Episode #7 - Space Movies

On this week's episode Harrison is solo and talks through his favorite space movies before doing a full, in-depth review of Project Hail Mary.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Shot On Film Podcast. I'm Harrison, and this week I'm by myself, as you may have already noticed. Um Bella wanted everybody to know that she fell in love with a space rock and she's off to go buy a plushie. No, but really, uh Bella got booked on an acting gig for the entire week, and we weren't able to get together to record before she had to be on set for many, many hours. She was there at 5 30 this morning and we'll be there all day. Um so it's just me today. It'll be a bit of a shorter episode. Um mainly just going to be reviewing um some space films and talking about Project Hail Mary. So without further ado, let's just get into it. I just wanted to briefly talk about some of my favorite space films uh because it felt appropriate given we just had the Artemis II launch and they are currently orbiting around uh the moon and slingshotting back towards Earth as I record this. This is April 7th. Um it it felt right. Uh, having just watched Project Hail Mary, spoilers, it was great. Um I really wanted to talk about some space films. So obviously, we briefly talked about um some of my favorite movies of all time in that first episode. If you guys have watched that um or listened to that, Interstellar is still my favorite movie of all time, and it is my favorite space films, my favorite sci-fi film. Interstellar is it's just the best. I love Interstellar. I know that is not an original thought. There's a lot of people out there that love Interstellar, um, but it is my favorite film. Um, I re-watch it probably at least once a year. Have seen it many, many, many, many more times than that. But um yeah. I don't even need to keep going on. I already talked about Interstellar in a previous episode. I absolutely love Interstellar. Um, some other top, top-tier space films. Uh Alien and Ridley Scott is a theme on this list of my favorite space films because I think he has like three of these. Um Alien is like a perfect horror film set in space. You know, in space nobody can hear you scream, and that is an appropriate, appropriate theme and uh tagline for that movie. Um the what they do with the alien and the uh the xenomorph, the uh the chest bursting scene, not telling the actors what was going to happen, those were genuine reactions, the visuals of that movie, not showing the alien all that much, using the shadows, very similar to what they did in Jurassic Park and Jaws, uh, just like not showing the monster for a lot of times, because what your brain ends up coming up with is much scarier than what it actually looks like. And obviously they were limited by technology over the time, but it looks really good. Even for the 70s, yeah, okay, once we actually see the whole thing, it looks like a prosthetic, I guess. But not it really genuinely looks good. They've very, very, very well done on that. Uh lit it perfectly, and just the tension and the suspense. Ridley Scott, 10 out of 10. Alien's awesome. I mean, I like Prometheus and the other Aliens is great. Um, James Cameron, I'll be talking about you a little bit later. Terminator 2, obviously, but that's not a space movie. It's a sci-fi, it's not as much of a space movie. Anyways, um, space movies specifically, I wanted to talk about. Uh, 2001 being another one, the OG, Stanley Kubrick, and what you did on that film. Um blows my mind, honestly. I've seen the film a couple times. I watched it for the first time and I was in film school. So, of course, we talked about the bone throwing in the air and the match cut and all that for editing. Um, that's every editing professor's like favorite thing to talk about. Um, it's a great film. I mean, they basically came up with FaceTime, you know, 40, 50 years before it actually became a thing. It's really, really impressive what Stanley Kubrick did in uh 2001. Um yeah, the first 20 minutes are a little slow with the uh with the apes and all that, but it's a beautiful metaphor for humanity and just the cutting to the future. And it, yeah. I don't need to go on 2001's great. Um, Star Wars. You can't talk about space films and not talk about Star Wars. Obviously, the original and New Hope, but I mean most people say Empire Strikes Back is the best one. I can't disagree with them on that. Um, I am partial to Rogue One, um, even though it doesn't belong to any of the trilogies and it's a standalone film. I think that movie is phenomenal. Um, and if I had to pick a favorite Star Wars, it would be that or Empire. It's a toss-up between the two. If I had to pick a prequel, it would definitely be Revenge of the Sith. Um Well, I just I know for certain it's not Attack of the Clones. Uh but uh I mean Phantom Menace has its moments. Obviously, Duel of the Fates at the end is a great time. The score is phenomenal. But Revenge of the Siths, Revenge of the Sith is definitely the best of the prequels. Um, but not anywhere near anything on the original trilogy, and we don't need to talk about the uh sequel trilogy. Uh Dune. Dune is another one, part one and part two. Super excited for part three. Uh the tickets just went on sale yesterday for the 70 mil IMAX, and they sold out in like 60 seconds um for that opening weekend. Uh that movie's gonna be awesome. Villeneuve's