We're used to science fiction always getting the snub when it comes to trophies. We've endured Battlestar Galactica's many snubs. But sadly for those involved in Moon, they're not even getting a chance to get nominated where they deserve — I personally think Sam Rockwell deserves a nom for best actor. According to Duncan Jones twitter:

"We've knocked heads. they have chosen the films they are backing & we are not in their plans."

"they say it costs too much for our little film as they would need to be water-marked copies as our DVD isn't out yet in the US."

Which means that plenty of Academy Members won't be seeing Moon and won't be able to vote on it. Remember Moon had a very small "select cities" release. And if you haven't seen it by now, tough shit. This is why screeners need to be sent out to the proper people. But, alas it doesn't seem to be in the cards for Moon. Times are hard, we understand, but it's times like these when people should rally around something that is genuinely great. So what can you do? Sign this petition for Rockwell's nomination, which Neil Gaiman and Jon Favreau have already lent their names out to — and tell people about the film.

If Rockwell and/or Jones receive the nominations they deserve, it could mean more opportunities for everybody who wants to create thought-provoking science fiction on the big screen.

[Via Film School Rejects]

There's a scene early on in Gentlemen Broncos where science fiction novelist Ronald Chevalier (the always wonderful Jemaine Clement) is holding a workshop on fantasy naming. A young girl tells him that she has a troll character named Teacup. He scoffs and explains that there are rules for naming trolls, and that a troll mother would never name a child "Teacup;" only a little girl would.

It's as if writers Jared and Jerusha Hess anticipated what the critics would say about Gentlemen Broncos, namely that the film disobeys the conventions of movie storytelling in favor of their own strange and gleeful energy. Gentlmen Broncos is a movie well aware of what it doesn't do, of what rules it doesn't follow, but it doesn't care. It's naming its troll Teacup whether you like it or not.

That said, Gentlemen Broncos isn't Napoleon Dynamite. Where the latter is a character study of an unusual protagonist, the former is, by contrast, a highly metafictional narrative about creativity and adaptation, with a hero, a villain, and a solid resolution.

Benjamin Purvis, a teenager nominally homeschooled by his loving but distracted mother (an appropriately out-of-it Jennifer Coolidge), spends most of his days writing pulpy science fiction stories. When he attends a writing conference keynoted by Chevalier, his favorite writer, Ben's latest endeavor, a wild tale called Yeast Lords: The Bronco Years falls into the hands of two conference attendees. One is Tabatha Jenkins, a fellow homeschooler who quickly elbows her way into Ben's life. Where Ben is quiet and shy to the point that he doesn't like people reading his stories, Tabatha is brazen, projecting a strange, confident energy. She is utterly without shame, but also unafraid of doing or embracing things that could be perceived as weird, and her remarkable joie de vivre makes her oddness charismatic where it should be off-putting.

The other person who happens upon Yeast Lords is Chevalier himself. Chevalier, with an endless collection of leather jackets and surgically attached to his Bluetooth ear piece, long ago won legions of fans with his series about harpies who shoot lasers from their breasts. It's easy to see Chevalier as a parody of the self-celebrating author (something Clement does with pitch perfection), especially when he presents a slideshow of the forty-some odd pieces of cover art he drew for his first novel. But even as we're laughing at the absurd harpy folk art, there's something deeper underneath. Chevalier was once an excited dreamer who compulsively doodled his bizarre fantasies; now he believes there are rules for naming trolls and his creativity has suffered. He simply can't recapture that crazy imaginative energy he once had, although he can certainly recognize it when he reads Yeast Lords.

