Moonage Daydream

Because Moon is the last film I watched, and also in my humble opinion the very best film of 2009 (not to mention the best sci-fi film in decades), I thought it would be a good place to start. I saw it twice at the cinema, and just got round to buying it on DVD. And it's still just as good on the third viewing. By the end of the film I'm still sitting on the edge of my seat shouting "What are you doing, Sam?" at the TV, even though I KNOW what he's doing, I've seen it several times already! It really draws you in, in a way that not too many films are able to do these days.

Especially sci-fi films, which often tend to be big epic action films with bucket-loads of CGI and only a teaspoonful of plot to hang the action sequences together. But it wasn't always so. Moon harks back to the sci-fi movies of the 70's and 80's, when budgets were small, effects minimal, and story that much more important. If you don't have big monsters and battle scenes with which to wow the audiences, you have to keep their attention with a story that they can connect with and characters they care about instead. I'm not saying all old sci-fi movies were masterpieces, but there are some classics that 30 years later still stand up as brilliant pieces of film-making (for example: Alien, 2001, Blade Runner, Silent Running, Starman (OK, maybe not so much Starman, but I love it!...). These days it seems there is a lack of imagination in the sci-fi world, as most of the films produced in the last 10 years have been either comic-book adaptations (some of them brilliant, some of them somewhat less so) or remakes of old films (ditto. But heavier on the 'somewhat less so').

So for something truly new and orginal to come out is a great joy. Moon is made very much in the style of the old movies, like Alien and Silent Running - simple enough premise, small cast, basic (but beautifully executed) special effects - but it is not copying them. It is gripping, intelligent, and very moving. And superbly acted by Sam Rockwell (who has firmly established himself as one of my favourite actors now). But the final word has to be on Duncan Jones, who directed this masterpiece. Moon is his first full-length film (there is a short on the DVD extras of Moon, called Whistle, which is also well worth a watch), and if there are more where this came from then he could be a very exciting film-maker indeed. We expect great things from you, Mr Jones (but no pressure or anything!).