A Little Push Movie News Report 07.25.09: The Penultimate Edition
Posted by Rick Tym on 07.25.2009
Come on in and check out the next-to-last Push as we discuss Moon, Comic Con updates, the Saw VI trailer (complete with bonus news of a Saw VII) and more!
Ground Control to Independent Theaters
God bless independent cinema. More importantly, God bless independent theaters that show things that sometimes don't get a wide release or fare that the masses may have to wait months to see in wider release. As long as you are willing to drive a little (or sometimes long) way, you can find one somewhere in your backyard. For instance, the Push found quite a charming screening palace located in the vicinity of its stomping grounds. Ithaca may be easy to find but for the life of me the Cinemapolis is not, mostly because it's located in a parking garage. At least, its glassy windowed front is adjacent to one. Park in the local Commons, walk around a bit and you too can find a place where the popcorn has real butter on it, you can get root beer straight from the tap and the small seating arrangements mean an intimate experience, albeit a smaller screen.
Old school concessions with a chalkboard offering up snack choices. Did I mention real butter on the popcorn?
Once again, the theater: the Cinemapolis in Ithaca Commons. The drive: roughly an hour. The movie? Moon.
As you've no doubt heard by now, Moon is pretty much a one man plus one sentient computer show starring Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey as that all-knowing pile of silicon chips GERTY, who monitors the Moon base where Sam Bell (Rockwell) is ending a three year contract as a serviceman of sorts, stationed alone on the lunar surface to aid and maintain the machinery as it mines the gray landscape for Helium 3, the energy source which now powers a majority of the Earth's TVs and hairdryers. Gone are the days of oil and greenhouse effects (I think); Helium 3 is touted as a breakthrough that has ended the energy crisis. Alone in a construct that reminds one of 2001 and the cleaner parts of Alien, Sam missed his wife and child but knows that soon he will be relieved, having fulfilled his end of the three year bargain.
Still (or should I say obviously) all is not well. Sam is beginning to show signs of cracking after almost thirty-six months of solitude, and even though GERTY is there to convey concern, happiness or a simple offer to be a sounding board for some of his woes, Sam is feeling…off. But no matter his yearning to break free the lunar coil or the hints of strain in his Earthbound family life, the show must go on, and so it does, complete with hobbies (Sam whittle buildings out of wood in a dioramic recreation of his hometown), TV shows (canned from decades past and presumably stored on GERTY's hard drive – just kidding), treadmills (you know, to stay in shape) and the occasional jaunt out to a nonresponsive mining vehicle. Since live communication with Earth has been lost since the link has been down for an indeterminate time, the poor fella can't talk to anyone human in real time (all messages with his wife are recorded and sent in video messages) or surf the internet for, you know, sports scores. What a drag. But the paycheck, and maybe even some healing of the psyche, must be worth it, as his wife tells him that taking the job was the right thing to do in one of the aforementioned digitally recorded exchanges.
Sam's point of no return may be when he sees…something…while driving his lunar rover out to one of those unresponsive but still churning mining vehicles. Stunned, he forgets the old safety adage of "mind on task" and wrecks into piece of machinery he was on route to repair, and awakens in the base's sick bay, an elusive GERTY admonishing him to rest and assuring him that he'll be fine, although at present he is not ready to take up his duties.
To say any more would be a disservice to those that have yet to see what is one of the best pieces of hard science fiction to come along in quite some time. Director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) has, with a $5 million budget and a handful of actors, taken us back to the days when there didn't need to be an alien menace or a space ship blowing up the White House in order to convey the medium. (Nothing wrong with those xenomorphs or motherships; just sayin'.) The film Moon is methodical, though-provoking, and damned near perfect in the Push's eyes. Let's talk about a few things without giving away any of those precious plot details, shall we?