Tabatha and Chevalier both want to adapt Yeast Lords, though each does it in a sort of underhanded way, and Ben's original vision gets poked and prodded into new shapes. Interspersed with the main narrative are scenes from Yeast Lords itself, with Sam Rockwell playing the story's shaggy-haired hero, Bronco. These scenes are crammed with all the strange ideas that swarm through Ben's brain: stolen testicles, cyclops turret men, rocket-powered battle stags, and yeast that gives you superpowers. These scenes are pure, straightforward fun, but they also show us first-hand Ben's own vision for Yeast Lords. As Chevalier takes over the story, we see how he changes and bastardizes Ben's original ideas, with Rockwell playing a very different version of Bronco. And as Tabatha and her friends adapt Yeast Lords as an amateur movie, we can experience the same disappointment Ben feels, that the characters and special effects never quite live up to the version in his head.

Gentlemen Broncos has been accused of asking audiences to laugh at the very characters it claims to celebrate: the weirdoes and misfits. And yes, it's easy to laugh at Ben's mother, who makes popcorn balls for every occasion and designs nightgowns that could double as space opera costumes, and Lonnie, Tabatha's lip-smacking filmmaker friend who invites less than flattering comparisons to Napoleon Dynamite. But the Hesses are, in fact, asking you to be a little repulsed by these characters and then look deeper, to see if they know something we don't. Yes, they may not fit into normal society, they may have values that differ from ours, they may make ugly nightgowns and crappy movies, but they're having fun. They're trying to live their lives on their own terms and be creative and pursue their wildest, wackiest ideas. Gentlemen Broncos may invite you to laugh at their foibles and their quirks, but it also invites you to go home, pick up your sketchbook, your camera, or that novel you're working on, and create something as great, as strange, and as utterly your own as Yeast Lords.

Both Josh Pais and Sam Rockwell have memorable characters in the new Gentlemen Broncos, but before they were fantasy fans they both appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which the film's director was more than happy to mention last night at a special screening of the film with the cast.

Jared Hess: I don't know if too many people know this but Josh Pais [who plays the camp counselor in GB] was in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, as the voice of Raphael. He was the only guy in the suit to also do the voice. That continues to blow my mind.

Josh Pais: Sam was in that too.

Sam Rockwell: I was Yes, it was really more of an overture.

Jared Hess: Were you a part of the Foot Clan?

Sam Rockwell: Yes I was in the street crew. I was with Shredder yes.

And when asked about the similarities between Krull beast and his own Cyclops, Jared Hess admitted they were inspired by the fantastic film.

Jared Hess: Total Krull man. Absolutely man. That's one of my favorite fantasy characters of all times the giant cyclops from Krull...

The latest look at GB from Cinematical has Sam Rockwell talking about Tim Allen's villain theories on the Galaxy Quest set. I must admit if I was hanging out with Sam, GQ would come up more than once. I like these little GB looks as I believe it's preparing audiences for the exceedingly dry humor that comes out of this movie.

Images are all from the very sharp collection from the artist Bill Mudron, who has also brought a lot of other modern day scifi fare to life.

This is the first look at the fantasy hero Bronco, both played by Sam Rockwell. We're overcome with a depthless love for the surveillance deer and bald foreign heroine. This place is what dreams are made of.

Also special attention needs to be paid to the science fiction writer who steals his pupils' story: Ronald Chevalier played by Flight of The Conchords' Jemaine Clement. After watching a second of Jemaine as Ronald, I can't even see the actor anymore, he's completely transformed.

The premise is pretty straight forward:

Benjamin (Michael Angarano), home-schooled by his eccentric mother (Jennifer Coolidge), is a loveable loner whose passion for writing leads him on an offbeat and hilarious journey as his story first gets ripped off by the legendary fantasy novelist, Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement) and then is adapted into a disastrous movie by the small town's most prolific homespun filmmaker.

But with Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess behind it, I'm hoping for a few small surprises and awkward moments.

Also take a peek at one of the Ronald Chevalier Fanfiction videos that are starting to collect online, it gives you an idea of what his "style" is like at least.

[via apple]

Who is Justin Hammer?

He's an arms dealer. He's kind of a Tony Stark-wannabe. I think he's awesome, here's hoping to following in the footsteps of Jeff Bridges [in the first movie], and Bill Murray in Kingpin, and a few others.

Did you end up reading any of the comics in preparation?

