Stars: Jim Lovell, Russell Schweickart, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad | Directed by Al Reinert
Nasa’s historic Apollo programme only becomes more fascinating as time passes and technology advances. Ahead of the release of Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11, Criterion are offering a chance to see another Space Race documentary, similarly relying on remastered Nasa footage and the voices of people involved in those groundbreaking (ground-leaving?) space missions, some fifty years ago.
Charitably, director Al Reinert and editor Susan Korda don’t just focus on the first Moon landing, but rather cover multiple ventures, from Apollo 8 through to the final Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Six years in the making, this 1989 version is only slightly less barebones than its original 1983 format. There’s little information about who is speaking at any given moment, or even which mission we’re watching (tip: turn on the subtitles). Some of the post-dubbed sound...
Nasa’s historic Apollo programme only becomes more fascinating as time passes and technology advances. Ahead of the release of Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11, Criterion are offering a chance to see another Space Race documentary, similarly relying on remastered Nasa footage and the voices of people involved in those groundbreaking (ground-leaving?) space missions, some fifty years ago.
Charitably, director Al Reinert and editor Susan Korda don’t just focus on the first Moon landing, but rather cover multiple ventures, from Apollo 8 through to the final Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Six years in the making, this 1989 version is only slightly less barebones than its original 1983 format. There’s little information about who is speaking at any given moment, or even which mission we’re watching (tip: turn on the subtitles). Some of the post-dubbed sound...
- 6/25/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
The Apollo program was a time when true space travel happened. The United States wasn’t just going into space and coming back, it was sending men to another celestial body in our universe. The stakes were very high.
Everything had to work – spacesuits could not leak, rocket engines absolutely had to fire, life support systems could not fail. When you’re a quarter of a million miles away from earth, there are no safety nets. No rescue missions were possible.
What started out as a presidential goal in the early 1960’s turned into the most impressive feat of all mankind. We did something no other country ever did or has done since. Not only once, but six times.
Now comes the story of Gene Cernan – one of the very few men who went to the moon not only once, but twice. He first went to the moon on the Apollo 10 mission.
Everything had to work – spacesuits could not leak, rocket engines absolutely had to fire, life support systems could not fail. When you’re a quarter of a million miles away from earth, there are no safety nets. No rescue missions were possible.
What started out as a presidential goal in the early 1960’s turned into the most impressive feat of all mankind. We did something no other country ever did or has done since. Not only once, but six times.
Now comes the story of Gene Cernan – one of the very few men who went to the moon not only once, but twice. He first went to the moon on the Apollo 10 mission.
- 1/18/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Noted typewriter enthusiast (and actor) Tom Hanks has a short story, "Alan Bean Plus Four," in The New Yorker this week. It's got selfies, a guy named MDash who "shortened his long tribal name to rap-star length," and references to Apollo 13, apps, and selfies: "We took hundreds of selfies with the Earth in the window and, plinking a Ping-Pong ball off the center seat, played a tableless table-tennis tournament ..." All in all, it's short, sweet, and pretty much perfect. (They've even included a recording of Hanks reading his piece aloud.) The only thing that could make this better would be an accompanying photo of Hanks click-clacking away at his typewriter. Maybe it's finally time for Larry Crowne 2?...
- 10/20/2014
- by Lindsey Weber
- Vulture
Lunarcy!
Directed by Simon Ennis
Canada, 2012
Simon Ennis’s Lunarcy! is an affectionate, knowing documentary that looks at a diverse group of individuals who share an obsession with the moon. The star of the piece is Christopher Carson, whose enterprise, The Luna Project, is aimed at kick-starting the process of moon colonisation. Armed with the slogan, Luna City or Bust!, he travels to science fiction conventions, high schools – anywhere he might find a disproportionate number of geeks – spreading the word and raising money to get his project off the ground. If this was a dramatic film, he would have to be played by a young Jeffrey Combs – he has that combination of weird wit and obscure intelligence – but is a lot more self-aware than he initially appears.
Another man working towards lunar colonisation is Peter Kokh, who is not particularly keen to live there himself (unless he can take his...
