Pick of the Day: Moon

I think I could handle being alone in space for three years. Especially if my isolation was guaranteed to end at that point, and I had plenty of interesting things to do in the interim, which I presumably would, being that I was in freaking space.

That's the situation facing Sam Rockwell's character in this movie. He's been dispatched to the moon on a three-year assignment by Korean-based Lunar Industries to extract helium-3 for much-needed power generation back home (via fusion, I guess). Things go well for most of his stay, but as his date of departure looms he finds himself doubting his sanity when he begins to experience hallucinations aboard the station.

Leaving aside for a moment the premise -- what 21st century corporation would be allowed to dispatch a person to work alone for three years on the moon with only a robot for company? -- this flick is supposed to be pretty good.

If I was put in Rockwell's shoes, I'd like to think I'd be up to the challenge. Still, outer space is a daunting environment. I remember reading that when the U.S. was first launching astronauts solo into space during the Mercury program in the early '60s, one mused to ground control as he whizzed repeatedly around Earth that if NASA recruited an astronaut without any legs it'd be able to cram even more equipment into the already jam-packed capsule. So space does fuck with your head.

Here's the trailer for Moon (YouTube). It plays tonight at the RPL Theatre at 7 p.m.