Moon movies: Cap off Eclipse Day with a movie night

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Apollo 10 1/12: A Space Age Childhood. Courtesy of Netflix.

The Great North American Eclipse has come and gone.

But we’re guessing a lot of folks out there are still dealing with a serious case of wow-space-is-awesome fever.

If you feel like continuing the moon mania, we’ve got some movie suggestions for this evening and the rest of the week. Consider it our own little Eclipse Film Festival.

We’ll also tell you where you can watch it, and whether it’s kid-friendly.

So once you’ve stored, donated or recycled your eclipse glasses and found out what to do if you looked at the eclipse without protection, consider pulling up one of these great movies.

Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

Streaming on: Netflix
Good for kids?: Older kids, yes (PG-13)

Director Richard Linklater returns to his beloved rotoscoping animation format for this sweet nostalgia trip back to 1969. Inspired by his own childhood in Houston in the 1960s, "Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood" pairs a showy framing device about a kid astronaut with a slice-of-life look at suburbia on the edge of the Space Race.

"Apollo 10½" luxuriates in the details of childhood, some of which are universal (sibling rivalries, stressful playground games) and some of which are deeply tied to this particular place and time (riding in the back of a pickup truck down the highway, attending a school where everyone’s parents worked for NASA). Linklater and his collaborators clearly have an immense fondness for a time when science class felt like current events. [Caroline Siede]

Rated PG-13. 98 minutes. Dir: Richard Linklater. Read our 2022 review.

Hidden Figures

Streaming on: Disney+
Good for kids?: Yes (PG)

This heartwarming 2016 drama turned a long-overdue spotlight on some of the most important figures of the space race: Three brilliant Black women whose determination, intelligence and skill made it possible for us to put a man on the moon.

Taraji P. Henson plays the trailblazing Katherine Johnson, a gifted mathematician working for NASA whose experiences with prejudice can’t stop her from changing the world. We follow her from childhood to her days crunching numbers for John Glenn’s big flight, and Henson’s warm and winning performance brings this remarkable woman to life with great humanity.

The movie also stars Janelle Monae, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons and Glen Powell, who plays a memorable John Glenn. The whole cast is great, but Monae, Spencer and especially Henson make a wonderful and lasting impression.

"Hidden Figures" would be great even if it was fiction. But it’s history, and that makes it unforgettable. And best of all, it’s fun.

Rated PG. 127 minutes. Dir: Theodore Melfi.

Moon

Streaming on: Available to rent through Apple TV, Amazon and other online sources
Good for kids?: No (R)

Like Sam Rockwell? Well, there’s a lot of him in "Moon," a compelling sci-fi mystery in which Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of a space corporation in a near-future timeline.

He’s stuck alone on the moon with only an obsequious robot for company, working a three-year shift that’s almost at an end. And he seems to be going a bit stir-crazy so that final day can’t come soon enough. But after he notices some of his equipment is missing, he discovers there’s a lot more going on than he realized.

To say more about "Moon" would give away its many surprises. Suffice it to say that if you’re looking for some off-kilter sci-fi, "Moon" is your ideal destination.

Rated R. 127 minutes. Dir: Duncan Jones.

Apollo 11

Streaming: free on Tubi
Good for kids: yes (G)

This acclaimed 2019 documentary is jaw-dropping in its simplicity – no narration, no interviews, no cheesy recreations. The archival footage is all you get, but when it’s archival footage of the Apollo 11 mission, what more do you need?

What’s great about "Apollo 11" is that, despite its no-frills approach, it’s the opposite of a dry recitation of facts and familiar history. Director Todd Douglas Miller makes the moon landing feel as thrilling and awe-inspiring as if it were happening now, for the first time; it’s an unforgettable viewing experience likely to captivate viewers of all ages.

And for those who already know a ton about the Apollo 11 mission, it offers a rare treasure: 70mm footage of the mission (including both the launch and the recovery of the astronauts) never seen by the public until the film’s release.

Space is awesome. Science is awesome. "Apollo 11" knows it, and shows it.

Rated G. 97 minutes. Dir: Todd Douglas Miller.

When is the next total solar eclipse in America?

The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. is on March 30, 2033, but the path of totality will only cross over Alaska and Russia.

After 2024, NASA says the next total solar eclipse visible from any point in the contiguous United States will occur in 2044. Totality will only be visible from North Dakota and Montana.

The next total solar eclipse that will travel across the lower 48 states from coast to coast is in 2045.