Pete Wright
Welcome to the film board. I’m Pete Wright. Each month we take on a new release and put it on the table to figure out what it’s doing and why it matters. Spoilers ahead.
Pete Bot
What is your name?
Pete Wright
Pete Wright.
Pete Bot
What is today’s date?
Pete Wright
It’s uh March something, I think. It was March when I fell asleep
Pete Bot
Can you tell me where you are?
Pete Wright
I’m at a s scre no no, I’m I’m not at a screening. I’m I’m on a spacecraft twelve light years from Earth. I’ve been unconscious for an indeterminate period of time, and someone, someone, decided the solution to global emergency was to drug me and put me on a rocket without my consent I’ve been a podcast host for over 20 years. This is the most relatable thing that has ever happened to me. Our mission, review Project Hail Mary. I’m joined, somehow, by Tommy Metz III, Steve Sarmento, and Justin J. J. Yeager. Welcome to Project Filmboard. Oh everybody, we’re here. Uh film board gathers. Uh Tom, Steve, JJ, welcome uh to our Did we do the Martian on this show?
Tommy Metz III
Yes.
Pete Wright
Did we do this?
Steve Sarmento
I I think so
Pete Wright
We did, right?
Tommy Metz III
Yes. Because I remember the flick chart theme that I wrote for it.
Pete Wright
This is just
Tommy Metz III
It was to the tune it was to the tune of Copa Cabana.
Justin Jaeger
Yay.
Steve Sarmento
Oh wow,
Justin Jaeger
Oh, that’s so great.
Pete Wright
Did you are you is are you hanging a flag on the the potential that you wrote a song for this episode?
Tommy Metz III
Oh no, the King of Diminishing Returns has has quit that game a long time ago.
Pete Wright
Oh, okay.
Justin Jaeger
Oh
Pete Wright
All right. Good. We are talking about Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling, Alone in Space. This is Andy Weir’s.
Steve Sarmento
Oh yeah,
Pete Wright
Uh third novel, second adaptation of his novels. It won the novel won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Audiobook, won the 2022 Audi Award for Audiobook of the Year. Especially if you haven’t listened to the audiobook, Ray Porter’s performance is amazing and his performance specifically of Rocky is really great. Um and uh so we’re gonna talk all about this and uh what this movie means, but let’s do a little bit of a grounding. How of the three of you Uh how aware of what Project Hail Mary was were you going in?
Justin Jaeger
Uh, it was it was on my reading list.
Pete Wright
JJ.
Justin Jaeger
for a long time.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah,
Justin Jaeger
It didn’t make it. It didn’t rise to the top. So I desired to read it.
Steve Sarmento
Well that
Justin Jaeger
So I was aware of it to that degree. But the depth of the story and the vehicle with which it’s told, I had no idea. about going in.
Pete Wright
Okay.
Justin Jaeger
So I knew I wanted to uh experience it, but I didn’t know the details of what we are had done here.
Tommy Metz III
I think that’s what we’re talking about.
Pete Wright
Okay, all right. Steve, you’re a real book hound.
Steve Sarmento
Uh
Pete Wright
Surely you read the book.
Steve Sarmento
No, uh it’s sort of same same situation as JJ, and I yeah, I I’m sort of in the boat now of wanting to read the books after because I feel like the adaptation process
Pete Wright
Wow.
Steve Sarmento
you can’t do the whole book. And so I find that sometimes you’re like, oh, but it would have been better if you’d included this or it you lose the context of this or that or you really had to simplify that. And so I prefer to see the movie on the merits of the movie.
Pete Wright
Okay,
Steve Sarmento
So my plan is to read the book after, but I’m, you know, it it’s definitely on on my list and uh excited, you know, and have had those expectations after reading the Martian and seeing the Martian and a general sense of what type of story this may may be. So I was excited about seeing it, but didn’t know a lot of the details.
Pete Wright
Okay, all right, Tom.
Tommy Metz III
I was the one that didn’t like the book The Martian because I’m a weirdo because it it wasn’t because it was sort of like written as diary entries, it never
Steve Sarmento
Uh
Tommy Metz III
I needed some part of me needed it to be scary, ’cause I find space to be terrifying and horrifying at the same time. And it wasn’t. It was sort of like Chuckly and All About Potatoes. But I liked the movie quite a bit. So I have no plans to read the book.
Pete Wright
Interesting.
Tommy Metz III
But I did see the movie for this podcast.
Pete Wright
Okay. All right. I’m so glad you did this homework.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah. Yeah, I went for it.
Pete Wright
All right.
Justin Jaeger
I will say I will say I don’t believe that I’m going to read the book now, too, in sort of a reciprocal way that what
Pete Wright
Well let’s yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Steve is talking about in this, in that uh, you know, spoiler alert for me here, I really, really liked this movie. And I think I might have been let down because of all those context things you’re talking about, Steve, if I had read the book ahead of time. I’m actually really happy I did it in this order, and I’m a huge fan of this movie.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Okay, okay. Well, I I will just tell you, I think since I am the only person who read the book, um, I will I will give you a little bit of a nugget. And once again, spoilers ahead. So if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, what are you doing here? Um the I uh the book, the structure of the book is largely truly faithful to the or the movie is truly faithful to the book. I was really surprised at just how uh i how effortless it felt to do this adaptation in a way uh that tells the parallel storylines in a rewarding way. All the Astrophage stuff, the Petrova line, the r Rocky, the Talmeeba
Steve Sarmento
Okay,
Pete Wright
all the involuntary conscription, it’s all in there. And uh I I think the the big changes there are two big changes. At the end, the you know, we get the the reveal of the biodome at the end uh on Erid, and it is very humble in the book And he’s also an old man. There is zero suggestion that he will ever go home again. There is no work being done on the rocket.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
It’s over. He just lives there. And so those are those are really the only oh and the math. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Andy Weir’s signature math. There is so much math in the book. So much spreadsheet, charting, math, coefficients, and variables that I I uh I’ll personally I’m a real island on the book.
Steve Sarmento
I don’t know.
Pete Wright
I found the entire middle section So tedious and boring it took me forever to get through this damn book. It was a snooze. I am I am alone, I think, in that.
Justin Jaeger
Oh no
Pete Wright
Everybody I’ve talked to has loved the book, they think I’m a lunatic. So I take that for what you will. It was a tough read for me.
Steve Sarmento
Okay.
Justin Jaeger
Okay.
Pete Wright
It also very much, and I’m going to go ahead and start with opening thoughts. This is the Martian in cosplay.
Justin Jaeger
Um,
Pete Wright
That is my, it is a lonely man doing math in space. And instead of a potato, he has a rock-shaped potato or a potato-shaped rock that talks to him, which might as well have actually been a character in The Martian.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Pete Wright
So I think that Andy Weir has cornered the market on this kind of character, even Artemis. has it’s it’s a there’s a woman in the central sort of protagonist, but that cleverness, that sort of gestalt of of you know savvy, intelligent academic science mind is Andy Weir’s central strength. And that is at play here. And Ryan Gosling is as charming as he could possibly be. And uh And so I I don’t know what else to do with that than say, yeah, it was good. Next. JJ, you really loved it.