Directed by Simon Ennis
Canada, 2012
Simon Ennis’s Lunarcy! is an affectionate, knowing documentary that looks at a diverse group of individuals who share an obsession with the moon. The star of the piece is Christopher Carson, whose enterprise, The Luna Project, is aimed at kick-starting the process of moon colonisation. Armed with the slogan, Luna City or Bust!, he travels to science fiction conventions, high schools – anywhere he might find a disproportionate number of geeks – spreading the word and raising money to get his project off the ground. If this was a dramatic film, he would have to be played by a young Jeffrey Combs – he has that combination of weird wit and obscure intelligence – but is a lot more self-aware than he initially appears.
Another man working towards lunar colonisation is Peter Kokh, who is not particularly keen to live there himself (unless he can take his...
- 6/22/2013
- by Rob Dickie
- SoundOnSight
Lunarcy! is a charming and humorous story of four eccentrics who've dedicated their entire lives to the Moon. We've got Christopher Carson, the young founder of the Luna Project and a supporter of abandoning Earth forever in favor of a new lunar colony, Dennis Hope, president of the Galactic Government and the official owner of the Moon, Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the Moon and the world's leading astronaut painter, and Peter Kokh, space advocate and editor of the Moon Miner's Manifesto. Ahead of Lunarcy!'s SXSW premiere, we spoke with lead character Christopher Carson, director Simon Ennis and producer Jonas Bell Pasht about the dreaming big and finding the right crater to call home. Twitch: How did this film come together?...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 3/21/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Epix has announced its spring documentary line-up, the majority of which are films original to the premium cable channel. One of those, "Lunarcy!", is set to screen at SXSW this month. The two non-originals are LCD Soundsystem concert film "Shut Up and Play the Hits" and basketball doc "The Other Dream Team," both of which have received theatrical releases. Of particular interest to sports fans will be "Amar’e Stoudemire: In The Moment," which will offer a profile of the Knicks' power forward on the eve of the NBA playoffs. Here's the full line-up: April 3: Lunarcy! (An Epix Original Documentary) – Lunarcy! follows an unforgettable group of unique characters, whose obsession with the moon and lunar colonization has given birth to utopian dreams of truly galactic proportions. Starring Apollo 12 Astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the Moon, among other memorable characters, Lunarcy! will play at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.
- 3/4/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
Epix will kick off a new slate of Wednesday-night documentaries April 3 with director Simon Ennis’ Lunarcy!, about a group of disparate characters who share an obsession with the moon. The film bowed at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and also will play at the upcoming SXSW Film Festival. It has already gained a cult following thanks to its cast of idiosyncratic characters, including a former ventriloquist who made millions of dollars selling moon lots, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean (the fourth man to walk on the moon) and an astrophysicist professor at the University of British Columbia who,
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- 3/4/2013
- by Marisa Guthrie
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Epix has lined up original documentary Amar’e Stoudemire: In The Moment, an intimate look at the life and upbringing of basketball great Amar’e Stoudemire and his quest to bring a championship to New York before he finishes his career. It will premiere April 19, on the eve of the NBA playoffs. Amar’e Stoudemire: In The Moment joins seven new documentaries premiering in Epix Docs, a weekly showcase airing Wednesdays at 8 Pm Et. Here is a full list: April 3: Lunarcy! (An Epix Original Documentary) – Lunarcy! follows an unforgettable group of unique characters, whose obsession with the moon and lunar colonization has given birth to utopian dreams of truly galactic proportions. Starring Apollo 12 Astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the Moon, among other memorable characters, Lunarcy! will play at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. April 10: Charles Bradley: Soul of America (An Epix Original Documentary) - The...
- 3/4/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
If there is one thing that anyone reading this website can get behind, it’s a special series of awards promoting the best and grandest in the world of DVD and DVD releases.
That is the case with the recently announced Sixth Annual DVD Critics Awards, and the winners of this year’s awards range from Criterion Collection releases, to the latest release of one of cinema’s most beloved films.
The biggest winner here is the newest release of The Wizard Of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition, which took home three awards; Best Catalog Title, Best Blu-ray disc and Title Of The Year. This was one of the more talked about sets prior to its release, and apparently, it didn’t disappoint, with its multidisc set, color booklet, and hours upon hours of amazing bonus material.
