Movie review: Moon

Earth is now using helium-3, harvested from the moon, as a primary energy source. In order to harvest it, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is the only employee at the lunar base. His job is to rocket the fuel back to Earth, as well as keeping the machinery working. The computer's AI, GERTY (Kevin Spacey), is there to protect him no matter what.

Against my wishes, my husband rented Moon from one of the local Redboxes. I had no interest in watching a science fiction movie along the lines of 2001. Luckily, I was completely wrong about the film. While it is a drama (not usually my thing), it is eloquently executed. There is little sound and almost fewer characters. Yet this solitude is what makes the movie so emotionally moving. You feel bad for Sam and his predicament. (No, I won't tell you what it is. It's a big spoiler!) I'd almost like to see a sort-of sequel to it, but I think that would completely ruin the uniqueness of this one. This is a movie that I can definitely recommend to anyone.

Lunar Eclipse

There was a lunar eclipse last night. The next one won't occur until 2010, which sounds like it's really far away but that's only two years from now. (Actually, the eclipse is supposed to take place in December so it's closer to three years.) My husband and I took our daughter outside a couple of times so she could see it. Despite the crappy weather that the Philadelphia area has had for the past couple of weeks, the clouds parted and it was miraculously clear during the eclipse. While we didn't stay to watch the entire event, we did see the beginning and full eclipse. It was definitely something interesting to watch.