Above the Sea and Fog But Still Perpetually Obscured.

Ok, now if you’ve seen my District 9 review or my top 5 films of 2009 you may have seen me briefly gush about the magnificent film called ‘Moon’.
If you don’t know about it, there is of course a wiki about it but just briefly, it’s directed by Duncan Jones (who is David Bowie’s son) and it stars Sam Rockwell.  I could get into the plot and the rest of it but I do believe that it must be seen. Alas, here is the trailer.

Sam Rockwell’s performance(s) are astounding and really he deserves some serious recognition for it. But alas, this is one goal that seems a little bit hard because of the magical people at Sony Classic Pictures.

Due to it currently being the time where the 5,777 Academy members do their voting, common practice is for distributors to release screeners of the majority of films the the Academy members so that they may watch them and hopefully vote for certain aspects of the film on the ballot.  With ‘Moon’, Sony Classic Pictures have refused to do this simply because voting started before the American DVD/Blu-ray release of ‘Moon’, which was yesterday.  Their main reason is of course, piracy. Sure, this would be understandable if the film hadn’t already been out for 2 months in the UK.  Sony have also hoped that their advertising campaign for it would encourage Academy members to go and purchase it. A bit bastardly of Sony but of course, its a business.

Now, the #SamRockwellOscar campaign has been running for several months with hopes that the Academy will get wind of how brilliant this film is but most importantly, get Sam Rockwell the Oscar that he deserves for his amazing performance.  But, its not just Sam Rockwell who should be acknowledged.  The soundtrack, written by Clint Mansell (who is probably most well known for his Lux Aeterna piece on ‘Requiem For A Dream’) is astonishing and carries the mood of the film almost perfectly.  The soundtrack is available on Amazon and iTunes and I think its a worthy purchase.
Kevin Spacey, who of course has won many awards, deserves something for his voice only performance.  He manages to bring life and emotion to GERTY, a robot.
The set itself is astonishing as are the models. There is very little CG work, from what I understand, but it still manages to look like a several hundred million dollar production rather than the five million it cost.
The story as well at least deserves a mention as it is extremely thought provoking, emotional and has enough sci-fi and reality to make a perfect balance.

And of course, there is Duncan Jones.  His direction in his first feature film is astounding and beautiful.  If you buy the DVD or Blu-ray, a short film of his called “Whistle” is on there which is another very interesting watch.

I think that’s enough gushing.

If you want to know more about the #SamRockwellOscar campaign you can visit http://blog.manmademovies.co.uk/rockwell-oscar/ which is the official source of the campaign.

Here is a campaign video made by @malusman, under the guise of Brick Hardmeat and it features sad faces of ‘Moon’ lovers around the world.  My picture is in there somewhere!

Well, I have to add a film to my top 5 of this year.
That film is obviously District 9. I finally watched it tonight and just….wow. It had the right balance of everything. Violence, political themes, character exploration, crazy sci-fi-ness, emotion.
Sharlto Copley probably gave one of the best feature film debut performances that I have seen and just every actor was spot on with their respective performances.
The CGI was pretty amazing also. The ‘prawns’ looked pretty damn convincing as did their technology. The whole visual feel of the film, from the war-time documentary hand-held direction to the occasional first-person perspective, was just impeccable.

The story, well, the first half of the story, was a sort of overly dramatic version of what would really happen if humanity was put in that situation and all the political gripes associated with it.  The rest of the story, pure sci-fi gold.  Even at times, it gets quite emotional.

Although I may describe it as a masterpiece, it has a couple of flaws, both of which are an overuse of something.  The first is the sheer amount of gore that is shown. I understand why its in their but at a couple of points you feel a little uneasy but then again, that is only for a few seconds.  Another problem it has is the overuse of the hand-held feel at certain points. Once again, it helps bring you into the story but there were times when you just wanted the camera to be still to fully grasp the scene.

The soundtrack was amazing.  A strong blend of Africanesque rhythms and sound yet it keeps that proper orchestral feel.  Makes me think of a less dramatic, less brass infested version of the ’300′ soundtrack.

Overall, this film is brilliant and a must see, if you like sci-fi and are fairly unmoved by gore.
Still, my movie of the year is ‘Moon’ but this comes in at a close 2nd or 3rd (behind Watchmen).
Dare I say that I will become a Neill Blomkamp fanboy in the future? Most likely.