Among other winners were Star Trek (Best Theatrical Title), Monsters Vs.
That is the case with the recently announced Sixth Annual DVD Critics Awards, and the winners of this year’s awards range from Criterion Collection releases, to the latest release of one of cinema’s most beloved films.
The biggest winner here is the newest release of The Wizard Of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition, which took home three awards; Best Catalog Title, Best Blu-ray disc and Title Of The Year. This was one of the more talked about sets prior to its release, and apparently, it didn’t disappoint, with its multidisc set, color booklet, and hours upon hours of amazing bonus material.
Among other winners were Star Trek (Best Theatrical Title), Monsters Vs.
- 8/12/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
I've spent a lot of my day cleaning up my room here in my parents' house which has caused me to be alternately annoyed by, proud of, and bewildered by the remnants of my teenaged self. Like a younger sister who's smart and a little quirky, but you kind of want to grab by the shoulders and reassure that high school ends and the less you care about it at the time, the less you'll be disappointed by that fact later. This is how I'm going to be spending a lot of my weekend. Should be fun. Here's Thursday night's TV:
8:00 p.m.: "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night" on ABC. Special presentation.
"America's Home Cooking: What's For Dinner" on PBS. As those of you who have me on facebook know, what's for dinner for me tonight is bacon pancakes. I expect my blood will actually congeal after this...
8:00 p.m.: "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night" on ABC. Special presentation.
"America's Home Cooking: What's For Dinner" on PBS. As those of you who have me on facebook know, what's for dinner for me tonight is bacon pancakes. I expect my blood will actually congeal after this...
- 6/10/2010
- by Intern Rusty
Chicago – Is there any better way to learn about a unique experience than from the people who were there? You can read expert opinion, historic analysis, and news articles for one perspective, but it will never be quite as rich as that of actual participants. This undeniable fact lends immense power to Criterion’s new version of Al Reinert’s “For All Mankind”.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 The event in question happened to take place forty years ago this month in July of 1969. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon by revisiting that landmark event through the eyes and memories of the people who were there. Reinert uses only interviews with the key players of the space race and only actual footage that they filmed at the time. It makes for a mesmerizing experience.
For All Mankind was released on Blu-Ray on July 14th, 2009.
Photo credit:...
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 The event in question happened to take place forty years ago this month in July of 1969. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon by revisiting that landmark event through the eyes and memories of the people who were there. Reinert uses only interviews with the key players of the space race and only actual footage that they filmed at the time. It makes for a mesmerizing experience.
For All Mankind was released on Blu-Ray on July 14th, 2009.
Photo credit:...
- 7/28/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
I should begin by telling you I have never purchased a documentary and I have yet to see a documentary I would say is worth buying. I don't say this because I don't like documentaries. As a matter of fact, to go along with the opening statement I would say there is hardly a documentary I have ever seen I didn't think was excellent. Of course, not being a movie watcher that seeks out documentaries I don't see that many and only make sure to watch the good ones, which should give you a good idea of what I think of Criterion's Blu-ray release of For All Mankind. Originally released in 1989, For All Mankind is directed by Al Reinert and perhaps to say it was directed may be a bit misleading. Reinert, in fact, was given access to over 6 million feet of film the Nasa astronauts shot during the Apollo...
- 7/14/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
This review was written for the theatrical release of "In the Shadow of the Moon".The really surprising thing is that no one has made this film before. Thank goodness someone finally did, for the dozen men it celebrates -- the only human beings to have stood on an alien world -- won't be with us forever.
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
- Space missions aren't what they once were - back during the Apollo missions, an astronaut for Nasa was up there with cops and firemen as prime choices of "what I want to be when I grow up" professions for little boys. Th!NKFilm acquired all North American rights to In the Shadow of the Moon. Preeming in the World docu comp at Sundance, David Sington uses never-before-seen footage and images that were taken between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. “In the Shadow of the Moon” brings together for the first, and very possibly the last, time surviving crew members from every single Apollo mission which flew to the Moon, and allows them to tell their story in their own words. This riveting first-hand testimony is interwoven with visually
- 1/23/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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