Duncan Jones’ sci-fi thriller, “Moon,” will be screened at Western Michigan University’s Little Theatre this weekend.
The film is the directorial debut for Jones, who is the son of rock legend David Bowie.
“He’s an up-and-coming director,” said Western Film Society President Justin Gibson.
“Moon” stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, an astronaut who is employed by a company that has a mining station on the moon. Near the end of his solitary three-year mission, Bell begins to see strange happenings that he can’t explain. Joined only by computer GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), Bell soon makes a strange discovery that makes him question his mission.
The film features a score by Clint Mansell, who is known for scoring the Darren Aronofsky films “Pi” and “Requiem for a Dream.” The well-known composition “Lux Aeterna” by Mansell, which was featured in “Requiem,” has been used in film trailers such as “I Am Legend,” “The DaVinci Code,” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”
The film saw its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and now the Kalamazoo debut of “Moon” is being presented by the Western Film Society, who’s mission is to screen films that are critically acclaimed but haven’t been played locally.
“It’s very well-reviewed, one of the most well-reviewed movies of the past year,” Gibson said. “It hit all the major film festivals.”
Despite the ambitious plotline for a $5 million budget, “Moon” currently holds an 89 percent rating on the popular movie rating Web site, Rotten Tomatoes. The film also received three and a half stars out of four from revered critic Roger Ebert.
Although “Moon” is the first film from Duncan Jones, the movie has done well enough to already get Jones working on a follow-up. His next film, “Source Code,” was just recently announced, and will star Jake Gyllenhall in a science fiction setting.
“Moon” will be shown on Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 22 at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 or $3 with a student ID.