Justin Jaeger
Well, I really loved it.
Pete Wright
That’s your sp you spoiled it.
Justin Jaeger
And and what I will say is that I I don’t think I could feel better about this. movie.
Pete Wright
Wow, okay
Justin Jaeger
I’ll say that right right away. And but I also don’t disagree with what you just said.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, we’re going to Uh
Justin Jaeger
I do see the sort of iteration that this represents coming out of
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm.
Justin Jaeger
uh Weir’s creativity, but I really, really liked it. I uh, you know, I I was concerned that uh I might have a little bit of fear going in and the way that they Told the story was masterful to me. So you you’re saying that it mirrors what’s in the book. I’m I’m very excited about
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
that and I have lots of reasons why I feel like this script was expertly written and delivered in a way that made things really special for me. I I liked the Martian. I liked the Martian a lot. I’ve shared it with my kids. My kids were excited to see this too.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
They haven’t seen it yet. But uh this felt like a next level thing for me. For me. It was loaded with positive emotion for me. And the only quibble that I would have would be the length. But I feel like that’s getting back into that thing that I mentioned when we were talking about the book. They wanted to my my guess is that they wanted to encompass as much of the book as possible. And so it gets to feel a little long in places, but the emotion the emotional notes were perfect for me. me so I I’m very excited about this movie and I’m very excited about sharing it with others
Pete Wright
Okay, all right.
Steve Sarmento
I I Pete, I think I’m in a similar place with you because I I love the Martian.
Tommy Metz III
Uh we can
Steve Sarmento
I love the science though. I love I love the numbers. I love the science. And I felt like a choice had to be made. And again, this may be because the scope of the novel, the story itself, is so much larger. The Martian is dude stuck on Mars needs to get home. Simple problem. Here we’ve got much larger problems. We’ve got a much more complex story of just grace Trying to figure out who he is, just sort of that sense of of that. So we’ve got multiple storylines. So it’s a much bigger story, takes a lot more to tell, which is, I think, speaks to the the runtime. But I think then the science got softened up a little bit, at least in terms of the movie. It’s there, but I really wanted a little bit more of the the hardcore science, the the working the problem type of stuff. totally enjoy this and you know meeting it where it’s at had a a great time um but I think I’m also You know, I I prefer something a little bit more grounded. So, you know, thinking of a movie like Arrival, we’re gonna figure out language and it’s gonna take us a whole movie to do it. And here we’ll we’ll get a computer and we’ll do it in a couple minutes.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
But it it worked.
Tommy Metz III
Uh
Steve Sarmento
Because it this is the story that it is. And you can forget the fact that he has that computer rig and then at all other points in the movie they’re just talking to each other, and I don’t see any technology around to try translate for them, but I thought I it doesn’t matter. We just needed to see that they were able to communicate. So now that takes that problem, moves it off the table. We just assume they can communicate. We don’t need to get into the the dirty dirty nitty-gritty details of how that’s happening all the time. Um, but it was really, really enjoyable. It was one that um my wife was considering going to see and we saw the trailer where She’s like, wait, is that music? Is that Prince I will die for I would die for you? She’s like, this movie’s rated K for Kleenex. I am not going to I do not want to go on this emotional roller coaster I I’m just no, you can you can go. I’m not I don’t want to take that on. Um and it is. It is a it’s a different story, but I had a really, really good time. But I think if you go in expecting The Andy Weir of the Martian, you know, this is a different story. He’s a different storyteller here. And I think he’s he’s doing well with this, and it was very enjoyable.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Okay, Tom. The uh this is this is your segment, so bring us home.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Okay, uh we don’t know the regular
Tommy Metz III
Well, you know I’m not the biggest space head. Um and I have
Justin Jaeger
Did it scare you? Were you scared by it?
Tommy Metz III
I was not scared by it. Um, and I’m not the biggest spacehead, and the idea of friendly aliens is not something that that usually I would turn to. Uh, I thought this movie was extraordinary. I thought this movie was so good.
Pete Wright
Wow
Tommy Metz III
There was one part, well, I do agree that it was a little lengthy and it felt a little indulgent at times. Sometimes some of the there was a l small element of like, okay, let’s get to it. Like I get it. Especially when some of the jokes don’t go over. But that’s such a minor quibble. There’s one part that I hated. And it’s when Rocky was hurt. And I only hated it because I felt so much for Rocky.
Steve Sarmento
Mm-hmm.
Tommy Metz III
They made me fall completely in love with something without eyes or a face. And that alone is unheard of. I mean everything is in eyes for me. I thought and instead it was come something else completely. So I just thought it was magnificent.
Pete Wright
You didn’t think there’s a new, like, uncanny valley of rocks? It’s like so rock, it’s almost unrock.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah. Yeah.
Pete Wright
Okay. Uh I I I am I am once again questioning my own uh purpose in life that I did not connect with this story. I don’t think I it’s not that I didn’t connect so much with the movie, because you’re right, it is a it’s it’s stellar production and the fact that they that that Lord Miller uh did such work to make this a practical a space movie that is a practical experience that Rocky is mostly a practical onset puppet, like the and is so believable is extraordinary to me. I I loved it. I I did find, and and I just a temperature check. Parallel storylines. One is it starts with uh he wakes up in space, try has he has amnesia, he has to figure out who he is.
Justin Jaeger
Mik outing.
Pete Wright
computers are talking to him, he’s has to do math. Uh and so we have the space like situation that starts very late in the overall uh narrative timeline of the story. And we have the back in time part, which starts with him as a teach classroom teacher, and he is made off with by authorities because he wrote a provocative uh paper once when he was a real hardcore doc. And these two storylines are cut together. in such a way that by the end, one of the major themes of cowardice versus earned courage is addressed within seconds of a cut that says, Yes, I’m a coward and That takes place while he’s on Earth and then later, almost did the next cut, he says, I’m glad I came. Effectively. I earned this. That’s an extraordinary emotional moment.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah, I think that’s a good one.
Pete Wright
But I want to take those two apart and and just talk a little bit about which one you guys felt you connected with the most.
Steve Sarmento
And
Pete Wright
The earthbound story or the space-bound story? Because the earthbound story is interstellar. The space-bound story is gravity. Which one did you connect with the most?
Justin Jaeger
That is such a great question, Pete. That is so like seriously, like I hadn’t even thought about that coming in. And we talked about Uh we talked about uh possibly coming to this movie with some fear, and uh a movie that affected me greatly in that respect recently is Adam Sandler’s this a spaceman movie where he is alone in in a satellite and then questions his sanity as he’s approached by a a giant Talking Spider, uh, which you know weird way has some interesting parallels to this movie. And that movie made me terrified to identify with the loneliness of being alone in space. And that’s the reason why I bring this up here is because to answer your question, it I identified with grace in space. Finding his way, but I did it in a but this movie brought me there in a very supported, loving way. That all of the I guess it’s flashback. All of the parallel story of flashback felt like scenery and anecdote to what actually was happening there in now time with grace. So I was very connected to that and I felt very I I didn’t feel the fear that I felt with earlier Creative ideas, I loved it and I was very connected to that grace for sure.
Steve Sarmento
Wow, I the the exact opposite. Really. I felt that the everything on earth is very grounded in that gritty realism.
