looks very good - will keep an eye on my local cinemas for this!

Rich

SiD the Turtle · 18 Jul 2009 at 10:55

Cinemas showing Moon: http://www.empireonline.com/features/damonwise/post.asp?id=573

Lysander · 18 Jul 2009 at 13:49

Carzy said:
90% on rottentomatoes - not bad

8.3 on imdb as well. However, it's common for films to get high ratings initially and for the rating to go down as more people see it [i.e. Europe].

Thinking about this today, the main problem for me was in giving Gerty [the computer] too much personality. Since the beginning you know that the voice of the computer is Kevin Spacey, so all along it's hard to get out of your mind that Gerty is just Gerty. No, Gerty isn't Gerty, it's big movie star Kevin Spacey, which immediately ruins the anonymity of some all-powerful, ambiguously ethical computer for which Sam's well-being depends. To top it off, they actually give the computer emoticons to represent its mood. This doesn't give Moon the sinister, bleak feel that's expected about a man on his own for three years on a lunar base, but something more chummy and upbeat. The last ten minutes of the film are imbued with so much cod-emotive drivel that when Gerty says "I'm here to help you, Sam, and to do whatever you want - it's what I love to do" I nearly vomited my popcorn into my lap.

Not only are there similarities to 2001, but I also noticed a heavy dollop of Alien with regard to the camera angles and interior of the base. Not strange at all since Duncan Jones, the director, posted this on the IMDb message board:

I wrote the story for Moon after having met with Sam Rockwell, an actor I admire immensely. We had met in NY to talk about another feature, one I hope to do next, but that was probably too ambitious to do as a first feature film. We got talking about our favorite films, and in particular a period of sci-fi from the late 70s and early 80s when character driven stories seemed to be pre-eminent. We were both fans of those films where blue collar workers tried to maintain there humanity in dehumanizing, off-Earth environments. Films like Outland, Silent Running, and the 1'st half, (pre-horror half) of Alien.

And this is another problem. If Moon is supposed to be character-driven, what exactly is Sam's character? He's not lovable, likable or even empathisable. In fact, by halfway through the film I couldn't care less what happened to him. The problem was they tried to force the characterisation way too much and though Duncan Jones may like Sam Rockwell, I found his performance to be generally unnatural and over-practised.

For anyone who's seen 2001, the similarities [and let's face it plagiarism] are all too strong to ignore. And this doesn't just go for elements of the story but the overall theme, feel, and even some of the shots are directly lifted from it. Moon could have been great, but for me all it became was a pained, half-cocked pining for the greater, original days of horror sci-fi and an attempt to clip on another film to a genre whose best moments were over two decades ago.

Colossus · 19 Jul 2009 at 01:27

Well for what it's worth I very much liked it. It's nice to see some good hard sci-fi at last, even if the sory line is somewhat predictable. But thats really the fault of the overly exposing trailer. Do yourself a favour and dont watch the full trailer if you have half a brain.

I dont see the 2001 similarities TBH. The only things linking them are that they both have a computer character and are in space...

Moon (2009) [Spoilers]

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