I did, a little bit, and I gathered that he was a British man around the age of 60, so I decided to just do my own thing, because that really wasn't going to happen.

What's your involvement with Whiplash?

Whiplash and I, Ivan and I do team up together. I'm sort of a patron of evil.

Are you the brain behind the brawn?

A little bit, a little bit — although Ivan's pretty smart.

Were they partners in the past?

He's got a lot of money — actually, he's a big fan of Tony's. But Tony doesn't really want to hang out with Justin. So I think that angers Justin. No, but it's more like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Not quite, but very similar.

Was it nervewracking being a part of this big under-taking?

It's nervewracking, because the character isn't completely written, and the first one was such a big success, so yeah there's a bit of that, but then you sort of find a home, and you realize there's a reason you're there. And it all comes together.

How did you hear come about getting this role?

I worked with Jon Favreau on this film called Made. And Justin Theroux, who wrote the script, is an old friend of mine, they sort of cooked up this idea and pitched it to Kevin Feige. What they did, they were maybe going to do one villain like they did with Jeff Bridges, but then they decided to split the villains. And really Mickey [Rourke] is the main [villain], but I come to his aid. I looked at the comics, but I think they just wanted me to create something a little different. So Theroux came up with this character and took it to Favreau. I knew there would be a lot of improvisation, so I didn't want to have an accent — because that's tricky with that much improvisation — so I thought I would just play it straight.

Are there a lot of Tony and Justin scenes?

There are only a couple, but they're key.

Do you have a relationship with Scarlett Johansson's character?

You know I don't, I have a very brief interaction with her I think, I don't. Mostly it's with Mickey.

Do you also have the female entourage like Tony does?

You know I meet, Christine Everhart, who was the journalist [that Tony seduced] in the first one. She and I, we show up at an event together [as a couple]. So there you go.

In other awesome Sam Rockwell news, he's totally down for another Batman and Robin sketch with Justin Long, who played Robin from their short, Robin's Big Date, "We're talking about doing a sequel to it, Justin and I. We're looking for a good Penguin and maybe that Riddler."

Gentlemen Broncos

Here's the very first clip that we've seen for Jemaine Clement's Gentlemen Broncos. Clement (who you may remember from The Flight Of The Conchords) plays the ridiculous cliched scifi writer Ronald Chevalier author of Cyborg Harpies. Sadly the pompous Chevalier steals his next novel from his biggest fan, a high school kid. Now it's up to the wronged fan to set things right. Sam Rockwell also appears as the physical representation of the novel's superhero. The film's website it up and running and here are two additional Chevalier virals where he discusses additional writing techniques. GB will premiere at Fantastic Fest.

Dr. Ronald Chevalier - Inspiring Oneself

Dr. Ronald Chevalier - The Art Of Relaxating

Who knew horribly tacky scifi writers who speak about protecting their seed could be so hot. Jemaine Clement you are my kryptonite.

Strigoi

Next up is a interesting folk-lore look at today's vampires. Getting back to it's roots, Strigoi shows what a real bloodsucker is like, not some fancy romancing ninny, but a real terror on a small town. The main character, Vlad (aptly named but sadly not the bloodsucker) tries to make sense out of a mysterious death in his grandfather's village. But the more he pokes around the closer he gets to unearthing the undead. Here's the trailer, you gotta love the final line.

Cargo

Quiet Earth has been ranting and raving about the film Cargo for some time now, and we're starting to see why. New stills for the space movie have been released showing the vast emptiness aboard the Kassandra. Here's the full synopsis:

Since the biosphere collapsed on Earth most of humanity lives in space, inhabiting hopelessly overcrowded space stations. The only hope to escape from the chaos is RHER: A paradise-planet 5 light-years from Earth.

