Moon (2009)

The surface of the moon is lifeless and cold. On the parts that are facing away from the sun, the "nighttime" can get down to 243 degrees below zero. That's cold....even for a guy that lives in Rexburg.

"Moon" is about a man named Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) that works on the moon, for a duration of 3 years, monitoring harvester machines that process lunar rock and extract Helium-3, the newly chosen energy source of planet earth. Sam works alone. He is the only human on the station, however he is kept company by a robot named Gerty, who basically runs all components on the space station. He is highly intelligent, and is a nice, soothing voice (Kevin Spacey) to Sam.

Sam is a family man, and has left his wife and small daughter on Earth during his stint in space. He can communicate with them, but only through taped messages that headquarters sends him weekly. The live feed to Earth has allegedly been faulty the entirety of his employ, so these messages are his only communication beyond his lunar home.

When we meet Sam, he has about 2 weeks left before he can return home. He is antsy, impatient, and starts to see things that aren't really there. This is where I'll stop........

The movie is great sci-fi. I loved it. Its slow, but don't get impatient. Every scene has its purpose, and Sam Rockwell is brilliant (see Matchstick Men). The moon shots are really cool, and the interior of space station has an eerie, morgue-ish, feel to it as well. This is not a (BOO!) scary movie, but it is frightening in mostly a psychological way. There are two great twists that I enjoyed, and there might be a third if you keep an eye out for it.

The movie is rated R for a few F-bombs, but otherwise its good stuff. It might be hard to find at your local movie store, but Netflix has it on Instant viewing.

Just a quick note.....the film was directed by David Bowie's son, who had been doing commercials up until this point. Kind of gives new meaning to Bowie's 1969 hit song, Space Oddity. I look for him to do some other great stuff in the future. 3.5 stars for me.

Clooney is polished

A few nights ago, I wrote a killer film review about George Clooney's "Up in the Air". Unfortunately, the genius that is blogspot, erased it, never to be found again. Needless to say, its taking me until now to get over it, and give a VERY abbreviated version of what I wrote:

Clooney sucked the last ten years....can we just get that out of the way right now? He did "O Brother, where art thou?" in 2000, and then became Danny Ocean for a decade. Weak.

However, in "Up in the Air", he is a true leading actor.....he actually leads! I say that because he made everyone around him better. Both of his female counterparts received Oscar nominations for their roles, as well as Clooney.

As with most of my reviews, I try to stay away from talking about the plot too much....if you are interested in the film, you can do that on your own....but what I will say, is there are so many things that could have gone wrong in this movie, but it just stayed the course and clicked along. I can get along with movies like that, and I did famously with this one. This is Clooney's best movie, and we get to watch Anna Kendrick in her breakout performance. She is going to be a lead some day, and a dang good one at that. 4 stars for me easily.

Oh, one more thing I mentioned in the original review that I almost forgot here.....Jason Reitman directed this movie as well as "Juno" and "Thank you for Smoking". I recommend both of these films highly.....this young director has a long presence ahead. Go make yourself acquainted with him now....you won't be disappointed.

"You have to keep carrying the fire....The fire inside you."

The above is one of very few lines in the film, "The Road". The reason there aren't many lines is because, well, there aren't many people left in the world to talk to.
The story follows the meandering trek of a young boy and his father through post-apocalyptic America. They spend all of their time heading toward "the coast", dodging cannibals, and forging for food and shelter.
But moreover, this is a love story between a father and a son....and their daily struggle to uphold morals, and test their strength and courage. Its also a gauge of their will to live in a world in which everything else is either dead, or on the verge.
This is a dark, depressing movie at first glance, and if you've read the book (by Cormac McCarthy) you know what I'm talking about. However, the film itself offers at least some semblance of optimism that the book, I am realizing now, hopelessly glossed over, or didn't offer whatsoever.
I enjoyed both the book and the film equally, which is rare in my world. I think its because the film wasn't trying to be anything other than faithful to the book. Furthermore, I found myself "recognizing" the scenes in the movie, as the exact way I pictured them while reading the book. In all, the film is great, and has a GREAT cast. My favorite scene was with the old man (Robert Duvall).....its very cool. I recommend this movie, but be aware that there are some rough patches and some scenes that are disturbing.....remember, we are looking at post-apocalyptic life....its not a very pretty sight. See it, or read it...let me know what you think. 3.5 stars for me.