Side note: I may have given away some of the early proceedings of this movie, but a brief scan of many of the other reviews floating around the web will tell you much, much more. I was lucky enough to avoid these reviews until after seeing Moon, and in my effort to talk sensibly about the film without giving away too much, I hope to pass this luck along to you. Think of it as a cyber form of a rabbit's foot. Anyway…
The Actor
Sam Rockwell is, quite simply, astounding in this film. He does a great job of conveying the melancholy, isolation and slow-seeping self-created paranoia that must be inherent with being stuck on the moon for an extended period of time. He knows that he is, in essence, the corporation who's footing the bill's bitch, and he makes no qualms about it. He is, in essence, a glorified maintenance man, because while GERTY may be able to rove around on an overhead track inside the base, someone needs to be able to go outside once in awhile and fix those big pieces of machinery clawing and grinding away at the lunar surface. He's hardly an intellectual but he's not dumb either; I for one would've probably shown signs of cracking at about the three month mark. Best of all, he never has to play the reluctant hero who suddenly wields a plasma rifle with deadly efficiency; Sam Rockwell's Sam Bell is an everyman, a grunt doing a job. His acting chops are to be envied by a lot of people in Hollywood, and when events start to unfold – events that, like I promised, won't be divulges here – well, let's just say that's when he really starts to shine.
GERTY
Notice that the Push only mentioned actor Sam Rockwell above. We all know that one Kevin Spacey stars in Moon as well, providing the voice of the computer that oversees the base and Sam actions. Some may say that Spacey's GERTY is derivative of HAL from 2001 but it's more of a homage; that calm voice coming through the mobile workstation's speakers actually instilled dread in this viewer as he recalled GERTY's predecessor's evil red lens. Does GERTY = menace in the guise of the well-being of the mission? Maybe not menace but perhaps…something more. That's as close to spoiler territory that I'm going to get.
The genius of GERTY, aside from the voice casting of Mr. Spacey, is the emoticons displayed on its screen. GERTY lets you know its concern, inquisitiveness, happiness and even sadness using the same smiley faces used in today's IM conversations. It's a small point but it's a touch that brought a smile of delight to my face every time this method of communication between man and machine was implemented. Great stuff.
The Effects
The Push has read a few things about Moon's special effects and settings looking a bit low-budget. Of course they are! Did you see how much it cost to make this film? Go ahead, scroll back up to the top; I'll wait. Pretty much a shoestring when you're talking about a lunar base, communications towers and moon rovers in action, no? Rather than being a deterrent, the effects and sets in movie work well to its strengths. The sparseness of the base's interior is a perfect analogy to the sterile environment surrounding it, as well as the topography of the human and non-human characters within. The fact that Jones shot the entire thing on a soundstage across the pond (for us American wankers, anyway) should be cheered, because the result is mesmerizing and misleadingly sedate.
In short, if you have the means and are in any way a sci-fi junkie, go see this film. Moon is an important, well-executed independent film in ways that the Push can't even begin to hint at given my spoiler-free stance. I for one will be keeping an eye out for Sam Rockwell and Duncan Jones's future efforts, because they and everyone else involved came together to create what I would call a wondrous, non-spectacle piece of entertainment that has been stuck in my head for the better part of a week after viewing. GERTY's emoticons and all.
Whew! That Took a Lot Out of Me. How About Some Comic Con News?
San Diego Comic Con is in full swing (or a downward spiral, if you've heard any rumblings about the crowds and those unfortunate enough to be turned away from the convention hall of their choice) and with it comes a bunch of news, interviews and images. Personally, the Push doesn't even know why they call it Comic Con anymore, since there's nothing but television and movie panels these days, but that's not a bad thing.
James Cameron's Avatar has been on the minds of the geek populace for what seems to be forever. Twenty-five minutes or so of the film was screened in Hall H at the Con and reports are divided at best. Some are calling it just as groundbreaking as Uncle Jim promised, while others are saying that the 3D CGI world is good, but not terra firma-shattering.
The question on my mind is, how Earth-bending can it be? Surely the effects are top-notch, and maybe that will be enough for me to seek out a 3D theater come December. Even more important than the effects are their relationship to the story, and how audience is made to care for the characters running around in the world Cameron created. They guy hasn't missed yet, and while I am certainly envious of those lucky enough to see this footage, everyone should remember that the scenes chosen for screening were meant to demonstrate the effects work, not the overall product. True judgment will be rendered this winter.
