Movie Review: Project Hail Mary

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up to a breathing tube being taken out of his mouth and a computer asking him what two plus two is. Not able to answer the cognitive question correctly at the moment, he is dragged out of his sleeping pod. He climbs a ladder and finds two other sleeping pods, but the people in them are dead. Grace blunders about through an amazing amount of loose equipment until he finds a window. The stars out there reveals he is in space. What’s worse, he is on a trip taking him far out of the solar system.

Grace does not remember how he got there. As he tries to figure out how to run the spaceship, his memory comes back to him in dribs and drabs. He was a middle school science teacher. Students asked him about the dimming of the sun. He acknowledged this was happening, and it was linked to the Petrova line, which goes from the sun to Venus.

Scientists discovered this line was composed of microorganisms dubbed the Astrophage. A high-level government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) recruited him to work on this. It turns out Grace was a microbiologist who was shunned for insisting that life can exist without water. Dispirited, he ended up teaching middle school. But in a government lab, he finds the Astrophage is composed of individual cells. They absorb enough energy from the sun to travel to Venus. Why? They are attracted to the carbon dioxide on Venus, where they breed using the carbon dioxide.

This is causing the dimming of the sun. In about thirty years, all life on Earth will be dead.

Other stars are being infected, presumably by the Astrophage. But one star, Tau Ceti, is not. The Hail Mary spacecraft is assembled for a three-person crew. They will hopefully go to Tau Ceti, find out why it is not being affected, and send the information back to Earth via probes. If the information is relevant, and scientists can do something useful with it, the Earth may be saved. (The movie does not describe it, but the Hail Mary pass is a desperate move in American football, so the name of the spaceship reflects the improbable nature of the mission.)

There is only enough fuel for a one-way trip. This is a suicide mission.

Back in Grace’s present, the Hail Mary has been under constant acceleration, providing Grace with a sense of gravity. But when it reaches a planet orbiting Tau Ceti, the drive cuts out. Now in fully-realized zero gravity, he scrambles around in the pilot seat. The pilot was one of those who died, so Grace has no idea what he is doing. Will he figure out how to pilot the ship, and will he find anything useful to save Earth?

Project Hail Mary is a fun movie designed to appeal to viewers who don’t necessarily know a whole lot of science. It has the opposite of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s serious and well-disciplined crew. A surprising scene showed the Hail Mary’s crew preparing to leave by drinking and singing in a bar. It is also the opposite of The Right Stuff. Grace is not cut out for this mission, and he knows it. He is the wrong stuff.

One has to get used to Ryan Gosling’s face, since much of the movie focuses on him. But that’s not a problem for most people. He has an everyman nature about him, whether he is tearfully sending his dead crewmates out for a space burial, or using his scientific genius to try to find a way to defeat the Astrophage.

I had never seen Sandra Hüller before. Much of her work has been done in Germany. The movie certainly takes advantage of her expressive face and surprisingly expressive voice. Her character of Eva Stratt will surprise you.

P.S. If you stay and watch the end credits, you will see that Meryl Streep really did say a sentence as a voice actress.

P.P.S. The current ad for the movie reveals a lot. In fact, if you are planning on seeing the movie, don’t watch any ads for it. Or any interviews with the actors.

SPOILERS *** SPOILERS***SPOILERS

This isn’t exactly a spoiler anymore, because the current ad for the movie takes a lot of the surprise out of it.

The spider-like, asymmetrical alien named Rocky is creepy. It took me a while to get used to it. Obviously, this is on purpose, so our experience will track with Grace’s,

In the bar scene, it looks like Eva Stratt is developing feelings for Ryland Grace. This becomes a great head fake with her surprise song.

Most moviegoers do not understand how to simulate gravity in science fiction. They did a great job showing what happens when acceleration is turned off, then the spaceship has to spin to simulate gravity in a different way.