Justin Jaeger
Sure.
Steve Sarmento
I loved the first part of grace in space of where’s the crew of like I’m not I I don’t know who I am I don’t know how to do stuff I’m not the pilot right sitting in the chair pilot I’m not the pilot And then to me, it almost becomes more fantastical that he can pilot the ship. He can do all of these things. He’s not a trained astronaut, but he’s picked up all these skills. And that became more of the fantasy where I am more grounded in the Again, the science of that, the the work, the problem, that that struggle of I’m not the guy for this. Um that that part I thought worked really well for me. That was the part that really And the the rest well entertaining was not as compelling to me because it’s just another science fiction fantasy movie with you know that that touches in reality a little bit.
Pete Wright
Hmm. I I think I could have pegged that for you, that perspective.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
And I think Tom is in the same space. That’s I’m gonna call my shop babe roof style.
Tommy Metz III
I thought they both worked great.
Pete Wright
Damn it.
Tommy Metz III
Sorry, buddy. I mean I love
Justin Jaeger
Speaking of Goldilocks.
Tommy Metz III
I love uh nonlinear storytelling when it’s in a conversation with itself, when it’s not just all mixed up to be mixed up.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm.
Justin Jaeger
So smart, so smart
Tommy Metz III
Uh and to show this large path and this character development, I thought I can’t really separate one from the other because they’re constantly informing each other. And I feel that Lord Miller are pretty masterful with keeping the tone while it gets very emotional, while it does get s legitimately scary, it gets desperately sad at one point. Um that But they keep the tone like when waking up in a ship, there have been uh whole movies where that like the what is it Douglas Quaid And Ben Foster were in a horror movie, and that’s pretty much the whole idea, is they both wake up on a ship and everyone else is still asleep. passengers. There’s whole movies where that’s the whole plot point.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm.
Tommy Metz III
And instead they were like, am I smart?
Pete Wright
Right.
Tommy Metz III
Like they were making jokes when he’s walking around the ship.
Steve Sarmento
Right.
Tommy Metz III
I thought they handled that really well.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
So it didn’t feel like I was lurching back and forth. I thought they complemented each other very well.
Pete Wright
Well I think we should just let’s land on Lord Miller for a minute, because Lord Miller have had an interesting sort of career trajectory, right?
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Pete Wright
I mean my first experience with Lord Miller maybe mm-hmm All of ours was the Lego movie, which hit me. I didn’t want to see it. I wasn’t interested in it. And I saw it and I was so bowled over by the end. It is it became one of the transformative m film experiences of my life. That that final uh reveal the final twist. W I didn’t see it coming. It was the most expert bit of filmmaking I’d seen in a long time. And uh I it was one of those experiences that made me say, oh my God, I’m really proud of those guys. Like that’s how stupid condescending I became as a result of how I felt about that movie.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Pete Wright
And a boy, you guys nailed it Uh they’ve been tied to they’ve been tied to they’ve done s comedies, twenty two jump street, they’ve done uh but they they’ve had their
Tommy Metz III
Good good filmmaker
Pete Wright
been firmly in animation for a while. This is the first live action they’ve done since Jump Street. Um they’ve been tied to Star Wars. They’ve been tied to uh big franchises and small.
Tommy Metz III
That’s right.
Pete Wright
They’ve been on and off projects. Um what is your position on their work as directors? Tom, start start with you.
Tommy Metz III
Um I think it’s there’s a wonderful, even though I did say this parts of this movie felt a little bit indulgent, there’s a wonderful looseness to it. But not that Judd Apatau, you can tell it’s a Lynorama kind of just shoot, shoot, shoot, and everyone sort of improvise and make stuff up it’s a controlled looseness, which doesn’t make any sense, but I just feel like they know exactly how to give actors and story and time the patience in order to go to every interesting nook and cranny. of it. And you d I don’t get the feeling that they’re ever directing by committee. I don’t think that they’re looking at a stopwatch and being like, oh, it’s 10 minutes, so we have to have another blank. Like it just doesn’t feel like a lot of studio films, which is thrilling because this is these are huge movies. And this is an enormous budget movie. And to give it to them and to bring so much thoughtfulness and patience and caring and humor and pathos and all of that is it’s wonderful to see. It’s the kind of thing that is missing from all so many Marvel movies. Not all, but so many Marvel movies.
Pete Wright
Well it’s one of those things like you can tell these guys I think love family and their and and the spirit of of family, chosen family in particular, and just just do a little arm chairing yourself and imagine what this movie would be like if Ridley Scott had directed it, right? It it would be a much more sharp edged kind of experience and
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
the things that, you know, Steve, you brought up the uh uh particularly a around the mechanics of how these two species are able to interact with one another, uh, I I think was soft pedaled in a kind of joyous way, uh that that allowed me to imagine what it could be like i in the hands of a more uh sort of tight edged or sharp edged director, but not worry about it so much.
Tommy Metz III
Some of them.
Steve Sarmento
No, I agree. And I think that’s one of the strengths as as directors is what’s going to serve the serve the story best. We don’t need to get bogged down in the details. We can do that. And the and to Tommy’s point, the the the comedy, you know, like you know, walking around like, am I smart? It it comes out of the situation. It’s not, oh, we need a zinger here.
Justin Jaeger
Developing one
Steve Sarmento
We need we need this act, you know, what’s a Ryan Gosling thing that he does? You know, we’ve got a a few of the Gosling shrieks in there, but Otherwise the comedy comes from the moment of Rocky rolling around like you’re, you know, this place is a mess. It’s a garbage pile.
Tommy Metz III
So that’s like
Steve Sarmento
What are you doing in this space? It’s of the moment, and they find the comedy in that and it plays it to me. to break it that family film to keep the balance of the lightness while also the the seriousness of the the story and the situation that these two guys are in is, you know, really weighty. And so we need that well struck balance and that they find that that balancing act and work it so well, so masterfully. I I don’t see Ridley Scott being able to accomplish that. I mean there’s the comedy of the Martian, but it this is Just a different kind that that works really well for this story.
Tommy Metz III
And it’s perfectly tailored for him.
Steve Sarmento
Yes.
Justin Jaeger
Yes
Tommy Metz III
can be extremely funny, but not like this, because he’s both understated and hysterical, which is really a sweet spot. And it’s not that anti comedy Marvel stuff, you know, where it’s just sort of like, uh, he’s behind me, isn’t he?
Steve Sarmento
Right.
Tommy Metz III
Or like just sort of like cliche the dialogue uh said in joke fashion instead of actually making jokes.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
It’s really charming.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm. I I like the one of the things that that comes out in the book, that that opening sequence where he has to figure out how to get out of bed.
Steve Sarmento
I don’t know.
Pete Wright
Is is long. I mean it’s and it’s really funny in the book.
Steve Sarmento
I never
Pete Wright
Like it’s legit funny Uh, especially because of what you what you see that they have done to his body to keep him alive in a coma. And so that little post-it that said always muscles on the whiteboard in the movie. Like they w spent more time there saying, Oh, he must have had his muscles being constantly stimulated while he was in a coma because he wakes up more jacked than he was when he went down.
