Dinner and a Movie

Anne and I decided to go the State Theatre tonight. The State Theatre is the home of the Traverse City Film Festival, and it is owned by Michael Moore. Yes, that Michael Moore. I really don’t care what your politics are, and I don’t care what you think of Michael. I’ve really grown to respect the man for what he has done for Traverse City. Before he took over the State Theatre and created the Traverse City Film Festival, downtown T.C. was deteriorating. Now it is a bustling downtown that is showing a lot of growth. It has been fun to watch.

Back to our evening. It started with dinner at the Firefly. It is an affordable, yet good restaurant. Dinner was awesome, and I had a beer that really surprised me. I know my beer loving friends are going to scoff at this, but it was a Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry. It was great. I really liked this beer. Anne and I both loved our meals too. It was overall an excellent experience.

Then we went to the State Theatre. This classic old building is by far the best place in Traverse City to see a movie. The atmosphere is fantastic, and the people are so friendly. They are all volunteers. The seats are comfortable. It just is fun to be there.

The movie we saw was Moon.

Moon

2009/UK/R/97 min
Director: Duncan Jones
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.

Moon was awesome! Sam Rockwell just knocks one out of the park as the lead character, Sam Bell. I’ve never seen him so good. I really don’t want to tell you much more about the movie. It would be too easy to put spoilers in this one. Moon does explore the effects of being isolated for a long time, and Rockwell plays that up well. It is directed by Duncan Jones, the son of David Bowie. Moon also features the voice of Kevin Spacey as the computer. The movie is dark, yet funny. I thought it was excellent sci-fi. I highly recommend this movie.

It was also fun to see this on the week of the fortieth anniversary of Apollo 11.