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In case you weren’t around in 1968, the sci-fi action-adventure centers on a female mercenary (played by Jane Fonda) who roams the universe of a distant future, taking on missions requiring bravery, creativity, and sensuality. It was all very sexy.

Now a remake is in the works! Joe Gazzam is writing the screenplay, with original producer Dino De Laurentiis  and his wife, Martha De Laurentiis on board to produce the update.

Originally, Robert Rodriguez was eyeing the project for Universal in 2007 with Rose McGowan in mind to star. But the studio and director couldn’t agree on where to shoot, so they parted ways.

Now I’m wondering who will be directing, because it sounds like just the quirky, sci-fi flick that Rodriguez is so good at. And let’s hope they find a fresh new face to star, rather than turning to the usual suspects like Megan Fox or any number of other actresses populating movie theaters.

Buy the original "Barbarella" on DVD.

Image: Amazon.com

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It’s a gritty sci-fi story that involves post-war apocalypse, barbed-wire enclosures, and exhausted alien refugees whose spaceship runs out of gas. Sounds fun, huh?! Hollywood Reporter has a great review of the film here. It hits theaters Aug. 14, 2009.

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Movie: Moon * Official Site	In Theaters: June 12, 2009 (limited)
Runtime: 97 minutes	Directed by: Duncan Jones
MPAA Rating: R for language	Gecko Rating:

I haven’t heard much about “Moon,” but it’s been on the film festival circuit this year and won Best New British Feature at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It features Sam Rockwell (pictured) in the lead, so that was enough to make me go see it at our restored downtown State Theater here in Traverse City, Michigan.

I took my budding filmmaker almost-15-year-old son. Even though it’s rated R, it’s mainly for language, which he and I are both ok with. He knows he’s not supposed to swear, and I know he knows he’s not supposed to swear. 

The story follows an astronaut named Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who’s finishing up a three-year contract for Lunar Industries, a company harvesting helium-3 from the moon and sending it back to Earth to be used as clean fuel. Sam’s been on his own for three years, and his only communication is via delayed-time relays from his employers and wife Tess back on Earth.

Sam’s only friend on the lunar station is a big computer named GERTY. It’s hard not to make comparisons to HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and the feel of the movie is very similar. GERTY, voiced by Kevin Spacey, has that same even-toned voice of HAL and even says similar things, such as “maybe you should take a tranquilizer.” I’m sure they must have included lines like that to pay homage to the class 1968 Stanley Kubrick film.

As you might imagine, after three years by himself with only a computer to talk to, Sam’s ready to go home and resume life with Tess and their baby daughter Eve, who was born just before he left the planet. But as the end of his contract approaches, strange things start to happen. Sam gets into an accident with the lunar harvester, and when he wakes up, GERTY says that a rescue team named ELIZA is headed for the moon to clean things up. Not only that, Sam finds a very unexpected visitor on the lunar station.

It’s a mystery-sci-fi-thriller with a lot of twists and turns. My son and I sort of knew where things were headed, but the ending took us by surprise. It’s not a high-action movie, by any means, but the story is interesting and gets more intense towards the end. And Sam Rockwell does a great job holding down most of the movie on his own. I’ve only recently become a Sam Rockwell fan, but he’s a great actor whose films I look forward to seeing.

If you like sci-fi space movies, check out “Moon” and let me know what you think.

Image: Sony Pictures Classics, 2009

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It’s directed and written by Duncan Jones, son of the legendary David Bowie, and follows an astronaut (Sam Rockwell) who pursues his own departure from a futuristic lunar mining base. "Moon" is rated R for language, and also stars Kevin Spacey (who voices a robot), Matt Berry, and Robin Chalk. 

Tribeca caught up with Jones recently at the Tribeca Film Festival.

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I love sequels that bring in lots of references from the preceding movies. “Terminator Salvation” does that, especially from the very first movie, “The Terminator.” 

You remember the story: Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor meets Kyle Reese, who was sent back from the future to keep her safe from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s big, bad Terminator. In the process, Sarah and Kyle grow close, and she gets pregnant with John Connor, who later becomes the leader of the resistance movement against the machines and Skynet. John is also the one who sent Kyle back to protect Sarah – so that he could be born.