Tommy Metz III
That’s funny
Pete Wright
And I find that delightful. Like it these there was there were some some of those little notes in the in the movie were really lovely Easter eggs into the book that I thought played very, very well.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, you’re not coming.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah, I think sometime in the last 10 years we did a little survey uh with each of us saying, like, who’s your favorite filmmaker now or what’s who’s someone that you’re interested in?
Pete Wright
Um I don’t know if that’s bad. I don’t remember that.
Justin Jaeger
And I think at the time I said Christopher Nolan. ‘Cause he was so interesting, I wanted to see anything he made. I now, after this movie, I want to see everything that Lord Miller make. I mean, it’s the kind of thing where I have enough respect for the way that they treat That no matter the topic, I know that I’m gonna find something that I enjoy in it. And this one was really special for me in that way.
Pete Wright
Uh the movie is I I I mean sure that it’s a space movie saving the universe movie, but I think it’s I I think the the movie is fundamentally a buddy movie. It’s like Butch Cassidy in space. Um how did you uh we’ll we’ll talk, I’m sure, more about Ryan Gosling specifically, but I want to I want to talk about the uh the character. Tom, you s said you already sort of felt for the rock monster, uh, in a way you didn’t expect. Let’s dig into that a little bit more. What do you think it was that that gave Rocky enough personality that you were able to sort of fall in love with him?
Tommy Metz III
The introduction, they take time with it. Um, and with the movements back and forth. And they, I think, I feel like they studied a bunch of different animals and took Movement from a bunch of different animals, and then said, okay, now get rid of the fur and the eyes, because there’s a real puppy quality, and there’s an R2 D2 beepy excited quality.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
To it also.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
And those are just things that you immediately gravitate towards. I don’t know. I don’t know the answer because I’m still trying to figure out when I fell deeply in love with Rocky, but I did. Um and I kept thinking it’s I mean I kept thinking about Foster.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Like there was something really puppyish.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
I know Foster’s not a puppy, but there was very dog-ish about Rocky.
Pete Wright
Totally.
Tommy Metz III
And so I’ve I gravitate towards that automatically.
Justin Jaeger
One of the things that I would think was interesting about the way the Rocky character was written is that immediately, once they have comprehension
Tommy Metz III
And also
Justin Jaeger
Once they once they once they’ve got to a baseline of comprehension, which takes them time, but they they get there, he immediately has humor. He’s immediately like like jabbing at grace.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, it’s correct.
Justin Jaeger
And I think that’s really interesting. Like it’s the kind of thing of like an assumed personality that you don’t get to know until you have that comprehension. And for him, for that character to come out of the womb of creation for us as an audience member, like already having some pith and like all this, like it, it it it it made it it it made it deep and real in a way that you wouldn’t expect from something without expressions like you mentioned Tom or without these other very human aspects that we have there. It the character’s written really well.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, there’s a humanity to him that comes through, despite there are some animalistic qualities, like even the sounds of the cooing, purring type of sounds he makes, these smooth sounds I’m like But you know, it it I struggled sometimes of like well, you know, because of the simplified vocabulary. Oh, he can come off as just like, oh, sort of a a smart animal. I’m like, no, the dude’s an engineer of some sort. He can build and construct stuff. So it’s those those constant reminders of not, oh, you know, Ryan Gosling found a space pet. It’s no, he’s encountering another scientist or intelligent being that’s capable of making difficult decisions and I think when Rocky makes that one pivotal choice that’s very emotional.
Tommy Metz III
We can set the value of 35 people.
Steve Sarmento
I mean, that’s why. It’s not just uh, you know, oh, the the sweet puppy, you know, gonna save his master. It’s this guy had to make a choice. Rocky had to make a choice. about something and to me that’s what makes it is the humanity that comes through of he’s got a partner, he’s got all of these things. He’s he’s He’s the counterpart to grace of like, I’m the same type, I I lost the rest of my crew.
Justin Jaeger
Closed up
Steve Sarmento
I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared. And all of that comes through. And I think the way that they’re able to get that through while still making it
Tommy Metz III
So if you have to change the change, you can’t.
Steve Sarmento
family friendly, that he’s not a scary space monster, but yet, you know, it’s it could he can be cute enough to appeal to kids, but still has that human aspect that comes through, I think, is what makes him such a compelling character.
Pete Wright
This is this is a thing that I think is it was that s struck me that they didn’t say explicitly in the movie at any point, but is is implied
Tommy Metz III
I mean that we have to find out.
Pete Wright
Rocky was desperate because Rocky lost his crew, and Rocky’s a mechanic. Like Rocky is not a grace-level engineer.
Justin Jaeger
Mm-hmm.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, that’s why we have to go to the right.
Pete Wright
He was not sent because he was one of the smartest. He was sent because He’s good with the ship and built building stuff, like repairing the ship.
Steve Sarmento
Okay.
Pete Wright
And that’s w one of the things that comes out of the movie is this this uh uh understanding that There are things that the Iridians don’t understand about astrophysics that Grace does. And uh and and that he has to teach them, which is kind of what makes the postscript so interesting, that he ends up being a teacher of science to little Iridians, right?
Justin Jaeger
Amazing
Steve Sarmento
Right.
Pete Wright
That’s because he has something they don’t have. Which I I think goes back around toward this sort of broader three theme of friendship between these species across the impossible chasm of space and science just they they just don’t have the same baseline understanding and we need each other to actually get it done. I think that was That’s a a really special nod to um you know to this to the broader themes in in the book that I think or in the story that I think play really well. Clearly, Andy Weir is going through some stuff in this in this book to to write these things. Th Sandra uh Huller is plays Eva Strat. She is the leader of the Earthers. I’m calling them the Earthers now.
Tommy Metz III
Okay.
Justin Jaeger
All right.
Pete Wright
Um and and I think sh she represents one of the one of the interesting conceits of the movie, which is that they’re the the movie’s grand antagonist is its hard choices, not a s a single villain.
Steve Sarmento
Okay.
Tommy Metz III
I’ll allow it
Pete Wright
Do you agree?
Justin Jaeger
Definitely.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
How do you how do you think she plays? And I know uh JJ you probab you have feelings because of karaoke. Karaoke is involved.
Justin Jaeger
Well yes, and that I mean of all the Kleenex worthy uh moments for the film when Eva comes out and sings the Harry Styles song, that I was a puddle. I mean, it was like the the representation of her, I never felt that she was an antagonist. So I really like that you say that, you know, she’s not She’s she represents something that’s important, but the real antagonist is having to make difficult choices.
Tommy Metz III
Uh
Justin Jaeger
I was very moved by what she represented.
Steve Sarmento
No, no, that’s what we want to do.
Justin Jaeger
in the story, which was the necessity of survival. And I thought that was fantastically delivered. And when she opens up and sings in the karaoke moment.
Steve Sarmento
I think that’s a chapter of the other side.
Justin Jaeger
It was you know everybody pays attention. It was a amazing scene. One of my favorite scenes in film probably in the last five years. I I loved it. It was very powerful.
Pete Wright
Man, JJ, you okay?
Tommy Metz III
I like
Justin Jaeger
Yeah, no, yeah
Tommy Metz III
I loved that they didn’t try to make her a love interest.
