Let's anticipate PROJECT HAIL MARY, with a cute-ass Ryan Gosling in a space suit

https://i.ibb.co/rGnCht2t/AKAMLJABWRAB5-EDEFJ55-WMWMIA.jpg

Good fun. Despite the man-creature relationship reminding me of Johnny 5 and Ally Sheedy's in Short Circuit, this thing manages awe + laffs. Ryan Gosling, in every frame, gives a full star performance. If you like him as a performer, you get everything that makes him pop as a screen presence. Sandra Huller is his match. Included: the Meryl Streep gag in a film, and a callback to a key Huller moment in Toni Erdmann.

callback to a key Huller moment in Toni Erdmann.

Naked brunch?

The trailer didn't sell me on this, but if you liked it, I'm curious.

The reviews have been all, "Gosling yay, movie meh," but I was surprisingly in for much of it.

Been considering seeing this. I knocked through the book a while back, and thought it was compellingly page-turny despite being fairly annoying. It felt like reading The Swiss Family Robinson, where every chapter has a title like "In Which Father Defeats a Shark" --- start with some new mission-critical problem, walk through the clever little science puzzle to solve it, finish on cliffhanger setting up the next problem, but no real sense that he'll actually fail. The hyper-competent "set em up, knock em down" thing. At a certain point it's like, jeez, this guy single-handedly solves real-time communication with a space alien, and then does twenty *more* equally staggering things?

I also grew to resent the amnesia gimmick, which transparently served to let the story begin at the fun part and dripfeed exposition. A hoary old device, relied upon by man a 90s PC adventure game... I just got impatient with the flashbacks and very ready for him to get on the damn spaceship.

But all of that seems like it could play much better in a movie than on the page, especially if they condense some of that stuff through montage. And Gosling IS a pleasant presence on the screen.

Most of the tech lingo's been excised, and Grace gets over his amnesia rather quickly -- both criticisms, according to a friend.

I've heard interviews with that author and he comes across more as a technical writer than a storyteller

keep confusing this in my head with project runway

thank you moon

My feeling on the book was compelling story, cringy writing. But I did enjoy it overall and will probably see the movie, which I think may fix some of the book's flaws. I thought the Martian was an enjoyable movie, though that one I didn't read the book

This movie was sappy but sweet, basically a live action Pixar film.

i dont care if this is pvmic

i fucking loved this movie

it made me cry loads and it made me happy

(sidebar i tried to read the book last year but gave up bc the science early on was waaaay too much for me, an actual dummy )

the puppetry of rocky was so expressive and lovely and excellent & Gosling is the best

10 thumbs down <up>

I went in knowing next to nothing about it, and I was not expecting it to be what is in essence a family film, in the best possible way. It's inspiring and has a really positive disposition. It's also just a liiiiiitle too long, but that's movies in 2026 for you. Fingers crossed people keep seeing it, it's nice to watch a movie that makes you cry *and* leaves you hopeful.

YUP. I didn't expect to have my emotions coaxed out so well.

100%!

and I want Gosling on my couch now, wearing wire-rimmed glasses.

cosign

We loved it. Gosling was great. And they did an excellent job streamlining the book and upgrading the dialogue. Rocky could have been cringe but was fantastic. And Ryan Gosling. So, net net, movie >>> book.

I actually left my house and went to a cinema to watch this, that's how much I love Ryan Gosling. Thought it was great. Maybe a little bit too long, but overall it was a proper Night at the Movies. Beautiful design, beautiful visual effects, funny jokes, heartwarming intergalactic buddying, really top notch. Well done everyone, thumbs down.

The only thing that annoyed me was it took me too long to figure out where I knew Carl from. I of course know him from The Bear.

wow this was a GREAT time at the movies. an old-fashioned, big-hearted crowd pleaser. like five minutes in it was clear i was going to enjoy it, and i did.

same

ironically, given my comments above, i actually think it could have survived a little MORE fun science problem-solving. it's also a little long, but it moved. also, like, a movie where the world collaborates on a big problem and people are willing to sacrifice themselves for a real cause just kinda hits right now.

best single deletion from the book, off the top of my head: long sequence where, following Rocky's injury, Grace tries to help him by cleaning gunk out of his respiratory system, only to learn after Rocky recovers that the gunk was part of the healing process and so that entire chapter was a pointless digression.

I ... did not like this. I was mostly fine with it until Rocky showed up, but the cutesy anthropomorphism bugged me, and I also struggled to care during the dragged-out ending. Feel like there are some interesting ideas inherent in the premise that could have been explored had the movie not focused so much on the quippy buddy comedy element. Gosling innocent, tho; he's very charming, as usual.

It’s nice to see that Hollywood can still make a big-budget, hard sci-fi, crowd-pleaser that’s not a sequel or based on a comic book. Would probably have to go back pretty far to find another example.

We saw this on Sunday (me + wife). We both liked it as a fun movie that was not afraid to be corny at times. As for the science-y aspects, a few were interesting, but most were simply window dressing around a very basic plot. This was a conscious exercise in 'making entertainment', but with the cast and crew taking real pleasure in doing it well. It had very good visual design. Sadly too much of the music was off the shelf, not very imaginative, and I kept noticing that.

I thought it was pretty good, enjoyable enough. Unchallenging for Sci-Fi, thats for sure. Needledrops felt very much trying to just do what Guardians did.

It seemed a bit novel to have a movie about encountering an alien intelligence that is different but not necessarily more advanced.

