Wait- there's a serial killer loose on the moon? These are exactly the same kinds of horrors Nostradamus warned us about! This is "Movie Night"!
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Hello, I'm Jonathan Paula. Welcome to "Movie Night"! Specializing in recent DVD releases and classic box-office bombs, commenting on this video is probably the quickest and easiest way you'll ever get to appearing on a top-100 YouTube channel!
Anyway, our first film tonight is the science fiction/psychological drama released last January at the Sundance Film Festival. "Moon", directed by Duncan Jones, son of iconic pop rock singer David Bowie, is an ambitious entry into the independent...
...Film market, and it made a big splash when it was released last year. Set in the unspecified distant future, Sam Rockwell is Sam Bell, a part astronaut, part maintenance worker who is stationed on the far side of the Moon, and is responsible for...
...Overseeing an automated mining operation taking place there. Besides a friendly robot that is voiced with just the right amount of care from Kevin Spacey, Sam has been alone on the Moon, entirely by himself, for almost 3 years.
The focus of the movie from the first scene is really about Sam's internal emotional struggle with isolation and being unable to communicate with anyone on Earth, except in some pre-recorded messages.
But seeing a man experience life in isolation and dealing with those emotions is nothing new in cinema. However, things get interesting when, after a lunar-roving accident, Sam discovers he has a clone.
From there, the movie sort of muddles its way along, trying to figure out if it's supposed to be a somber version of "Multiplicity" or the Moon's first corporate mystery thriller. At first, I was really drawn into this movie.
Its deliberately slow pace kept me guessing for most of the first hour. It was very obvious that there was going to be a few major twists on the way, but figuring out how and where they'd play out made this science-fiction movie quite interesting.
In what literally amounts to the entire 97-minute runtime, Sam Rockwell is alone, on camera, talking to himself. The precision and the emotional subtlety he exhibits really impresses in this film, which is paramount to the success...
...Of this one-man-show of a movie. On a surprisingly small budget of just $5 million, the special effects in "Moon", especially in sequences where Sam is carrying out entire scenes with his cloned counterpart, are visually stunning...
...And remarkably flawless. You forget entirely that Sam Rockwell is playing both lead characters here. "Moon" wasn't all sunshine, however, and I was a bit disappointed and unmoved by the final act.
The way the plot wraps itself up is kind of an obvious, forgone conclusion, and is unfortunately slow getting there. With its serious tone of the psychological exploration of human loneliness, "Moon" is a welcome change of pace in the sci-fi genre...
...And quite refreshing, given most of the dumbed-down material Hollywood is producing these days. Aside from losing steam in the final act, I felt "Moon" was a mysterious and visually captivating film.
But far too often, the events and situations felt a bit too familiar to really excite me. Those are my thoughts on the movie "Moon." Now, let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Jon: SQUIZZLER24 wrote... (reads SQUIZZLER24's comment)
Jon: PoeTheGhost wrote... (reads PoeTheGhost's comment)
Okay, let's fire up the Rate-o-Matic, to see how you and I rated "Moon."
"Cool" and "great" rankings! While I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and character study in this film, it felt too slow and familiar in parts for me to score it much higher.
You guys voted it an "8", with many of you praising Rockwell's incredible performance in the film, as well as the visual effects. Okay, moving forward now, let's take a look at our next film, "Whiteout."
Released in September of last year, this murder mystery thriller starring Kate Beckinsale bombed at the box office, only earning back a third of its $36 million budget.
Beckinsale stars as US Deputy Marshall Carrie Stetko, who is stationed at a lonely and boring science outpost in Antarctica. Just before the entire base is about to pack up and leave for the winter, a body is found.
And then, things start to get interesting. The body is found under peculiar circumstances, which means that the rest of the movie is your typical murder mystery. Except here, everyone is wearing parkas.
Arguably, Kate Beckinsale's biggest talent is her absolutely stunning good looks, and save for a quick shower scene in the opening minutes, her beauty is really wasted in this film, where she's constantly wearing five layers of clothing.
Although not terribly fantastic, she does, however, do a decent job of portraying the American Deputy Marshall. The supporting cast does little to inspire in this film, playing entirely into stereotypes and character molds.
The frozen tundra landscape of Antartica also provides for little excitement, leaving just a flimsy murder plot holding up the enjoyability of this movie. A tense scene in a snow-encased airplane, some airlock action with the deadly killer...
..And a few late-act twists do help redeem the film, though. "Whiteout" struggles at times at finding its tone and pace. In certain moments, it feels like a fast and nail-biting slasher horror movie.
And later, it's a slow-moving episode of "Law and Order: South Pole Division." Primarily though, the film is a mystery thriller, but, with the all-too-easily predictable red herrings and unintentionally laughable character motives...
...The movie fails here, as well. Luckily, I found that the action and suspense was just enough to keep me interested and, at times, genuinely entertained.
"Whiteout" certainly isn't going to win any awards come Oscar season, but it's not that bad of a film, either. Anyway, that's what I thought of the movie. Now, let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments.
Jon: MrFused84 wrote... (reads MrFused84's comment)
Jon: bleachman27 wrote... (reads bleachman27's comment)
Okay, now, let's bring in the Rate-o-Matic, to see how you and I rated "Whiteout."
"Alright"! It gets a "5." We both agreed on this one. I felt the movie's action was exciting and interesting enough to off-set the poor plot and Kate Beckinsale's beauty being hidden under a coat for the whole movie.
And you felt the suspense and Antarctica setting were enjoyable, but you criticized the bad acting and obvious plot twists. Now, let's take a look at some of Hollywood's current releases, with some Tweet Critiques.
Jon: Keith139 Tweeted... (reads Keith139's Tweet)
Jon: swimchick565 Tweeted... (reads swimchick565's Tweet)
Okay, well, that does it for this week's episode. Now, let's take a look forward at the films we'll be reviewing for next episode.
"Surrogates" is a sci-fi action film starring Bruce Willis, and "This Is It" is the already famous documentary about the last months of Michael Jackson's life and career. Both films were released on DVD yesterday.
So, I hope you get a chance to buy, rent, or download them before next week's episode. Once again, my name is Jonathan Paula. Thanks so much for joining me. Have a good night!
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