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Omphalos
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Moon

Post by Omphalos »

I've never heard of this upcoming film, with Sam Rockwell, but I think it looks interesting. Last man stories are a second favorite to catastrophe stories.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Post by GamePlayer »

Wow, this sounds good. I love Sam Rockwell. He was fantastic in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Matchstick Men. And of course he was hilarious in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If anyone could carry a movie where he's basically the only one in it, it's Sam. I hope this movie is really good and brings him more recognition. Rockwell is one of Hollywood's true talents that deserves more than he gets, much like Gosling or Norton (though not so much anymore in Norton's case).
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Post by Omphalos »

Have you written off Norton? I'm not sure I'm ready to do that yet. I still have not seen that one he just did with Colin Farrell. They were advertising it enough that my gut was that it sucked, but the scenes looked pretty great and Farrell can be awesome. If only Norton had never met that lil Mexican hottie, I think he would still have his head in the game.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

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Post by GamePlayer »

I was writing about "lack of recognition", which I think Gosling lacks, but from which Norton no longer suffers. I think Norton is now getting quite a bit of attention and it's well deserved. I've never seen a bad performance from Norton. Even in lousy movies he's amazing. The Incredible Hulk wasn't all that hot (though much better than the first attempt) but again, Norton was amazing in it.

But good projects are hard to come by. Ask De Niro or Pacino about the last 10 years :)
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Post by Omphalos »

You don't think that Norton's lost his chops some in the last few years? That what he is doing now is as strong as what he was doing in the past? I sure do. He has lost some of his intensity, and his most common, garrulous, from the lower-middle-class-Brooklyn-hood character is getting old and worn out.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Post by GamePlayer »

Not really, no. Norton hasn't had the projects to shine as brightly as in some years past, but that's not the fault of Norton. Finding good roles in Hollywood is extremely difficult because the vast majority of projects are utter garbage.

Generally speaking when it comes to film I am a long term thinker. I usually separate the "moment of the biz" from the actual worth of an individual writer, producer, director or actor. I know the media caters to whoever is "hot" at the moment and loves to dump on whoever is "cold" at the same. In some few cases, people in the film industry do peak and then fall off. But the reality is that many players in film have more to offer than just being Hollywood's latest hard-on.

The real tragedy is not that Norton's acting has fallen off but that Hollywood produces so few films that are actually good, great actors like Norton are only rarely in films worth remembering. If someone has a career starring in one or two memorable, iconic films, they should consider themselves lucky. Not every actor can be blessed with a long career filled with nothing but great material in which to act. Such is the dangers of the collaborative medium of film.
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Post by Omphalos »

I hope youre right, because before 2002 or so he was one of my favorite actors. "Collaborative medium" or not, I have not seen him in one role since then where he brought anything interesting, even though he tried to branch out a bit.
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Post by GamePlayer »

Agreed. Though I often try to follow actors/directors/writers/producers from one project to the next, the subject matter always has to interest me first and foremost. I wasn't interested at all in Pride and Glory and I'm not all that excited about his upcoming pictures on the IMDB list.

When multiple people I'm following collide into a single project, I get really excited. Like upcoming adaptation of The Road. Viggo is great, John Hillcoat's last film The Proposition showed he has the potential of enthralling atmosphere and true brilliance and the source material from McCarthy (currently on page 132) is so far great literature. Looking forward to that one.

Moon sounds like a fascinating convergence of people I like and I love the concept. Sam Rockwell is perfectly cast for something like this film. Like Clooney said of Rockwell, you can just put the camera on him and get a performance worth shooting.
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Post by SandChigger »

Looks like it might be interesting.

Checked up on Helium 3 (hadn't heard of it before this), and it looks like someone's done their homework. (Reflection on hacks: Anderson could have used this in his Saggy Suns book instead of "ekti"...that stupid FICTIONAL hydrogen allotrope he came up with. In our solar system it occurs on the Moon and out in the Jovial (ha ha ha) gas giants; mining gas giants was one of his plot elements. :roll: )

Rockwell...he's another one of those whose face I know but never bothered associating a name with. :( He's good.
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Post by Robspierre »

OOOOO This does look good.

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Post by Omphalos »

Its going to get a summer release date:

http://www.scificool.com/the-moon-gets-a-release-date/
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Post by GamePlayer »

Good news. The reviews so far are pretty good, but I have to see this one for myself.
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Re: Moon

Post by Omphalos »

Release limited to two cities. Those Fuckheads!!!

