I just watched Moon, a mystery/scifi/thriller about astronaut Sam Bell, who is at the end of a three year long mission on the moon. His only companion is a HAL-like computer called GERTI. While being a robot, he is very helpful to Sam and helps him cope with the loneliness and the ache of mission his wife. Because of problems with the communication to earth, he spends lots of time talking to himself or his plants.

While being out on a mission on the surface of the moon however, Sam has an accident which knocks him out. When waking up in the moon base, he decides to go back to the accident site, where he makes a discovery which leads him to question his sanity and identity.

From the classic plot theme, it is obvious that the writer has borrowed from classics such as Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the story truly stands on it own. It digs deep into what it means to be human, and in solitude. It explores matters such as corporate greed, scientific ethics and compassion.

Even though this is labelled a sci-fi movie, do not watch it expecting lasers, warp drives and worm holes. Being set on the moon of course brings the essence of space travel and technology not yet available. However, think of it more as a mystery than a sci-fi movie, and you will definitely not leave the theater/couch dissatisfied — on the contrary, this is one of the better movies of this genre in a long time!

via VIV Mag Featurette: A Digital Magazine Motion Cover and Feature for the iPad on Vimeo.

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This will surely make your life a lot easier. Sorry about the strange formatting, I blame Wordpress.

The time has finally come for me to see Shaun of the Dead, the instant zombie cult classic. This is a movie about Shaun, who is not getting along very well with his girlfriend Liz. This was partly because of the simple fact that Shaun was a loser who did nothing but sit in a pub and drink beer with his friend from school, not caring about anything.

Suddenly things start happening — people start acting weird, and this takes Shaun and his friends on a journey of insight and naturally lots of killing.

I really enjoyed this movie, and there are lots of subtle and not so subtle hints and messages. There is the fact that people seemed to act like zombies, even though they weren’t. It gets the mind going on about seizing the day and making the most of it, instead of just walking around in a monotone day-to-day life.

The mirror effect when the gang met up with Yvonne and her people was amazing, and there were many times when I just laughed out loud. Not bad for a rom-zom-com, or is it rom-com-zom?

One thing I noticed was how good the makeup and visual effects were. It didn’t feel like B movie, the way most zombie movies do. The movie is perhaps not for everyone though, since this is a British movie, you have to appreciate their sense of humor and culture, but who doesn’t?

If you love blood and gore, this movie delivers high-pressure blood enough to fill a small lake — but with a comic twist. It gives a slight reminder of samurai movies from the 70’s, where blood were shooting out from severed limbs like geysers. No exception here, the movie features just about any extremity that can be severed on a body from hands and fingers, to feet and heads.

They could have done without the excessive CGI though, since they are horrible and only draw attention away from the story and the characters. Even though this, being a gore movie, is considered a B movie, the main characters have a resonable depth behind them, and you feel for them as they experience all the terrible trauma.

It was interesting to see that they incorporated Hattori Hanzo, the famous japanese samurai, mentioned in films like Kill Bill.

Despite all this, this is a movie to be seen if you are into the horror/gore genre and like seeing zombies (and people) having their guts ripped out of the body with a chainsaw or just some bare zombie hands.

It is most definitely the most refreshing take on the zombie genre for a while, and it proudly borrows many details from classics such as Braindead and The Evil Dead.