Duncan Jones’ 2009 sci-fi drama Moon kind of crept up on audiences, but they quickly fell in love with its intimacy, it’s ambition, and its inventiveness. Made for a mere $5MM, its setting and effects gave the impression of a much larger-budgeted film, and Jones’ direction combined with a career-defining performance by Sam Rockwell (in a career seemingly chock full of new peaks) made it an Oscar hopeful and surefire cult favorite for years to come. The IMDb summary, for those unfamiliar:
“Sam Bell has a three year contract to work for Lunar Industries. For the contract’s entire duration, he is the sole employee based at their lunar station. His primary job responsibility is to harvest and periodically rocket back to Earth supplies of helium-3, the current clean and abundant fuel used on Earth. There is no direct communication link available between the lunar station and Earth, so his only direct real-time interaction is with GERTY, the intelligent computer whose function is to attend to his day to day needs. With such little human contact and all of it indirect, he feels that three years is far too long to be so isolated; he knows he is beginning to hallucinate as the end of his three years approaches. All he wants is to return to Earth to be with his wife Tess and their infant daughter Eve, who was born just prior to his leaving for this job. With two weeks to go, he gets into an accident at one of the mechanical harvesters and is rendered unconscious… .”
First up, the links! Thanks to all of the LAMBs that sent in their posts for this edition of the MOTM (great turnout this month!).
* Big Thoughts from a Small Mind
* Bonjour Tristesse
* Commentary Track
* Defiant Success
* Duke and the Movies
* Exiled from Contentment
* Filmophilia
* Movie Reviews by Tom Clift
* Surrender to the Void
* The Velvet Cafe
It’s also time to vote on next month’s movie. I’ve included many of the choices from last month, but swapped a few out to keep it interesting. You have one week to vote.
As we do every month, the LAMBcast is tied in with the MOTM. Unlike our last (controversial) entry (Bronson), we stood mostly in agreement on Moon. Still, we discussed Steve‘s reasoning for suggesting the film, what we do and don’t like about it, what it means, why it’s different (special) and touched upon Jones’ career. Also in on the discussion were Sam, Nick, and host Dylan.
Also on tap:
* Rants and Raves of the Week
* Last LAMB Standing
If you’re interested, you too can be a LAMBcaster – we love new blood! For more information on the LAMBcast, check out the topic at the LAMB Forums. Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too. Either here in the comments section or to dylan@manilovefilms.com or to our Facebook page. Also, we’re on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it’s a bad one.
Thanks for listening!
Archived here: http://yourlisten.com/Lambcast/lambcast-092-motm-moon
Tags: 1001plus, Duke and the Movies, Man I Love Films, Moon, Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob