Monday, January 31, 2011

MInd Sieve 1/31/11

Life has hellish this week so not as much time to sift through links to pull out the good stuff. Hopefully will do better next week! (Wish me luck!)


Contests/Giveaways

Shared by @ColleenLindsay - Win a full edit from Del Rey/Spectra, maybe even get published! (Ooo sweet!)



Conventions

Shared by @ColleenLindsay - Comic Con Registration opens Feb 5th!



Health

From @KristenLambTX - Gluten - the evil assasin! (I am thinking I suffer from this. And maybe my daughter!)



Science

From @NASA - NASA has aSolar Sail currently working out in low orbit. This could be super cool!



Writing Advice

From @GloriaOliver - Let's Talk Dialect. My guest post over at Obscure YA Authors.

Shared by @KristenLambTX - Part Book ad but also has lots of TRUTHs about writing.

Shared by @inkyelbows - How do you know if your writing is improving? Some helpful tips.

From @inkyelbows - How to read like a writer. Why reading can prove so good for you.

From @NathanBransford - How to use Twitter.

From @CandaceHavens - There's always more to learn as a writer. Continuing your author education.

Shared by @inkyelbows - Critique Groups - be informed - what to look for!

From @ChuckWendig - Writer Reality Check from HELL! (You do have to REALLY want it, guys.) :P

From @gailcarriger - What is Steampunk. Nice explanation and tons of sources where you can see it in movies, books, and more!


Have an awesome week! And happy reading!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Movie Review - The Rite

The Rite

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Rutger Hauer, Marta Gastini, and more...

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom Written by: Michael Petroni - suggested by the book by Matt Baglio

Premise: Michael Kovak ran off to seminary school to get away from his father and the family business. From the start he only planned to go long enough to get a degree then leave before he has to give his final vows. However, after a strange accident, his superior tells him how he'd like him to go to Rome to take a two month course on Exorcism and then decide whether to become a priest or not. So having nothing to lose, Michael goes to Rome.

Review: If you want a scare fest film, this is not for you. Luckily for me, I hoped it would be something else and it was.

Colin O'Donoghue does a great job as the skeptic (with some heavy denial) in the film. Anthony Hopkins was awesome as the bone weary exorcist and then does what he does best later in the film. (Hey, you don't really want me to tell you, do you?) Heh heh. Marta Gastini was totally awesome and creepy as both a victim and a spirit.

Great view shots of Rome - from the Vatican to busy Rome streets to crumbling parks. Subtle but very nice special effects. The music by Alex Heffes was slow, sweet, and at times creepy as all get out.

This movie is about giving you the creeps rather than cheap scares. They do still shove in there a couple of 'jump in your chair' shots, but don't make it a habit. Mood and atmosphere are king here. And it was good. Plus all the little things they threw in there that screamed of wrongness.

There are no real surprises per say. Though having said that the accident toward the beginning of the movie will totally catch you off guard. It's really were we start to see that something might just be going on here. Which is of course why we're watching the movie in the first place. :P

I enjoyed it. If you go with the right expectation, I think you will too.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby says better for Matinee)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/26/11

Some awesome sunrise and sunsets this past week. And a couple of oddball pics. Plus more stuff shared by others.



From @NASA - Hubble shows two dramatically different views of "the Whirlpool Galaxy" - definetly gorgeous!

At the anime store a week or more ago, I can across the weirdest bottles ever! Evangelion has gone to yet another level.






I was afraid to ask if they were selling well. :P


















From @NASA - Chandra views "starburst" galaxy M82, with stars forming at much higher rates than a normal galaxy



Baby blue and pink was the name of the game on this day!

Shared by @marthawells1 - Amazing Works of Art - talk about inventing new ways to make art. WOW

And for fun!
Shared by @torbooks - Map of the Star Wars Universe!

Let me leave you with one last sky shot. :) Look at those colors!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Mind Sieve 1/24/11

Got a bunch of good stuff this past week. Even several contests!
So let's get started!

Contests/Giveaways

Shared by @DelReySpectra - Free Book contest from Ari Marmel

Shared by @torbooks - Steampunk Adventures is holding a writing contest. Submissions due March 1st.

Shared by @DeidreKnight - Chance to win $100 gift card. Share what's the riskiest thing you've done for love and win! (Not sure on when this expires! Doh!)