CRITICISMS ***CRITICISMS***CRITICISMS

The movie doesn’t work.

I am referring to the movie, not the book, into which the author Andy Weir poured in an immense amount of scientific research.

The Hail Mary spins fast enough to give a G-force of 1g. This would make for an immense Coriolis effect (which I won’t attempt to explain here) in that size of a spacecraft. Grace would have to lean crazily to the right or left to compensate. More likely, the spacecraft would tear itself apart.

When the Hail Mary is diving too deep into the planet’s atmosphere, Rocky starts it spinning again. Fine. This keeps Grace’s face from being smushed into a console. But how does that rescue them from burning up in the atmosphere? The movie definitely shows the spinning gets them out of danger, but with no explanation.

For this next part, remember that I am criticizing the movie, not the book. The Astrophage take energy from the sun to go to Venus. Why? Because they are drawn to the carbon dioxide (actually, a part of the infrared spectrum that implies carbon dioxide). Grace shows this convincingly in the lab, when cells zip away to that infrared. In space, he and Rocky discover a bacteria that will eat the Astrophage. This will kill the Astrophage on Venus and Rocky’s equivalent of Venus.

So what? There is no explanation as to why that would stop the Astrophage infection from maintaining the Petrova line as they take energy from the sun to Venus.

On a different subject, Rocky tells Grace the return trip to Earth would take only four years. That would be about three times the speed of light. There is no mention of time dilation. It would simply take four years.

Although I liked the human interactions, the scientific flaws lead me to dislike the movie. 

This is a map of the Ancient Near East I created in college using Pellon. This is much better than using unwieldy cardboard. It can be rolled up neatly, and it costs pennies on the dollar compared to an expensive color map on heavy paper. And if it gets bent, it can simply be ironed, without harming the ink. 

I know that people can zoom in on streams of maps, but they often have a lot of distracting clutter. This really should be the standard way to make maps particular to a small group lecture, since it can easily be taped up without relying on internet connections. And it is ideal for Sunday school. 

Robert Duvall Passed Away

I remember Robert Duvall from these movies:

To Kill a Mockingbird

True Grit

THX 1138

The Godfather Parts I & II

Apocalypse Now

The Great Santini

The Natural

Falling Down

Deep Impact

I think it was Gene Hackman who said when he and Dustin Hoffman were trying to break into Hollywood, they were roommates in an apartment. Robert Duvall also lived with them, but he slept on the floor. Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman would discuss endlessly their dreams of making it big. I don’t know if Robert Duvall ever discussed that phase of his life.

John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com

Book Haul

 

Okay, it’s two books and a magazine. Give me a break.

Movie Review: Mercy

Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) wakes up in a metal chair. In fact, his wrists are locked in to the chair arms. In front of him is a huge flatscreen showing a close-up of a woman’s face (Rebecca Ferguson). She turns out to be an AI.

The AI informs Chris he is on trial, but he already knows what this is. In Los Angeles, the crime and homeless problems have become so bad, the traditional courts were overwhelmed. A new system was put in place: Sophisticated AI judges preside over criminal cases now. A case only lasts 90 minutes, which has cleared the caseload. Oh, and the accused is presumed guilty and has to prove his innocence. The chair nicely doubles as the execution spot.

Chris is accused of the murder of his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). Chris is shocked. He didn’t know she was dead. The courtroom has multiple screens that zoom in, zoom out, and project in 3-D. Footage shows him pulling into work, but abruptly pulling out. He goes to his house, where Nicole forbids him to come in, saying it’s not his house anymore. He goes in. After some minutes, he comes out.

Nicole was stabbed to death. Her blood was found on Chris’ clothing. No one else went in an out during that time period, since their daughter was away. Chris doesn’t remember what happened.

As the case unfolds, it turns out Chris is a lapsed alcoholic. Videos show him in violent bouts of rage. Chris is crushed. He starts to wonder if he did kill Nicole.

