Moon
March 4, 2010I saw Moon last night. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourselves a favor and head to the video store to rent it. Fortunately for me, I had the full cinematic experience of the movie, sans spoilers. I was literally awestruck. One of the best science fiction films I’ve seen in a long time, and one self-consciously aware of the great films from which it draws. Doing a bit of research, I’ve come to learn that the director, Duncan Jones, dropped out of his PhD program in philosophy to study filmmaking. Normally I might feel bad about such a thing, but I think this just goes to show other possible interesting careers for philosophers. (Don’t watch the trailers if you prefer the full cinematic experience. Trust me on this film recommendation. It’s worth your time.)
Cruel Mistress 
Absolutely positively one of the very best science fiction movies I have ever watched. I walked out of the theater with that same sense of astonishment I had the first time I watched Alien. It should have been nominated for several Academy Awards.
I am so damned glad you feel this way. I had a similar experience. Amazing film. I told my philosopher friends that they’ll never show Blade Runner or Gattaca again. The homages to Silent Running and 2001 were just icing on the cake.
So my son Sam is applying as a transfer to Columbia (among a number of places), and one of the application questions is to “list the films, performances, exhibits, concerts, shows, etc. you enjoyed most in the past year.” Right there in Sam’s list was Moon.
Smart kid!