From @yabookscentral - Manga Giveaway at YA Books Central. One is even a How To!


Conventions

Shared by @tweetheart4711 - Mini A-kon in Feb! Denton, TX!



Fan Fun

Shared by @jimsissy - Colleen has been doing chemo and lost all her hair. She decided to have a contest for people to photoshop hair for her. Some of these were awesome. (Didn't see them on her blog. Hopefully she didn't just post them to twitter...Bah humbug...)

Shared by @ChuckWendig - Pandemic article at Wired. Multi media experiment at Sundance and beyond!



Games

From @ChuckWendig - Chuck's first days playing Minecraft - if you've ever played, this post is even funnier. Heh heh (Poor Chuck) Fun game, simple, but addicting in its weirdness :P (Do not be drinking when you read this. It will come out your nose! You've been warned! Heh heh)



Podcasts

From @WNDRWolf - Podcast Round Table Discussion with Odin1eye and Richard Green

Shared by @GloriaOliver - BroadPod - BroadUniverse January podcast with readings by author members



Science

Shared by @MichaelPata - The first Mammoth cloning experiment is officially underway - Cool!

Shared by @mattstaggs - 34,000 year old bacteria found ALIVE! And Kicking! Even reproducing! Totally amazing.



Television

Shared by @torbooks - New trailer for Game of Thrones! Sweet~!



Writing Advice

From @KristenLambTX - The Character of the Successful Writer--A New Level or a New Devil?


Shared by @rachelcaine - The skinny on books being made into movies - misconceptions dashed!


From @ChuckWendig - Thoughts on Rejections and Reality - how to beat both!

Shared by @jafurtado - Are you a Moral author? by Richard Curtis - New contract clause at Harper Collins

Shared by @ChuckWendig - Reading aloud to edit - I need to do this more often myself!


Shared by @KristenLambTX - Parenting, Writing, Life! How do you fit it all in?

Shared by @KristenLambTX - Some tips on writing a Press Release that will get attention

Shared by @inkyelbows - #amwriting Website. Tons of resources and also explains what hashtags are and more! (I need to make a presence there!)

From @KristenLambTX - 1st in a series - Twitter Tuesdays. Twitter for Authors!

From @dknippling - How to play the Writer Lotto!

From @KristenLambTX - This is NOT the Blog You're Looking For -how to avoid being that guy...


From @ChuckWendig - Like the preachings of the Church of DBAA and Yard Dog Press - Don't be an asshole of a writer but still be yourself


Phew! That's an awful lot of good stuff I scrunched out of this week! Dang! Enjoy!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Movie Review - Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travel

Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Chris O'Dowd, and more...

Directed by: Rob Letterman Screenplay by: Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller - based on the book by Jonathan Swift

Premise: Realizing his life is going nowhere, Gulliver tries to work himself up to asking out the girl he likes, but instead digs himself into a hole and ends up taking a writing assignment

Movie Review - Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travel

Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Catherine Tate, Billy Connolly, Chris O'Dowd, and more...

Directed by: Rob Letterman Screenplay by: Joe Stillman and Nicholas Stoller - based on the book by Jonathan Swift

Premise: Realizing his life is going nowhere, Gulliver tries to work himself up to asking out the girl he likes, but instead digs himself into a hole and ends up taking a writing assignment out in the Bermuda Triangle. While traveling to the spot for the article, he's swept away in a giant waterspout and ends up very far away from home.

Review: I'd seen the commercials for this film and seeing the kid humor displayed in them wasn't sure it was for me, despite the fact I like the tale and concept and that Catherine Tate (Donna Noble from Dr Who!)and other fun actors were in it.

While it did have some of the kid humor as shown in the commercials, however, I was glad I went to see it. The film had several things going for it that made it quite enjoyable above and beyond the gags.

The first major thing was that they played a short before the start of the film - Skrat's Continental Crack-up! Yes, Skrat from Ice Age did a short right before the movie! And it was one of the best ones yet. A wonderful explanation of the splitting of the original continent of Pangea :P Too funny. Poor little guy can never catch a break.

The second major thing was the awesome attention to detail in the film. When it begins they do a beautiful rendition of the city with overhead views and everything looks miniaturized. And not in the sense that things are far away and look small, but like made up models and toy cars even as real people walk about. It almost made the 'real' world seem fake, the fantasy, while the land of the Lilliputians the true world.