Justin Jaeger
Right.
Steve Sarmento
Oh yeah
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
That this movie didn’t need a that type of love. Because there was already an enough love in the movie. Uh, most people would try to force that in and just to have her not, which which was really exciting for me.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
No, the the the tough decisions, I mean that’s that’s she really carries that through to when
Tommy Metz III
With that one, I didn’t remember that one.
Steve Sarmento
you know, the other the other team through an accident, you know, is, you know, killed off. And so she offers him this opportunity, but it’s not really an offer. It’s just you’re going. But you know, we realize she’s she’s made that choice. It’s is he going to accept that choice or not? And because I think in other stories it’d be like, okay, he’s going to be torn. He’s going to come around. It’s like No, this is the necessity of what needs to happen for saving the planet, for saving the human race. And Yeah, she she will move forward with whatever decisions need to be made. And I think that that is what drives a compelling narrative because it isn’t about, you know his his will versus her will or or the corporations or anything. It’s really just about you know i i when he even that you know is critical of their you know first plan he’s like well wait there’s gotta be and they’re like no this is This is the plan. This is the choice we have with what we’ve got to do. And that’s that’s the way life is. Is uh what one of my uh Uh co-workers has a a great quote. He’s like, you know, people see the decisions we make, not the choices we had. And it is, you know, sometimes the it’s not, you know, the decision you make is the best of the worst options available.
Pete Wright
So we we find that we might put that we’re doing actually create that we do every time
Steve Sarmento
And that’s what you live with. And I think it’s a this is a she’s a great testament to that. That’s not what she would have wanted, but that’s her best choice.
Pete Wright
Because I mean that’s a good idea.
Tommy Metz III
And was it hinted m maybe I saw it wrong, but was it hinted that maybe this was always going to be the ultimate choice? Because when he tries to run. And he gets to the fence, the razor wire is on the inside of the fence. He looks up at it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
There’s just this one shot.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
So it’s meant to keep people in more than he peek people out. I just wonder if they included that shot to be like, oh, this was inevitable. Whether he was going to or not, no one’s leaving here until we figure out this problem.
Pete Wright
That’s interesting.
Tommy Metz III
Maybe.
Pete Wright
I never I had never considered that. I didn’t I don’t think that I don’t remember that as being a a part of the book. Um, but clearly it was because she had people standing by, at least at the at the point of that scene, she knew she was going to need reinforcements.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah. Yeah.
Pete Wright
You d we talk about like the loneliness of space, we talk about the fear of the of the sun going dark and killing everything on Earth.
Steve Sarmento
Oh carnal to the
Pete Wright
This scene was the most terrifying scene in the movie for me, right? Hands down. The way she plays it, the act of experiencing a loss of agency. um in a loss of self, uh, even when what’s his name? His buddy is standing upside down by our perspective, Carl, uh, over him and says, You’re gonna do great, right? That even then
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
That did not assuage any of the just fear and terror of the experience of having being held down and injected.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
That was terrific and horrifying.
Justin Jaeger
Yes.
Tommy Metz III
I spent most of the movie trying to remember where I knew Carl from. And then I figured out he’s the pastry chef from the bear
Pete Wright
Yes, he is.
Justin Jaeger
Oh, very nice.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Yes.
Steve Sarmento
I can’t
Tommy Metz III
I think I even said the bear like at some point. I have no internal monologue
Justin Jaeger
I will say that during those jumps, going back and forth between the two narratives, I considered multiple times a as it was happening, if if we were meant to understand that it is Grace’s recollection of the
Tommy Metz III
Yeah, I never figured that out.
Justin Jaeger
And I and I’ve yeah, and I got to the point where, especially with the scene you’re talking about here, Pete, that I don’t believe it is. I actually think it is done just for the narrative purpose of it. I don’t think it is him remembering uh per se. And uh that scene, I agree it was terri terrifying. And I think um the actress Sandra here, uh uh uh especially in the office.
Tommy Metz III
I mean if you want to you are not
Justin Jaeger
And she did have everything set up. She knew she was going to have to do it, but you could see the the humanity in saying, please, like she didn’t want it to go this way because she likes grace.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
She doesn’t want it to have to be this way, but it does.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
And that it was powerful.
Pete Wright
And she’s gonna keep liking him when he’s sciencing in space.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah. Exactly.
Pete Wright
Right.
Justin Jaeger
Yep.
Pete Wright
Well I I that scene is uh a a great sort of pivot for me because um
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Pete Wright
the way the the camera holds on her face in that extreme close up is one of the things that makes it so haunting. The cinematographer behind this one is Greg Fraser. uh who’s off Dune and the Batman and we’re we’re we’ve we’ve talked about uh Greg’s work before. Um this this movie I think is beautifully designed and beautifully shot. And I just want to say this from uh a quote from uh Miller in a Hollywood recent Hollywood Reporter interview. Quote, we built the sets for the ship vertically and horizontally for the two different modes of gravity. We had to shoot with the set tall like a lighthouse and then turn the set on its side like a train car. and shoot the other half of the scenes that way.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, it’s like
Pete Wright
At one point Greg Fraser and Visual Effects production supervisor Paul Lambert were like, This is the most complex film we’ve ever worked on, and we just finished making two Dune films.
Tommy Metz III
It does feel incredibly practical.
Pete Wright
There were reported it’s incredibly practical.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Pete Wright
There were there were apparently no green screens used on set, which I don’t know how to make that work, but that was the quote.
Tommy Metz III
What
Pete Wright
There were no green screens used on set. This was a response to that comment from the reporter.
Justin Jaeger
Wow, I love it
Pete Wright
Go ahead. I just think about that. That feels like maybe sleight of hand in the interview process because I find it so hard to believe.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Uh, but you know.
Tommy Metz III
Like they went back to blue screens.
Pete Wright
Yeah. It’s because AI is so good now. We don’t need green screens, right?
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Right. Yeah.
Pete Wright
Um anyway, thoughts on how the can how on the design and camera of this thing. Please let me have it.
Justin Jaeger
My my favorite thing that they did multiple times was how they played with perspective. And I wouldn’t think that I would enjoy it. They all seem to be dropped in subtly but poignantly. when for example th when Rocky and Grace are celebrating and they go to the the sort of the holodeck, I don’t know what else to call it at this point, but to watch fireworks. And the first shot that we get of it is is is to just watch them celebrate. We are away and we have it’s a dirty frame. We have things blocking our view, so we don’t get it. We get to sort of witness things and so much of the film is played so much of the camera is used as as the perspective of a witness that it did a great job of
Pete Wright
um um
Justin Jaeger
putting us as the audience of of being there but not being the characters. And in a in a weird way, it really worked with the way that the script happened. And I think I think that insight was done beautifully. And sometimes I know that sometimes we have a problem with that sort of aspect of being away, but for this, it really seemed to work. And I I loved the choices that the camera made in that respect.
Tommy Metz III
I love that thought, and I’m going to I love it so much, I’m going to say it now. Um is m my favorite example of that that I didn’t realize what it was that I liked about it until you just said is right before the astro the explosion.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
in the lab that where you’re looking you’re looking at her face and you see that really, really quick flash.
Justin Jaeger
Oh god.
