We discuss District 9, Moon, The Cove, and Thirst.
There are many ways to get the show and listen to it. If you have an iPod or listen to iTunes on your computer, the easiest way to get and listen to the show is to click on the "Subscribe with iTunes" icon right below this.
If you have any other MP3 player and would like to add our show to your playlist, please Right click the following link and choose "Save". Then drag it to your software of choice to upload to your player.
Download this episode (right click and save)
::Spoilers for MOON::
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed y'alls review of Moon, which is also my favorite movie of the year. I'm lucky enough to have it playing on two screens here in Seattle, (though it's now playing in San Antonio) and I've been to it twice, always dragging more friends in tow to see it. NPR did an excellent interview with Duncan Jones, the writer/director of Moon (and son of David Bowie), which addresses some of the points you brought up:
- Moon was shot on a $5M budget, obviously a pittance compared to that OTHER futuristic summer movie. It was shot on a historic soundstage in England, the same stage that housed the Nostromo set from Alien.
- Due to the limited budget they decided for practical and artistic reasons to use the old 70's style effects techniques; the entire moon set was shot in miniature with little trucks being dragged around on strings and wires. Obviously some clever effects went into Sam Rockwell interacting with other 'characters' int he film.
- I disagree that casting Spacey as Gerty was a mistake. I somehow didn't notice his name in the opening credits the first time and never clued in throughout the movie that was the name attached to the voice. His voice has the detached, artifically warm, vaguely ominous tenor that fit the Gerty character perfectly.
- I feel that Gerty was intentionally patterned after Hal to set audiences up with a preconcieved notion of what Gerty was and how he would react. Kevin Spacey's faintly ominous delivery reinforces that, and I think it keeps audiences off guard as to when the other shoe will drop for Gerty. And I liked the emoticons. ;O)
- I loved how the film kept you slightly off-kilter with regard to what was really going on with Sam by providing his only other reference point a robot who would tell him what he wanted to hear. Who exactly IS that other character? I was still literally trying to figure it out, expecting some other twist until the final 30 minutes or so of the film.
- Also wanted to throw a shout out to the great score composed by Clint Mansell, who also did The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. Beautiful, haunting track that evoked the isolation and stark beauty of Sam's lunar home.
- I appreciate the credit the film gave to the intelligence of an audience to reach certain conclusions of their own; the reason for Sam's deteriorating health is made fairly clear and is a major plot point, but the characters never have to sit down and have a conversation about it to connect the dots for the audience. I really appreciated that, and this wonderful gem of a science fiction movie as a whole.