The costuming, the buildings, the mechanisms in Lilliput were very detailed. The tech all had a very awesome HG Wells feel about it. Pseudo steampunkish in a way. And though we didn't learn much about the society, there was enough there to make the Lilliputian way of life feel real and structured. In some ways their lives are too structured and strict, and here comes a strange visitor who drives all to loosen up a bit and have more fun, in a manner of speaking. The changes you see as the film progresses are interesting, some utterly fun, and a few a little sad.

Not everyone is happy about the changes Gulliver has brought about due to his presence though. Not happy at all!

I appreciated seeing how Gulliver brought with him the means to his own destruction - within himself and without. Of course in the end he comes through, but there were a couple of unexpected twists along the way I very much enjoyed.

Overall the film was entertaining and at times even humorous. And with Skrat doing the lead in, it was definitely worth seeing it.

Rating: 3.5 (4 with Skrat) out of 5 (Hubby: Matinee price w/o Skrat, Full Price with Skrat):P

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/19/11

Let's start this weeks picture-rama with super cute!


Ran across this scene by pure accident at my brother's home. It was too cute not to grab a pic and share. :)

Now for something scary. Shared by @marthawells1 - An ice covered lighthouse You'll catch a cold just looking at this thing! Brrrr

Then back to something awe inspiring! Shared by @BadAstronomer - Milky Way's (almost) identical Twin. (Real nice Galaxy pic!)



Tiny footprints in the snow! We had a White Christmas on 1/9/11 (Sickness, travel, and other issues forced my side of the family to have a late get together) and we found these little foot prints. Thought they might be the squirrels, but then saw these tiny black birds with white bellies actually moving by hopping around rather than flying. Too cute!






From @ChuckWendig - I swear his Chihuahua is saying "How chu doing?" Brows rising and falling. Hee!

From @Nasa - Green Glob Space Oddity! Or a Space Frog!

Shared by @torbooks - Ghost Busters Wedding Cake! For reals! So cool!



Subaki and Mythril sleeping and propping each others with their heads. Adorable!













And speaking of cats... Shared by @torbooks - How to Steampunk Your Cat! Steampunked kitty drawings and pics

Shared by @petapixel - Deep Space photos taken from a backyard. Totally awe inspiring!

And because we can NEVER have enough CUTE! Shared by @JaneLebak - It's so tiny! Cutest baby possum EVER!



The sunset looked like a rainbow. Not sure that the camera caught that though. :(



From @Nasa - Triungulum Galaxy! Pretty!

On a sadder note... Shared by @petapixel - Queensland, Australia flood pics. Way way too much water. Reminds me of the floods in New Orleans after Katrina. Brrrrr.

And last but not least...the train that got in my way after work. :P
















Have a great day! Feel free to share some of the pics you've taken or been impressed by in the comments section.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Mind Sieve 1/17/11

More fun stuff I've run across to share with you this week. Enjoy!

Book Releases

From @ChuckWendig - Where he celebrates the Release of IRREGULAR CREATURES - giving info, a sales pitch and GUILT! Bwahahahaha! (Potentially not safe for work!)

From @rclementmoore - Paperback Release of Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore.



Contests/Giveaways

Shared by @rclementmoore - A ton of free books up for grabs at YA Outside the Lines

Shared by @inkyelbows - Literary Manuscript Agent Contest!

From @NovelNovice - Big CONTEST! EPIC Prizes but you'll have to work for them. :P

From @Suzanne_McLeod - Book Giveaways starting with The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

From @ElanaJ - Celebrating the launch of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE



Conventions

Shared by @AKon_Convention - AA has discounts for peeps buying airline tickets to come to A-kon! How cool is that?!


Fan Fun

Shared by @torbooks - Han Solo in carbonite in Firefly episodes! Yes, see if you too can spot the elusive Han Solo! (A lot like Pineapples in Psych! Heh)


Games

Shared by @ChuckWendig - MINECRAFT an addictive little game! (Family has been playing it for several weeks. Fun time sink!)


Manga/Anime/Cartoons

From @examinercom - Young Justice - new superhero fodder on Cartoon Network (Saw the premier in late 2010 and this was fun!)


Personal Help

From Kathy Sullivan - Loners and lonely - what's the difference? And what does it mean to you?