Steve Sarmento
Mm-hmm.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
And then it turns and then you see the explosion. That’s what a what a interesting way to film that and what a beautiful detail because it lets you it’s just almost like your mind is like, was that a mistake?
Pete Wright
I don’t know if you have one angle, I’m new, I don’t know.
Tommy Metz III
And then
Justin Jaeger
Right.
Tommy Metz III
Then it explodes. It’s really exciting. But that again is being a witness to something instead of so many filmmakers would be like, well, this is the money shot, so let’s fly a drone over it immediately or whatever.
Steve Sarmento
Right.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Oh, they never give us that. There’s never the Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Uh how do you f uh the the major effect sequences uh Well, the the most major, I guess, effect sequence uh is probably the collector sequence. Agreed?
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Oh, sure, yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
On Adrian.
Pete Wright
Did you forget that sequence?
Justin Jaeger
No, but I I thought you were gonna say on Rocky’s ship, but yeah. Yeah.
Pete Wright
Joe, you just mean just the the Rocky ha what Rocky ship was like inside the ship.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah, right.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah
Pete Wright
The the act of him walking around in essentially his own Rocky bubble, I thought was very cool.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Loved it.
Pete Wright
I admit it. It was goofy and awesome. Um you know the the the effect sequence I think was was really interesting and I wonder how how grounded you guys felt in its uh verisimilitude. Were you lost in space? Did it feel cartoony Um it it there is a little bit of balance between, again, Lord and Miller’s affinity toward family and fantasy and Andy Weir’s affinity toward hard science and astrophysics.
Justin Jaeger
I I I don’t want to disagree with myself here, but I didn’t feel I I I just want to say that I did not feel grounded. in that sequence. It did feel something as something that I couldn’t possibly experience. So it did feel closer to the lost in space side of things, especially with the the the sort of
Tommy Metz III
Which is also
Justin Jaeger
embers, the the flames that are flying back and all these things. And yet it it it that didn’t take me out of the film for any reason.
Steve Sarmento
So we don’t like the one
Justin Jaeger
Um because I think I I think uh the slow burn of getting to the place where we are there with them allowed me to take a leap of faith to say that this is what’s happening. even if I couldn’t be grounded in that moment. So it didn’t bother me, but uh but yes, it definitely felt less it it felt less practical even if it was.
Steve Sarmento
Okay. And I when I think of grounded, I always think of how the Cinematographer and directors are keeping me grounded. Do I know where I am and what’s going on around? Like where, which way is he walking? Where is he getting to? And what you know, so oriented. How well am I oriented to what’s where we are, you know, like, you know, are we cheating distances? Like is one shot showing it looks like thirty yards and the next it’s like, oh, he’s there in three seconds, you know, how realistic it and and to me that felt like I think because of the earlier spacewalks had sort of given us a little bit of that. So then we have an extent extended sequence with the high stakes of of getting the collector out and then back up and everything going. It it f I felt the the tension that was needed because I knew the stakes and I felt oriented to what needed to happen and where he needed to get to and what his obstacles and barriers were. So to me it felt very you know, felt very real.
Tommy Metz III
For me, it helped seeing Rocky witness. what what’s his name was going through, what Grace was going through, and voicing our, he was almost like an audience surrogate.
Steve Sarmento
Yes. Yeah. Yes.
Tommy Metz III
Because part of me wanted to be like, no, no, no, no, no the whole time. And so that was it was neat to see that come alive. Instead of, I don’t think, unlike Gravity, where there’s no one to there’s such a no one there that they invent a fake George Clooney to show up um uh to talk to her.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Mm-hmm.
Tommy Metz III
to be a Wilson, in effect, to have an actual thing there that deeply cared about him really helped amp that up.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
And they’re they’re they do a really good job of
Justin Jaeger
Võit.
Tommy Metz III
The first time I ever remember noticing when we started filming space differently was the TV show Battlestar Galactica.
Pete Wright
When I was a few other
Steve Sarmento
It was pretty much like a 23 Hertz and Hertz and the first one.
Tommy Metz III
Because in when the ships would go around, the camera work, it acknowledged this is a camera because the camera wasn’t just focused on it. It would be like, oh, it’s over there. Like it would have trouble tracking it, but it didn’t have trouble tracking it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
It’s all fake. They do a really nice job of a mix of that grounded as if you were really filming this, and then also sometimes just planting it on the ship. So you can see things shaking, but the camera isn’t it it felt really exciting.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
It felt heavy. It felt like everything had weight. And I think that’s the practicality in the set that you’re talking about.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Really? What?
Pete Wright
Yeah, I think so too. And you know, I mean this is one of those movies Because you’re talking about the exteriors and how we handle camera and s the the look of space. The interiors and the feel of gravity struck me a little bit sideways in this movie. I was never quite sure when I should be thinking about gravity as a as a threat or weightlessness as a threat.
Steve Sarmento
Okay.
Pete Wright
And I j because of the people who made this movie and the writer who wrote the story
Steve Sarmento
Uh yeah,
Pete Wright
I just have to constantly remind myself to let go of second-guessing anything about gravity because it’s going to be important at some point and they’ll tell you when. stop thinking about him walking around the ship all the time.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, I can’t do that.
Pete Wright
Just know they’ve thought about it and if you ask they’ll have an answer.
Justin Jaeger
Yep.
Pete Wright
And that I found was harder to do in this movie, to get myself out of it and just let it go Uh I don’t I can’t really explain why that is, what the evidence is for me not being able to stop thinking about it.
Justin Jaeger
Well Andy Weir was definitely thinking about it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Like that’s that’s evident by by the way it’s used at different times at the different crises within this story.
Pete Wright
Yeah. That collector sequence you know is one big one. I I just don’t understand how he’s sliding around on the outside of the ship. And I just and not falling completely away. I just don’t understand how that works, but I just have to keep saying it doesn’t matter what your feeble brain understands about space.
Steve Sarmento
Mm-hmm. Right.
Pete Wright
You have not studied it all your life. Just be okay, Pete.
Justin Jaeger
Right. Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
This is also a gr a gradual gravity.
Pete Wright
Stop.
Justin Jaeger
And it
Tommy Metz III
Usually it’s played for laughs or for scariness in film because it’s just like gravity isn’t there and now it’s there and everything falls down. No boy. Yeah, I fell on my keys. This was sort of like elegant, and I assume maybe that’s how we would actually do it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
And the point is, even if you did spend your whole life studying it, no one has experienced well, no one has experienced this.
Pete Wright
I I probably wouldn’t understand it that well we’ve not experienced it.
Justin Jaeger
So it is a little bit of play-doh here where we can create however we want to in respect to it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, it’s not
Tommy Metz III
Right?
Justin Jaeger
So it is, yes, how you want it to look
Pete Wright
I love that it’s Play-Doh. Space is Play-Doh, you guys.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Uh okay, so Gosling. Any specific comments about Gosling and how goddamn charming he is?
Tommy Metz III
I’ve really grown to admire him and like him. I had trouble in the beginning. He was I loved him in Blade Runner because I found him so emotionless as an actor, so desperately understated that I was like, oh yeah, an Android, perfect. Other things like drive, I was like, he’s not acting, he’s talking, but he’s uh I know, and I was completely alone in this.
