Yesterday afternoon as I was driving home from work, NPR merged two of my scientific loves – Science Friday (an old love) and Moon (a new love).  I’ve been avoiding most of the interviews with Duncan so I don’t read the spoilers, but I couldn’t resist this one.  It is available to listen to or download online at the Science Friday website.  Definitely give it a listen.  Duncan and the fill-in host Paul Raeburn discuss not just the movie, but a possible realistic future of space travel.

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Remember in February when we reported on a rumor that David Bowie was going to have a small part in a movie named Will?  It seems that was true…only the movie has been retitled Bandslam.  The movie, starring Gaelan Connell, Alyson Michalka, and (unfortunately) Vanessa Hudgens, tells the story of a band formed by high school outcasts and a popular girl in order to win the battle of the bands at their school.  Bowie described his cameo as “a ten second scene of absolute silence.”  So, it doesn’t sound like the kind of movie I will sit through just for a glimpse of Bowie, but I might check it out from the local library and fast-forward to his scene.

It’s not the first major celebrity cameo I’ve heard of, but it seems rather disconnected – at least with, say, Stan Lee, you could argue that he’s obviously getting cameo roles in Marvel flicks because he’s actually the creator of the characters involved, from Spider-Man to The Fantastic Four. With Bowie, it’s like Mr. T getting a cameo in a film about a partypoker tournament. It’s entertaining enough, but you’re still left wondering exactly what the man was doing in that particular picture.

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As any proud parent would do, David Bowie attended the opening of Moon at the Sundance Film Festival.  In his official quote to BowieNet he said, “It’s such a great movie. It’s hard to believe it’s his first. I’m so happy for him and proud as Punch.”  You can see pictures of the proud daddy and Duncan Jones at WireImage.com.  (An account is required to view the pictures, the basic account is free.)  Also appearing in the pictures are Sam Rockwell, Sting (side note:My God, what the hell happened to Sting?  Did he fall in a vat of Grecian Formula after visiting the Unabomber’s stylist?), and Trudie Styler, the film’s producer.

In the BowieNet news item, you’ll note that Moon will be widely released by Sony later this year.  We’ll post more information on the release as we hear about it.

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Got a couple more Moon goodies here today. The first is an interview with Duncan Jones at QuietEarth.com.  Incidentally, Quiet Earth looks like a cool site in general.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I plan on browsing through it for some recommendations for horror and scifi films.  I can’t remember the last horror film I saw that really scared the piss outta me.  But I digress….the second goody I have is another interview, this time with Sam Rockwell.  This one contains spoilers, so beware.  The review is up at Defamer.com.

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Finally found some showtime listings for Moon.  The Sundance site wasn’t working, so I had to go to BowieWonderWorld.  If you’re in the Salt Lake City or Park City, Utah area this weekend, go watch it and support Duncan Jones and his directorial debut.

Day: Friday, January 23, MOONN23CE
Time: 6:15 pm
Theater: Eccles Center, Park City

Day: Saturday, January 24, MOONN24CM
Time: 9:00 am
Theater: Eccles Center, Park City

Day: Saturday, January 24, MOONN24GN
Time: 9:30 pm
Theater: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City

Day: Sunday, January 25, MOONN25SA
Time: 1:00 pm
Theater: Sundance Institute Screening Room at the Sundance Resort, North Fork of Provo Canyon, Sundance, UT

Visit the Sundance Film Festival Website for directions and information on the shuttle system.

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Duncan Jones (the son of David Bowie) made his directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival with his first film Moon.  The film stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, stationed on a lunar base for a three-year stint to oversee the mining of Helium-3, and Kevin Spacey as the voice of GERTY, the AI computer.  (Maybe cousin to HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only less homicidal?)  Since I haven’t seen the movie, I won’t even try to give you a plot summary, but I will point you towards Drew McWeeny’s review on Motion/Captured and James Rocchi’s review on Cinematical.  And if you don’t mind spoilers, io9 has some videos posted.  (I’m not watching these because I don’t want the ending to be given away.)

It goes without saying that the Webmaster and I are eager to see this movie, not just because Duncan Jones is Bowie’s son and Sam Rockwell is a great actor, but also because sci-fi movies that tell a classic sci-fi story are rare these days.  I’ve been a big fan of classic sci-fi writers like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke since I was a pre-teen and stories like those don’t come around often.  So many sci-fi movies are basically action movies or campy fantasy buffed with a futuristic sheen.  So few movies adress the issues that classic writers like Bradbury and Asimov addressed – where are we as the human race headed in the future?  What are we doing to ourselves with technology?  Are we making ourselves more or less human?  How are we destroying ourselves by trying to make our lives easier?  Now I love campy sci-fi as much as the next geeky chick (as evidenced by the fact that currently all the system sounds on my computer are from The Fifth Element), but true sci-fi is an all-too-rare treat.  Judging from the reviews, I feel pretty comfortable in placing some hope that Moon will be a throw-back to the 1950s radio plays of Dimension X (only without the xenophobia some of those plays expressed!).  In fact, I have so much hope for this film and what it has the possibility to do for sci-fi that I won’t even cheapen it with a Sam Bell/Major Tom allusion.

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Back in February we reported a rumor that Bowie may be cast in the upcoming movie “Will” starring Lisa Kudrow and Liam Aiken. According to Bowienet today, he will indeed have a part in “Will” playing himself. While the movie will be a musical dramedy, Bowie has described his screentime as being “a ten second scene of absolute silence.” Ah well. You know that’s still enough involvement to get us fans out to see it. Expect a link to an exclusive shot of the original cracked actor sometime in the near future.

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God bless The Jim Henson Company.  They’ve just released Labyrinth for download on iTunes.  Boys and girls, if you’ve not already got a copy of Labyrinth then now is the time to buy it.  Don’t let another night go by where you have not experienced the awesomeness of Labyrinth.  Oh yeah, the Dark Crystal is also available for download.  I’ve actually never seen that one.  Guess it’s about time.

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According to Reuters, Bowie is considering joining Lisa Kudrow and Liam Aiken in the cast for the upcoming movie “Will.” The movie is a musical dramedy about a popular high-school girl and her outcast classmate who form a rock band for their schools battle of the bands. If it turns out to be true and not sheer rumor like Bowie appearing in Doctor Who then I’ll upgrade this post from the Rumors, Lies, Stories They Made Up section to the News section. I hope it’s true though – how awesome would it be for Bowie to sing and dance in a new movie! Sadly, I don’t think he’ll put the Labyrinth tights back on, but I’ll be happy with singing and dancing.

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David Bowie The Actor is back on the big screen with a small role in the latest Josh Hartnett vehicle, “August.” David plays the part of a CEO of a dotcom corporation and amazingly managed to film his part earlier this week during what I’m sure was an insane High Line Festival schedule. That might explain why he was unable to perform like he originally said he was going to. But I digress. The movie, set in August 2001, is centered around two brothers that are working to keep their own dotcom company from going under.

According to IMDB, Austin Chick is directing and Howard A. Rodman wrote the screenplay. Neither of those two have been involved with any movies that I’ve seen, so I can’t make any pre-judgement. Damn – and I so love to do that. However, it also stars Rip Torn, who starred in The Man Who Fell To Earth alongside David, so that’s a bit of awesome. The movie is due out in 2009. We’ll keep the Movies section of the Wiki updated.

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