Science

Shared by @ChuckWendig - Bees are dying - And we may know exactly why. (Mind boggling that they can get away with this stuff...)

Shared by @mdbenoit2 - Sonic Black Hole ho! Interesting article on how they hope to study Hawkins particles



Weird & Creepy

From @examinercom - Dead birds in the thousands fall from the sky in Italy (I believe since then there's been even more flocks of birds dying all over the place. Eek)



Writing Advice

From @KristenLambTX - Writing Productivity - how to get it!

Shared by @ixtumea - Negativity can keep you from success. And not necessarily from where or what you'd normally expect.

Shared by @ChuckWendig - JM Tohline presents a list and explanations for the biggest mistakes writers make when querying literary agents (these come straight from agents too!)

Shared by @sfwa - Practical bits of useful info for young and old writers.

From @ChuckWendig - Major Reality Check!Why you might not get published (NSFW)

Shared by @KristenLambTX - (NSFW) Editing the Chore, the Challenge, the Misconceptions!

Shared by @KristenLambTX - Discussion on whether or not Cold Queries work

Shared by @inkyelbows - Giving Characters Character! Make them Pop off the page



That's it for this week. If you found some way cool stuff you'd like to share, tack it on in the comments!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Movie Review - Green Hornet

Green Hornet


Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, and more...


Directed by: Michael Gondry Written by: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg


Premise: After the death of his father, rich playboy, Britt Reid, meets his father's genius auto mechanic, Kato. While playing a trick on the statue of the man they both loved/hated and never truly understood, they find themselves helping a couple being mugged and are so pumped after the adventure, they decide to take it further.


Review: We went and saw the Green Hornet in IMAX 3D. While the 3D piece didn't have much to do with the film except for a couple of fun, key scenes and the end credits, seeing the fast paced action in the crisp IMAX was great.


If you're a fan of the original show with Bruce Lee and Van Williams you'll find plenty of fan service. But this isn't a cookie cutter of the original. Several things are shaken up and twisted on their ear. Though it did totally retain the two best parts of the original - Kato and Black Beauty. The film is totally worth it just to watch those two. (The green headlights so rock!) :)


The hero is definitely flawed and slowly learns his lessons even if it's the hard way. A lot of the bumbling when they first start out might jar but made it even more precious for being realistic. We see the true origins of their partnership before they became a suave and well oiled fighting pair.

Britt Reid is working through a lot of issues, some which he's been carrying for twenty years or more. In Kato he finds a confidant and someone to aspire to. For Kato, Britt is someone who sees and understands his potential and by doing so makes him push to be even more so, to be all that he can be.


Of course, they're both kids at heart, so egos start to get in the way when things get tough.


Christopher Waltz was a hoot, and disturbing. He's a bad guy that only wants to be bad. And feared. So he can't understand when he's not. His confusion is so child like it's kind of sad and you almost feel sorry for him. (Personally I thought his original coat was pimp!) Fun stuff from this guy!


Not a young kids movie. The violence is not extreme but you definitely see dead people. Bad guys get shot, crushed, or flung from high places. So be advised.


Action sequences are pretty good. The big battle showdown has car chases, gun battles, elevator fu, rockets, explosions, and more. Some cool effects. Lots of verbal jokes and double meanings.


Overall, it was a fun flick and well worth it. Even a mystery reveal!


Rating: 3.75 to a 4.0 out of 5. (Hubby rated it - worth full price of admission)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/12/11

As threatened, here is the first of my picture blogs. Heh heh. Some I took others are links to awesome pics shared through different means I thought you might enjoy.

Took this one on the way home from work. The colors are amazing!




This is from earlier in the year. One of our rose buds. The wind was not letting the camera or flower cooperate.




















Yes, I have some ways to go before doing good pics on the phone. lol. Work in progress.

From @petapixel - First Solar Eclipse of 2011 - some truly awesome pics!

Cloud Tsunami! Texas is flat so when we get a cloud bank like this, it's really a little scary looking! :) (That is not a mountain range or hill, that gray background is all cloud!)




From @starwars - Rare backstage photo of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher

Fiery sunset...














From @JerryJDavis - Nice joke for a cold picture

This is a picture of some of the most fabulous bread EVER! It's called White Chocolate Orange Royale. It's sweet and super yummy! Found it at Whole Foods.