No cape for Supes – I mean, Welling?
The geek world is also abuzz concerning the announcement of a Smallville movie to air after next season entitled Metropolis. Well, not so much the TV movie but the speculation that will series star Tom Welling will be donning a Superman costume, it will be somewhat different. AICN relays a report from an "untested source" who has seen the new costume that it is made of…
"…no spandex it looked like leather, its one suit, the top is blue at front and back, red on sides and arms, the trousers are blue at the front and back, red at sides. The superman symbol on the chest protruding out, its red. No cape."
It was later confirmed that the new Supes suit will be making its debut in the Season Nine premiere of Smallville rather than the TV movie previously mentioned.
What says the Push? Ah, what's the big deal? Smallville has already expanded upon the Superman mythos in decidedly unique variations. At least it's not all black and nondescript. Take solace in that, followers of Kal-El.
"Have you heard the news?"
Commissioner James Gordon dropped the biggest bombshell thus far at Comic Con (to me, at least). Gary Oldman said during a panel for The Book of Eli that the next Batman film may begin shooting next year for release in 2011. And internet avatars everywhere exploded.
Not so fast, says AICN. One of the site's legendary staffers, Quint, caught up with Oldman after the panel and the actor, in Quint's words, "backpedaled a bit," saying that "well, I'm sure they want to do another one... it might 2 or 3 years..." Quint then made a great observation: either Oldman was overly enthusiastic, or he let the cat out of the bag and got an severe tongue lashing from Warner Bros. which resulted in the amended quote. Either way, you know what the Push has to say about it.
In Nolan – dear Supreme Being, whatever you may be, please bring him back – we trust!
And that's primarily why I think this all may be a bunch of horsepucky. Nolan will be busy with Inception for awhile, and Warner Bros. will obviously wait for the best director for the job, right?
Right?
Saw VI — And Beyond?
Check out the teaser trailer for the upcoming piece of Jigsaw's puzzle…
Pretty standard fare for a Saw teaser trailer, methinks. More juicy stuff (pun intended) is sure to come our way in the days leading up to Halloween 2009.
But the Push thought that this was to be the final opus of the Saw series? Not so. According to Variety, pre-production on Saw VII has begun:
David Hackl -- production designer of the second, third and fourth films and helmer of "Saw V" -- has been tapped to direct.
Mark Burg and Oren Koules, who have produced all six of the "Saw" pics, are back as producers. And scribes Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who penned the fourth, fifth and sixth films, are writing the seventh.
As we all know, the Push likes the series if, for nothing else, the absolute absurdity involved in stringing six (and now counting, apparently) movies together with the thinnest of plausible plot threads. I've already been eagerly awaiting the conclusion to Tobin Bell's master plan this year; now you're telling me there's even more bloody mayhem and mischief to be had? They've got me wrangled in already, whether I like it or not.
Dammit!
Outtro
I know I promised a full update on The Ghosts of Crowley Hall this week but truth be told while I did download it, I did not get to watch the full thing. Perhaps it was the trip outside my usual realm to see Moon or the everyday personal and professional life stuff that's usually taking up my time (in a good way), but I just didn't get around to it.
What I did watch in terms of the paranormal was last week's Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. As I alluded to last week as well, I really dig the exploits of this wacky group of filmmakers in their quest for the unknown. The episode in question was an investigation of the Moon River Brewery in Savannah, GA, and it was a great show. Come to see the lead investigator and host, Zak Bagans, get freaked out by a cat in broad daylight and stick around to see investigator Nick Groff seemingly possessed by malevolent spirits, all while camera man and equipment technician Aaron Goodwin makes sure it's all caught properly on tape and audio. I know that this show might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like what they're brewing.
That about does it for this, the penultimate installment of A Little Push. Next week it all comes to a close (for the foreseeable future, at any rate). I hope you enjoyed this week and all that came before it, and that we'll catch up one last time next week. Whatever you choose to do this weekend and the days beyond, be safe and enjoy yourselves. As always, thanks for reading.
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