Moon (2009)

dir. Duncan Jones
writ. Nathan Parker (screenplay), Duncan Jones (original story)
feat. Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott

Moon offers several delightfully confounding moments, where it's unclear what is going on, reason has been defied, and somehow, perhaps because it's all happening in the isolation of a quiet base station on the moon, such strange occurrences seem within the realm of possibility. Few films achieve such mind-bending disorientation while managing to bring it all back to a plausible reality. This feat, along with a rare meaty role for Rockwell propels Moon up a short list of thoughtful science fiction films that deliver as many ideas as space-based thrills.

At its best, the film explores the effects of isolation upon the human psyche in a clever and wonderfully effective way (which to describe would ruin much of the pleasure). Both the technique used and the findings carry the picture, frequently arousing and satisfying the viewer's curiosity. But the narrative also strays, wasting time on a HAL-inflected computer (voiced by Kevin Spacey) that suggests deeper personality traits that never surface and a few notes of corporate malfeasance that while apparent, aren't interesting or developed enough to seem important to this story. All in all, Moon feels about a reel short, missing something, a discovery or two left hidden, leaving one aching for a touch more.

Waltz with Bashir (Valta Im Bashir) (2008)

writ. and dir. Ari Folman
feat. Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ari Folman, Dror Harazi

Folman's gripping study of war and memories both forgotten and eternally haunting moves along at a deceptively calm pace. The simple animation style imbues the characters with hypnotic, almost languorous motion without resorting to cheap, unnecessary tricks - flashing cuts or blasts of sound - to underline the already harrowing battle scenes. Folman's quiet probing approach to interviewing unlocks the personal stories of his subjects, each revealing awkward, private moments from the battlefield. While the unique and varied accounts could seem disjointed, a collection of tales that don't share a narrative track, the repeated horror and the final surprising shots of the film converge powerfully to assert the pointlessness of war and the damage wreaked upon both civilians and soldiers.