Episode 18
Project Hail Mary - Amaze Amaze Amaze
Benny and Minal engage in an insightful discourse regarding the cinematic adaptation of Andy Weir's 'Project Hail Mary.' The principal focus of their conversation is the film's exploration of humanity, friendship, and sacrifice, particularly through the unique bond between the protagonist, Ryland Grace, and the alien Rocky. They reflect on the intricacies of character development, emphasizing the compelling portrayal of Grace, whose journey from reluctant participant to selfless hero unfolds against the backdrop of an interstellar mission to save Earth. Furthermore, they delve into the film's effective balance of humor and emotional depth, highlighting its visual storytelling and impactful soundtrack.
Ultimately, the hosts express a shared appreciation for the film, rating it a perfect ten, while also contemplating the deeper themes that resonate with contemporary audiences.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to Talking Talkies.
Speaker A:We're your host, Benny and Meena.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining us.
Speaker A:Well, if you're listening to this episode, I want to start by asking, why are you coming back and listening to us?
Speaker A:Well, probably I should rephrase that.
Speaker A:I shouldn't say why.
Speaker A:We really do appreciate you listening to us, but it has been a while, Mino.
Speaker A: our last episode was in June: Speaker B:That's a long time.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So anyway, we've had our personal lives taking over, right, Benny?
Speaker B:So this is forgiven.
Speaker B:And we do this as a hobby, so it's fine.
Speaker A:Since the last time I've had another baby, I've had a change in my job.
Speaker A:I got promoted.
Speaker A:So things have been busy on the personal front and.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:It's been the same for you.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:So it's fine, you know, but one.
Speaker A:Thing that, you know, we, we've mentioned in previous episodes as well is that, you know, we, we do this for the love of the movies, you know, especially when we, you know, come across movies that we really enjoyed, or not even necessarily enjoyed it.
Speaker A:We just feel like, okay, this is something worth talking about.
Speaker A:Even if it's a movie that's been released years ago.
Speaker A:It's just an opportunity for us to hang out, talk about the movie.
Speaker A:So that's what we're doing right now, because both of us, we watched a movie recently that we enjoyed.
Speaker A:And so here we are 10 months later and we're not gonna make any more promises, we're not gonna say we're gonna do this more regularly because honestly, we don't know.
Speaker A:But whenever we do, I promise you we will give you a good episode.
Speaker A:So, Mino, maybe you should tell us what the movie is that kind of brought us back together to talk about it.
Speaker B:Yes, it's the recent Hollywood hit that is there on my social media feed.
Speaker B:Everybody is singing praises about it.
Speaker B:It also stars one of our favorite heroes, Ryan Gosling.
Speaker B:And so we had to talk about it.
Speaker B:Pretty.
Speaker B:Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir follows Ryland Grace, a substitute teacher and former molecular biologist who wakes up from a coma on a spaceship with amnesia, discovering that he's the sole survivor on a last ditch mission to save Earth from a solar eating microorganism astrophage, which is eating into the star, the sun and going to cause the light to reduce, which is going to cause a global ice age.
Speaker B:So, Benny, this was a sci fi plot.
Speaker B:It is a sci Fi movie.
Speaker B:And I am not a big sci fi person.
Speaker B:I like quite a lot of movies, but I'm not a fanatic with sci fi movies.
Speaker B:But I'd seen the trailer and I said, oh, this looks interesting because the way it was shot and the cinematography in that 12 minutes trailer caught my eye in the theater.
Speaker B:And I told my husband, we must come watch it.
Speaker B:What were your first impressions?
Speaker B:How did you decide?
Speaker B:Okay, I want to go watch this movie.
Speaker B:It's based off a book by Andy we have.
Speaker B:I came to know much later it's the same author who wrote the Martian.
Speaker B:So I went in bit blind, relying only on the trailer, not knowing much about it.
Speaker B:How did you walk in?
Speaker B:And then I can share my impressions.
Speaker A:So I'll echo what you just said in that I'm not a big, like, space movie fan fan either.
Speaker A:You know, the thing is, when I go to watch a movie, I prefer to watch movies where I don't have to use my brain too much, which is why I like Shahrukh Khan movies.
Speaker A:So watching any movies that require me to, like, really pay attention to the technicalities, to the scientific aspects of it.
Speaker A:So, for instance, I watched the Martian too, but I, I read the book later and I enjoyed the book a little more than the movie just because I could take the time to kind of absorb and understand, like, kind of like the science behind, you know, the whole plot.
Speaker A:And so in general, I'm not like a huge fan.
Speaker A:I watch it, but I'm not going to, like, go crazy over it, except for the visuals, which are always stunning in space movies anyway.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker A:So when this movie was announced, you know, I just saw that, oh, Ryan Gosling is going to star in this movie called Project Hail Mary.
Speaker A:And my first thought was, like, it sounds like a sports movie.
Speaker A:Because Hail Mary is the term that's used most commonly in American football.
Speaker A:And so after you explain, do you.
Speaker B:Want to explain the concept?
Speaker B:Because I didn't know about this.
Speaker B:I understood from the reference in the scene, but, yeah, I didn't know it is picked up from American football.
Speaker B:So do you want to give the audience, our listeners, what.
Speaker B:Why it is named Project Hail Mary and how it fits?
Speaker A:The simplest way I can say it is Hail Mary is generally, is obviously not the correct technical term for this play in American football, but it is what it's used to describe this, where it's essentially a move that's.
Speaker A:That comes out of desperation.
Speaker A:Like, think about it in any other sporting parlance, too.
Speaker A:It's just like this last Ditch like no other chance.
Speaker A:Like this is the only shot we have.
Speaker A:So let's just give it our best shot and see what happens.
Speaker A:It's more like out of desperation.
Speaker A:And I think that's the concept that was brought into this story as well, where they ran out of options.
Speaker A:This is like their last ditch effort and they're going to just like try what they can achieve.
Speaker A:And so that is what Hail Mary is.
Speaker A:Obviously the actual Hail Mary is more religious significance.
Speaker B:Coming to that.
Speaker B:I was just again, you know how it is, films and trivia and you want to go read up and things like that.
Speaker B:So apparently the first line of the verse, the holy verse is Hail Mary, full of grace.
Speaker B:So yes, yes, Dr. Grace, Hail Mary.
Speaker A:Okay, I get it.
Speaker A:Some good logical kind of writing there.
Speaker A:Some good smart thinking when it comes to the writing process.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:So when I found out that this was a space movie, I was like, okay, it's by.
Speaker A:It's based of a book by the person who wrote the Martian.
Speaker A:I was like, okay, fine.
Speaker A:I was like Ryan Gosling in a space movie.
Speaker A:I guess.
Speaker A:I don't know how it, it will play out.
Speaker A:So I wasn't like super excited about it first off.
Speaker A:And then the trailer came out and before I even watched it, I heard, don't watch the trailer because it revealed something that will actually be like a game changer if you're watching it in the theaters for the first time.
Speaker A:So I was like, okay, I'm going to avoid it.
Speaker A:But of course, in today's age you cannot truly avoid anything.
Speaker A:And so I found out what it was about and I was like, fine, I'll watch the trailer now.
Speaker A:And I think that was when I got hooked.
Speaker A:The trailer was really got me hooked.
Speaker A:And I was like, even though I'm not like a big fan of space movies, fine, I'll go give it a watch.
Speaker A:And so that's how I ended up going to watch it.
Speaker A:I didn't really have high expectations of it.
Speaker A:I did watch it like a week after its release.
Speaker A:So by that time, obviously it's got a lot of great reviews and I was more excited on the day of it.
Speaker A:But yeah, that's how I kind of came to watch about the movie.
Speaker A:And those are my expectations going into it.
Speaker B:Yeah, same.
Speaker B:So I went and I had not read the book either.
Speaker B:I have not even read the Martian because again, same thing.
Speaker B:Sci fi is not my go to genre and I don't want to pressure my brain so much.
Speaker B:Going back to the physics and the science and the chemistry and the space.
Speaker B:Yeah, Bit of it.
Speaker B:So I just want easy stories sometimes, you know, which is much better.
Speaker B:But, yeah, the movie.
Speaker B:So I. I had missed Ryan Gosling's first.
Speaker B:Man, I've still not watched it, and I really wanted to watch it.
Speaker A:I watched it and I will say you can give it a skip.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Yeah, because it didn't get great reviews either.
Speaker B:So I said, okay, fine.
Speaker B:And, you know, because I've loved Apollo 13 so much, around the moon, space missions, I've really enjoyed those movies.
Speaker B:So I said, yeah, maybe this would be a good one.
Speaker B:But I didn't.
Speaker B:It also starred Claire Foy in it.
