Wow, Just Wow

So I saw Moon tonight, the low budget sci-fi film starring Sam Rockwell directed by Duncan Jones.

It is a fantastic film that if you have the opportunity to see in the theater I highly suggest you take it.

It is a sci-fi film, but ultimately it is a character driven film.  It is a movie that lives on the strength of Sam Rockwell who pretty much has the screen to himself.  That doesn't distract you from the movie going experience at all, as Rockwell gives an unbelievable performance as the main character (also named Sam).

His only companion in his station on the moon is a robot named GERTY that is voiced by Kevin Spacey and is fantastically handled by the film, its emotions displayed by changing smiley face type icons, giving it a relatable quality that a robot like this might not otherwise have, even one voiced by Kevin Spacey.

The film is sci-fi, but it isn't an action extravaganza, it is a film that harkens back to the smart sci-fi of the seventies.  GERTY is (albeit a much nicer) bit of a shout out to HAL from 2001, and there are traces of Blade Runner and the first half of Alien (from, you know, before the Alien arrived).  It succeeds as an homage to these (and I'm sure some other) films, but it also succeeds as an outstanding, smart, sci-fi film on its own.

The music is fantastic, without question the best score of any film I've seen so far this year, and I wasn't surprised to see that it was scored and conducted by the outstanding Clint Mansell who wrote the best soundtrack of all time, Requiem For A Dream.

Overall, this film is simply beautiful, an amazing experience and the best film I've seen to date this year (sorry Funny People, that spot didn't belong to you for very long).  It will be a tragedy if this film doesn't receive a nomination for Best Picture, and I would honestly be surprised if any film surpasses it on my list this year.  And I feel confident saying that even though there are still five months left in the year.  I feel that strongly about this film.

I also feel very confident in saying that Sam Rockwell deserves an Oscar for this performance.  Like I said, this movie lives on his performance and he nails it perfectly.  If he hadn't been so fantastic, this film would have failed, he was that important to this movie, considering that the whole film is primarily only him, but he was perfect and because of that, so is the film.

Until Next Time, trust me, if you can go see this movie, do it!