At least it will be out on DVD quicker.
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Re: Moon

Post by GamePlayer »

Why they are choosing to dump this promising film in the middle of the dumb ass summer blockbuster season is beyond me. This is not a movie for flash and the ADHD crowd. No wonder only two cities are taking it up. Moon should have been released WELL before X-Men Origins: Wolverine hit yesterday or after the last dumb summer film in August, I believe that would be G.I. Joe.
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Re: Moon

Post by Omphalos »

Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Re: Moon

Post by GamePlayer »

Moon really sounds more and more like one of those rare type of films that I have to see for myself and cannot possibly piece together from reviews. Like "The Believer" or "The Fountain", films that stand on the line between greatness and ambitiousness beyond what the budget/talent allows. It's always a game in determining what an individual viewer can sacrifice for the film and if the sacrifices are acceptable enough to make for a great film. I could be wrong about this, but that's the vibe I'm getting.
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Re: Moon

Post by Liege-Killer »

Nancy Kress seems to really, really not like this movie. Hmmm... a dissenting voice amongst all the optimism. We shall see, I guess. I saved it to my Netflix queue, but the release date is still "unknown."
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Re: Moon

Post by GamePlayer »

I'm still waiting for this movie to arrive in my neck of the woods.
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Re: Moon

Post by Omphalos »

I heard someone else say that they hated it; can't remember who. But it really doesn't matter, because as far as I'm concerned nobody else but me knows what they're talking about when it comes to flicks.
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Re: Moon

Post by Himachil »

The local cinema started showing it on Friday - hoping to go and see it on Wednesday :)

Quite looking forward to this one - and a chap who works there said the first audience loved it... which is good :)
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Re: Moon

Post by Himachil »

Bloody hell - don't read that Nancy Kress shit: it's just a list of spoilers for a film that's barely out! :? I don't know who she is and I despise her already. :evil:

Yeah - change of plan, I've just seen Moon... and it's a good 'un!

I suppose there are a couple of conceptual jumps, but nothing out-and-out ridiculous (I wouldn't call a one-man mining operation on the far side of the moon a flaw - it's the premise of the film) also a bit of SF background knowledge is probably a useful thing to go in with (eg: using a mass driver to send stuff back to earth is not explained, but I've read Heinlein :P ) - overall I reckon it's my favourite film of the year so far. The story is good, Rockwell is fantastic, the base/environment is brilliantly conceived and executed, and the music (by Clint Mansell who also did The Fountain) is simply awesome.

If they made more films like this I would be happy. Ganderworthy for sure - it gets a provisional 5/5.
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Re: Moon

Post by SandChigger »

Finally saw this on one of my movie channels.

Excellent!

We definitely need more NEW movies like this and less remake/reimagining bullshit! :D


SPOILER ALERT (for anyone else who hasn't seen it yet):

Only downside: the idiots at WOWOW (the movie channel) ran previews right before that showed two Sams on the screen (although the voice over did try hard to give the impression he might be loosing his mind & hallucinating) so when he went out to check the crashed moon mobile, I knew he was going to find a body in it, and so it wasn't too much of a leap from that to clones. But it was still interesting the way it played out.
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Re: Moon

Post by Eyes High »

I still would like to see this.

And thanks for the warning, stopped reading your post in time. ;-)
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Re: Moon

Post by Liege-Killer »

Sinister plots involving clones (the fully-grown, no-memories, easy-replacement cartoonish variety) are quite possibly the worst concept ever to afflict science fiction. This movie had some good things going for it -- acting, directing, the thoughtful pacing and atmosphere; but nothing can really make up for the fatally flawed premise.
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Re: Moon

Post by SandChigger »

(Don't look, Eyes! :shock: )


Well, yeah, if we're going to worry at it, the memory implantation bit and large reserve store of fully grown clones (in the chamber hidden underneath the return/cremation pod) are real problems. But then again... not so big that I couldn't just go with it.

Far less offensive (to me at least) than something like Danny Boyle's Sunshine or the PC-on-testosterone The Day Keanu's Face Stood Still. ;)
"Chancho...sometimes when you are a man...you wear stretchy pants...in your room...alone."

"Politics is never simple, like the sand chigger of Arrakis, one is rarely truly free of its bite."

Arrakeen is an unawakened ghola.
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Re: Moon

Post by Liege-Killer »

SandChigger wrote:Far less offensive (to me at least) than something like Danny Boyle's Sunshine or the PC-on-testosterone The Day Keanu's Face Stood Still. ;)
Can't disagree with that.
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Re: Moon

Post by Himachil »

All Science Fiction is bollocks really when you think about it - I just like it when it's done well. :)
And that, children, is how the little bunny rabbit got his fluffy white tail.

As a minimum, we must demand from SF that it be wiser than the world it speaks to.
--Darko Suvin; On the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre
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