Speaker B:Anyway, I. I somehow didn't get to it.
Speaker B:So I said, oh, he looks.
Speaker B:This looks really good.
Speaker B:So I want to.
Speaker B:I want to go watch.
Speaker B:And then we said, better go watch it in IMAX rather than a normal theater to get the full feel.
Speaker B:They said, it's a movie made for imax because I did that with Oppenheimer.
Speaker B:I had seen it on novel theater, and then I like in a 2D.
Speaker B:And then I went and saw it on IMAX and it was a completely different experience.
Speaker B:So I said, if I'm going to spend money, I'd rather do it right the first time.
Speaker B:So we went in.
Speaker B:I was expecting a lot more of, you know, how do I say, tense situations and, you know, really worrying, like, the humanity is going to end, the Earth is going to have a blast, blah, blah, blah, and you know, how a hero is going to come and save everything.
Speaker B:I didn't expect to cry and I didn't expect to get attached to an alien because, you know, all our movies so far, other than ET the aliens are really horrid, right?
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They look horrid.
Speaker B:They are creepy creatures.
Speaker B:They're out to kill you.
Speaker B:They're out to destroy mankind.
Speaker B:That's how the theme is.
Speaker B:And I love that the film, the plot of the film subverts all our concepts about how aliens.
Speaker A:And I should say very quickly that if there's anybody listening to this episode who somehow miraculously avoided all the conversations surrounding this movie and not even realizing.
Speaker A:There's an alien in this film.
Speaker A:Yes, there's an alien in this film.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:So I think that more than the science and more than anything, it's the human aspect that shown in, the emotional aspect that came out in the movie is what I love the most about this movie so much that, you know, you know, what's the current situation in the world, right?
Speaker B:There's a war going on and Everybody's so upset and agitated.
Speaker B:And I think this movie brought a lot of happiness to everyone's life.
Speaker B:And it's a great coincidence that the Artemis 2 launch happened just a few days after Project Kilmere released.
Speaker B:So it was just.
Speaker B:My feed was full of happiness for two weeks, and I will take that any day.
Speaker B:And that's like, yeah.
Speaker B:But I did go read the book, Benny, and thanks to us putting a deadline on this podcast, I was like, I have to read it before this chat up.
Speaker B:And I enjoyed the book more, mainly because now I knew exactly what was who is Grace and who's Rocky?
Speaker B:And the picture was clear in my head.
Speaker B:And it's the soundtrack of the film, which we should talk about later as well, which I kept on playing while I was reading the book.
Speaker B:So it was a very immersive and a wholesome experience for me.
Speaker B:So love the book, love the movie, and that's how I felt about it.
Speaker A:So you watched.
Speaker A:Well, you read the book after you watched the movie?
Speaker B:After I watched the movie.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:Now, having read the book after the initial, like, after having watched the movie, were you able to appreciate the movie more or were you more like, oh, well, I guess they could have done this better.
Speaker B:Actually, two things.
Speaker B:I could appreciate the book a lot more because I don't like too much technical science and space when I'm reading.
Speaker B:I. I could appreciate this the way the science has been explained, where a layperson can understand.
Speaker B:You don't have to be a physics geek or a space geek to understand the book.
Speaker B:The book is very.
Speaker B:How I would say, very accessible to a lay person.
Speaker B:I could appreciate the book a lot more.
Speaker B:I. I'll talk about.
Speaker B:I understand why the book lovers who have read the book first could have felt a bit underwhelmed by the movie.
Speaker B:I also liked what they did with the adaptation because there's a part big part of the.
Speaker B:There are two big parts of.
Speaker B:In the book, and the director and the writer chose to focus on the human element and the friendship and the trust and the collaboration that these two strangers in space meet and save their worlds.
Speaker B:And I think they won the audience under 13.
Speaker B:That's what it did, I think.
Speaker B:And even folks like me who are not too much.
Speaker B:I know people rave about Interstellar, like people rave about Interstellar, Right?
Speaker B:Yeah, I watched it twice or thrice.
Speaker B:I don't really understand it much.
Speaker B:I'll be honest about it.
Speaker B:It's not a film I rewatch.
Speaker B:It doesn't.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Pull out any emotions in me.
Speaker B:It's Fine.
Speaker B:It's a great film.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:It's not for me, but Project Hail Mary was something I could understand and identify.
Speaker B:And I loved the emotions part of it.
Speaker B:And I know kids loved it, too.
Speaker B:So across all generations, people have loved it.
Speaker B:And to me, that was the big winner for me.
Speaker A:Yeah, a lot of the chatter that I heard after, you know, I watched the movie, and I was kind of, like, seeing how people are kind of reacting to it and enjoying it since it coincided with the Artemis 2 launch.
Speaker A:You know, there was all this buzz, I feel like, universally about this movie.
Speaker A:But what was most impressive to me was that not only a lot of the kids watching, a lot of these kids who came out to watch the movie, a lot of them had read the book too, which is what I heard.
Speaker A:And I was like, reading online how a lot of kids were remarking or discussing with their parents, like, oh, I did.
Speaker A:I like that they brought, you know, the book aspect to this movie or even, like, disappointment.
Speaker A:Like, oh, they left out these characters.
Speaker A:And, you know, those characters are the best part.
Speaker A:I mean, I.
Speaker A:You know, since I didn't read the book, I have no idea what they're talking about, but just to see that level of enthusiasm, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's really.
Speaker A:That's really good to see.
Speaker A:And like you said, it's come at a good time.
Speaker B:Very good time.
Speaker B:We all needed it.
Speaker B:Yes, we needed it.
Speaker A:So let's talk about the movie watching experience and then we can get into the movie, because I have some things to share.
Speaker A:But, yes, why don't you talk about.
Speaker A:Why don't you go first?
Speaker B:So I went.
Speaker B:We went to imax and, you know, it was.
Speaker B:The whole cinematography and the whole picturization is amazing.
Speaker B:And I think I.
Speaker B:At first I was thinking, is this all cgi?
Speaker B:Is Rocky a cgi?
Speaker B:And then you come to know that, no, they actually built a puppet, and it was five puppeteers managing Rocky's actions.
Speaker B:And that brought it to life because you could see the.
Speaker B:You could actually see the chemistry between, I mean, Gosling and that rock of a puppet.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:It's, like, amazing as to how they brought that to life.
Speaker B:And I'm so tired of cgi, Benny.
Speaker B:It just.
Speaker B:It's jarring to the eyes because there are two other movies that have, you know, Bollywood trailers have released.
Speaker B:And I'm like, dear God, where is the human aspect in this?
Speaker B:This is just too much of artificial stuff on my screen, which I'm not interested in.
Speaker B:So I felt this was very human, very life.
Speaker B:It's how movies got made, probably before this whole CGI technology and the.
Speaker B:In the imax, I think this space shots, especially the Petrova line, when he says, I'm having a moment.
Speaker B:It's just when he.
Speaker B:When they first see the.
Speaker B:Which is the planet?
Speaker B:Tau ce is that Tau Ceti is the star and it is the.
Speaker B:Which is the.
Speaker B:Is it the planet?
Speaker B:Is it.
Speaker B:What's the planet name?
Speaker B:I forget.
Speaker A:I'll check.
Speaker B:Tausa is a star, isn't it?
Speaker B:I mean, I should know this better.
Speaker B:I finished the book.
Speaker A:I shouldn't.
Speaker A:Yes, it's a star.
Speaker B:Is it?
Speaker B:Tau Ceti E is the name of the planet.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:Tauceti E, which they rename as Adrian.
Speaker B:Adrian, Correct.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So when.
Speaker B:When he seen that, the whole.
Speaker B:The whole atmosphere, the green, the pink, it's so beautiful, I was almost overwhelmed.
Speaker B:And, like, I welled up.
Speaker B:I'm like, it's so beautiful to watch.
Speaker B:Like, we are never gonna get into space, but this is how I get to see it, if it is what it is, how they're showing it.
Speaker B:So it was wonderful.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The IMAX theaters here are so good.
Speaker B:And the huge screen and the whole experience, it's like you were.
Speaker B:We felt we were in the.
Speaker B:We were inside.
Speaker B:Hail Mary.
Speaker B:That's the feeling it gave me.
Speaker B:So that was my experience.
Speaker B:I just loved it.
Speaker B:And I. I'm like, this is a movie where I would watch n number of times in the theater.
Speaker B:I don't want to watch it at home.
Speaker B:I don't want to watch it on streaming.
Speaker B:I will pay to go and watch this movie in the theater.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's how it.
Speaker B:If it really releases a few years down the line, I'll definitely go and watch it again.
Speaker B:It was that.