The story of CARGO takes place on rusty space-freighter KASSANDRA on its way to Station 42. The young medic LAURA is the only one awake on board while the rest of the crew lies frozen in hibernation sleep. Only in 4 months will Laura's shift be over. During her daily patrols, through the eerily empty ship, LAURA begins to get the feeling that she is not alone on-board. A discovery mission in the dark and ice-cold cargo hold ends in catastrophe. The remainder of the crew is awakened. A cat and mouse game begins in which nothing is what it seems. What lies hidden in the strange freight containers and who, or what, is also on-board?

To see more stills head on over to Quiet Earth.

And finally Variety is reporting that Circle of Confusion is trying to make an American Shaun of the Dead called Gatekeeper. So far Matthew O'Leary, Lea Thompson, Ron Perlman and Jana Kramer are attached, hmmm yeah sorry impossible.

This is the season when movies are more likely to bash you over the head with giant robotic fists then they are to make you ponder the universe. Nothing against robotic fists, mind you. But what sets Moon apart from other space operas this summer is that it blows you away with original ideas and surprising characters. It's still action packed, violent, and intense, but on an individual scale. Instead of spaceship battles, you have one man in his lunar rover, tiny against the immense moonscape.

Sam (Sam Rockwell) has begun to realize something is wrong at the lunar mining station. He can't get a live feed from Earth, and the video mails from his wife seem strangely edited. Plus, his robot Gertie (voiced by Kevin Spacey) seems to be trying to tell him something in a very subtle way: When he delivers news from the company, he flashes emoticons on his screen which signal confusion and distress. At first Gertie seems incredibly menacing, a version of HAL, but slowly we begin to realize that the robot is more complicated than that.

And Sam's life is a lot more complicated too. He knows he's a working stiff, required only to start up stalled mining vehicles. He's so unimportant that the company doesn't even bother to fix his live feed. But when he has an accident, he learns that he's more lowly than he ever imagined.

I would like to give you a reverse-spoiler alert here. Many people seem to believe that the big reveal of this movie is that Sam is a clone. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He discovers this early on, when Gertie awakens another clone after believing that Sam perished in the accident.

Sam's coming to terms with the fact that he is a clone, and his relationship with the newly-awakened second Sam clone, form the meat of this film. Together they must unravel the mystery of their existence and find out what the company has in store for them. Gertie also has a mysterious purpose, and his battered body, covered in post-it notes, always lurks at the edge of the frame. Eventually the company dispatches a "rescue mission" to the base, and the two Sams must race to figure out what they can do to save themselves in a world where clones are clearly less than people.

Directed and conceived by Duncan Jones, Moon is quiet and disturbing, yet manages to be hopeful in the face of overwhelmingly grim conditions. Director Jones happens to be the son of alien rocker David Bowie, but the tone and pacing of this film couldn't be farther from Ziggy Stardust. It's understated and minimalist – awash in shades of gray, with a rippling score from Clint "Pi" Mansell, the story is anti-glam. Which only allows Rockwell's incredible acting to pop even more.

What's pleasing about this movie is quite simply its originality. From the breathtaking images of a strip-mined moon, to the tight shots on Sam's face when he realizes he is just a copy of a man, this is a movie that will wash those YARMS right out of your brain. And without giving anything away, I'll just say the ending is not what you were expecting.

The other thing that I think is interesting about this movie is that it is actually based on current legal theories of clones. As law professor Kerry Macintosh has pointed out in her book Illegal Beings, human clones are illegal and therefore possess no human rights. If a human clone grew up now, it would have the legal status of a slave or worse. So it is not so farfetched to imagine that clones might become the untouchables of the next century.

So if you're wondering what to see this weekend, and you're lucky enough to live in one of the few cities where this movie has opened, check out Moon. You can see robots fighting any old time. But seeing something truly new? That's as rare as a rebellious clone on the moon.

Duncan Jones io9 Moon Interview from io9 on Vimeo.

On The Science Behind Moon:

Sam Rockwell was the initial inspiration. But Entering Space was the sort of crux of the hard science behind the film. Because it is more of a hard science-fiction film than a soft science-fiction film. There was this amazing description in Robert Zubrin's book Entering Space, on how you would go about colonizing the solar system. And one of the first things you would do is set up a base on the Moon. And the reason you would do that is because you would want to mine this thing helium 3. Which is a natural resource that you could use of fuel for fusion power. So that was the science behind it.