I don’t know that I’ve fully grasped the concept of the first three Terminator movies until now. And it’s because “Terminator Salvation” is told from the future point of view, whereas “The Terminator” was told from the current point of view (or at least, current when it was released in 1984).

In “Terminator” we see things from Sarah’s point of view. In “Terminator Salvation,” we see things from adult John’s point of view in 2018. By this time, Skynet has destroyed most of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, and John Connor (Christian Bale) is leading a group of survivors known as “The Resistance” to keep the machines from killing them, too, and completely taking over. John is married now, to Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard).

There’s yet another twist to the story, though, in the form of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a guy whose last memory was of being on death row years earlier. When he wakes up, it’s to a post-apocalyptic world where giant robots are killing people and the Earth is a wasteland. Think “Road Warrior,” only with robots.

Marcus meets up with Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and a young mute girl named Star (Jadagrace). Reese jokingly tells Marcus that they’re the “L.A. Division” of the Resistance. On their way to find John Connor, Marcus connects with another Resistance fighter, Blair (Moon Bloodgood).

About the references, I won’t give too much away, but let’s just say that “Terminator Salvation” pays homage not only to Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but also to the catch-phrase “I’ll be back,” among other things. Being a “Terminator” fan since the first movie, I was definitely geeked by all this.

As for the Terminators themselves, there are some really nasty new models we haven’t seen before. And like the T-800 and other models that came earlier, these new versions “will not stop” until their goal is accomplished (i.e. whomever they’re chasing is either dead or captured). To that end, we get plenty of chase scenes, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat.

If you’re a Terminator fan, or a science fiction/robot movie fan, you should definitely check out “Terminator Salvation.” It’s intense, action-packed, and a nice segue into a reboot for the franchise. I predict more movies will follow.

The only reason I gave it four out of five geckos is because some of the lines were a little cheesy, and the ending was a little cliche.  

Note to Parents: As you might imagine, this movie is chock full of action and violence, including explosions, gunfire, chase scenes, shootings, and stabbings. Wounded and mutilated humans are shown, though there’s not a ton of blood. Language includes “hell” and “damn,” as well as one “f**k” and a few “sh*ts.” The overall good-vs-evil message is positive, and I’d say it’s fine for kids 14 and older who aren’t bothered by all of that.

Other Links on Film Gecko: Video Interviews with Moon Bloodgood and Christian Bale, 53 Images, Interview with Michael Papajohn, 4-Minute Trailer, 3rd Official Trailer

Photo Credits: TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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Christian Bale:

Moon Bloodgood and Common:   

Sam Worthington:

John Rosengrant – Animatronics:

McG, Director of “Terminator Salvation”:

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It’s a sci-fi action flick starring Gerard Butler ("300"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), and Milo Ventimiglia ("Heroes"). Directed by "Crank" and "Crank: High Voltage" helmers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the story is set in a futuristic world where humans can control other humans like an online game.

Rated R for frenetic sequences of strong brutal violence throughout, sexual content, nudity and language, "Gamer" hits theaters Sept. 4, 2009. Check out the trailer below. Think you’ll see this movie?

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Photo Credits: TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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While Connor was the main character in the first three "Terminator" movies, he was only supposed to have a small part in the fourth "Terminator" film, due in theaters May 21, 2009 (watch the trailer here). Instead, Connor became a central character. McG says the script became a "moving target," and he worked extensively with Bale to work the character into the movie.

"A lot of the work was integrating (Connor) into scenes … and having that feel integral and sensible, as opposed to grafted on just because there was a star in the part," says screenwriter John Brancato.

Originally, the main character was going to be Marcus Wright (played by Aussie actor Sam Worthington), an executed death row inmate who donates his body to science and is resurrected after machines take over the world by unleashing a nuclear holocaust on mankind. Now both Connor and Wright are equally important in the movie.

Bale had input in the casting of Worthington, as well. "There’s a benefit of currently a lot of people in the States not being familiar with him, and so you can really enjoy that performance that much more," notes Bale. "He’s got so many movies that are going to be coming out, because many other people have realized that he’s bloody good."

Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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