Speaker B:That's how you pull an audience to the theater.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And, you know, there's this ongoing debate over the last few years about the movie theater experience.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, a lot of people now, at least anecdotally, a lot of people seem to prefer to watch movies from the comfort of their own home.
Speaker A:A lot of people don't want to go to the theaters just because they feel like it's overpriced.
Speaker A:Snacks are getting.
Speaker A:At least in the US no, it's very expensive.
Speaker B:It's same in uk.
Speaker B:It's same in India.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:A popcorn bucket is for £8.
Speaker B:Are you kidding me?
Speaker B:Like, it's popcorn.
Speaker B:It shouldn't be more than three or four pounds.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Don't be ridiculous.
Speaker A:And I don't know how it is in the UK, but here like they'll play ads for like 30 minutes prior to the start of the film.
Speaker A:They'll say 2 o' clock start of the movie, but the movie will actually start at 2:30, 2:30.
Speaker A:Because it's all just ads and trailers.
Speaker A:And then sometimes you never know what kind of crowd you're going to get.
Speaker A:You know, nowadays there are a lot of people who are on their phones during the movie.
Speaker A:They're taking calls or they're scrolling social media and you can kind of see the light of the phone and that affects it, people talking.
Speaker A:So in general a lot of people seem to be getting turned off by it and they're like, well if I can just build like a home theater experience for myself, I don't even need to go, I can just wait till it comes on streaming or get like a Blu Ray or whatever and then watch the home.
Speaker A:So you kind of need something special to draw people out.
Speaker A:And I think space movies in general are the best kind of, you know, outside of action films.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:And to some extent like crowd pleasing comedies.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You need space movies because it has that inbuilt visual spectacle in it and that makes like that really guarantees a good visual experience, especially when you go with friends or family, like that's the best way to enjoy it.
Speaker A:And so for me, I knew that I wanted to go watch this in the theater and in my personal experience I had a choice between IMAX and 4DX for people who may not be familiar with 4DX.
Speaker A:First of all, I'll tell you.
Speaker A:Okay, I, so I'll tell you this, I had a choice between IMAX and 4DX.
Speaker A:IMAX, I've been to like other movies, I've enjoyed it.
Speaker A:But 4 dx I've never been to.
Speaker A:And there was this, you know, There was a 40x screening available where I was, yeah.
Speaker A:And I was like, okay, I'll give it a try.
Speaker A:I mean if I don't like it, that'll be the last time.
Speaker A:Now 4Dx is essentially guaranteeing four dimensional experience.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Based on the way that they have inbuilt, the way that they have built the 4dx is that for certain movies, if they're going to show it in 4Dx, they're going to add some components of light, sound, water movement, like seat movement, like seat.
Speaker A:Your, your seat will literally jerk during action.
Speaker A:You know, it's like kind of like sitting on a roller coaster.
Speaker A:Literally, I'll be sitting, everything is going, they're Talking.
Speaker A:And in the next scene when the spacecraft like shoots across your seas, just like shake violently and there's like water spraying on your face like, like mist.
Speaker A:Mist.
Speaker A:I'm not actual water.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker B:I don't want to get drank.
Speaker A:But like.
Speaker A:Yes, but still like it's, it's, it's very like jarring if you're not used to that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like there's like mist, misty like spray and your seat is shaking.
Speaker A:And in some places they also add like smell depending on the scene.
Speaker A:So I'll tell you that I don't know how much I don't what extent it impacted my experience of the movie, but there were times I felt very distracted by all of that.
Speaker A:So I would not recommend 4dx in general.
Speaker A:It's good like as a one time experience.
Speaker A:But imagine you're so engrossed in a movie and then something happens and then I feel the seat has to shake and water sprayed on your face.
Speaker A:I'm like, actually I don't need all that.
Speaker B:No, I don't need that.
Speaker A:I didn't enjoy the 40x experience.
Speaker A:If given a chance, if given a choice like going back out of.
Speaker A:I would choose Imax anyway.
Speaker A:It was something that I had to experience once to know whether I liked it or not.
Speaker A:I don't like it so good because.
Speaker B:I, I have been for 3D movies.
Speaker B:So when I remember the first 3D movie in India when growing up with Chota Chetan, which was a kid's movie where this kid can walk up on the walls and ceilings and so it was really fun.
Speaker B:I remember this watching as a six year old.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Which was very exciting.
Speaker B:It's very.
Speaker B:The memory is just ingrained in my brain.
Speaker B:It'll Never Go.
Speaker B:First 3D movie in India kind of.
Speaker B:Then I went after many, many years when Avital released yeah.
Speaker B:In Dubai and my in laws were with us and me and my husband and I came out and me and my father in law were just holding our heads.
Speaker B:It gave me the worst migraine ever and I said I'm never a 3D movie ever again.
Speaker B:Like I can't, I can't do this.
Speaker B:I want to be quiet and peaceful, not have things coming at me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's either IMAX or the normal screen.
Speaker A:Yeah, the 3D.
Speaker A:Same for me.
Speaker A:I think it was literally the first Avatar movie.
Speaker A:That was the last time I watched something in 3D because like it, it felt very dim.
Speaker A:Like sure, you could see it a little bit more like visually like striking.
Speaker A:But it was still like it felt too dim.
Speaker A:I kept removing it to see.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, the screen.
Speaker A:And I was like, okay, I'm not doing this again.
Speaker B:I'm not doing this again.
Speaker A:Sometimes tradition, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's nice.
Speaker A:Traditional screen or imax if you can find them.
Speaker A:Those are pretty good.
Speaker A:So, yeah, that was my.
Speaker A:That was my movie theater experience.
Speaker A:But overall, the movie did make up for it.
Speaker A:And that, you know, I still, like, left the movie thinking, okay, that was a good movie.
Speaker A:Even though the experience of sitting and watching this was always the best.
Speaker A:Okay, let's dive into the movie.
Speaker B:Yeah, but do you want to talk about the science aspect of it or do you first want to go like a deep dive of the characters?
Speaker B:We can talk about the science aspect.
Speaker A:Let's do the science.
Speaker A:Let's do the science first.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Did you get all.
Speaker B:So let's start off.
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:Did you think the science was well explained, or did you feel lost while grasping certain scenes or why this is happening?
Speaker B:Did you think that they could have done with a few more explanations?
Speaker A:No, I thought it was done just right.
Speaker A:Yeah, I didn't feel lost.
Speaker A:And again, this comes from someone who.
Speaker A:I really struggle if a movie gets too technical and if there's too many, too much of like a monologue where the one character is like explaining something for like five minutes, I kind of lose it.
Speaker A:Kind of lose track or lose a thread a little bit because I'm very much a visual person.
Speaker A:And if you're showing a movie, hey, you got the best opportunity to do something creative and break down this high concept scientific stuff into something that's visually striking, visually appealing, rather than some someone explaining it.
Speaker A:Just like talking, talking, talking.
Speaker A:And I think the science of this movie itself, you know, it's a bit complex.
Speaker A:I mean, even with the Martian, it was not very straightforward.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:But one thing that they have done well, and they did it in Martian too, is that when you're watching the movie, especially as someone who's not read the book, so you're coming in completely, like, cold.
Speaker B:Correct.
Speaker A:You have no idea what the story is and how the science really works.
Speaker A:I thought they did a great job, especially in that first 30 to 45 minutes.
Speaker A:Especially the flashback where I liked it, actually.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:The way they did it, they bring him on board like this agency, and then they're trying to figure out.
Speaker A:They're trying to understand this whole astrophyse thing, how it works, what it is, what can we do.
Speaker A:They made it entertaining, but at the same time they broke it down to Us as a viewer.
Speaker A:Like, okay, this.
Speaker A:You got to believe this.
Speaker A:This is what we're telling you.
Speaker A:You gotta believe this.
Speaker A:This is the science we're going with in this story.
Speaker B:Just go with the flow.
Speaker A:And so for me, I really appreciated that because, like, you like Interstellar.
Speaker A:Like, it's a movie that I really enjoyed, but I had to watch it two or three times to kind of get the sense of it.
Speaker B:Same.
Speaker A:Same.
Speaker B:My super intelligent friend who I. I think I.
Speaker B:He's one person I know if I, in my lifetime, I find somebody I know will get a Nobel Prize.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He is.
Speaker B:He's got the brains for it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And the research and the stuff and his pedigree.
Speaker B:Everything.
Speaker A:Like literally Christopher Nolan wrote like a mathematical formula.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:White board to explain it.
Speaker A:Okay, so it's just not a simple movie.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And Project Hail Mary, honestly could have gone down that same route, but they did a much better job of.
Speaker B:Much better job.
Speaker B:Much better job.
Speaker B:And that's what I said.
Speaker B:He had to break it down for me, literally.
