Duncan Jones Archives - HavingSaidThat...

The Source Code: The Ending and Other Thoughts

04/25/2011 by Grant 4 Comments

I’m not sure who sees hit movies in the theater even later than I do… maybe people with two kids. But, believe it or not, when I talk about the ending of The Source Code, it may give away the ending. Shocking, I know.

I didn’t expect to become enthralled by The Source Code. Not after watching that explosion-ridden preview 100 times during basketball games. But, the film had an intelligence and an emotional core that its trailer failed to convey. This depth can be plainly seen by the long analysis that Zac and Lauren gave the film. But because I became so invigorated by the film, it was even more disappointing when it developed a stereotypical Hollywood ending. The Source Code until the last couple minutes was a very good unconventional film, with very solid acting, directing, and writing. But, a film’s ending consistently seems to be the hardest part to create. Hell, even geniuses like Monty Python had trouble with it!

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Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Ben Ripley, Duncan Jones, Jake Gyllenhaal, The Source Code

Dissecting Source Code

04/04/2011 by Lauren Leave a Comment

Lauren: Though it isn’t as open to interpretation as Sucker Punch was last week, I felt myself needing a little bit of an explanation when leaving the viewing of Source Code. That’s right! It’s time for another dissection of a film. Since I am coming more so from the mindset of “huh?” this time around I will most likely be playing the part of the sounding board while Zac says something intellectually profound, to which I will again respond “huh?” Try not to judge me too harshly.

Oh, and SPOILERS TO FOLLOW! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Ben Ripley, Duncan Jones, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Wright, Michele Monaghan, Source Code, Vera Farmiga

Review: Source Code

04/03/2011 by Zac Leave a Comment

Source Code is a fun and gripping ride that will throw some in the end but after some mulling over I think the film works in almost every capacity.

The film is a sci-fi picture that presupposes that the government has created a program, called source code, which will allow them to send someone into the last 8 minutes of the recently deceased life. I am sure you could imagine a lot of scenarios they could use this for but the government is using it to attempt to stop terrorism. A train has blown up on its way to Chicago and is a warning for a planned attack on the city as a whole. The government uses source code to send in Captain Colter Stevens to attempt to find any clues that will allow them to find out who is behind the train and future terrorist attacks. The catch is that Stevens is sent into the body of the person they are using the source code on and he must deal with anything going on surrounding him on the train. In this instance it is a girl, Christina, who becomes both an obstacle and a distraction for Stevens as he tries to find the bomber.

Now Playing Review – Source Code

04/01/2011 by Lauren Leave a Comment

For the second week in a row I find myself at a loss for words upon seeing the week’s big film. The difference between this and Sucker Punch is that I had much more initial pleasantries to say about Source Code, albeit I was just as dumbfounded. Looks like it’s another job for my thinking cap.

The film continues the wave of interesting concept films of Inception and The Adjustment Bureau, choosing to play with time and memories. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a soldier who wakes up in the body of another man seated on a doomed train. As the train explodes his mind moves back to his body safely contained in a different location, where he is reminded of his mission. Long story short it is his job to relive the last 8 minutes on the train prior to the explosion, hoping to find some clue that will prevent a second attack on the nearby city of Chicago. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Duncan Jones, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Wright, Michelle Monaghan, Source Code, Vera Farmiga

Review: Moon

07/06/2009 by Zac 1 Comment

Duncan Jones makes his feature debut with this fantastic sci-fi film that digs into the psyche of the mind and what it means to be human and it is all fueled by a marvelous performance by Sam Rockwell.
Helium-3 has saved the earth’s energy problems. A world on the verge of destroying itself through pollution and death over the planets fossil fuels, the savior of all our problems comes from a substance that is able to be harvested from the dark side of our Earth’s moon. Lunar Industries is the company that has made this all possible and it maintains its crops and harvesters with one man out posted on their lunar base, Sarang.
That man is Sam Bell and he is at the very tail end of his three year contract with Lunar Industries as he anxiously awaits returning home to his wife and young daughter. As the final days wind down, Sam begins to start losing it a bit and finds himself trying to keep it together so as the robotic helper GERTY does not notice his ailments in fear of what might happen if he can’t finish out his contract. Passing the time as best one can, Sam, begins to have lucid dreams and sees odd visions that lead to an unfortunate incident and a mystery unfolds that he never even imagined possible that will cause him to look into himself and try and discover his true nature and place in life. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Movie Review Tagged With: Clint Mansell, Duncan Jones, Kevin Spacey, Moon, Sam Rockwell

Sam Rockwell in 'Moon' looks amazing!

11/18/2008 by Zac Leave a Comment

The film follows Rockwell’s character over the course of three years as he deals with the ups and downs of being stuck in lunar base over that period of time.

This seems to be so seriously awesome high-concept sci-fi, and I can’t wait for this to come out sometime next year.