Location: Baxter Avenue Filmworks, Louisville, KY
Showing: Wed 8/5, 7:35 p.m.
Crowd: 8/~200
Trailers: [DIST9] - Looks more amazing the more I see of it.
[ITMGL] - This is one of those where I was sufficiently excited that if someone had stood up and said that it was playing in the next theatre, I might have gotten up and walked right over to that one instead.
[SPOWR] - Looks pretty good, but I'm not nearly as familiar with these artists. Probably a good rental.
Synopsis: [SROCK] is coming up short on a three-year contract as sole employee of a helium farming operation on the moon; things, as you might expect, get weird.
Review: [MOON] is the best and most satisfying movie I have seen since probably [TWBLD]. I don't want to get into the twists and turns and so forth; I knew practically nothing about this going in except that it starred SROCK, that was plenty for me, and is all you really need to know as well. It's a tremendous performance, and he makes it look easy. The script, the pacing, the visuals, all perfectly executed and deliciously understated. This movie knows that it is awesome; it is secure in that knowledge and doesn't need to get in your face about it. It is at turns very funny, deeply sad, and philosophically curious, but remains, somehow, an edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Which is, I know, a strange thing to say about what is an unusually quiet film starring only one person.
The fact remains, I was very much at the front of the seat, had no idea what might come next, and was so very pleased when it did. There are perhaps small quibbles one could have re logic, physics or AI, but what do you or I know about that stuff anyway? Just shut up and love this wonderful gem of a film that, particularly now that there are 10 nominations up for grabs, deserves one each for Picture, Actor, Director and Cinematographer. Maybe even for score.
Overall grade: A
Snacks: Vodka in spades