Apollo 18 (2011)

Having completed my first week of work, I had struggled with getting in the swing of things and conditioning my body to a new schedule. The same struggles happened with paying attention to movies or my blog. However, with it being the weekend, I was able to get into the swing of things again and watch a few new movies. My first selection for the weekend was the found footage conspiracy themed Apollo 18.

Plot/ Decades-old found footage from NASA's abandoned Apollo 18 mission, where two American astronauts were sent on a secret expedition, reveals the reason the U.S. has never returned to the moon.

Conspiracy theory flicks are always interesting, and when that conspiracy is interwoven within a different conspiracy, it is even better. The moon landings have always been ripe with controversy, and this flick definitely took it to another level. Sure, there were some flaws with pacing and at times, the acting seemed a bit uneven, but all in all, it was a terrific film. The atmosphere was tremendous, creating what I would imagine the natural eeriness of the moon would be. The cinematography did a great job at promoting the found footage realism by combining scenes on par with the video feeds from that era of space exploration. In addition, the plot had some realism to it, as it felt typical of a real covert operation and the information flow that occurs during the process. Being a retired member of the military, the practicality shown in this flick truly hit home and crafted a viable conspiracy thriller. Fans of conspiracies and Sci-Fi should definitely check it out.