Moon

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RobB
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Moon

Post by RobB »

'Moon'.......i've really enjoyed watching this low budget British sci-fi film which was written and directed by Duncan Jones, Mr Bowie's son.

With various nods to previous sci-fi films, such as 2001,Solaris & Gattaca, 'Moon' is (naturally) set on the moon where an engineer is coming to the end of his three year shift as caretaker of a mining station, where his only companion is a robot called Gerty. Injured whilst visiting one the remote controlled 'harvesters' (which are mining helium on the surface on the moon), Sam Bell's troubles really begin when he meets an exact clone of himself back at the station.

An intriguing and engaging film.
8/10

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Re: Moon

Post by sound world »

That's really odd-that's a film I've been wanting to see since release, and I've just received it today from Lovefilm! It fell on the mat about 5 minutes before I read your post, RobB!

I shall let you know what I (we) make of it. Prob won't get round to watching it until tomorrow or w/e.

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Re: Moon

Post by RobB »

I've actually had the dvd for several months now but on impulse decided to watch it again last night but yeah, that is quite odd,quite a coincidence. 8) Anyway, hope you enjoy the film when you get to watch it.

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Re: Moon

Post by blue »

Never even heard of it to be honest, but it sounds intriguing.

Bowie's son changed his name from Zowie to Duncan? :D :D
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Re: Moon

Post by RobB »

blue wrote: Bowie's son changed his name from Zowie to Duncan? :D :D
Hmmm....i can't think why? :wink:

Actually,he's now Duncan Zowie Hayward Jones 8)

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Re: Moon

Post by sound world »

OK, just watched it, and we all approved. My partner, who doesn't like anything serious/scary/realistic/violent, spent half the film worrying about it and then became fascinated and involved. My son and I were into it from the word go.
It's definitely an intriguing plot and one of those films you can return to, as well as raising a lot of questions about ethics, cloning etc. There were resonances of Solaris and 2001 for sure, and also a little of Blade Runner.
I loved the way 'Gerty' (the talking computer) was not a malignant, dangerous presence (like Hal in 2001) but quite amenable to subverting the intentions of the Corporation in the interests of her human charges. ^

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Re: Moon

Post by RobB »

Its nice to have a film that the whole family can enjoy.

Duncan Jones does admit to being influenced by a whole host of sci-fi films,amongst those already mentioned,he cites Alien & Silent Running as two other big influences.
I also see a lot of Space:1999 & UFO influences in the film too.

I thought Sam Rockwell was amazing, if only becasue i quickly forgot that he was actually playing both parts !!!

I was slightly disappointed with Clint Mansells score ( i think The Fountain was a stronger one) but there is a lovely slow romantic piano piece in the latter part of the film that really stands out.

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Re: Moon

Post by blue »

Finally got around to buying Moon on dvd this month, and I concur with Rob and Dave - a well made and thought provoking film that I also found very emotionally involving. It was sort of heartbreaking towards the end. Sam Rockwell does an amazing job, I also 'forgot' he was playing both characters! There's some interesting insights from him in the DVD extras section, about the difficulty of acting opposite himself.

Watching the q+a excerpts with Duncan Jones, he seems like a really lovely bloke, and strangely down to earth. I'm not sure why that surprised me, except that he grew up as Zowie Bowie. :mrgreen:
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Re: Moon

Post by RobB »

........and the fact that Kevin Spacey's voice appears (can a voice appear?) as GERTY hasn't influenced you at all? :mrgreen:

Not sure if we have a thread for Source Code, but that's another excellent Duncan Jones directed film. 8)

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Re: Moon

Post by blue »

RobB wrote:........and the fact that Kevin Spacey's voice appears (can a voice appear?) as GERTY hasn't influenced you at all? :mrgreen:
Well that is the reason the film was on my 'to see' list in the first place! His voice has been very slightly manipulated in some way that I can't quite put my finger on, it's rather eerie, but effective.

I try to see everything my favourite actors do, but I can assure you Rob that the presence of Mr. Spacey did not influence my good opinion of this movie. He's appeared in some absolute clunkers in his time, that not even his considerable acting gift could rescue. :mrgreen:

This is just a great little movie, and the credit for that goes to Duncan Jones and his collaborators.
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Re: Moon

Post by sound world »

Reading all that makes me want to see it again! Definitely a watch-again kind of movie.

Duncan's Dad has been much in the media lately-did anyone see 'Five Years' on BBC4 the other night?-fascinating account of some key periods in Bowie's career. His workrate and output in the 70s was phenomenal and in a short time he released several of the best and most influential albums of the era-Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Low and Heroes (among several others). I think he was to the 70s as the Beatles were to the 60s, a kind of cultural beacon. All those albums were central to my adolescence, and to plenty of my peers too. Stina too, it seems.

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Re: Moon

Post by blue »

I was a bit too young to appreciate him in the 70s (too busy obsessing over The Osmonds and The Bay City Rollers!), but he hit me like a ton of bricks in 1980 with 'Ashes to Ashes'. I bought the album it came from and loved it, so backtracked to his 70s stuff. Then he went and released .... was it Serious Moonlight, or something? I can't recall the name of the album but it had Let's Dance and China Girl on it and I hated it, so bland and mainstream. Then he went all noisy and tuneless for a while and I couldn't stand that either, so I gave up.

The recent album got great reviews and caused a real stir, I heard a track from it on the radio on Sunday night and thought it was lovely, unexpectedly romantic and lush. I will check that one out.
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Re: Moon

Post by sound world »

It was called 'Let's Dance'. And the title track is great, I think, but then I love soul and funk. But the rest of it, yes, actually I've forgotten it and it wasn't memorable. But then I felt much the same about Lodger and Scary Monsters, both overrated,IMHO, bar the hit tracks.
And I didn't hear anything after Let's Dance which interested me-(although when he started reviving his hits, his band-with a few women in it-was very pro)...so I'm intrigued by this latest album.

On my desert island, I'd be loth to leave behind Sweet Thing/Candidate (from D.Dogs), Young Americans and Win (from Y.A), and the whole of Low, which I think is one of the greatest albums ever made. I haven't heard Philip Glass' 'Low Symphony' because, much as I like (early) Glass, and I know what he loves about Low, I can't stand the thought of it being altered in any way. :wink:

Ah, the Osmonds and the Rollers. The Osmonds seem to have survived into 2013 fairly well, unlike the poor old Rollers. And, TBH, I don't think any of their music is going to survive except as nostalgia for a time, rather than for any inherent quality in it.

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