been cooking. We we know he's he's been cooking uh and excited to see what he's gonna do with that film. Um Dune Part One, I think, is my favorite of the two, actually, which I know is an unpopular opinion. I just love the world building they did in Dune Part One, the sound design. I mean, I know that this carries over into part two, obviously, the the score. Um, it's just like genuinely the world building in part one and being on Arrakis and being um, what is it, Kaladin? Um yeah, I can't remember the name of the one. Um, but just they do such a Villeneuve just does such a good job of building out that world, introducing us to those characters, and letting us get a sense, a feel for the like it's just it's atmospheric in a way. Um yeah, there's a lot of flash forwards and cuts and dream sequences, and it's kind of a non-typical narrative, and like part one really is a part one to a story, so you kind of get almost an anti-climax in that film. Um, but that's because it's a larger story, and I think when you go back and you watch the whole trilogy, it'll make a lot more sense. Of course, if you've read the books, you know where this is going in the third one, and it's gonna probably uh piss some people off, but we'll see what uh Villeneuve does uh to land that ship, because I don't know if they're gonna end up doing a fourth or a fifth one, but um we'll see. I'm excited. Uh the yeah, I was gonna mention one more thing. Dune, the opening sound effect. Uh I want to say it's like a Harkinin, like the throat singing thing. Um I knew from that moment before you even see the opening credits that this is gonna be awesome. And it was. So hats off to you, Villeneuve. Um, another one, just I guess those are like my top five. Those are the those are the I hold those dear. I don't know where Project Hail Mary is going to rank all time, being that I've seen it once in recency bias really is a thing. Um, I think I'll most likely end up putting it somewhere in my top five to ten. I'm not sure. It's definitely in top ten, though. Project Hail Mary. Um, we'll get there though. Uh Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. I just kind of lumped them both together. Such good movies. The original Blade Runner is gorgeous, and so is the new one, obviously. Very different. I mean, Roger Deacons with the with the newer one in the digital, but that first one. Whew. Ridley really was cooking in the 80s, wasn't he? Uh well done, Ridley Scott. I mean, just ugh go watch Blade Runner if you haven't seen Blade Runner. It's so good. Um, and then The Martian, which feels appropriate, same writer, screenwriter as uh Project Hail Mary, um, and directed by Ridley Scott. I got three Ridley Scott films in the top ten space movies. Um uh the Martian, Matt Damon's performance in there obviously carries it. They use some liberties with science at some points and some really awesome realistic points of science on there. I think it's a cool survival story, and it's a much more grounded and realistic, obviously taking place on Mars. Um it's it's a lot different of a space movie, but it's definitely still up there, and I think it's a great watch. Um, but it's definitely like towards the back nine in terms of not being at the very top of my list of space films, but it's definitely deserves to be on the list. Um and then Avatar. I can't talk about space movies and not talk about Avatar, especially the original one. The visuals in that movie are stunning. All of the movies are stunning visual. Um, again, I talk about world building. I think world building is a really important thing when it comes to filmmaking, but specifically science fiction and space movies, you're literally building new worlds for the audience. And that movie does such a good job of world building and just learning that, you know, going with Jake to learn about this new species, his new culture, like becoming integrated in it and learning to love them. I mean, that's it's a story we've heard before on Earth and we've seen before on Earth, but just doing that in a space kind of a way and with aliens and other species and on other planets, it's it's a really well-done film. Um I re-watch Alien. I've seen it many, or not Alien, Avatar. I've seen it many times, especially that first one, and it's it's just a really, really good watch. Um, so yeah, those are like some of the top space films for me in terms of what's already established. Now, the newcomer to the list, Project Hail Mary, it belongs somewhere on that list in conversation. That movie was fantastic. It's such a feel-good movie. It's such a hopeful movie in a time of not the most hope in the world right now. It's it's just, it made me smile. It made me cry. I was laughing hysterically at many points. It was very funny, it was heartwarming, it was sad at times, but it ended hopeful. I love uh I love this movie. I think I think it was fantastic. Ryan Gosling's performance was amazing. The Greg Frasier absolutely knocked it out of the park shooting this one. I, you know, I was sad when I first heard that he wasn't gonna be doing Dune Part Three, but then to come and see this is why. Thank you for doing that, Greg Frazier. And I think Dune Part Three is in very good hands um with who they have shooting that. So I can't remember his name, but uh shot La La Land and some other Damien Chazelle stuff. He's got some great work under his um belt. But back