In the Shadow of the Village
Saw "In the Shadow of the Moon" on Sunday, a documentary on the moon landings that interviews all the surviving astronauts except Neil Armstrong. Terrific stuff; the men, all or most in their 70s, are candid, funny and humble about their experience. I watched the moon landings on TV as a youngster, read space books and played with Major Matt Mason astronaut toys, so this documentary was right up my alley. It does a good job of recreating the period and the sense of wonder.
I saw the movie at the Claremont Laemmle, where it's playing through Thursday. Recommended.
Oh, and the Laemmle now has a marquee, on Indian Hill Boulevard, a feature that seems to have sprung up on Friday or Saturday as more green construction fencing came down. A welcome touch.
I, like you, saw this on Sunday after having read your article several weeks ago that it was coming to Laemmle. I even wrote them after it didn't show up two weeks ago because, well, David Allen said so!
As for the film, what a fascinating movie. The ending about global warming got a little preachy in my opinion, but everything else about this movie was just magic, pure and simple. Just seeing that Earth-rise from Apollo 8 and hearing people like Alan Bean... *sigh*
Makes you wonder why the mystery and awe of space flight has disappeared from the American conscious.
You guys/gals (?) should check out MySpace for some awesome space footage. My son and I have been watching clips that came up using the search "mars mission." So much better than PBS kids! Just curious, how young a kid do you think the film would appeal to? i.e. how talky is it?
[It's half-talk, half-footage. Might be better for kids, oh, 10 and up... -- DA]
Any chance for a Bettie Page Film Festival in Clareville, now?