Moon (2009)

Wow. Not like this movie blew me away...it was thoroughly entertaining, but no classic. But wow...the thematic material in this material is so fresh, so provacative, that I cannot help but wholeheartedly recommend this one to anybody even moderately interested in good cinema.

The less known about the plot, the better. All one has to know is that Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, the operator of a Moon base that provides all solar energy for the Earth. His only company aboard the station is Gertie, a somewhat HAL-esque robot with a multi-functional arm (that can even trim his hair). Gertie's voiced by Kevin Spacey, who, as in Usual Suspects, once again straddles the fence of being sympathetic or, possibly, sinster. The intricacies of the story, and why it deserves to be thought about and analyzed for years, begin laying themselves out very quickly, and the movie keeps you engrossed for its running time.

A big part of that is Sam Rockwell. This resides with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The Assination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as the finest work I have seen from this wonderful, eclectic actor. There are so many layers to his performance, so much that has obviously been carefully thought out and rehearsed, that I will be truly disappointed when he is inevitably snubbed at the Oscars for Morgan Freeman's Nelson Mandela impression. He has this amazing ability, even in his supporting work, to distinguish his character in the context of the world around him; he never feels like a supporting character, only like the focus of another movie. His intellectual dedication to this story is inspiring; I hope this leads him to the roles, if not the stardom, that he rightly deserves. Hopefully his work in Iron Man 2 will contain the intricacy and fun that I expect of him.

Highly Recommended. If there is this and District 9 in one camp, with Star Trek and Avatar in another, I'll take these flicks any fuckin' day of the week over that glistening, tepid regurgitation horseshit.