Speaker B:Like, he had to explain me basic physics.
Speaker B:He's like, meenu, we studied all this.
Speaker B:And I'm like, no, stop.
Speaker B:I did this like 20 years ago.
Speaker B:I don't remember.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:Physics wasn't my strong point.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that's why I felt here.
Speaker B:And actually this is the thing in the book, and that's why I said now I enjoyed the book a bit more, is the book spends considerable amount of time as to how they build that whole 2 million grams of astrophote from four cells.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:The few samples they have, that 100 cell samples that they get and how they go about building, how Strat goes about finding people across the world to get it.
Speaker B:There are chapters dedicated to them.
Speaker B:We get more insight into the three science.
Speaker B:The crew members, Tao and the Russian one who.
Speaker B:They both die during the coma.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:They don't wake up at all.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Or the science.
Speaker B:Who's the first choice?
Speaker B:Dubois?
Speaker B:I think the scientist who's going to be on the crew and who dies in the accident.
Speaker B:So you get a lot more background into all of that, which is great.
Speaker B:Also.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:How did Rocky's crew die?
Speaker B:You know, how did the Eridans get so faster to Tau Ceti versus Earthlings?
Speaker B:How did.
Speaker B:Versus humans, not Earthlings.
Speaker B:And how is it that they are able to communicate so fast?
Speaker B:You know how it happens.
Speaker B:Very fast.
Speaker B:But actually the book takes its own time to explain.
Speaker B:And how Rocky.
Speaker B:They show that Earth science is much more advanced than Eridans but they are better engineers, they're better mechanics, they've got better kind of metals, etc.
Speaker B:And how they have used it.
Speaker B:And without having any idea of in that they've explained this, that they don't have the idea of relativity and speed and time, but yet they've built a spaceship which gets there faster than Earth scan.
Speaker B:So it's very interesting to understand the science behind it.
Speaker B:But I don't think that it's okay if they've skipped it in the movie because then you would have had to have a five hour movie or this would have to be a web series if you want to explain.
Speaker B:You can't drop concepts on people and expect them to understand everything.
Speaker B:That's not going to happen so well.
Speaker A:That's why I feel that in general, when you adapt books to the big screen, I feel like it almost always works better as a TV show or like a miniseries.
Speaker A:Because with movies the inherent challenge is you got to compress it within two to three hours.
Speaker A:And if you've, if you're a fan of the book, you're bound to be disappointed because something is going to be left, something is going to cut out.
Speaker A:This happened to me with Harry Potter.
Speaker B:Oh, me too, me too.
Speaker B:I don't like the last three movies much.
Speaker A:I read all the books first before I watched any of the movies.
Speaker A:And when I watched the movies I was like that kind of person who was like, wait, where is this part?
Speaker A:Wait, what happened to this?
Speaker A:Why did they cut this character out, this plotline?
Speaker A:But that's the challenge with adapting books.
Speaker A:Because with books you have more space and more like time to kind of build it out and then movie.
Speaker A:You, you can't afford to lose the audience.
Speaker A:You need to hold their attention and you need to really cut down on things that will just come across as indulgent or too much like extra movie.
Speaker A:So as someone who didn't read the book and watched it, watched the movie, I felt like I was entertained.
Speaker A:I, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker A:But I will say one thing though, that having enjoyed the movie like, and maybe this will come under like a hot take section, but I would have preferred if they had actually made this like a miniseries.
Speaker A:I would have loved to see more of the relationship between Grace and Rocky because those were some of the best parts of the movie.
Speaker A:And so I would have loved to see more banter and how they kind of overcame like minor challenges and obstacles like more than what they showed in the movie.
Speaker B:Yeah, same thing with the other.
Speaker B:You should read the book.
Speaker B:The banter is so much more better in the book.
Speaker B:The film.
Speaker B:What the film does is gets the emotional aspects.
Speaker B:There are two, three dialogues, which are my favorite dialogues of Rocky, which are not in the book, which are only in the film.
Speaker B:So I think they did the emotional aspect really well in the film.
Speaker B:The banter and the way they work together to find the solution is far more detailed and far more better in the book.
Speaker B:That's how it is.
Speaker B:But for me, I like both.
Speaker B:Like, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker B:I'm glad I didn't read the book.
Speaker B:I would have been one of those book snobs who would have said, ah, the movie didn't do this, the movie didn't do that.
Speaker B:This was much better.
Speaker B:I would have done that.
Speaker B:I know it.
Speaker B:And that is why I'm glad I didn't read the book first.
Speaker B:I just absolutely.
Speaker B:It was a very immersive experience for me to enjoy the book after the movie visualization because I'm not great at creativity and visualizing Benny.
Speaker B:So, you know, this is.
Speaker B:This is helpful for me.
Speaker B:And the entire soundtrack and the background score was, I felt, was the third character in the film.
Speaker B:So that made me like, it was a completely immersive experience.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:And I would advise people, if you've not read the book, watch the movie and then read the book.
Speaker B:I rarely give this advice, but for this one I would.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, I definitely.
Speaker A:I enjoy the science part of this movie, which I honestly, I can't think of another movie where I would have said the same thing.
Speaker A:I almost feel like in most of the movies, you know, the science part of it is like, okay, it has to be there because this is a space movie.
Speaker A:There's science involved.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But in this, it just felt the right amount.
Speaker A:It was the right balance and they didn't overdo it and they didn't get too technical and they kind of knew when to pull back.
Speaker A:And I thought they found the perfect actor.
Speaker A:And we'll talk more about him later.
Speaker A:But Ryan Gosling, like, he just has the charm.
Speaker A:And we've talked about this before.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He's just the perfect person you wanted because it could get a little too tedious with the wrong person in.
Speaker A:But he was able to kind of balance that with humor.
Speaker A:Hard, but also like the science part of it.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I didn't see any issues with how they broke down the science.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So for me, another, you know, despite my struggles with physics, the one thing, one series I Highly recommend to people is Dark, which is German series.
Speaker B:I absolutely loved it.
Speaker B:I didn't feel like an illiterate.
Speaker B:Not that, like I said, I'm not an expert, but I absolutely understood the concepts.
Speaker B:I got the time travel.
Speaker B:I got the concept of, you know, the time why the time travel happened, parallel concept of time and multiverse, etc.
Speaker B:I got it.
Speaker B:I loved it.
Speaker B:And so again, my friend told me it is as close to the wormhole theories that scientists have come up over the black hole theories or brief history in time.
Speaker B:That book, it is all very close conceptually.
Speaker B:It's probably the best series ever made, which is as close to science that you can get.
Speaker B:So it's not that I don't understand, but if you make it in such a way that a layperson like me can understand, then I'm like, you've achieved it.
Speaker B:And that's what Hail married it for me.
Speaker B:I agree so that it was fantastic on that aspect.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think it was just right.
Speaker B:I don't think it was dumbed down.
Speaker B:I think even from kids perspective who are still learning the concepts, it has got them interested in space and my nieces got interested in astrobiology and things like that.
Speaker B:So it's really nice if it's got the curiosity going for all the kids, which is what you want, Right.
Speaker B:So I think it's achieved its objective.
Speaker B:No complaints.
Speaker B:Honestly, all the complaints I have is probably me being greedy rather than the movie not having done it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, it was a long movie.
Speaker A:It was two and a half hours, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:And it still felt like, oh, they could have done this more or you know, it's going to be fleshed out more.
Speaker A:Which is why I say a miniseries would probably have been the best medium.
Speaker A:But then you kind of lose that on the theatrical.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:The visuals, you will not get that impact on a series.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Web series.
Speaker B:So I think it's fine.
Speaker B:It's great as a movie.
Speaker B:Maybe they'll do spin offs, who knows?
Speaker B:So we'll see.
Speaker B:Maybe, yeah.
Speaker B:But now let's get down to the main characters.
Speaker B:Yeah, the movie is dominated by two central characters and one supporting.
Speaker B:But who is the most domineering character in the entire movie?
Speaker B:So there's Dr. Grace, played by Gosling, Orion Gosling, our favorite, who's a school teacher but obviously has a scientist background.
Speaker B:And there's Rocky the alien.
Speaker B:And there is Eva Strut, who is the chief in command for this entire project.
Speaker B:Hail Mary across the world.
Speaker B:And yeah, to me, the most amusing and Surprising part of this whole movie, which is a little bit unrealistic, is that actually all the countries came together.
Speaker A:And the most unrealistic part of this film was not the alien.
Speaker B:Not the alien.
Speaker B:This thing.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:I'm like, well done.
Speaker B:All of you are actually listening.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's the only thing that freaked me out.
Speaker B:Is this happening.
