MOON

The last place you'd ever expect to find yourself

Directed by: Duncan Jones
Run time: 97 min

Most people think, a science fiction movie only need amazing special effect like 2012 or countless over hyped summer movies. But people forgot that a good science fiction is all about the story and how it can relate to the audience.

I think this film is underrated in this year, sure it doesn't have a wide release and the budget for this movie seem only suffice enough for one earthquake scene in 2012.

Sam Rockwell is Sam Bell, a lunar miner who is nearing the end of his 3-year contract at a single-man mining outpost in the Moon at some time in the future. His only companion is the station computer, Gertie, voiced by Kevin Spacey. Sam didn't actually mine the Moon all by himself, he is the man who operates everything from an IKEA like station. There, he lives alone all by himself.

Sam had a bad dream and he seem cannot concentrate on his job. Being alone in the moon, at one mission to check one mining machine, he is wounded. Then he is rescued to the station by a guy who looks, speaks and thinks just like Sam. What is going on here? Is that guy a figment of Sam's imagination, or is he for real? Which one is the real Sam? Loneliness can be scary sometimes, especially if you are claustrophobic.

The whole film depends on Sam Rockwell's acting ability, and he didn't disappoint us at all. His performance is top notch. For some the plot might be confusing and we just have to concentrate to understand the story. This sort of thing is a turn off for those who used to be feed by cheesy plots, but as for me, I like this sort of plot that force me to think. This is a rare gem, a sci-fi with brain and mixture of so many other genre.

GOMORRAH

Directed by: Matteo Garrone
Run time: 137 min

If The Godfather glorifies the mafia, this one desensitized everything you ever know about mafia from the popular culture. With no marquee name to attract teens, this film is swaying between cinema verite and documentary feature. Just like City of God, it all feels real here, especially with no fancy soundtrack. Gomorrah has five different stories but with one thing in common: these people cannot escape the influence of criminal organization run by the Camorras, in the city of Naples, Italy.

For those who seek for entertainment value, they will be disappointed since this film will show you the gloomy reality of ordinary people under the influence of mafia. There's this pre-teen who has no clue whatsoever about things around him and drown himself into the underworld, a tailor who happens to be caught between mafia wars, two youngsters who had seen too many Scarface and has an itchy fingers to pull the trigger, an aging man giving weekly payment to families of mob prisoners and a college graduate who had a high profile job of managing a toxic waste. It is a story where criminals kills each other, everyday, just for the sake of interest and business.

I think the labyrinthine structure of this film represent on how chaotic and deep the influence of mafia is it also want to drag the audience on the despair of the common people. The plot was separate and didn't intersect with each other. Somehow I feel that the cinematography of this film is top notch, with strong emphasis on simplicity and efficiency and certainly no romanticism at all. Sure no CGI robots killing each other but daily life with dull colors seen with a hand held camera can look so interesting in Gomorrah.

The absent of famous actors/actresses makes this film more believable. This is a very European film, with the absent of glorification of mafia and a bit slow pacing to test the patience of the audience. However it all pays off, you get to see something you never know it has existed for years.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.

Directed by: Marc Webb
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual material and language.
Runtime: 95 min

Unless your heart is never broken by a girl, or you are not the sort of girl who has a heart to treat an ordinary guy as cruel (but warm) as possible, this movie will not resonate into you. In the spirit of smart rom-com of Annie Hall, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, this film is surprisingly believable. Although told in a non-linear structure, it is not difficult to follow. Like this year's District 9, this film defies the usual template for a successful summer movie. This is Annie Hall of the 21st century with strong emphasis on quirkiness and indie music as the soundtrack.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom and Zooey Deschanel as Summer are the next Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in between sunset and sunrise. They are real everyday people, not some over glowed Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in some over glowed relationship.

The premise is very simple, Tom believe in true love while Summer believe in the opposite. They get to know each other. They were in love and at one point, the love ended. What seems to be a cliche formula can be presented in a new way by Mark Webb. Don't hope for a nice ride to the sunset for this film, just expect a character walking limping in the sunset after being beaten by hard truth.

Every guy can relate to Tom, he's the ordinary boy next door who wants to get a girl like Summer but for some reason, he just can't have her. The rest is realistic and believable, it is a love story everyone can relate to from Europe to Indonesia. This is the story of a search for one true love and sometimes in romance we believe what we want to believe. Decorated with so many nice songs (well, nice or not depend on your taste actually) and imaginative dance sequence picked from Bollywood movie, you'll never stop smiling after watch this one.

But there is one flaw, this film doesn't explain why they broke up. I think it is important that this explanation exist instead of all the sudden they just broke up and we have to guess why. But hey, perhaps it is not important why they broke up, perhaps the story is about relationship for the hopelessly romantic.

In the age of CGI and 3-D attack, 500 Days of Summer is really refreshing, charming, original, simple but also smart. It is a living proof that a simple story can be made as a good movie.