Looks at the trees on this one. Those are not leaves, they're mostly birds! Like something out of the old Hitchcock movie. Hee!
















And last but definitely not least...

From @Nasa comes the Andromeda Galaxy from Nasa's Image of the Day. (Totally Awesome!)


Enjoy!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Mind Sieve and More!

Okay. I need to blog more. Problem is I'm BORING! I lead a somewhat orderly and mundane life. So what to do?

Well, after much thought, I think I've finally come up with a thing or two I can do on a regular basis thus creating a steady flow of posts. Better yet, it might even be interesting and whatnot! Even helpful! *gasp*

I'll continue doing the movie reviews, as we normally see one every week. Maybe throw in some TV reviews as well. Will probably do con reports on those weekends I'm not able to go to the movies due to being at a con. Will also add Mind Sieve posts and Picture Kaleidoscope posts! (Those two I am hoping to make regular features.)

For the Mind Sieve posts I'll list links and small descriptions for cool content and blog posts I've run across and RT'd on Twitter. This will give me a chance to better share these things since Twitter is so very NOW and blogs don't roll away as fast.

For the Picture Kaleidoscope I'll share whatever weird phone pics I took for the week but also present the cool stuff people have Tweeted or shown on Facebook that I've run across. Hopefully I will trip over enough material to keep all of us happy. And it's always nice to link back and forth anyway. The more the merrier! (Now if I could only figure out when the best days to post these things regularly would be...)

Well, let's get this party started shall we?

*drum roll please*

CONTESTS

From @mybookishways - Copy of Rachel Caine's Ghost Town up for Grabs!

From @orbitbooks - Win a ton of books! Jim Butcher Fans unite!

From @yabookscentral - Submitting reviews could earn you a Box of Books!


Fan Fun

From @rclementmoore - If you enjoyed Rosemary Clemment-Moore's Splendor Falls (fun book!) you can now become a fan at FaceBook!

Shared by @HuffingtonPost - BIG NEWS! David Tenant (Dr Who) is engaged!
And to no other than the Doctor's Daughter (who really is a Dr Who Daughter!)

From @Rob_Thurman - Rob Thurman has a new website! Music, audio samples, manga pics, banners and more!


Gadget Help

Shared by @BacklisteBooks - Useful article on how to add ebooks to your iPhone, iPad and iTouch


Manga/Anime

Shared by @dailycartoonist - TRON will have an animated series in the summer!

From @debaoki - 2011 Manga Previews - 82 New Titles!


Personal Help

Shared by @Ginger_Clark - Some tips on how to help overcome shyness for authors!


Science

Shared by @JerryJDavis - Organic life on Mars!


Television

Shared by @torbooks - 11 SF/Fantasy shows coming in 2011! YES!


Writing Advice

From @KristenLambTX - Ways to sell a ton of books!

From @ChuckWendig - (NSFW) Using the News to kick in a new angle to get your book picked up - humorous!

Shared by @CandaceHavens - Guest Blogger Kristen Lamb talks about the differences between Social Media Gurus and Authors

From @NathanBransford - Writing blog comments the right way can make for more traffic to your own blog

From @ChuckWendig - (NSFW) What the HECK is a Writer's Platform and how do I get one?

From ">@KristenLambTX - Persistence is good for an author, but when is it too much?

From @Kid_Lit - Being Patient is hard to do, but as writer's we've no choice


Writing Opportunities

Shared by @EvilWylie - Submission Guidelines for Writers Without Borders

HAH! That should keep ya'll busy for a bit. :P Enjoy!

Friday, January 07, 2011

Movie Review - Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Ulrich Thomsen, Claire Foy, Robert Sheehan, Christopher Lee and more...

Directed by: Dominic Sena Written by: Bragi F Schut

Premise: A veteran crusader and his fellow knight desert their duty after their latest skirmish sanctioned by the Church involves the massacre of women and children. They're found out during their travels and are given a choice: serve the Church one last time or be killed for desertion. Though at first Behmen refuses, despite the fact he will be killed, as he learns more about the mission and those involved, he changes his mind.

Review: I'd been looking forward to this film for a while. It didn't look like your typical fare. But what we ended up with didn't go far enough.