I guess, but Rocky almost immediately assumed a cozily familiar sidekick role, with the eager energy of a younger sibling or cartoon pet, that erased whatever sense of wonder I had about the alien species.

yeah, the tired trope of them adopting snark takes me out of it

I enjoyed this

Pretty much everyone has told me to check this out, so I will!

I never got around to watching The Martian, although the consensus among people I've talked to is that the movie didn't have a lot of the problems I had with the book. There are a handful of authors where I'd rather watch a film adaptation than the books and I'm going to assume that's the case and not investigate too much further, although Doctor Casino's comment rang true for me re: The Martian. The narrative flow was really clunky with a hard stop between chapters, and the few concerns that were obvious Checkov guns were insanely obvious to the point I was groaning.

If the major draw of a sci-fi book or movie is the process of applying imagination about the possibilities of the universe, where the ideas have been disciplined by the rigors of scientific thinking, you'll be disappointed. This ain't that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vR4sgPQdqo

God, why did anyone have to ask him anything? We were all doing fine without knowing what Andy Weir's actual politics are.

This was just too cute and cosy for me, sadly. I thought it was very fuzzy on the science side of things too. Enjoyable enough watch, of course, even with my complaints.

(NB I've not read the book)

Again, it's basically a live action Pixar film.

Yeah it did feel like a Pixar movie. Like krakow said, a bit too cute and cosy for me. Looked great though.

Saw this with my 11yo son last night. He loved it. I enjoyed most every part of it in isolation, but got whiplash from the dramatic tonal shifts, which impaired my overall experience. Notable clashes being the grandeur of the big space epic with the laugh-out-loud goofy buddy comedy parts (and as noted above, the snark), and also the contrast between the legitimately interesting scifi premise and the absurdity of how Gosling and Rocky developed their communication and worked together. Pixar comp is ot because for whatever reason it seems like you're more able to pull off that kitchen sink approach in animation, at least for me. But it was a lot of fun

i thought I'd read this so i checked. jan 2023, only 3 years, but 150 books ago. i remember nothing about it.

Watched the other night, a fine treat that I'll take right about now.

As mentioned in another thread: thought this was only ok. For whatever reason it never really resonated with me emotionally, and I had a very hard time suspending my disbelief around things like how quickly they sorted out communication. It looks good and gosling is good in it but .. whatever. It’s fine.

For movie premised around the possible end of all life on earth within decades it has remarkably little ambition in the direction of emotional depth. It's highest ambition is to hold your attention and entertain you for a couple of hours. This fact dictates such nonsense as how quickly they sorted out communication, because a realistic exposition would be long and dramatically tedious, so they went for comedy and brushed right by the difficulties as fast they could. "Live-action Pixar movie" is spot on.

Yep, that's its charm.

Except that, yes, I found plenty of depth in the relations b/w Ryland and Rocky and b/w Ryland and Eva Stratt.

These are the guys who directed a LEGO movie. I didn't expect Solaris.

exactly

Was there any further elaboration of the Hail Mary, full of Grace name joke? I didn’t pick anything up beyond that.

Didn't like this as much as the Martian, but did still enjoy it. Dialogue definitely an improvement over the book. Felt too long though no clue what I would have cut. Cinematography was lovely though, wasn't expecting that. I spied Greig Fraser's credit as I was leaving the theater and it made sense

For movie premised around the possible end of all life on earth within decades it has remarkably little ambition in the direction of emotional depth.

yes definitely, also a similar microcosm of that off dynamic at the beginning, when Gosling is invited to analyze the sample and his disappointment that it doesn’t prove his grad school thesis completely overshadows any reaction to the fact that he’s just been given evidence of extraterrestrial life

One thing I liked was that Gosling and Hüller’s characters had a mutual regard, and warmth between them, but the film didn’t attempt to add a romantic dimension which would have undermined them both.

> Was there any further elaboration of the Hail Mary, full of Grace name joke?

i figured it was the desperation aspect of this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass

(which mentions the book and film at the bottom, i now realise)

Oh yeah, they explained the mission name at the time he learned about it; I was just amused that the only surviving crew member of the Hail Mary was named Grace.

In the book, that joke is pointed out, matttkkkk

also, in the book the final twist is that all along the mission was to help Earth find a parking space

thought this was a fun time at the movies. gosling’s still got it

I surprised myself by actually being moved a bit when rocky saves gosling and almost dies

Gosling crying kills me.

This felt like an inverted 2001 with cold AI Hal being replaced with a lovable muppet that exudes humanity. I struggled with suspending my disbelief tbh (sure was easy to decipher out that alien language!), but I can see why so many people are connecting with it.

This felt like an inverted 2001 with cold AI Hal being replaced with a lovable muppet that exudes humanity.

Well, that's one way to refer to Ryan Gosling.

LOL! Agreed that Gosling was great and carried the film.

Finally got round to watching this having read no reviews or seen any trailers. I went in thinking it'd be hard sci fi about the trip/the virus (I haven't read the book), but Darin's right it's like ET meets 2001. I liked it a lot, but definitely felt like I was being emotionally manipulated. The ease with which they got into a nuanced language communication irked me more than a bit but needs must to get the story moving along I suppose.

Most blockbusters use manipulation, so this doesn't bother me -- it's whether I submit to the manipulation.

We loved this so much. I hooted and clapped like an idiot. ROCKY AND GRACE SAVE STARS.