Pete Wright
Oh yeah.
Tommy Metz III
I didn’t understand what the attraction was, but he’s got so many levels to what he can do. And to be genuinely, genuinely funny without needing a bunch of wedding cakes to fall into. Like you can just be funny on your own is Fantastic.
Justin Jaeger
He feels a little bit at this point like an anti-Ryan Reynolds. And I think in in a way, like It’s it’s it’s refreshing. And I like Ryan Reynolds a lot, but like this this feels far more effortless.
Pete Wright
And uh all these things
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
And I really enjoy watching him on screen.
Pete Wright
It’s it’s really interesting looking at his just as a as kind of a child actor, right? His youngest performances and to see how he has changed. I I think I am I’m obviously not with Tom on the drive uh comparison. I think I I was with him from the beginning. Uh although I have to say I never saw the notebook. That probably
Justin Jaeger
I haven’t seen it either.
Pete Wright
Has anybody seen the notebook?
Steve Sarmento
Never seen it.
Tommy Metz III
I haven’t seen Tiger.
Justin Jaeger
Don’t worry about it.
Pete Wright
Okay. Okay, good.
Justin Jaeger
Everybody
Pete Wright
I’m then I don’t feel so along. But Lars and the Real Girl and Drive and Crazy Stupid Love and Ides of March, like I just I feel like I’ve been with the guy for for a long, long time. Lalaland was another level. I whatever you think of the movie, his participation in it and his willingness to do the music was extraordinary. You remember me? I loved First Man more than all you Yahoos.
Tommy Metz III
Oh, I like Birthman.
Pete Wright
I thought it was fantastic.
Justin Jaeger
Yes, you did. Yes, you did.
Tommy Metz III
Oh no, one thing differently.
Pete Wright
Uh and and but but but his appearances, I think uh the canonical truth of of Ryan Gosling is that his best work has been on SNL so far. Uh his two appearances on SNL have been
Justin Jaeger
Yeah
Pete Wright
have been next level. Uh I want to make sure I shout out Neil Scanlon for Rocky’s design and James Ortiz as the as the performer and the voice uh who was on set the whole time uh to be Rocky, which I think was uh i i he’s d uh Ortiz is relatively new as in in the business.
Steve Sarmento
I mean that you’re not gonna have to everything everywhere.
Pete Wright
This is a big role for for him. He’s been around doesn’t have a whole ton of credits, at least listened it l uh listed in IMDB, so it’s really exciting to see. um to see him here. Any other performances you want to make sure we highlight that you are folks who are excited to see? I only have one other one that I’m irrationally excited about.
Justin Jaeger
Let’s hear it. What is it
Pete Wright
Milana van Trub.
Justin Jaeger
Oh, I I totally agree with you. I love that. And I for her to pull the accent as well, like I was like, uh-huh.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Yes, it’s about time.
Pete Wright
Yeah. You will be hanging with very cool people.
Justin Jaeger
She should get more opportunities. Yes.
Pete Wright
Yeah. I was I was deeply excited for her to be in this movie. She needs more big movies. She’s awesome.
Justin Jaeger
I’m with you.
Pete Wright
Everybody else was awesome, but she was one I recognized immediately with great joy. Anybody else on your lists?
Tommy Metz III
The pilot that didn’t make it, the deceased uh pilot is uh I’m a really big fan of his from uh industry on HBO.
Pete Wright
Was that Ken Long?
Tommy Metz III
I like it.
Pete Wright
Yao?
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Yep.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah
Pete Wright
Okay. Yes. He’s he’s he is fantastic, that’s for sure. He has a he’s been around a long time.
Tommy Metz III
And that is not his accent.
Pete Wright
Um
Tommy Metz III
He does not talk like that.
Justin Jaeger
Oh, really?
Tommy Metz III
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Very cool.
Tommy Metz III
He acts he upped his accent in order to play that character, which is interesting.
Pete Wright
Fascinating. Yeah. No, he’s a he’s another lost refugee.
Steve Sarmento
Yes, you can
Pete Wright
He had forty-nine episodes from Lost.
Justin Jaeger
Very cool.
Pete Wright
Miles Straum.
Tommy Metz III
Oh, sure.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Yeah, sure, you remember old Miles Uh score Daniel Daniel Pemberton is is back with the guys from uh uh from Spider-Verse and um it was I think the score is great.
Justin Jaeger
Good old man.
Pete Wright
I didn’t I didn’t come home humming anything in particular, but it certainly fits the film.
Tommy Metz III
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
Uh all right. If if that’s all we’ve got, if we have no other slam dunk comments, any other mic drops, then it’s time. Tom, you have a mic drop?
Tommy Metz III
I I have one did they ever I don’t think it’s a Mike Droff, and I don’t know if they said it in the movie. I don’t think they did, but do they ever say in the book the reason why his name is Grace and the wordplay involved in that? Hail Mary full of grace?
Justin Jaeger
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
I never got that.
Tommy Metz III
Because the ship cause the ship is called Hail Mary.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah, Mary.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
He’s Grace and he’s full of it.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Alright, the end.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Tommy Metz III
Mike drop.
Pete Wright
It was a mic drop.
Tommy Metz III
That was a mic drop, but then it like fell in my pocket. It wasn’t a great mic drop.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
When Rocky awakes after his great sacrifice, and we’ve spent all that time with Grace, and he awakes, the moment felt a little um light.
Steve Sarmento
Mm-hmm.
Justin Jaeger
for me felt shallow. And what I resolved this to was that I think it’s because the script is so well written. Because in in very likely possibility Uh Grace and Rocky could have talked many times off screen about what it takes for that the Iridians to recover or to we don’t know much about their sleep pattern and all these things. So the movie does a great job for the audience experience to think Rocky might be dead here, right? But potentially Grace knows that he just needs time and he just needs to watch him over him as he sleeps and these kind of things. Because when he came back to life and he’s there, it just seemed like, oh yeah, you’re back, which was great because The idea then that the script is written in a way that gives the audience the greatest understanding of stakes, the greatest drama, the greatest story that can be told here, regardless of what the character experience is. I think was a really special way to deliver that scene. Because we understand the stakes regardless of what’s really happening in the film. And I thought that made it really special.
Pete Wright
That’s a that’s a really good point. And and I do think in the book they do spend a lot more time talking about why Rocky makes such a big deal about you need someone to watch you sleep. And it part of it is because their biological cycle is that when they’re sleeping, they can’t be awakened.
Steve Sarmento
Uh 5017.
Pete Wright
It’s like impossible to wake them up.
Justin Jaeger
Right.
Pete Wright
And so Grace doesn’t know if he’s sleeping or injured. He has no idea, even though he knows, you know, maybe in from the book lore exactly what he could be doing sleeping, but they sleep for a very long time.
Justin Jaeger
Right
Pete Wright
And uh yeah, so uh I think it’s a really good point.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah, and I felt like in the film they didn’t really expect us to question it.
Pete Wright
No,
Justin Jaeger
We thought, is he dead or not? And probably dead is what we thought.