Most of the characters are minimally constructed. No real depth. (Which could have been resolved with a little more movie time - the film is short at only 95 min) Only the good acting skills of the cast actually drive it along despite the lack of character development. Cage and Perlman have a good rapport, even switching buddy roles as true buddies are bound to do. (One acts out while the other is calm, then vice versa.) Claire Foy looked to have fun in her multifaceted role, which came across well most of the time. Did disturb me though that the farther the movie went along the cleaner she got though it should have been the other way around.

Despite the fact we're in 1344 the language was very anachronistic. "Hello. Is anyone home?" just rang of glaring 20th Century. Overall it's not too noticeable, yet for the one scene with the above it glared and glared hard. :P

Beautiful scenery with some CGI enhancements. The sand dunes for the Crusades looked pretty fake though. The far off monastery (I believe it is a real place) was gorgeous! (Filming locations were Hungary and Austria).

The film is creepy in places. The special effects and makeup people did some outstanding work. The plot tries to keep you guessing about the girl, but not too hard. The opening sequence with the women accused of being witches was good. There's even a hint here of what will turn out to be the film's main mystery/shocker bit. That actually worked pretty well, until they had to do the physical flashbacks to show the audience (who'd be too stupid to put it together or remember, right...) the bits the characters are talking about as they reach the important conclusion.

The fight scenes were mediocre. They used a filming style for them which I think is sad, where they shimmy the action so you can't quite see what's going on. I'm sure they feel it ratchets up the tension, but to me it just comes across as lame. If you do a good fight, the action will ratchet its own tension up just fine! Heh.

Overall it was entertaining. The costumes and locations really added to the overall medieval feel.

Rating: 3.75

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Movie Review - MOON

(Didn't go to the theater this week, but did catch a little known movie on STARZ. A total GEM I must share with you! So here I am.)

MOON (2009)

Starring: Sam Blackwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligot, Kaya Scodelario and more.

Directed/Written by: Duncan Jones. Screenplay: Nathan Parker

Premise: Sam Bell has been under contract to be on the Moon for the last 3 years maintaining equipment and sending shipments of H3 back to earth. His contract is almost up and he's about to go home when there's an accident. He wakes up in medical only to find out he's been restricted to base, despite the fact one of the machines is not functioning and he needs to go repair it. Feeling stubborn, Sam creates a problem so he's able to convince GERTY, his semi AI computer companion, to lift the restriction. Going out to the harvester, he finds a wrecked buggy and someone inside - and he's alive.

Review: This isn't your typical SF movie. But it is a more typical SF short story! And that's one of the things that makes this movie totally awesome. It doesn't try to be super exciting, or overwhelm you with special effects or action (though all that is there is very well done). What it is is a well told story, with great acting, great props, and an awesome starry sky.

Sam Blackwell did a great job, even more so when you consider that he's just about the only character in the movie (97% all him!). There is a lot of subtlety in the script and it is made of awesome. Human nature is shown in many levels and I loved the visible differences between Sam in 3 years. (I'm trying not to give too much away! It's so hard! You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it!)

Kevin Spacey as the voice of GERTY was a blast. Dead pan forte! I loved how they made the computer a unit with independent arms and how the main console and its arm pieces rolled on ceiling grid tracks. Even more fun was the small screen on the computer's front side. It would show different smiley faces for the emotions it was trying to emulate. At first it seemed a little silly, but the longer I watched the movie the more poignant those smiley faces became. Kudos for that!

Many significant moments were beautifully underplayed. They were the type of thing that on their own would mean nothing, but when placed in the context meant so much more than you'd ever imagine. When Sam pulls off the "kick me" sign off the back of GERTY's unit, I teared up. Such a simple sign of affection and new found respect. Yet something the computer itself would never be aware of and there for us to notice or miss on our own.

The movie might seem a little slow, but it is only to allow the watcher to digest each layer as the veil is slowly but inexorably peeled back. Well worth it. There are several things the characters never says but they are obvious in the showing. Even the ending you pick up from reports spoken but unseen, as if that result truly is nothing when compared to the realizations made on the Moon itself.

Make sure to look out at the sky whenever Sam goes out driving. It's gorgeous! And exactly what you'd see without atmosphere clouding out the stars. Movie is worth it for that view alone! Heh heh

If you love Science Fiction and the social aspects it brings into question, this movie is totally for you!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5!
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