Last year was a good year for movies. I however, haven’t had a chance to see all the really good ones (or any of the really bad ones either). So, I’m playing catch up here. So, this week’s movie is called “Moon” written and directed by Duncan Jones.

Moon is the story of Sam Bell (played by Sam Rockwell) who signed up for a three year mission to mine the moon for the LUNAR corporation. The moon has valuable minerals that will solve the Earth’s energy problems. In his final weeks on the moon he starts to talk to himself and see strange things. It’s a cerebral movie and if you can’t sit and absorb into it for an hour an a half you probably shouldn’t watch it. Otherwise you should see it. This movie is well written, well acted, and beautifully filmed. I don’t think the award shows have given it enough credit though.

Now, the rest of this entry is filled with spoilers. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen the movie.

So it’s the future and you have an evil corporation called LUNAR. LUNAR has been using clones recycling them every three years to continuously mine the moon. So far I can totally believe that a company would do this. Why spend the time and money to train and ship people back and forth between the Earth and the moon when they can just use a supply of clones on the moon? Also they pre-tape video’s from Sam’s wife and young child. This is supposed to give him frackin hope of a future. Ha! Turns out the wife is cheating on him and dumps him just weeks before the end of his three year term. A story arc probably concocted by the evil LUNAR corporation to make the Sam on the moon commit suicide.

LUNAR is blocking live transmissions to Earth and stopping all of Sam’s outgoing videos from reaching their target. Sam eventually figures this out and goes beyond the transmission jamming stations far enough to contact home. Turns out his wife died recently and his daughter is now a teenager. Bummer. But, if you listen carefully in the background when his daughter is telling her dad that there’s someone on the phone asking about mom, the dad’s voice is the same as Sam. I wonder if the real Sam ever reached the moon to begin with.

Interesting. Again, I highly recommend this movie. The twists and story were really good.