Moon (3.5)

(Trailer)

A man on a space station on the moon is almost done his 3 year mission when things start to go wrong.

A random find on Netflix usually makes for an interesting watch but when I saw that this movie starred Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey I had to watch it.

The beginning is great, they had be right from the start. I thought that the set was amazing and they did such an amazing job with creating this moon station, 'other worldly' place down to the very small details.

Sam Rockwell is one of the most underrated actors. Some times he does...well, most of the time he picks strange rolls that people tend to glaze over but he really captured all the layers and sides of this character, especially throughout the different phases in this movie (no spoilers so I'll leave it at that).

Kevin Spacey ( Shrink ) as the voice of a robot = YES please! I loved it. I absolutely loved that they used an emoticon face to show the emotions of the computer and with Spacey's voice it was perfection. Easily my favourite thing about this movie.

I liked the script. I enjoy dark sci-fi and psychological thrillers and they don't normally mix together all too well but this time it totally worked. The only complaints I have is that 1) it was waaay too long, it draaaagged on for like 45 minutes 2) they mention what is actually going on early on in the film so while you try to figure out what is REALLY happening...and then they tell you that no, it really is this thing that's going on...not so exciting. I know this is a rough explanation but you'll see when you watch it. So when this happens I was disappointed and then this dragged on for 45 mins or so and I just lost all interest which is insane as I was really into this movie for the first half.

Liked it but then it falls off at the end and left me wanting more. Or just a better ending.

3.5/5 ADSENSE HERE

Poetry (4)

(Trailer)

2010 Chang-dong Lee film about an older woman who finds out that her grandson committed a terrible crime and tries to find inspiration and beauty in the world around her through poetry.

This script is original. I honestly can't compare this movie to anything else I've ever seen. I see why it won best script awards.

Jeong-hie Yun was fantastic. Her performance as the grandmother was captivating and at times truly heartbreaking. She did such a good job of remaining inside her character even when the scene was her sitting quietly looking at a tree. Not an easy thing.

The story wasn't what made this movie so captivating to me. It was her. It was watching someone trying so hard to reconnect with themselves during a time when the beauty in life is being slashed down.

Still, in the end, I found that some of the metaphors and hidden emotion behind certain scenes was lost on me and I found they lost me from time to time. It may have just been the subtitles but I'm not sure.

Check it out if you want a very character driven story with an interesting look at poetry, language and life.

4/5

ADSENSE HERE

Of Gods and Men (3.5)

(Trailer)

The 2010 French film by Xavier Beauvois film about a group of monks stationed in a small Algerian community who are under threat by terrorist.

While this was based on a true story and the characters were, in general, interesting, the movie took liberties in assuming that the viewer knew the background story of what was happening in Algeria. I also felt that they left out too much about the characters although their personalities slowly came out during the movie it felt too late to feel a good connection.

I liked the script though. The story was interesting and gave a cool perspective on mankind and how we react when our lives are in danger.

The concept of faith vs. right from wrong was really well done and made for exciting scenes where nothing really happens but is far from boring. Who would've thought that listening to a bunch of priests sit around would be exciting, but it was. At least intellectually.

Not my favourite but I can see why it won the Grand Prix at Sundance. A true look at human nature.

3.5/5

ADSENSE HERE