Speaker B:Anyway, so, yeah, I think.
Speaker B:I mean, those.
Speaker B:Those were the three central characters, so you can start with your favorite.
Speaker A:You know, let me very quickly say.
Speaker A:And maybe I'll circle back to it, but Strat was actually, in a way, one of the most interesting characters.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:In this movie.
Speaker A:Even though obviously Rocky and Grace are the leads, so to speak, and they had way more screen time, way more kind of interesting and kind of entertaining dynamic between the two of them.
Speaker A:Great themes which we'll talk about.
Speaker A:But Strat, you know, the responsibility she carried, the choices that she makes.
Speaker A:And I'm really curious, like, how it was kind of explored in the book, but even in the little bit that she was shown in the movie.
Speaker A:And an amazing performance by Sandra Hooler.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Who portrays Stratt.
Speaker A:Like, just the heaviness of that burden.
Speaker A:I'll circle back to it because I definitely think she was one of the most interesting characters and character decisions that.
Speaker B:Was made, and she stays true to the book depiction.
Speaker B:Also, obviously, a lot of scenes are cut because couple of scientists characters are cut in the.
Speaker B:In the film.
Speaker B:You could not have had all of them.
Speaker B:But her nature, her.
Speaker B:How do you say, her clear focus, no moral dilemmas.
Speaker B:She's very clear that she wants to save humanity, and she'll go to any extent, and she's been tasked with it, and she's going to do whatever it takes to pull that off.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I. I understand where people.
Speaker B:When it unnerved me a bit, basically, she tells Grace, you don't have a family, you don't have a partner.
Speaker B:You know, you can just go.
Speaker B:Basically, it's like your life.
Speaker A:There comes that German bluntness.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Your life is dispensable.
Speaker B:Just go home.
Speaker B:Like, no, you don't do that.
Speaker B:But then I think she needed to be like that because she needed the best people to make that mission a success.
Speaker B:So I get it.
Speaker B:When you read the book a bit more, you understand where she comes from.
Speaker B:But I think the movie also, it was pretty well done.
Speaker B:She was friend.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So Ryan Gosling, I mean, what is there.
Speaker A:What else is there to say about him?
Speaker A:He is one of the most effortlessly charming actors out there.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And one thing that I really really enjoy about Gosling's filmography is that, you know, sure, there are films where he's, like the typical leading man and he's, like, effortlessly charming.
Speaker A:You know, like, he gets ladies, he beats up the bad guys.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:But his best movies are ones where he allows himself to be made fun of, where he's not always, like, in control of a situation.
Speaker A:I just watched this movie, rewatched this movie recently, the Nice Guys.
Speaker A:Have you seen that movie?
Speaker B:No, I want to see it.
Speaker B:So the two movies of his I've not seen, which I really desperately need to, to rectify Crazy Stupid Love and.
Speaker A:The Nice Guys, both I would highly recommend, but especially the Nice Guys.
Speaker A:He stars with Russell Crowe in it.
Speaker A:It's actually 10 years old now, the film, but I rewatched it and I was like, this movie is just so good.
Speaker A:And Ryan Gosling is, like, at the peak of his powers and, like, humor, like the physical humor, the dialogue delivery, the charm, all of that.
Speaker A:So when I heard that later, I read that he was very interested in portraying this role.
Speaker A:I was actually very impressed because it.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It's not an easy role to play because you essentially have to carry the movie on your shoulders and then you're.
Speaker A:For most of the time you're talking to an alien.
Speaker A:And in the acting process, that.
Speaker A:It's not always easy.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:And so when you're watching the movie, you never see any challenges at all.
Speaker A:He makes it look so easy.
Speaker A:He makes it look so funny.
Speaker A:And so I'm really glad that he wanted to act in this and he was chosen for it.
Speaker A:And because I.
Speaker A:Now that I think of it, I don't know who else could have done this role.
Speaker B:Yeah, I can't think of.
Speaker B:I really can't.
Speaker B:And I. I don't know whose it was.
Speaker B:I think he was the puppeteer.
Speaker B:Is it James who is the puppeteer of the main.
Speaker A:James Ortiz.
Speaker B:And because he was also rehearsing the dialogues with him, he's like, let's just keep your voice.
Speaker B:So a lot of these suggest that come from Ryan.
Speaker B:He asked Sandra Hula to sing the song.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:She's like.
Speaker B:Because he heard her, and he's like, you have to sing.
Speaker B:You have to sing.
Speaker B:And I think it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.
Speaker B:But he has done this and he does ad libs and, you know, he does improvisations, and you can see it.
Speaker B:And some of.
Speaker B:I was reading the Benny and I found this utterly endearing.
Speaker B:He was making his little girls, and you're a father of girls.
Speaker B:So you'll identify this even more.
Speaker B:He was rehearsing on.
Speaker B:On the scenes.
Speaker B:Sometimes his girls would pop by to say meet him, and he would be rehearsing the dialogues with the daughters.
Speaker B:And some of the reactions that they've taken are just natural reactions which have come out because he was rehearsing the dialogues with Rocky, with the girls.
Speaker B:And I'm like, how sweet is that?
Speaker B:So, you know, it's very wholesome.
Speaker B:When you hear about the BTS and you hear about how they came about, this whole creativity process, I find it very wholesome.
Speaker B:And a lot of.
Speaker B:With a lot of heart, like, a lot of heart went into this movie.
Speaker B:And it shows.
Speaker B:It just shows on that.
Speaker A:And that's why I say he is probably the best choice for this role, because there are three main things that Grace, the character, had to accomplish in this movie, right?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Or even the actor, let's say Gosling, had to convey it through this performance.
Speaker A:One is like, he's essentially like a nerd, right?
Speaker A:Like, he is so much into the science of it, and he's so passionate about it, so he has to convey that.
Speaker A:And then the second is, you know, his kind of personality when, especially when he's working with all these other scientists and all these government agents and all that stuff, he is kind of overwhelmed by it all because, you know, all these people were superior to him in many ways, but he still has to kind of hold himself among.
Speaker A:Among this whole group.
Speaker A:And then the third is, like, the space part of it where he has to show his wonder at the things that he's seeing.
Speaker A:And then his interactions with Rocky, which is really the crux of the film.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All of that has to be believable.
Speaker A:All of that has to be balanced well, because if you don't do it right, it sticks out.
Speaker A:You're going to be, you know, people will be like, okay, he didn't fit.
Speaker A:Especially for book readers.
Speaker A:You're going to be like, yeah, that didn't come across.
Speaker A:Those were not the same people.
Speaker A:Those are not the same characters.
Speaker A:So you really needed to hit ev.
Speaker A:You need to check everything off the list.
Speaker A:And he was a perfect person for it, and he did his job brilliantly.
Speaker A:So the actor, Ryan Gosling, brilliant.
Speaker A:Now, the character Grace, again, interesting character in that.
Speaker A:Realistically, what are the chances that you're going to pull out a teacher, a science teacher, and then task him with finding, you know, what's going on?
Speaker A:And then when the main scientists die, you're like, literally nobody else.
Speaker A:There's no Time.
Speaker A:So we're gonna send you.
Speaker A:And then he encounters an alien, has to figure out a way to communicate with this person and then save the universe, save Rocky.
Speaker A:And so if you delve deep into the character, you do have to suspend a lot of disbelief, but it doesn't hurt.
Speaker A:It doesn't hurt the movie at all.
Speaker A:It doesn't hurt the experience.
Speaker A:So I really enjoy the character.
Speaker A:It's a very unique character compared to, especially the other Andy Ware character from the Martian.
Speaker A:You know, he was like this very accomplished.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Smart person who had to figure out survival and then getting back to Earth.
Speaker A:Whereas in this, there was a lot more for the central character to do.
Speaker A:And it's a very tricky character that can really come across as like, okay, this is just.
Speaker A:I know it's a space movie and, like an alien in there, but it's still too unbelievable.
Speaker A:And the filmmakers, again, I don't know much about the book, but the filmmakers were able to bring out that character very well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So again, this bit, right?
Speaker B:I think this complaint will go away if you read the book, because he's actually written a paper on.
Speaker B:They've said this in the movie, comes with this book, Right.
Speaker B:You know, he was a PhD.
Speaker B:He's got a PhD.
Speaker B:He's not some stupid, dumb.
Speaker B:He's not just a graduate or something.
Speaker B:And he's written a paper which cheesed off a lot of the big scientists or researchers in the world, which is why he comes at the rough end and he says, I don't want this politics.
Speaker B:I just want to go teach kids.
Speaker B:He finds his calling in life and that's what he wants to do, and that's fine.
Speaker B:So while, like you said during the movie, I was like, yeah, okay.