On how Sam inspired Moon:

I met up with Sam Rockwell about three years ago. He had read a script that I had co-written with a guy named Mike Johnson. That was for another film. It was maybe too ambitious for a first feature film. And Sam wanted to play another role than the one I really wanted him to play... We talked about about the kind of films that we both loved. There was this real cross-over in both of our tastes where we both loved these science fiction films from the late 70s and early 80s. Films like Outland and Silent Running and Ridley Scott's Alien, where you had these really sort of blue-collar characters, deeply well-drawn human beings and characters, that were contrasted with these alien environments and science fiction settings. We both got really excited about doing something like that.

On His Own Personal Reason For Making This Film:

I had been very different when I was younger than I am now. It took me a really long time to find myself and feel comfortable in my own skin, and to know what it is that I wanted to do with my life... I lacked a lot of self confidence. The difference between me now and me then were quite dramatic. I think like anyone, you ask yourself, I've asked myself, I wish I could have gone back and talked to myself when I was younger and said, "You know what, everything is going to be ok." I think that conversation between me now and me then, it just got me thinking about the idea of meeting yourself in person. Having the chance to see what you're really like And what other people have to deal with when they have to deal with you.

Video by Spencer Lund and Mike Byhoff.

IGN has the first official trailer for this movie, co-written and directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie):

And here are five clips from the film:

Moon comes out on June 12.

The movie focuses in on a guy putting in his solo work time on a desolate moon, waiting for his time to be up so he can return home and rake in the cash. But Rockwell's unfortunate hero finds out his company may have other plans for the rest of his career. It's dark, lonely and yet pretty beautiful at the same time. Moon will be premiering on Friday, January 23rd at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Go see it.

Update: All fixed! Here are the clips thanks to Collider. BE WARNED some are super spoilery.

Moon will screen at Sundance this year and I couldn't be more excited to learn more about what David Bowie's son Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie) thinks about space madness. I mean, if anyone would know, it's him. Take that kind of pedigree and match it with the incredible acting range packed into Sam Rockwell, and add the gorgeous look of Moon that we've only seen glimpses of and you have my dedicated attention. I've been super hyped about this film since I found out Kevin Spacey was going to be the robot voice in it.

It's a complicated story line and thank goodness they finally released more plot details on imdb:

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of his contract with Lunar. He's been a faithful employee for 3 long years. His home has been Sarang, a moon base where he has spent his days alone, mining Helium 3. The precious gas holds the key to reversing the Earth's energy crisis.

Isolated, determined and steadfast, Sam has followed the rulebook obediently and his time on the moon has been enlightening, but uneventful. The solitude has given him time to reflect on the mistakes of his past and work on his raging temper. He does his job mechanically, and spends most of his available time dreaming of his imminent return to Earth, to his wife, young daughter and an early retirement.

But 2 weeks shy of his departure from Sarang, Sam starts seeing things, hearing things and feeling strange. And when a routine extraction goes horribly wrong, he discovers that Lunar have their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar.

Before he can return to Earth, Sam has to confront himself and the discovery that the life he has created, may not be his own. It's more than his contract that is set to expire.

Please give me a Sam-Rockwell-fighting-Sam-Rockwell moment — at least that's what I think they're getting at here. I cannot wait for this movie. And for those of you headed to Sundance, this is a must-see.

The trades are powering up the speculation, regarding Jon Favreau’s next Iron Man installation. Rumors have it Mickey Rourke is on board to play the Crimson Dynamo (which has been reported as a character in supposed casting calls). Which would mean get ready to see Rourke power armor clad beating the crap out of Iron Man.

The Hollywood Reporter says they've heard rumors that Rourke could also be up for the role of Whiplash, but many entertainment sites are standing by the Dynamo reporting.