to Project Hell Mary. Um I thought the writing was fantastic. I know some people have some issues with a couple of nitpicky science things in there and centrifuging and stuff like that. I get it. That's not how you centrifuge, but it's not that big of a deal, it's a movie. Um I'm sure that was the production designer or the director or something going, oh, this looks better. Uh but yeah, anyways, um that's that's what I want to say about Project Hail Mary non-spoiler. Um, so if you haven't seen it, go watch that um and come back and watch the rest of the episode because I'm gonna spoil the crap out of it for the next few minutes. Um if you haven't seen it and you're going to uh turn us off. There's nothing else in this episode I'm gonna talk about Project Hail Mary, and that is it. So if you want to avoid spoilers, this is your final warning. Don't forget to like, comment, follow, subscribe, turn on that bell on YouTube and turn on downloads and follow us on Apple Podcasts. New episodes are releasing every Friday. Um, and if you have seen it or you don't care about spoilers, here we go. I love the opening. Uh upside down, super close-ups, you kind of don't know what's going on, and him waking up from that uh oops, uh him waking up from that coma. The opening was really well done, and the camera twisting around um as he's emerging from his uh body bag essentially, and his coma, um, trying to figure out what's going on with him, which I believe is how the book opens, is what I've heard too. I it was really, really well done. Um and then transitioning from there into the spaceship and exploring and kind of going, oh my God, you are far from Earth. Okay, what an opening. Um, what a premise for a movie. Um, and then moving on from there to the uh flashback sequences. He's a school teacher. How did he get there? He's clearly very, very knowledgeable. He doesn't want to talk about anything serious, though. He's just kind of like trying to escape life, and we learn why that is um as we continue to progress. You get the the call from the scientists for him to come and try to experiment on the uh astrophage. I loved the dynamic between him and the I forget her name, but the main project director, uh, the German gal. Uh they're perfect foils of each other. Just she is this straight arrow, do it by the book, get the job done, not emotional person, and he is literally the polar opposite. Um, and they have just a great dynamic together, you know. Uh this might die, or you guys want me to die, I might die in here. And she's like, the general consensus is we hope you don't die. And he's just like, okay. I mean, it it's hilarious. Um it's very, it's very, very good going from there into just uh him being watched by the security guard and then them coming up with the idea to build the black box together and the tons of tape. Oh, do we have an expense account? Like there was just so many funny lines in there. And then you go to him eventually encountering Rocky and the spaceship and the flying back and forth. I it was just so amusing. I was laughing out loud at many points, you know, throwing the canister and him having to go out and catch it in spacewalk was riveting but hilarious. Um when he opens up the thing and it's the xenon gas, and he's like, oh no! Uh I cried laughing at that part. Um, it was, I just I found that really amusing. Um that just the whole tone, the writing, the pacing, especially that first hour, was just masterful, masterful filmmaking. Um and then moving from there just into the relationship with Rocky. The movie did slow down a little bit for me, um, but necessarily it needed to in that part. You're introducing this other character. We have to care for Rocky and their dynamics, so you took your time with that versus the much quicker pacing of the first and third act. Um, that middle act does slow down. So I know people who have complained about that and the pacing being a little bit off. Yeah, it's not a perfect movie, but it's so good. It's so good. And the dynamic, the the relationship between him and just like it's not a scary alien. Like, how many times have we seen an alien? And yeah, there's a little jump scare at the beginning that because you're on edge. It's it's an alien movie. It's a human encountering an alien, and everyone's expectations are, oh, what's there doing, you know, at first, right? And I knew, by the way, I knew nothing about the film going in. I had not seen anything on it outside. I'd seen the trailers like six months ago, and I said to myself, I'm gonna go watch that and I'm not gonna look up anything else about it so that I can go in as blind as possible. And I honestly forgot what the trailer was. I just remember liking it. I remember going, Ryan Gosling's in it, space movie. I liked the trailer. I don't really remember the trailer because it's been six months and I haven't seen anything else. So I went in as blind as possible and I was floor, like just blown away. It's it's really, really, really well done. So um, what else can I say? Uh the coma flashback was hard to watch. Uh he was very human in that moment. Um definitely a humbling experience, like being asked to go save the world and saying, Nope, I'm good, thanks. Uh, I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that would probably say the same. Um, I'm not sure what I would say in that circumstance. Hope I'm ever in that circumstance. But uh