But he makes requests for other video footage, as is his right. The AI judge snoops into files in a way we would currently find intrusive—especially with so many cameras around. Think your doorbell cameras are your business? Think again. It turns out Nicole was seeing another man. Chris contacts his partner, Jaq (Kali Reis), as is his right. Jaq takes off on her mini-helicopter, which is slightly larger than a motorcycle. Will this new development help Chris?

I was intrigued by this movie because of the sharp divide in reviews. A very popular site showed the professional reviewers gave a positive rating of only somewhat over 20%. But average viewers gave it over 80%. It’s true that every audience is a selective audience, so it can have its own bias. And yet, this is a science fiction mystery and detective movie starring Chris Pratt. Not a bad bias.

Mercy was an enjoyable thrill ride. The story unfolds in real time, so we watch as Chris desperately tries to figure out what is going on in 90 minutes. It’s interesting to watch Chris Pratt struggle in the chair he’s locked into at each plot twist, looking like his blood pressure is jetting up. And speaking of jetting, the mini-helicopter looks completely real when taking off, flying, and going into a hard landing. Chris sees all this on the multiple screens in the courtroom, while other developments play on others.

Rebecca Ferguson is fascinating at the AI Judge. Her beautiful face says outrageous things to Chris about the judicial process without changing expression. But she suddenly shows emotion at various developments, which is disorienting, as it’s obviously meant to be.

Does the investigation get breakthroughs a little too fast at times? Yes. But they are good at doing some information overload to cover that.

So I’ll side with the rest of the audience in saying Mercy is an enjoyable but disquieting view of a future with Ais given too much of a role in society. As a caution, Chris Pratt’s first few sentences are filled with vulgarities as he tries to figure out what is going on. Thankfully, the rest of the movie doesn’t sound like that.

Book Purge

I sold several paperbacks and hardbacks to a used bookstore. In return, I received a pittance. It wasn’t enough to pay for lunch.

Sorry, George, but I just wasn’t going to read it.

Reindeer

I just missed the twelve days of Christmas.

Charlie Brown: The Hero’s Journey

If you love “A Charlie Brown Christmas” as an ideal children’s story, you might not want to read this. Analyzing something beloved can take the magic out of it. If you’re afraid of that, you shouldn’t even look at this. Don’t peek.

***

SITUATION NORMAL: The Peanuts kids, in this case ice skating. Some children’s stories have children interacting with adults or magical creatures, but this will only have children.

CHARACTER IN A SITUATION WITH A PROBLEM: The situation was described above, with the overall context of Christmas. Our protagonist is CHARLIE BROWN. He feels depressed, but the deeper problem is he does not know the meaning of Christmas.

SIDEKICK: Linus, his friend who carries a security blanket, listens carefully to Charlie Brown. He will turn out to be the sidekick.

ANTAGONIST/EARLY CONFLICT: Snoopy, the antagonist, snaps Charlie Brown from ice skating into a tree. Note the importance of trees in this story.

MENTOR: Lucy plays a number of roles, but here as an amateur psychiatrist, she is the mentor. She tells Charlie Brown that his recognizing he has a problem is important.

HERALD/DENIAL OF CALL: Lucy is now outside her psychiatrist booth. She tells Charlie Brown he should be the director of the Christmas play. He is not sure.

DARKNESS PRESENTS ITSELF: Charlie Brown observes Snoopy decking out his doghouse with a multitude of decorations. Snoopy hands him a flier that announces the true meaning of Christmas is in decorations, and a contest will have “money, money, money” as the prize.

ACCEPTANCE OF CALL: Charlie Brown tells his little sister Sally that he will direct the Christmas play.

ALLY BECOMES ADVERSARY: Sally tells Charlie Brown she wants a multitude of gifts. As an alternative, she would accept a lot of money. Charlie Brown runs away in frustration.

FIRST INCITING INCIDENT: Charlie Brown arrives as the director.

