i was completely caught off-guard by what this movie really dealt with. from the previews i saw prior to "moon"s release, i had the idea that it would be this big mystery. and until the end of the first act, it sort of is, but the mystery is not exactly the most challenging thing in the world to figure out, and then they hand it to you anyway, so that's obviously not the point. i'm not going to tell you what the point is, because that would ruin it, but suffice it to say that your sense of sympathy and compassion is going to spike, HARD. and then it's gonna stay elevated for the entire third act. i was so thoroughly engaged and so completely IN the emotion of it all that by the time the movie was over, i literally felt a wave of relief sweep over me.

i really can't say much about the details of "moon," because doing so would really betray what it's all about, and i want to leave that for you to find out for yourself. but one thing that's apparent about it from every preview and review out there is that there's two sam rockwells, so what i will say is that it was an absolute pleasure to watch him in his role(s). this man is a real joy to see on screen in ANY film, but never moreso than when tasked with bringing complex story themes to life. the real treat here is watching him ultimately play two entirely different personalities, and to eventually watch each of the personalities affect each other in different ways. it's pretty incredible.

i realize that my thoughts about rockwell playing different personalities may lead you to believe that this movie has elements of "the shining" in it, where a man alone with his demons finally snaps, and so i'll straighten that shit out right not -- it doesn't. some other movies it's not like are "2001" (the self-aware computer is not a threat in "moon"), and "total recall" (there are no memoryWipes or hidden alien worlds at play here). in fact, there's only one other movie of recent years that i can draw similarities to (which i won't), and even then, this movie is SO far superior to that one that those similarities begin and end in a five word sentence. so in other words, this movie's great joy is that it's entirely original.

the direction is outstanding as well. duncan jones (david bowie's son!) really just kind of lets the movie flow. there's no smash cuts or tight POVs or tricky editing tricks. the camera just follows the events in a very personal and quiet way. it's not eastwood-level direction, but it'll definitely do well with any other movies which have the same deeply personal aspects to them.

a sub-detail i really liked was that with VERY few exceptions, the technology shown was attainable enough that you could see this movie actually happening very soon. there were no laser guns or transporters or anything like that -- just SLIGHTLY advanced technology, and all of it developed for a reason that currently exists in our reality. nice, NICE touch. the only real sci-fi aspect of it is that it takes place on the moon, and even that's just a tool to subject you, the viewer, to an immersive sense of being alone.

i'll give this movie a 9/10 CLANKS! with the caveat that it is VERY heavy and you shouldn't just pop it in for a family movie night. it's not violent or malicious or even scary -- it's just very emotionally draining, and at times, exceptionally sad.

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THIS is really ingenious. someone took all the bits of all the story elements happening both in the air and on the ground from all the seasons of LOST (so far) and put together a "24"-style timeline from before to after the oceanic 815 crash. i LOVE it.

also, at the link, you should be able to link to a bunch of similarly-themed LOST projects -- the sydney airport in real time, for instance...

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According to the Argentine President, you can rip up those illicit and fraudulent Viagra prescriptions... pork is the new aphrodesiac!

I'm not one to argue frankly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100128/od_ ... ntina_pork

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Quinto claims he's not doing any Star Trek business for 2 years. Inconsistent with the 2012 Star Trek 2 release date, ey? Maybe they'll skip awesome Khan and go straight to the fighting on lava with Spock coffins laying around.

http://io9.com/5458554/zachary-quinto-w ... -two-years

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... towards full-on Appleseed style landmate combat.
Telling you.

Just don't let any monkeys near it.

http://io9.com/5459177/lockheed-martin- ... nspiration

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You have to click through, find the mural, and click to enlarge it. It's insane.

http://io9.com/5459303/the-epic-mural-o ... nough-cats

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Yes, that looks quite rad, and somehow retro too. I quite like it. In fact, I want one.
Unrelated, the first time I went to the new Academy of Sciences I saw spacesuits for sale in one of the merch shops. I almost fell out of my brain pan! When I examined it, I discovered it was for kids. And lo, my first LIVE THROUGH YOUR KIDS moment. Zoe WILL have an orange cosmonaut suit, I guarantee it.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/24404/?a=f via bb

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Open letter:

Seriously? McG?
La Femme Nikita?
It wasn't bad enough that the awesome original film, by Luc Besson, of whom I consider you to be a sort of american symbiote, in style if not in execution, did the story perfectly and no remake was required nor desired. It wasn't bad enough that Hollywood through together that Bridget Fonda remake that only had Gabriel Byrne going for it. It wasn't enough that they made a luke-warm basic cable show loosely based on the series with very little to do with any of the conflict of the fil or it's american clone. And now, you want to remake the remake of a remake?

Sigh.

http://io9.com/5458526/mcg-gets-back-on ... mme-nikita

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Not satisfied with murdering our enthusiasm for Heroes with dreck like that ended up becoming, NBC is returning to the well with Cape, a story of an everyman picking up a costume to impress his daughter. Hm... not to be too cynical about a project that I'm sure was in development for a long time, but it sounds like someone had some cosmos and then decided to fuse Spider-Man with Kick-Ass...

I'll still hope for the best, but really... only guardedly...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 9bde18c314

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i'm IN.

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