Moon

I've been a fan of Sam Rockwell since I saw Lawn Dogs on basic cable in 9th grade. He tends to play relatively understated characters, and sadly not a lot of leads, so I'm always grateful for anything that gets him out there. I'm also a fan of retro sci-fi, which focuses on real people rather than explosions and special effects, so my expectations going into this were pretty high.

Even so, I was completely blown away. Sam Rockwell is mesmerising in this role. The movie as mostly him alone on the screen for an hour and a half, and I couldn't look away. The special effects are brilliant, with the externals of the lunar base shot in miniature on a sound stage with fantastic results. The writing is amazing, standing out as an instant classic without relying on surprise plot twists or gimmicks.

The director, Duncan Jones, said they drew inspiration from 70s classics like Silent Running and (indirectly) 2001. I say he far surpassed those. He managed to capture the feel perfectly, while adding an element of modern special effects and modern acting that was never achieved in the old classics, and makes the entire thing much more magical and empathetic. If you have a chance to see this, do not pass it up.