Movie Review: Project Hail Mary

The new movie "Project Hail Mary" is one of the most unusual science fiction movies involving Space Travel, about a microscopic virus that is degrading all stars in our known universe, except for one, which is 11 light-years away. The science that follows implies that reaching this healthy star, which is 11 light-years away, is possible, but based on current technology, traveling at light speed is nowhere near possible. Due to this traveling at light speed issue, the plausibility of this story is reduced. Perhaps the screenwriter or director should have changed the timeline so that this story takes place fifty or one hundred years in the future - when maybe mankind can travel at the speed of light.

The majority of this story involves the science of Microbiology, which is the profession of the main character Ryland Grace, played very well by Ryan Gosling, and his unlikely addition to a mission with two other astronauts to reach this one star so far away. After some tragic events that happen when one of the "million things that can go wrong" with space travel, and putting the astronauts in long-term comas for the many years-long trip, Ryland becomes friends with an alien fellow astronaut, who is on the exact same mission for his species. Ryland calls his friend Rocky, and their interactions and humor are some of the best parts of this movie. The middle part of this movie does seem to have too much story filler, making this film too long at 2 hours, 36 minutes. Some of this filler is boring and slow at times, and this would be a better movie with some simple and obvious cuts.

German actor Sandra Hüller as commander Eva Stratt is very good in her role as the head of the NASA "Hail Mary" mission to save the world. She is always in a subdued and dire mood throughout this movie, realizing that the odds of success are so low. The contrast between her extremely serious character and her scenes with Gosling's with his easy going humorous personality are very well done. She also has a very surprising Karaoke scene, in the middle of this story, showing off her singing skills.

The ending was more about fooling the audience with a conclusion that was not expected, rather than ending this story in a more logical way.

This is the second science fiction movie produced from a novel written by Andy Weir, the first The Martian was released in 2015 and was also a very good film. This movie is based on Weir's second book Project Hail Mary.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Project Hail Mary are extremely high at 95%, with my rating at 85% and a solid recommendation.

Oscar Winners 2026

Conan O'Brien once again did a very good job hosting the Oscars for the second year in a row. His opening act, dressed up like the evil Witch in "Weapons" being chased by children - that happened at the end of the movie was as funny and brilliant as any opening segment that Billy Crystal used to perform when he hosted the Oscars. O'Brien just might host next year's show as well.

Both of the top two most nominated movies this year, One Battle After Another and Sinners, were more strange than good, with Sinners winning the a record number of nominations at sixteen, but only winning four Oscars, which makes sense, as Sinners degraded into a Zombie/Vampire movie.

Michael B Jordan won for best actor, which he deserved because I did not think that Timothée Chalamet's performance was deserving enough for Best Actor this year, especially because of the humiliating scene that he did with Kevin O'Leary, which was made fun of by Conan O'Brien. Jordan has paid major dues as an actor, especially due to his impressive athletic performances in the three Creed movies.

In the Memoriam segment, Eric Dane, Brigitte Bardot, and James Van Der Beek were all omitted, which is a major mistake on this year's Oscar telecast.

This year, there was a tie for best Live Action Short Film. One of those Films is called: "Two People Exchanging Saliva" - which is hard to believe is even a movie title.

As predicted, Jessie Buckley was the runaway favorite winner for Best Actress for "Hamnet".

"One Battle After Another" won six Oscars, including best picture and best supporting actor Sean Penn, who did not attend the ceremony. This was Penn's third Oscar. Only eight actors have won three or more Oscars:

Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 Best Actor

Meryl Streep — 2 Best Actress + 1 Supporting

Ingrid Bergman — 2 Best Actress + 1 Supporting

Jack Nicholson — 2 Best Actor + 1 Supporting

Walter Brennan — 3 Supporting Actor

Frances McDormand — 3 Best Actress

Sean Penn — 2 Best Actor + 1 Supporting

Katherine Hepburn — 4 Best Actress

Bugonia F1 Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another The Secret Agent Sentimental Value Sinners Train Dreams

Best Actor in a Leading Role Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon Michael B. Jordan, Sinners Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Best Actress in a Leading Role Jessie Buckley, Hamnet Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value Emma Stone, Bugonia

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein Delroy Lindo, Sinners Sean Penn, One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value Amy Madigan, Weapons Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Directing Chloe Zhao, Hamnet Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best Writing (Original Screenplay) Blue Moon It Was Just an Accident Marty Supreme Sentimental Value Sinners, Ryan Coogler 

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Bugonia Frankenstein Hamnet One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson Train Dreams

Best Casting Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another The Secret Agent Sinners

Best Music (Original Song) “Dear Me,” Diane Warren: Relentless “Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters “I Lied to You,” Sinners “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” Viva Verdi! “Train Dreams,” Train Dreams

Best Music (Original Score) Bugonia Frankenstein Hamnet One Battle After Another Sinners

Best Editing F1 Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sentimental Value Sinners

Best Costume Design Avatar: Fire and Ash Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme Sinners

Best Makeup and Hairstyling Frankenstein Kokuho Sinner The Smashing Machine The Ugly Stepsister

Best Cinematography Frankenstein Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sinners Train Dreams

Best Visual Effects Avatar: Fire and Ash F1 Jurassic World Rebirth The Lost Bus Sinners

Best Sound F1 Frankenstein One Battle After Another Sinners Sirât

Best Production Design Frankenstein Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sinners

Best Animated Feature Film Arco Elio KPop Demon Hunters Little Amelie or the Character of Rain Zootopia 2

Best Animated Short Film Butterfly Forevergreen The Girl Who Cried Pearls Retirement Plan The Three Sisters

Best Live Action Short Film Butcher’s Stain A Friend of Dorothy Jane Austen’s Period Drama The Singers (Tie) Two People Exchanging Saliva (Tie)

Best Documentary Feature Film The Alabama Solution Come See Me in the Good Light Cutting Through Rocks Mr. Nobody Against Putin The Perfect Neighbor

Best Documentary Short Film All the Empty Rooms Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud Children No More: Were and Are Gone The Devil Is Busy Perfectly a Strangeness

Best International Feature Film The Secret Agent, Brazil It Was Just an Accident, France Sentimental Value, Norway Sirât, Spain The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia

Movie Review: Reminders of Him

The new movie "Reminders of Him" is receiving low Rotten Tomatoes ratings from the critics of 59%. The reason is that this is a tearjerker-type movie that we have seen before, about a young woman, Kenna, who is driving a car while drunk and getting into an accident with her boyfriend, Scotty, and he dies from his injuries. Even though the accident was not specifically caused by her being drunk, she is sent to jail for seven years, then has a child in prison, and once released, the story begins about her life of squalor and wondering if she will ever see her child again. This story is based on the best-selling book Reminders of Him by Coleen Hoover.

The critics are mostly trashing this movie, mainly because it lacks an original, tragic, tear-jerker story idea, but they overlook the very good messages this story conveys. If you ever drink and drive and someone dies, you will go to jail. Driving is never something to take for granted. When you drive, your life is in your own hands and the hands of someone else who might make a tragic mistake. There are always two sides to a story, and in the case of this film, Scotty's parents, played by Bradley Whitford and Lauren Graham, hate Kenna, played by Maika Monroe. This is because they do not know the full story of what happened the day their son was killed in a car accident when Kenna was driving.

The acting in this film is very good, including Tyriq Withers, who plays Ledger Ward, Scotty's best friend, who becomes involved with Kenna and eventually helps Kenna to see her daughter again.

Once again, the critics missed the mark with their opinions of this solid story with a 59% rating. My rating is 80% and a strong recommendation to see this movie.