Pete Wright
There’s there’s also a little bit of a pacing issue in that in that final sequence for me, where we get two endings to the movie, right? We get the first ending where they have a very heartfelt goodbye in the tunnel.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah
Pete Wright
And then we have another heartfelt goodbye and after the rescue. And the distance between the first heartfelt goodbye and the rescue is very short. And uh that the uh the elapsed time i in space-time is like sixty days, but we don’t feel any of that. And that’s one of the challenges of of the movie is that our experience of time is Deeply nonlinear, right? So much time passes and then it moves really fast and then so much time passes and then it moves really fast And I don’t know I don’t know how I I certainly don’t have any recommendations for making that better, but I do think there is a uh th I noticed I noticed time passing in some sort of non-functional ways, and it made the the the final act of the film, I think, neutered a little bit because of the fact that we get so many goodbyes.
Tommy Metz III
Uh
Pete Wright
We only really get two two goodbyes. Well, goodbye and hello. There isn’t even a goodbye. It’s just a goodbye and hello. Um, but it it it felt a little short to me. I’ll stop talking about that.
Justin Jaeger
No, I get that. I mean, and that’s that’s the thing. I I think ultimately it didn’t bother me because I think it was done like those skips, those pacing skips were done for the service of the audience, but I agree.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
That’s the piece where the sort of repetition, if anything, my only quibble with the film is that at parts it felt long, like we were tacking things on.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Yeah.
Pete Wright
I mean if you’re gonna be alone for ninety minutes straight with anybody, it’s Ryan Gosling is not a bad choice.
Justin Jaeger
I’ll vote for him.
Pete Wright
It’s pr it’s oh it’s easy. Uh all right. Letterbox. com slash the next real. That’s where we uh review and vote and rate all of the movies that we talk about across the next real family of film podcasts. And we’re doing that today. Uh with Project Hail Mary. JJ, we already know. Just say it. Get it out of the way. Spew your exuberance all over the board.
Justin Jaeger
Five stars and alike. I can’t remember the last movie that I had five stars with, and so it feels like A very important movie for me to see. So I’m so happy that we saw it and I’m gonna be recommending it to everyone I know.
Pete Wright
I love it. Oh, I’m so glad. All right, Tommy.
Tommy Metz III
4. 5 and a heart. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. Thank you.
Pete Wright
Okay, Steve.
Steve Sarmento
I really, really enjoyed this movie, but Pete, like you, I There was like a a gap or a barrier where I just couldn’t connect as much as I wanted to, maybe. So I’m at four. stars. It just didn’t pull me in as as much.
Pete Wright
Okay.
Steve Sarmento
Still really enjoyable. Gonna recommend it to everybody. The theater I saw it in last night was Packed with people. I think it’s gonna do really well.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
It it is, but for me it’s just four stars and a and a heart. Yes.
Pete Wright
Sigh. Um I mean, yeah, I think I’m in the same boat. I think it’s I think I’m gonna go with four, and I’m I guess I leave room for it to be one of these sort of R resounding five stars and a heart movies for me, but I don’t know I don’t know what kind of a watch I have to have to get there. I will say I went alone.
Tommy Metz III
Oh, sorry.
Pete Wright
I I went alone and uh I it was surrounded by people. The theater was completely trashed, no, full, and um And oh uh one other comment, footnote. And and I think the rest of the audience really got into it. Like they were and and I think maybe maybe I just was not connecting with the audience experience of the movie at the time. Um, I am seeing it again. My wife has set up a movie date with a whole bunch of her of of her friends, couples, and so we’re going again, and we will be seeing it in IMAX.
Steve Sarmento
Ah.
Pete Wright
uh at the the real IMAX downtown and I’m i I’m excited to see that and have that experience.
Justin Jaeger
Nice
Steve Sarmento
Okay. Nice.
Justin Jaeger
Nice
Pete Wright
My footnote is this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie in a standard projection that actually did the Letterboxd IMAX expansion before. And this one did. Did you notice that?
Tommy Metz III
Yeah. I first m the first movie I ever noticed that happening was The Dark Knight. Because he only filmed certain parts in IMAX and so the thing would oh, nope, nope.
Steve Sarmento
Oh
Pete Wright
I no But that I don’t think that happened. I don’t I don’t remember seeing it in standard projection and getting the expansion. That only happened in the IMAX theaters. Huh. Think about that.
Justin Jaeger
I did not notice.
Steve Sarmento
No, I did not notice it either.
Justin Jaeger
I will likely see it again though too, because my kids are definitely going to want to see this one. And he did reduce him to Rocky.
Pete Wright
All of yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah
Pete Wright
All of the stuff that was on Earth was standard letterbox, whatever, two, three, five, and one, and everything that was in space was full IMAX.
Steve Sarmento
Oh.
Justin Jaeger
I love that.
Steve Sarmento
Wow.
Pete Wright
And that was that was showing up in a standard Rinky Dink projection.
Steve Sarmento
Okay.
Pete Wright
Hey, Rinky Dink, Rinky Dink Theater down the street. Gum on the seats. You know what I’m talking about. Um, anyway.
Justin Jaeger
I will say that I think um Andy Weir is is making his Rocky for nerds.
Tommy Metz III
I’m gonna
Justin Jaeger
Because if you think back to to Eddie Murphy and and Eddie Murphy Raw when he talked about how white guys go see Rocky and they come out of the theater like, oh Rocco!
Pete Wright
Oh yeah, you think oh oh Rocky.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Justin Jaeger
Oh well now you look at the Martian and you look at this like People who are into math and science, they’re gonna come out and be like, I’m gonna save the world.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Steve Sarmento
Yeah.
Pete Wright
They come out and see their Rocky.
Justin Jaeger
I like it. I’m into it.
Pete Wright
Well, I can’t wait for you all to get your Rocky plushies. and uh snuggle up tight.
Steve Sarmento
Yes.
Pete Wright
They’re they’re all made of granite and uh they’re not comfortable, but that’s okay. They’ll whistle you to sleep. Uh this has been fun, guys. I’m so glad we saw this movie and uh I think I’m broken uh in some way on the inside. And I’ll take that. It’ll be fun. Uh Tommy, Steve, JJ, thank you so much for hanging out.
Steve Sarmento
Oh that was that
Pete Wright
Thanks for see thanks for doing the homework and seeing the movie.
Steve Sarmento
All right, all I can say is
Justin Jaeger
Yes.
Tommy Metz III
No, no, no
Pete Wright
Oh, there’s doing the thing with the arms. Adorable. Uh this conversation sent you down a rabbit hole or reminded you of other films circling the same ideas. We do a lot of that work over at the next reel where we dig into the films. and filmmakers that built the language this movie is speaking. You can find everything we do across all of our movie podcasts at the Next Real Family of Film Podcasts. at thenextreel dot com. And if this is your first time here because of this movie, stick around. We only do this once a month, and most of the time we pick really crappy movies. Sometimes we pick really good ones. So maybe we’re on a run right now.
Justin Jaeger
I love it.
Steve Sarmento
This is a very important thing.
Pete Wright
You never know when it starts, if it’s a run to come. Uh we try to be picky on purpose.
Tommy Metz III
You have line ration points and has a three year.
Pete Wright
See you next time, meeting adjourned
Tommy Metz III
What is gull?