Sam Rockwell is rumored to be portraying Justin Hammer, the bazillionaire rival of Tony Stark. Similar to Stark, Hammer is a genius and has his fingers in hundreds of gadgety pies. So he's smart, rich and well equipped, just like Tony, but he makes his money from criminals.

[Variety]

Bloody Disgusting got a bunch of new clips for Moon and it's looking seriously tripped out and cold in an eerie fantastic way, so it's just about perfect that Sam Rockwell is attached to the project. Kevin Spacey lends his voice to the computer.

Rockwell plays Sam the raging isolated space miner who comes face to face with his personal demons as his three-year rotation on a far-away moon is winding down.

Check out more pics at Bloody Disgusting.

Gentlemen Broncos, directed by Napoleon Dynamite helmer Jared Hess, is about the Orson Scott Card-esque author Ronald Chevalier, who steals a novel idea from one of his teenaged fans. Rockwell is the main character in both the original novel and the ripoff one.

In in interview during press time for Choke, Sam Rockwell told io9 about his experience with Gentlemen Broncos:

That's just silly, that's sketch comedy for me. He's [ Jermaine Clement] is brilliant, by the way, that Jermaine, I saw some of his rushes him and Jennifer Coolidge are...phew.

As for what the movie is about, he said:

It's kind of like Rushmore and Flash Gordon and I play the Flash Gordon character. I play two versions of him because they plagiarize the story within the movie. Jermaine plagiarizes it from our kid, Michael [Michael Angarano]. That's a really awesome movie.

But the really important question: Does he get to wear a superhero costume? Rockwell said:

I wear a lot of costumes in this, some really tight uncomfortable costumes in this. I'm in drag basically in one of the characters. I look like Captain Kangaroo in drag like a transvestite version. When we filmed it, it was insane. It took a month in the desert in Utah, but it was great. It's a comedic hero, it's silly. It's like Will Ferrel meets Flash Gordon, that kind of thing. It makes fun of itself.

I can not wait for this film. Sam Rockwell plus Jemaine Clement = comedy genius.

Moon, which is directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones, centers around a space miner named Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell). He is a contract worker for the LUNAR corporation and his 3-year contract is about to expire and Bell can't wait to get home and see his family. But then, things start to go wrong and Bell finds out that LUNAR is going to replace him. At a press roundtable for Choke, Rockwell told us his replacement is his clone, which he has to come face to face with.

[In] Moon, that guy's got a big problem. He's been stuck on the moon for three years, and he meets his own clone. So he's got a big problem and he has to get home. Oh and he doesn't know how long he has to live. So he's got some pretty Shakespearean problems.

When we asked if being isolated on a moon alone meant that Sam was most of the cast in Moon Rockwell revealed who his new robot buddy would be, "We've got Kevin Spacey who's going to play the voice of the robot. Which is great. But [otherwise] it's just me, and there are a couple of supporting roles of people who do transmissions onto the space station."

No telling if this robot is evil, or comic relief. But I imagine if the robot works for the LUNAR corporation that cloned Sam Rockwell without his knowledge, the Spacey-bot may have shady intentions. Also I'm dying to know if "the robot" is a walking, talking droid or a HAL-esque mainframe computer that runs the space station Rockwell is stranded on. I'm betting on the the 2001: A Space Odyssey reference.

But besides Spacey and a few other key characters, Rockwell explained that he'll be getting plenty of screen time in this isolation flick:

That's a pretty weird movie. That's a lot of Sam. It's a lot of Sam for me to watch. There's no Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald and Brad Henke [his cast members from Choke] in that movie, but we do have Kevin, thank god.

Still the indie actor did all he could do from losing his mind on this space-story. "It was hard," Rockwell explained. "I would say Choke, Joshua and Moon are probably the hardest things I've done. And Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, but we had a longer schedule. So what you're talking about with a movie like Choke or any of those others. You're doing a part like Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind or like Fight Club, but you're doing it in a month. So you can imagine, it's taxing on everybody." You can see Rockwell in Choke on September 26, Moon will be released in 2009.