yeah. Um the the relationship with Rocky and him is just so cute, and it just gets better and better as it goes on, and it's just a hopeful story of friendship, regardless of what you look like, what you sound like, language barriers, like you can find love anywhere. Um even in an alien. And that was really cool. It's it's got some elements of ET in that way, of course. Um yeah, that it's just I have nothing but good things to say about Project Hail Mary. Uh the sh Greg Frasier, like I said, and the production design also. No green screen, I mean practical effects using the infrared camera for that infrared sequence when he's catching all of the uh particles. It's so beautiful. My jaw was on the floor. I saw it in 70 mil IMAX, and it was beautiful during that sequence, and it was very emotional at times, you know, when he reveals to Rocky what his plan was and how he's not gonna have fuel and he's just sending probes, and Rocky offers to help. I mean, the acting moment, you got Gosling and Shadows with his back to him, and he turns and you've he emerges into the light and you see his tears. Uh yeah, it was a little uh it was a little blurry in the theater for I think most people at that moment, me included. Um Rocky sacrificing himself to try and save Grace there, you know, and then ends up not being dead, which is great. We love that. Um I mean I I s figured Rocky was gonna die the whole time, and I assumed that was gonna be the end, um, and he was just gonna have to, I don't know, pilot Rocky's ship back to Earth or something, which I didn't know how they were gonna do that. But I actually really enjoyed what they ended up doing being slightly different than my expectations. Because I love when a movie feels like it's going a certain way and changes directions a little bit. Um and then at the end when he's at the end when he's um going back to save Rocky and he sends the probes off, so he does end up helping Earth and he saves his planet, but he also doesn't forget about his friend who saved his life and he goes back. I mean, I thought that was just it was beautiful, and I definitely loved how Rocky and his species acted all the same, and they gave him a habitat, they gave Grace a habitat to live in, a school to teach their young ones, and like a place that he could call home for as long as he wanted to. And I can't say that humanity would have done the same had the roles been reversed and Rocky would have ended up on Earth. I feel like humanity would have tested Rocky and probed him and kept him in a lab and eventually killed him because that's just what we do. Maybe not, but let's be honest, that's that's that's what would have happened most likely. Um which is sad. But they showed that you don't have to be a monster just because someone looks different than you and sounds different than you. You can treat them with love and respect. And I loved that. Um the whole film was just a big fat warm hug. It was a great movie. It felt like and it was intense. I mean, the the sequence on the planet and capturing all of the the parasites and like getting that caught, the fishing, going fishing. That was an intense sequence. It felt on par with the interstellar docking sequence at times. Maybe not as epic, but just as serious, just as visually stunning, if not more, just because it's so colorful. Um it it was just so it was so well done. Um I like the open-ending, open-ended nature of the ending. Did he go back? You know, he just mentions can I take my time? Can I think about it? You know, uh because I think Grace found something worth living in something he didn't have on Earth. I mean, he didn't have any family, he didn't have any loved ones really. And he found that in an alien, and I think that was really beautiful and poetic. So hats off to Project Hail Mary. Absolutely adored that movie. Uh I can't wait to watch it again, can't wait for it to come out. I'm gonna buy that as soon as it's out. Um, I'm gonna watch it many times. Um and I don't know where exactly it's gonna rank on my list of best space films, but it's absolutely on the list and can't wait to see what comes next. Um that's it. That's all I gotta say for this week's episode. Um, looking forward to the coming weeks. Um, me and Bella have some fun topics planned. We're gonna have some guests on pretty soon. Um so, like I said, Shot on Filled Podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Follow us, subscribe, add those downloads, add those alerts, shoot us a comment, let us know you're out there. Um we're very slowly but surely growing a little bit of an audience, which is really fun. Um, trying to keep this consistent for you guys. Sorry that Bella wasn't here. Uh sorry that it's a much shorter episode this week, but um yeah, it's been fun doing this show. I'm getting A lot more comfortable being on camera. I mean, I'm here by myself now. Um I don't know how often I'm gonna do solo episodes, but it just was the only thing that worked because I'm also traveling for work later this week. So today was the only day that I had any time to record anything, and Bella was just not available at all. So this is what we ended up with. Um we'll be back to more regularly uh looking episodes next week. Um, and in the coming weeks, we got some cool stuff planned. So can't wait. Um, hope to see you guys there. Hope to hear from you guys. Um, have a good rest of your week, and that's a wrap.