Reviews

Lets get one thing straight right from the start, Moon is a great film, a majestic piece of sci-fi, directed with an assured confidence and a leading man who has never been better. But what it is not is a classic. The reason behind this is that has been made in the wrong time. Let me explain.

Moon echoes many sci-fi movies of the past, 2001, Silent Running, Saturn 3 and to an extent Alien. If Moon had been made and sandwiched snugly between these films made in this era it would have no doubt have been dubbed a classic and be sat in many 'Top 10 ever made' lists. The problem is we've seen this before and although Moon is a work of unbridled brilliance you still can't help but compare to those other movies. This for me takes the edge off 'classic'.

The story of Moon is that of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) who while working on the Moon harvesting resources to help with Earth's power problem has a accident while out attending one of the harvesters. When he awakens he finds himself back in the base being nursed back to health by his computer colleague Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Once back to a relatively healthy state of mind he goes back to the scene of the accident only to discover himself still there. Strange.

The movie then enters its surrealism phase where Sam and his doppelgänger try to comprehend exactly what is going on and why they are both there. The great thing about the film is that it never tries too hard to explain things, everything flows smoothly and the story progresses evenly to keep you hooked. The reason behind this however is the performance of Sam Rockwell.

Rockwell is really the only actor present on screen in this movie and its on his shoulders whether the film succeeds or fails, and succeed it does. Rockwell is majestic, portraying the alienation and loneliness with a realism that defies belief. Kevin Spacey lends his monotone vocals to the bases computer, Gerty, who is clearly a nod to HAL from 2001 with added smiley face.

Its also hard to believe that this is Duncan Jones directorial debut. The way he has shot the film is undeniably a throw back to the movies I mentioned earlier, but brings to it an updated swagger which portrays the confidence of a film maker who's been doing this successfully for years. The visuals and tone of the film are quite astounding, with the score being a particular haunting highlight. Its a credit to Jones that he is being bounded around as being 'the new Kubrick' but as with most of these tags its best to ignore and continue doing his own thing. Its interesting to see what he comes up with next as he's set the bar very high.

Moon is a solid entry into the massive catalogue of sci-fi and although its a homage to past films it can still sit proudly on its own as an original piece of work.

mark - http://kaihorotimes.blogspot.com/

Bleak. Barren. Piercing. Lacking kindliness. These are words that can describe both the character of 'Man' and the post apocalyptic vision of director John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road. Be aware that this is not a happy film, this is about the destruction and breakdown of civilisation, where people have resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. In this world there are no friends, no hope and your only instinct should be that of survival. By any means.

The story tells the journey of Man and Boy (never named) who are heading south to get to the ocean, your never sure of the reason why, just that they feel they should. The post-apocalyptic world they now inhabit is never explained to the viewer, is it nuclear war? a natural disaster? All you know is that there are countless fires raging, consuming every bit of life left to take which makes the effect more menacing, an unseen force. Throughout their journey they must come up against man at his most despicable, who would batter women and children to death for a meal, where every abandoned house is filled with dread and unspoken horrors while all the while slowly starving to death. Told you this was bleak stuff.

Viggo Mortensen plays the Man, gaunt, filthy and without compassion for anyone else other than his young son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. Both leads are truly superb in the characters they portray, showing a astonishing range of emotions over the films 111mins running time. Its a testament to the actors, especially Smit-Mcphee that they pull it off and how both of them were overlooked at the Oscars is a complete mystery to me. The credit for their performance must be attributed to the director who got the most out of everyone associated, every aspect of the film is aimed to devastate and show a collapse of humankind and succeeds on every note.

I could throw all sorts of clichéd terms to describe this film, edge of your seat, terrifying, psychological but there isn't really anything you can bracket this movie into, it stands on it own and what's more draws you in and doesn't let you go until the end credits begin to run. Its quite possibly the best portrait of a post-apocalyptic world that has ever been put up on screen, and yes I include Mad Max in that assessment.

There is only one flaw that I found with the movie and that's the flash back scenes of the family together (including Man's wife played by Charlize Theron) before the disaster took place. This felt tacked on and didn't serve any real purpose to the narrative, they are not present in the novel and I don't think were needed in the movie either.

I urge you to seek out this film, there's not many of this type around and immerse you as much as they should. A definite triumph and should be lauded as such.

Mark - http://kaihorotimes.blogspot.com/

Leaves Of Grass is a strange little movie. Pitch black humour, outrageous bursts of violence, Jewish drug lords and characters that at times need subtitles. Its a bundle of things all tied together by Ed Norton in a duel role of twin brothers and I think it's because of him that the film works.

Norton plays both Bill and Brady Kincaid, one (Bill) a well respected Ivy league professor, the other (Brady) a small town drug dealer who haven't seen each other for many years. Bill receives a phone call stating that his brother has been killed in a strange cross-bow accident and thus heads back to his home town to grieve with his mother (Susan Sarandon). Of course Brady hasn't been killed, its a cunning ploy to get Bill home so that he can help with a drug baron (Richard Dreyfuss) who Brady owes money to. From here on in is where the craziness really starts.

Norton is just terrific and plays both parts to perfection, and needs to as these two characters are the anchor for the film. Bill a straight talking, well punctuated professor and Brady a rough redneck whose southern country drawl is so thick you really need to concentrate to understand what is being said. Its a credit to Norton to switch between characters on the same film, each polar opposites of the other. A lesser actor would have made this seem unbelievable and have viewers switching off, not Norton, he's top draw and effortlessly it seems pitches it perfect. Susan Sarandon downplays the role of the mother that was never was a mother to the boys growing up well and doesn't overact like in The Lovely Bones. Richard Dreyfuss as the Jewish Drug Lord plays his brief part well, its always good to see him in any movie.

Tim Blake Nelson, who directs and stars as Brady's sidekick, controls the film with a steady hand and lets the story flow. He's worked with the Coen Brothers before on O' Brother Where Art Thou and it shows, he's picked up some useful techniques and at times Leaves could be mistaken for a Coen black comedy. This isn't a bad thing, this is most definitely a good thing, nothing wrong with learning from arguably the masters of this style of film making.

The comedy, as mentioned, is pitch black and the sudden switch from laughs to gasps happens in a blink of an eye, honestly you won't see what's coming before your left open jawed at the outcome. Its this kind of storytelling that keeps viewers riveted, you just don't know what's coming and that I feel is the secret to a really good film.

This is a solid debut from Blake Nelson, albeit held together by Norton, so it's going to be interesting to see what he does next.

Mark - http://kaihorotimes.blogspot.com/