frEEk on the Moon!

A Lunar hello my frEEk fellows!

Lo and behold, Chandrayaan has found traces water on the surface of our beloved Chandramaa (aka Moon), while the effects of this on the world at large are too vast to be contained in the meager realms of this blog, we can join hands in a celebration of chandamama on film.

Celluloid has enjoyed a long – standing relationship with earth’s only satellite from being compared in innumerable songs to the heroine, to being the abode for some truly frEEky creatues we take a look at some of the freakier moments that the Moon has enjoyed on screen:

I) Moon:

What better tribute to the Moon, than having a movie named exclusively after itself! Fortunately for us “Moon” directed by Duncan Jones is not simply two hours of footage showing Earth’s favourite satellite revolving on its ass. Moon tells the story of an Astronaut named Sam Bell played by Sam Rockwell stationed for a period of seven years on a mining station, with his term shortly coming to an end,

Sam starts to see visions of a teenaged girl around and even around the surface of the moon pretty soon he starts to visions of even himself!, is stress taking its toll on him? Or is there more to the eerie going ons than meets the eye?

Despite the obvious resemblances to Kubrick’s 2001 : A Space Odyssey, MOON manages to throw up some chills, thrills and spills to make u shiver in your spacesuit!

II) Nude on the Moon: a 1961 sexploitation film co-written and co-directed by Doris Wishman and Raymond Phelan

under the shared pseudonyms "O. O. Miller" and "Anthony Brooks". The film was produced in 1960 but was not released theatrically until 1961. Doris Wishman went on to become a significant female filmmaker and noteworthy director of sexploitation movies. Wishman is also credited as the film's co-producer. The film’s measly story line deals with two space scientists who journey to the moon, only to find a colony of nudists living there.


The film’s apparent lack of storyline is (apparently) compensated by the film’s gratituous use of nudity (though I must add, that the end result is quite cheesy rather than erotic). The scientists do manage extricate themselves from the confines of the alluring nudist ladies and return to planet Earth ( these stupid scientists I tell you!!!)

III) Apollo 13: Perhaps the most lauded about “moon” related films in recent times, Apollo 13 is a 1995 film that

dramatized the ill-fated lunar mission of the same name in 1970. The movie was adapted by William Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert from the book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, and was directed by Ron Howard. It stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton.

The film garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for many awards, most notably nine Oscars and won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing at the 1996 Academy Awards.

Watch this one from superlative performances by the always dependable Hanks, Sinise as the astronauts stranded in space and Ed Harris as the NASA controller trying to get the crew back to earth. The film also takes a swipe at the apparent of loss of interest of the world at large in the Lunar mission (there were obviously 12 missions preceding it), the public interest is ironically revived upon news of the impending engine failure of Apollo 13.

So there you have it folks a wee peek at some of Chandamama’s finest attempts on celluloid,

Extra frEEky: while not exactly dealing with the Moon, MJ’s immortalised the moon in his dance – routine called “THE MOONWALK!”