If you believe, they put a man on the Moon...

40 years ago today, humankind conquered space and landed on the moon. The immortal words of Neil Armstrong spoken as he became the first person to step onto the lunar surface will go down in history. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". I wasn't alive when this happened. But it is pretty f*cking cool.

I am sure that when Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon back in 1969, many thought that by 2009 we would be living on the moon and there would be bi-weekly shuttles or it would be like Bewitched and we would just wrinkle our noses and boom - to the moon! Well. Not so much. I believe there is a plan to launch a lunar shuttle for civilians, but until I see Richard Branson beaming down at me from space, I guess we will have to settle for BSG reruns.

Or, for an amazing look at what spending 3 years alone on the moon can do to one man's sanity and psyche, you can see Moon. Moon stars the incredible Sam Rockwell as Astronaut Sam Bell who has an eerie encounter with a clone of himself towards the end of his three year stint on the moon. Directed by David Bowies son Duncan Jones, the movie is pretty much all Sam Rockwell and he is amazing. With live communication on the fritz, his only interaction is with the voice of Kevin Spacey who pays "Gerty" the Space Stations devoted computer.

A real science fiction film, this movie explores themes of isolation and raises some disturbing ethical questions. It was incredibly well acted by Rockwell in multiple roles and was an interesting, thought provoking film. It felt like it was made 20 years ago - but not in a bad way. I really enjoyed Sam's interactions with himself, which provided pretty much the only comic relief in an otherwise bleak film.

This is yet another example of a movie you should see instead of Transformers 2. Trust me. Go see Sam Rockwell's stellar performance in Moon.

XO