Back on Track....

Okay, now that Soleil has settled in, and I'm not making daily, if not hourly, trips to the hospital for weeks on end, I can go back to reviewing some movies......

Before a few nights ago, it had been many, many months since I had sat down and watched a movie (somewhat) uninterrupted. So, with some time on my hands the other night, I decided to watch a film I had seen on several "Top 10 in 2009" lists, and even one "Top Movies of the decade" list. So, I gave Coraline a shot......and then I wanted to be shot.

The first half hour was spent being intrigued by the animation (the ONLY cool thing about the film), and the rest of the time was spent being pissed at the lack of character development, the lazy dialogue, and wondering why the story (which was intriguing in the beginning) had turned to a jumbled, obscure mess. Is it cool to make your film unwatchable in the name of trying to make it feel, well, trippy?
Again, I was willing to look past the strange, yet original animation, if the story could stay interesting for its duration.
I don't know, perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for it, but then again, I am scared of the mood I might have to be in to fully enjoy this movie. 1.5 stars for cool animation, and for an interesting first half hour.

Friends.....stay tuned for more reviews coming up. I have a few good ones here from Netflix, and I've had one request for "My Cousin Vinny". I will do those as soon as I get a quick chance to watch them!!

Rexburg in Pictures....Part 1

This is Rexburg. Five square miles, most of which sits on a shield volcano. Of the approximate 20,000 inhabitants, 95% are white. 70% of the population is under the age of 24, thanks in part to the campus of Brigham Young University-Idaho.

I am always surprised at the number of my LDS friends that haven't ever been to Rexburg, so I am taking this opportunity to take some pictures and show this town of ours off a little. In the coming weeks, I will carry my camera around town during my excursions outside, and snap some pictures of things that might be of interest to you, or moreover, things we find interesting after living here for the past year. Furthermore, if there is something you want pictures of, let me know!!

".....and the rockets red glare......"

I was a sports fan when I was in the womb. I have been to more live sporting events than probably most Americans. I bought a large, plasma television and HD programming SOLELY for watching sports on TV.

When I first started watching sports, it was almost always about the game. Nobody was bigger than the game, and nobody wanted to be. I think of baseball players like Pete Rose, Cal Ripken Jr., and Hank Aaron as true ambassadors of the sport, and what baseball was, or is, all about. Think of other greats; Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar etc. I remember watching these guys on the weekends on BASIC CABLE in my parents living room, on their 13" tube.

For the most part, I remember them being humble, even grateful it seemed, to be playing sport for money. Nowadays, it seems things have changed in the values, and practices, of the professional athlete. Most of them, in my opinion, go out of their way to "brand" themselves. As if, playing sports is not nearly enough, they need to be in our face 24/7 through commercials, twitter, facebook, myspace, and so on.

But as much as I might rag on the athletes for jumping through hoops to get in our living room, and in our daily vernacular, there is another presence on the sports peripheral that has gone out of its way to popularize themselves.....and honestly its offensive and getting out of hand.

I am speaking of the singers of the National Anthem. What used to be an uplifting spectable, has now often turned into a debacle. Remember Rosanne? Remember Carl Lewis? This dude? Horrible!! I'm sure there have been worse. But mind you, this is on the big stage. These people are seeking publicity, and obviously recieved it without consideration about whether or not its positive. But folks, there is a trickle-down effect taking place. There need not be a large stage anymore.

For example, a few weeks ago, at a major-junior hockey game in Portland, Oregon, in front of a crowd of 3,000 or less, without ANY TV exposure, this is what happened. How in the hell do these people get past their audition? Unbelievable!

Listen, I'm not an idiot, I know for the most part that those that sing our National Anthem treat it sacredly, and seriously. I am thankful for their efforts. It takes a lot of guts to get in front of 50,000+ rowdy, drunk fans and sing an extremely difficult song. It will always be a highlight of my live sporting event experience.....as long as its done RIGHT!

Music from the Soul

Okay....I'm going to let this song speak for itself. I'm usually not much of a blues guy, much less an electric blues guy, but this song hits me in that place that invokes your booty to shake uncontrollably.

Its Sugarfoot by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. Behold....



This song reminds of something Ed Kiester would have in his car....