THRESHOLD GUARDIAN: Snoopy howls disapprovingly at Charlie Brown.

FIRST TRY/FAIL: Charlie Brown tries to direct the play, but the children only want to do their own dances to music.

TRUE FACE OF DARKNESS: Lucy, as an antagonist, reveals to Charlie Brown that Christmas is a “big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate.”

MIDPOINT/SECOND INCITING EVENT: Charlie Brown decides to get a Christmas tree to establish the right mood. He sets out with his sidekick, Linus.

SECOND TRY/FAIL: Charlie Brown and Linus continue on their quest. Linus points out the numinous: searchlights in the distance. They enter the land of the fantastic: shiny aluminum Christmas trees. Charlie Brown sees a little wooden Christmas tree. He thinks it needs him, and out of compassion, chooses it.

Charlie Brown and Linus return with the little tree. The other children react with anger. Then they laugh at him.

REVELATION: Defeated, Charlie Brown cries out, asking if anyone knows what Christmas is all about.

Linus goes on stage, and in a soliloquy, tells the actual Christmas story. (This is Luke 2:8-14.)

Charlie Brown walks out with his little tree, happy.

REMINDER OF DARKNESS/THIRD INCITING INCIDENT: Charlie Brown sees Snoopy’s doghouse, which is extraordinarily decorated. He sees that Snoopy won first prize. 

THIRD TRY/FAIL/DEATH: Charlie Brown takes an ornament from the doghouse and puts it on top of the little tree. The top of the tree keels over to the ground. Charlie Brown says, “I’ve killed it.” More depressed than ever, he walks off.

CLIMAX:

Sacrifice; Linus, the sidekick, sacrifices his security blanket to revive the little tree.

The children despoil Snoopy’s doghouse and decorate the tree with it, turning it into a glorious tree.

Adversary reverts to ally: Charlie Brown’s sister Sally participates.

Antagonist become ally: Snoopy allows his decorations to be transferred.

Charlie Brown returns, and is astonished to see his little tree is now glorious.

The children cry out, “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!”

RESOLUTION: The children sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” verse 1.

***

In writing this, I was not trying to make people mad by referring to Snoopy or Sally as adversaries. I am convinced that the staying power of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is based on Charlie Brown going through a mini-hero’s journey. It is not just a series of cute scenes, like a couple of the lesser efforts of Peanuts’ specials.

So if you feel an irresistible desire to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” every year, there is a deep reason for it.

Movie Review: Back to the Future

Back to the Future was recently screened in theaters for its fortieth anniversary. Suffice it to say, I never saw it in a theater until now. As for the plot: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a cool high schooler, goes back in time from 1985 to 1955. Hilarity ensues. I can’t think of any way to summarize the plot without giving away too much. If you see it, remember to say “Calvin Klein” at a certain point.

So just to give a few “meta” comments: Through a stroke of genius, they used a Delorean as the time travel machine. It’s probably the most well-recognized time machine, at least in America (no offense to Doctor Who). When many people see a Delorean, they think of the movie.

It’s hard to describe how this movie affected the zeitgeist of the time. Grown men in offices would imitate Marty’s skateboard moves (with their feet on the floor). Women would talk endlessly about how cute Michael J. Fox was in the role. People in business meetings would talk about scenes in the movie not just before the meetings, but during them. 

Also, Erica is played by Lea Thompson, who previously was the quiet girl Erica in Red Dawn. 

As a minor note, the phrase “Great Scott” had pretty much died out, but Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) used it a number of times, which briefly brought it back into use. For some reason, I didn’t like Doc Brown at all the first time I saw it on TV, but I liked him really well while watching it in a theater.

Back to the Future had a massive influence on the culture of the 80s. No other movie was as influential until The Matrix came along in 1999. If you’re not old enough to remember Back to the Future when it came out, just think of the impact of The Matrix.

image by LSDSL

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