Speaker B:And then I kept asking Amit, I'm like, how will he know?
Speaker B:He's a scientist.
Speaker B:How will he know the maintenance part of it?
Speaker B:How will he know the engineering of it and things?
Speaker B:So then Amit was like, they are trained.
Speaker B:All of them go through this crash courses.
Speaker B:Or they are trained in.
Speaker B:Suppose two people die on the ship and you have to maneuver the ship back to Earth.
Speaker B:They all have given manuals.
Speaker B:They are trained and all.
Speaker B:And when you read the book, he is actually the only person in the team, in the entire team who's there, who knows exactly what the pilot is going to do, what the scientist is going to do, and what the maintenance engineer is going to do, because he is teaching.
Speaker B:He is with them in those sessions because he's doing the core development of the how to breed Astrophage.
Speaker B:And then the others are using that to make the fuel for it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That's the technology.
Speaker B:But here, his is the basic research, which is the most critical part of the whole exercise.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Otherwise, without Astrofish, they wouldn't have gone 11, whatever, 13 light years, have interstellar travel.
Speaker B:So it's fine.
Speaker B:I think they couldn't have, because if they had spent time on his character on Earth, they would not have enough time to spend on the crux part of it, which is the friendship and trusting a stranger and another being and coming together to solve a problem that is going to save both the planets.
Speaker B:So I think it was fine.
Speaker B:I think it was a creative liberty choice that they had to take, and I think it's okay.
Speaker B:Like I said, I can forgive all these things because Gosling was so endearing and convincing.
Speaker B:He was like, he was just figuring it out, and you just knew he would figure it out.
Speaker B:Especially when you wear tilted glasses, which was stressing me out because glasses are really expensive.
Speaker A:I have to talk about this.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I was so distracted by this thing.
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker A:You know, you would be.
Speaker A:The first time I noticed it when I was watching a movie, he was talking.
Speaker A:It was like, something serious.
Speaker A:And I was like, what is going on?
Speaker A:And I was like, what?
Speaker A:I didn't even know it's possible for glasses to hang like that.
Speaker A:I've been wanting to try it, but I'm so scared that my glasses are gonna fall and break.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I'm not gonna risk it.
Speaker A:But I was like, that is quite an interesting choice.
Speaker A:And also, you'd know that this person doesn't wear glasses all the time because of the very casual attitude to kind of hanging it.
Speaker A:But they cost a lot.
Speaker B:They cost a lot.
Speaker B:You can't just leave them hanging.
Speaker A:That and his sweaters, I thought they did a great job, like, wardrobe and everything.
Speaker A:That was also, like, some good.
Speaker B:His glasses.
Speaker B:Apparently, they were just hanging like that.
Speaker B:And then his eldest daughter saw it, and she's like, dad, it looks really smart on you.
Speaker B:So he decided to keep it.
Speaker B:He's like, my daughter told me I look smart.
Speaker A:Great notes.
Speaker A:Great notes.
Speaker A:Probably one of the most important notes given by child for movie, I should say.
Speaker A:It is pretty impressive that Ryan Gosling, as you said, one of the most charming actors, is almost outshone by a puppet.
Speaker B:I'm glad you said this, because I was going to tell you.
Speaker B:There's Eva Stratt, who is fantastic.
Speaker B:Character's great.
Speaker B:There's Grace, who's, like, obviously played by Ryan Gosling.
Speaker B:And Sandra Hula is also a fantastic actress.
Speaker B:I haven't seen Anatomy of a Fall.
Speaker B:It's on my watch list.
Speaker A:Again, highly, highly recommended.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But my heart and soul are with Rocky Berry.
Speaker B:I cannot get to a Rocky.
Speaker A:So we'll do a Benny's Corner later in this episode.
Speaker A:Let's do this.
Speaker A:Dive more into it.
Speaker A:But Rocky, I do have to say initially when I found out, like, okay, this is kind of like the plot, I was not very sure if this was gonna work.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because I was just not sure, like, okay, like, you know, I know Ryan Gosling's character was going to be kind of like this funny, sarcastic, whatever.
Speaker A:You know, that's his.
Speaker A:That's his comfort zone as an actor.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:With an alien.
Speaker A:But how do you make an alien go toe to toe with that kind of a character?
Speaker A:And then I watched the movie and I was like, I need more of this.
Speaker A:I need this to be longer.
Speaker A:Especially the scenes where they try to figure out where they first before they even.
Speaker A:They meet for the first time and they're trying to understand each other and they're trying to figure out a communication system.
Speaker A:They're figuring out the voices.
Speaker A:I was like, all of this is gold.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I didn't know I could enjoy this that much.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:Okay, now you have more reasons to read the book, Penny.
Speaker B:So you have to.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:I do have to say it.
Speaker A:It's almost in.
Speaker B:It's also because they portrayed it so well on screen that I could enjoy those banter more.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:It almost seems like an impossible challenge though.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, if you think about it, you're making.
Speaker A:So it's a puppet.
Speaker A:But then in this movie, it's like you're, you know, we have to buy into this fact that this alien has a sense of humor and is going to toe with Ryan Gosling's character.
Speaker A:And I like that.
Speaker A:And I'm guessing this is also like a book choice.
Speaker A:I'm glad that they didn't figure out a communication where Rocky is able to communicate in like very clear, smooth sentences.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, it's not.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's broken.
Speaker A:Probably my favorite dialogue from this movie is amaze, amaze, amaze, amaze.
Speaker A:I've been trying to use it in my day to day life with my kids.
Speaker A:It's not working out.
Speaker A:But you are using it.
Speaker B:Artemis 2 control room used it.
Speaker B:And I just, I think it was the most happiest thing that came on my Twitter and social media feed that day.
Speaker A:I was like, wow, they gave some really funny lines.
Speaker A:And they gave also some seriously heart touching, very emotional lines too.
Speaker A:And especially the scene where he saves Grace.
Speaker A:I was like, don't do this to me.
Speaker A:I will hate this movie.
Speaker A:I'm gonna walk out.
Speaker A:I cannot deal with this.
Speaker A:There's too much sadness in the world.
Speaker A:I cannot.
Speaker A:So I'm really glad that didn't happen.
Speaker A:But we were.
Speaker B:We were three of my friends and Amit.
Speaker B:So four of us had gone together.
Speaker B:And at that scene, all of us were like.
Speaker B:Everybody was like, what the hell if this doesn't work out.
Speaker B:And I thought, okay, now.
Speaker B:I watched it once, so you know, I'm going to be fine when I go for the next one.
Speaker B:Benny.
Speaker B:I cried more in my second watch when Rocky, for two or three, you know, those emotional scenes.
Speaker B:One is this one, which is spook.
Speaker B:And the other bit also when Grace tells him that I. I'm not going.
Speaker B:This is a suicide mission.
Speaker B:I'm not gonna go home.
Speaker B:I'm gonna die.
Speaker B:And he.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:And that dialogue, which I'm glad for the scriptwriter of the film, because that's not in the book.
Speaker B:In this exact same way.
Speaker B:It's not in the book where he says, rocky saw crew die.
Speaker B:Rocky could not fix Grace say, grace die.
Speaker B:Rocky fix.
Speaker B:And he says, how are you?
Speaker B:You're going to give me the fuel.
Speaker B:Then what happens to you?
Speaker B:He's like, I'll go six years slower.
Speaker B:All this.
Speaker B:These exact words are not in the book.
Speaker B:And I was like, these guys did a swell job.
Speaker B:And that scene stayed with me so much.
Speaker B:And then Ryan Gosling's reaction when he breaks down and then he says, he's like.
Speaker B:He's like, are you.
Speaker B:Are you cry.
Speaker B:Whatever he says, I think, are you crying or something.
Speaker B:He's like, I'll make my.
Speaker B:I've made my peace.
Speaker B:He's like, but you said you've made peace.
Speaker B:What does that mean?
Speaker B:And he's like, forget I ever said that.
Speaker B:So it's like, you know, you are emotional and then the humor comes in.
Speaker B:It's a great balance.
Speaker A:Now that was great scene.
Speaker A:Even the scene where Rocky, not Rocky, Grace is like recording the video.
Speaker A:And then Rocky's like, who are you talking to?
Speaker A:And he's like, great sense of hearing.
Speaker A:That was just great.
Speaker B:He can hear everything and whisper.
Speaker B:I can still hear you.
Speaker B:He goes, you know, because it's his.
Speaker A:Frequency also as a dad of, you know, a three, four year old.
Speaker A:I'm like, it feels a little too real because literally you'll be away In a room, you know, far away, talking to, like, your wife or something.
Speaker A:And then they'll come out.
Speaker A:What are you talking?
Speaker A:What are you saying?
Speaker A:What are you talking?
