In The Shadow Of The Moon

Director: David Sington
Rating: PG
Runtime: 100 minutes
Trailer: Click here to view
Release Date: September 7, 2007 (limited)
The Reel Man: 5 reels
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***MINOR SPOILER ALERT***
If humankind has a purpose, it is to explore and discover. From Magellan to Lewis and Clark, humans are driven as a species to, as one fictional Starfleet captain once said, "boldly go where no one has gone before." And there is no more awe-inspiring example of man’s quest for answers than NASA's Apollo space program. While the motivation to land a man (after all it was a boys' club back then) on the moon had very little to do with exploration, it is a triumph that also exists outside the politics of the Cold War.
With new interviews of the surviving Apollo astronauts, In The Shadow of the Moon relates through first-person accounts, the stakes, fears and discoveries of humankind's greatest achievement, peppered throughout with stunning archival footage. Looking back on their missions of the late 60's and early 70's, the astronauts are surprisingly animated, eloquent and even humorous - especially Alan Bean (Apollo 12) and Michael Collins (Apollo 11). Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) also delivers a big laugh when he recounts what he was first to do on the moon (hint: it rhymes with "kiss.") While one astronaut invokes the son of God (I'd like to see Jesus try and pilot the lunar module), I much prefer the presence of the more nondenominational, spiritual insights the journey impressed upon these men.
To the delight of conspiracy theorists who see it as a silent confirmation of the “truth,” first-man-on-the-moon, Neil Armstrong, turned down the opportunity to be interviewed for the film. His absence is a shame as it would be interesting to hear more from the Apollo 11 commander whose words (missing article forgiven) so perfectly encapsulated the real meaning of the mission. Perhaps it is just his reclusive nature or maybe he simply recognizes that the first lunar landing was not the accomplishment of one astronaut, but rather hundreds of thousands of scientists, engineers and other contractors behind the scenes, every bit as, and in many ways more, important than his contribution.
Our lives can be traced by the footprints we leave behind, and those footprints in the lunar dust left by a jury's worth of astronauts are profound ones to be sure. My father was there to watch the launch of Apollo 11, and I hope I am able to witness liftoff of the first manned (or wo-manned) mission to Mars.

The Pixar Story

Writer/Director: Leslie Iwerks
Runtime: 87 minutes
Release Date: August 28, 2007 (limited release)
The Reel Man: 2 reels
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I can write with some degree of authority about The Pixar Story. I have two subscriptions to animation magazines which I read cover-to-cover, I religiously attend the Oscar shorts festival every year specifically to see the entries in the Animated Short category, I dropped a thousand dollars on a CG course at UCLA Extension, and I am currently working on my first animated short film. Surprisingly, I found myself bored watching The Pixar Story.

With talking heads, behind the scenes video and enhanced photographs, the movie plays like an extended DVD-extra engineered to instill faith in stockholders. There is not a lot of new information here. Anyone remotely interested in computer animation is already very familiar with the evolution of Pixar, its triumphs and struggles, including its on-again, off-again relationship with the entertainment corporation headed by a gloved, but shirtless mouse seemingly suffering from a permanent overdose of Prozac.
In a small way, The Pixar Story is also guilty of the all too common crime in Michael Moore documentaries and Fox News reports: the half-truth. Of course, the subject matter here is not as important, nor does it try to be. But to instill a somewhat false sense of jeopardy, the film champions the "risk" Pixar took in hiring outside director Brad Bird to helm The Incredibles. It depicts his film, The Iron Giant, as a hand-drawn 2D animated feature… except, it isn't. Well, half of it isn't. In fact, the film’s title character is a CG creation rendered to look like hand-drawn 2D. Point being: Bird wasn’t so out of his element in the world of Pixar.
To be fair, the movie is not devoid of entertainment. There is a brief, but engaging segment in which an animator is given notes on a sequence from Finding Nemo where the clown fish appears to be on the verge of suicide. This part of The Pixar Story works to personalize the job of the animator and it adds a much needed, relatable human element that is missing from the majority of the film.
For those who know nothing about Pixar, this is certainly an opportunity to catch up, but I'd recommend instead watching Ratatouille which is still in theatres.