Moon

When London-based director Duncan Jones graduated from Ohio's College of Wooster with a philosophy major, his thesis was titled “How to Kill Your Computer Friend: An Investigation of the Mind/Body Problem and How It Relates to the Hypothetical Creation of a Thinking Machine.” This interest might well have set the stage for MOON, a thinking man's sci-fi film about the lone inhabitant of a lunar mining base whose mind begins playing tricks on him. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries whose three-year moon stint is nearly over (he can't wait to get back to Earth to his wife and child). He's been sure to follow his assignments carefully, but Bell's concentration starts to slip and he blacks out. Waking up in sick bay, he discovers he's no longer alone… Jones has worked as the film director for a computer games company and his confidence with f/x is reflected in the design of MOON's sleek moon base. Hovering in tone between “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,” MOON is sure to be a hit. And did we mention that Jones is the son of Ziggy Stardust's alter ego David Bowie? – B.B.