Speaker A:What is that?
Speaker A:Why is it.
Speaker A:I'm like, okay, can you just give us a moment?
Speaker B:So, yeah, so the.
Speaker B:The one thing was.
Speaker B:Is again, when they were meeting and, you know, Grace is like, I'm just going to trust this alien to help me.
Speaker B:Or, you know, because the first react, you know, when the ships.
Speaker B:That's a great scene.
Speaker B:When the ship moves the day rocket ship.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Is moving along with that.
Speaker B:First of all, the music is fantastic.
Speaker B:The background score.
Speaker B:And when it's moving, it's fun because I'm like, oh, my God, is he gonna get trapped?
Speaker B:Is he gonna get shot at?
Speaker B:Is this gonna be another one of those war kind of space war movies?
Speaker B:Kind of.
Speaker B:But no, the fact that, you know, the tunnel goes out first, you are not sure how to react.
Speaker B:Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.
Speaker B:Is Grace going to get attacked and stuff like that.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:Then it just kicks off.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The whole time, you know, there was a question you had written down in our notes.
Speaker A:When did you know you would love this movie?
Speaker A:That is the scene I was like, I love this movie where they're essentially like playing almost like hide and seek.
Speaker A:It felt like where Grace is trying to get away and this ship would just be.
Speaker A:It felt like a comedy sketch.
Speaker B:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker A:It was so funny.
Speaker A:It was so enjoyable.
Speaker A:And I was like, in that moment, because till then it was.
Speaker A:I was still trying to get a sense of this movie, what it is about how serious, how funny and all those things.
Speaker A:And, you know, obviously this is before Rocky's entrance.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But that was when I knew, okay, I'm gonna love this movie.
Speaker A:It's gonna be more fun going forward.
Speaker B:Same.
Speaker B:Another one is, you know, when they're playing tap, tap, tap, tap, and he's actually telling him to.
Speaker B:Pointing to that Xeno Xeno Knights container.
Speaker B:And then he's like, oh, okay.
Speaker B:You're like.
Speaker B:You're.
Speaker B:You're not excited.
Speaker B:You're dead.
Speaker B:You're agitated now.
Speaker B:I was like, I love this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think.
Speaker B:I think that's what.
Speaker B:And you know, them quickly realizing that they have a common goal.
Speaker B:They need to save the world.
Speaker B:They come together, they work together.
Speaker B:Which is.
Speaker B:Which was great.
Speaker B:Like I said in.
Speaker B:In the times we operate, it was just such a.
Speaker B:On so many levels, the movie showed the right things as humans we should be doing, which is what I love Most about this.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll get to the themes, but I just wanted to very quickly go back to Strat's character.
Speaker A:The reason why.
Speaker A:I said why I thought it's probably the most fascinating and kind of important character, most important character in this film was because she made a choice that is a hard choice when you think about it.
Speaker A:Of course, because people.
Speaker A:And I've seen the debate, too, there are people who are divided over her choice.
Speaker A:First of all, big responsibility, right?
Speaker A:You have to figure out, essentially, a way to save the human race.
Speaker A:And you are trying to figure out, okay, who can help.
Speaker A:Who can help figure this out, and then who can help us address this issue.
Speaker A:And so, you know, she is obviously a person who is very much in control of her emotions, who is.
Speaker A:Who understands the gravity of the situation.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But she has to kind of, like, be in control of everything, trying to figure out.
Speaker A:So, which is why the singing scene, that showed the human side of her, but it also showed the side of her which was like, I need.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She felt for Grace because Grace is lonely.
Speaker A:And she just wanted to show, like, hey, there's another part to me.
Speaker A:And you can be something more as well.
Speaker A:But I definitely.
Speaker A:The scene that I really, really struck me because it's one of those character decisions across movies and shows which something that even after I finished watching the movie, I was, like, thinking about it, I was like, man, how would someone react in that situation?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because.
Speaker A:So the scene is where the scientists are dead, the ones who are slated to go now.
Speaker A:They had to find someone in replacement.
Speaker A:And obviously, the movie's lead is, like.
Speaker A:It's being suggested as the option now.
Speaker A:What would most movies do, right?
Speaker A:This person would be like, all right, I guess it's my time to step up and, like, go save the world, right?
Speaker A:Like, think of movies like Armageddon and, you know, similar where, like, got to save the world, just a normal human being got to save the world.
Speaker A:But what does Grace do?
Speaker A:Grace is, like, very, very, very human.
Speaker A:He's like, no, I don't want to die, and I don't care.
Speaker A:Even if it's only a few years left on this world.
Speaker A:I just want to, like, live it peacefully.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, but for.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And then even in that situation, what most movies would try to, like, have an argument and, like, a debate and then convince the hero, like, this is what you need to do.
Speaker A:And then he's like, all right, fine, I'll do it.
Speaker A:But for someone like Strat, who's essentially like a Good guy in this story is like, well, actually, you don't have a choice.
Speaker A:Yeah, you just.
Speaker A:You're going, you're going, and that's the end of it.
Speaker A:And then he wakes up and he's trying to figure out what's happened.
Speaker A:So to me, that was like such an important decision because, yes, it's almost played for humor in a little way in that scene where they're trying to catch him.
Speaker A:And then all that stuff, when you think about it, like, you're essentially deciding, okay, this person live is expendable.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, this person is worth sacrificing because he doesn't have anyone else here, so why not?
Speaker A:So that it just makes for a fascinating debate.
Speaker A:Because on one hand, it seems very logical, very clinical.
Speaker A:You're thinking about the big picture, not just about one person, but then the other side, you can be like, well, that person's life is also of value, regardless if he has people or not.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's his life.
Speaker A:And you got to respect his autonomy.
Speaker A:You got to respect his decision if he says he doesn't want to go.
Speaker A:So where did you kind of land?
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:You did mention very earlier about, like that was the right decision, but did you have anything else to kind of share?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Seem like you.
Speaker B:I'm like, you can't.
Speaker B:You can't be so dismissive of somebody.
Speaker B:It's a human life you're talking about.
Speaker B:But, you know, it's the train.
Speaker B:Which track do you send the.
Speaker B:You know, the train dilemma.
Speaker B:Three people and one person.
Speaker B:The trolley dilemma.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's the same thing.
Speaker B:And she just chose that to save a billion people, I'm going to sacrifice one life.
Speaker B:That's what she did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So like I said, she.
Speaker B:Her bigger task was to make sure Earth doesn't end into an ice age in 30 years.
Speaker B:This is her only chance.
Speaker B:She cannot afford.
Speaker A:You said that was in the book as well.
Speaker B:Yeah, same, same.
Speaker B:It is the same thing.
Speaker B:He doesn't want to go.
Speaker B:And same thing that both the scientists die in that explosion.
Speaker B:It's very true to the book.
Speaker B:It's just the way he is convinced and all.
Speaker B:He's actually put in a cell.
Speaker B:In the book.
Speaker B:She's like, you're going to be.
Speaker B:They put him in a cell, solitary confinement, and they give him a drug so that he doesn't realize when he gets on the jet.
Speaker B:And then they.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:They basically gonna say, because he's scared of the jet law, he could have.
Speaker B:He could puke or something like that.
Speaker B:They were gonna tell the other to crew members to then induce him into coma.
Speaker B:Also they've shown this that there is a research on which people can be.
Speaker B:There's an experiment going on as to.
Speaker B:For cancer research.
Speaker B:They'll induce you into coma for 18 months so that you don't have the effects or go through the pain of your radiotherapy and you know what, what other things they do for chemo and radio, you don't bear the side effects.
Speaker B:You're in coma when the treatment and when you come, when you wake up, you're cured of cancer and you've not experienced the pain.
Speaker B:So that's the experiment that is happening.
Speaker B:What they realize is for that people to wake up to have a coma resistant gene, it's one out of 7,000 people.
Speaker B:So everybody on the team on that carrier is tested and he is, he tests positive.
Speaker B:So he has that gene.
Speaker B:So he will definitely survive the coma induced coma.
Speaker B:So she's like very clear, like he's got the knowledge.
Speaker B:I'm not going to find somebody who can pick up all this knowledge in three days.
Speaker B:He has a coma resistant gene in him.
Speaker B:He's going, so that's how practical she.
Speaker B:And she says to him, and she says that also like, I'll probably be jailed after Hail Mary takes off.
Speaker B:All the countries are going to come at me, all the governments and I'll probably be the scapegoat.
Speaker B:But that's the sacrifice you have to make to make sure your species doesn't go extinct.
Speaker A:So I'm very glad they left that in the movie.
Speaker A:It could have, it would have been very easy.
Speaker A:Let's not make Sandra Hooler's character come across like that.
