THE DANMAN CAN

Source Code   (2011),  Duncan Jones 's sort of time travel thriller is a bit like a mashup of  12 Monkeys  (1995),  The Manchurian Candidate   (1962),  Groundhog Day  (1993), Quantum Leap (1989–1993), and  Alfred Hitchcock . Trading the heavy melancholic mood of his previous film  Moon  (2009) for a more optimistic action drama, there's still an emotional weight and a strong central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal . Source Code  holds up on repeat viewings, even when you know the outcome and even though it borrows elements from other (aforementioned) better films. And that's because it's a well structured popcorn type flick, but one that never expects its audience to turn off their brains (or hearts) completely.

The last time I watched Duncan Jones 's Moon   (2009) was in 2016, not long after his father died, as part of a "Bowie" double feature with The Man Who Fell To Earth  (1976). I've seen the film four times now, including in the theater on its original run and now on UHD, which is the best looking presentation I've experienced yet. Jones's scientifically plausible, melancholic mood piece eschews the overly common action tropes of science fiction films in favor of the the emotional journey that one character (sort of), Sam Bell (brilliantly portrayed by Sam Rockwell ), experiences on a moon mining base. Bell's AI companion GERTY acts as the anti HAL (of 2001: A Space Odyssey  (1968) fame). Where HAL carried out its mission no matter what the human cost, GERTY aids Bell in every way, when Sam decides to expose certain discoveries about himself and his purpose on the base. Instead of robots being the source of fear, as in so much of science fiction, humans ...

I didn't know this until reading up a bit on it but apparently Mute (2018) has been a passion project for Duncan Jones  since before he made his brilliant debut Moon   (2009) (and I know I'm not the only one still waiting for him to make another film as good as that one). The tech noir aesthetic in  Mute  is quite gorgeous, albeit a bit  too  enslaved to  Blade Runner  (1982) at times (there's also a  really  obvious reference to  Twin Peaks   that I found simultaneously heavy handed and thrilling). The budget that went into the production design really shows though.  Clint Mansell  returns to Jones ' collaborative team to score and the music is sad, pretty and even a bit Bowie -esque at times ( Philip Glass ' ""Heroes" Symphony" is used early on in the film   as well). The three leads are all strong and I liked that Jones wasn't afraid to let a few of the main characters be pretty vile yet charis...

For my thoughts on Source Code  (2011), go here .

If you love Moon  (2009) like I do, you may still like Source Code (2011), but it's a lot different. Shades of  12 Monkeys  (1995), The Manchurian Candidate   (1962), Hitchcock and even Groundhog Day  (1993). I'm not seeing much of a clear definable style from Duncan Jones yet, at least not based on his 2 feature films.  Which is OK...I like diverse directors. I just hope he can continue to make above average films, and possibly some that really stand out, like Moon . Oh, and  Jeffrey Wright is awesome in this.