You Have, As Always, Eight Minutes (My Review of Source Code)

The sophomore effort of Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) does not disappoint.  While not as perfect as Moon, Source Code is still one of the best time travel movies of all time.  Unlike the recent Denzel Washington thriller with a similar premise, Deja Vu, Source Code sticks to rules that it sets up and has a far more believable science in its science fiction, sticking to a multi-verse view that is really the only plausible way that time travel could exist.

Duncan Jones shows off, yet again, his ability to do a lot with a little.  Although this isn't as small budget as Moon (which amazingly was made for just 5 million dollars), Source Code looks like it was made for much more than just 32 million dollars.  Jones is able to use special effects to great effect, and handles the story, visuals, and characters with precision that belies the fact that this is only his second feature film.  Especially considering that this is a fairly complex and potentially convoluted story.  Yet the direction of Jones, script by Ben Ripley, and performances by Jake Gyllennhaal, Michele Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffery Wright, all combine to keep the plot understandable, but also intriguing and sufficiently full of twists and turns.

The film certainly has a similar idea to Deja Vu, but, like I said, works far better.  There are also traces of the old television show Quantum Leap (which the movie acknowledges through a nice cameo from Sam Beckett himself, Scott Bakula) and the classic repetitious plot film, Groundhog Day.  Like Groundhog Day, Source Code manages to keep repeating the same time period over and over again fresh and interesting, and in the case of Source Code it is only eight minutes being repeated as opposed to an entire day.

Ultimately, Duncan Jones continues to impress me and has added himself to a list of directors whose films I will go see immediately upon release, a list that includes the Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, Alfonso Cuaron, and Guillermo Del Toro.

Until Next Time, do yourself a favor and go see what I consider to be the best film of 2011 so far, Source Code.

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!