Speaker A:Let's make her like convince him that he needs to do this for the good of the human race.
Speaker A:I'm glad they did not go down that easy road.
Speaker A:But also just for what you said, I think that is exactly why she is probably the most important person.
Speaker A:Because in a way she's the hero of the story.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:She didn't make those hard choices.
Speaker A:Guess what?
Speaker A:We're all dead.
Speaker B:We all did.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:No Rocky, no Rocky.
Speaker B:We would have no Rocky, no fun, you know.
Speaker A:So yeah, she.
Speaker A:Great character and a good way to explore this debate, this morality and that theme of it, all of sacrifice and burdens that you have to carry.
Speaker A:So yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And apparently I didn't realize this, but they said that it does seem that she was jailed because she's got some mark in the last scene when she's on the ship and she's got that mark, which is like, she's either escaped the prison or she has been to prison or something.
Speaker B:That's what people were deciphering on Reddit.
Speaker B:So I don't know, but I. I go for all these trivia bits on Reddit.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:People notice all sorts of things.
Speaker B:So I was just in a rabbit hole.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, yeah.
Speaker A:What, what is your take on the whole communication?
Speaker A:Figuring out how to communicate, I guess, with each other.
Speaker B:I wouldn't have been so intelligent to figure out, like, you can code a language using a software.
Speaker B:I thought it was brilliant the way they go about it, because it takes.
Speaker B:And also it's not like, oh, it's not a light bulb moment or something.
Speaker B:Grace struggles because, first of all, Grace can't understand that Rocky can't see.
Speaker B:And so he's trying to understand how is Rocky visualizing?
Speaker B:Like, how if he can't see, how does he understand what I'm doing?
Speaker B:Like, he does follow my actions, so he realizes the sound waves.
Speaker B:So then he tries to get the visuals and the sounds in, which I thought was very, very impressive, the way they showed it.
Speaker B:So it's not like, oh, he's a super intelligent person.
Speaker B:So he figured it out, you know, at the stap of his fingers.
Speaker B:It's not like that.
Speaker B:He took.
Speaker B:He took a lot of time to get that language in.
Speaker B:But I really love the whole process.
Speaker B:And I love that he says Meryl can do anything where they use Meryl Streep's voice.
Speaker B:And it is her voice, the actual voice.
Speaker B:She read the line.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I like the fact that they made that entertaining to watch, like, trying to figure out communication and didn't get too much into the weeds of, like, yeah, you know, okay, this is how we're gonna figure out how to communicate.
Speaker A:And so I really enjoyed that.
Speaker A:And I really liked.
Speaker A:Also they were giving these unique traits to Rocky.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:Like just saying goodbye, for instance.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, that was probably one of my favorite scenes, you know, especially at the end of the movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know how they close the movie.
Speaker A:Like, first they show, like, Strat, like, years later on the ship.
Speaker A:And she does that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like after watching the videos.
Speaker A:And then the closing shot of the movie, too, is where Ryan Gosling, he's just so happy to be on that planet and just like, being hopeful of return jurors and all that stuff.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So just giving these unique traits to Rocky.
Speaker A:And I like that his communication was very stripped down, like I said earlier, not like big, winding, monologuing sentences, just like how kids, when they're learning to talk, how they communicate, and it just worked perfectly for him.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Is that easy question.
Speaker B:You know how he goes, like questions?
Speaker B:That's a statement.
Speaker B:Also, when.
Speaker B:When Grace.
Speaker B:When they're saying the goodbye, Grace says what?
Speaker B:He says, what does that mean?
Speaker B:So he says, see you later.
Speaker B:He says, but we won't.
Speaker B:Like, it's so matter of fact, you know, and.
Speaker B:But he says, you're.
Speaker B:You're your Grace's friend, and you will.
Speaker B:We will remember.
Speaker B:I will remember things.
Speaker B:Things like that.
Speaker B:One of my favorite, favorite dialogues was they are sitting and having a friendly chat, you know, by the beach.
Speaker B:Like, they've got simulations of the beach and the jungle and everything there.
Speaker B:And he says, you have a mate.
Speaker B:Like, you know, you have a mate.
Speaker B:He's like, yeah, it's.
Speaker B:So let's name him Adrian.
Speaker B:He's like, how long have you been.
Speaker B:And he says, 186.
Speaker B:6.3 Years.
Speaker B:And Ryan Gosling character was like, that means the honeymoon phase.
Speaker B:He's like, I don't understand.
Speaker B:He's like, no, it's a joke.
Speaker B:And they've not discussed joke and sarcasm, so he doesn't get it.
Speaker B:And then he says that.
Speaker B:He says, that's a long time.
Speaker B:You know, it's a really long time.
Speaker B:And he says, not enough.
Speaker B:It is not.
Speaker B:He says, not enough.
Speaker B:And I was like, oh, my God.
Speaker B:Like, they're also showing emotions to an alien, like, come on.
Speaker B:Giving us life lessons.
Speaker A:But that all.
Speaker A:You know, just thinking about that, like, those interactions, and you can see that bonding that's happening as they're learning about each other, figuring out how to communicate, exchanging jokes and banter and all that stuff.
Speaker A:And, you know, going back to what I was just saying about Strat and, like, the way she essentially made the decision for Grace and said, no, you're going.
Speaker A:And this, you know, at that point in life, Grace was like, I don't care enough about this world that I'm going to sacrifice.
Speaker A:So fast forward, he is sacrificing himself for the sake of saving Rocky and his planet.
Speaker A:And I'm like, that's an arc.
Speaker A:You know, you're not saving.
Speaker A:Not just saving your people, you're saving your friend who's of another, you know, species.
Speaker A:Just his planet, his people.
Speaker A:Like, that's a tremendous arc for a person who literally had to be drugged.
Speaker B:And put it on the ship against his wishes.
Speaker B:But, you know, it's a callback.
Speaker B:I. I just can't remember because I have just such a bad memory.
Speaker B:Was it the Was it the pilot, Tao, or was it Carl, the security guard?
Speaker B:When Grace says, I'm just not brave enough, you know, to do what you guys are doing or whatever.
Speaker B:And I think it's Tao who says that you just have to find someone to be brave for.
Speaker A:And yes, that is Tao.
Speaker B:He finds Rocky.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's Tao.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And he says.
Speaker B:And that the story.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:He finds Rocky to be brave for.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it's fantastic.
Speaker A:Like, it's amazing how they've packed in all these things that we talked about, you know, friendship and trust.
Speaker A:That it's one thing between two humans, but, yeah, between a human and an alien.
Speaker A:And I'm sure there's been so many movies where they've explored it, but I just can't think off the top of my head like something that was so profound and, yeah, you know, so effective.
Speaker B:The only thing, like I said came to my mind was ET but it was kids.
Speaker B:And kids are very different from grown up people.
Speaker B:So kids don't have biases and prejudices.
Speaker B:Kids, the first thing a child does is trust.
Speaker B:So it is very, very different to show a grown up adult human with the kind of complex and insecurities and trust issues that Grace has to get a friend like, and trust somebody like Rocky.
Speaker B:So I thought it was very, very well done.
Speaker A:Let's talk about some of our favorite scenes and dialogues.
Speaker A:We've already kind of mentioned most of it.
Speaker B:Most of it, yeah.
Speaker A:Like I said, the scene where I knew that I was going to really enjoy this movie was the first encounter with that spaceship.
Speaker A:But my favorite scene, when I think about Project Hail Mary, even now, after, you know, weeks after I watched it, the indelible image is him soaking in that Petrova line, like just that first image.
Speaker A:And, you know, when he says, like, I'm having a moment, he's like, I'm having a moment, too.
Speaker A:Because he is, you know, in the story, he's marveling at this thing of nature.
Speaker A:I'm marveling at the filmmaking process where they make this happen.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I'm watching it and it's like, like you said earlier, like, it's something that we're not realistically not going to be able to do in real life, but just to be able to see it.
Speaker A:And I was like, this is what movies are for, you know, this is how we're supposed to.
Speaker A:This is what it's supposed to make you feel.
Speaker A:And so that was definitely my favorite scene.
Speaker A:Rocky and Grace meeting again.
Speaker A:That could have been messed up, but I Thought it was done well.
Speaker A:Just that initial interaction, trying to figure out is this person safe to interact with or not.
Speaker B:And we talk about Grace because we know how humans are and how they react.
Speaker B:But also for Rocky.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Imagine having seen his entire 23 crew members die and to be dead longer than Grace was.
Speaker B:So whether he.
Speaker B:How he would react as well.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's important from his perspective.
Speaker B:So both of them were caught in a strange situation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I really liked, you know, the end of this movie too.
Speaker A:And I have to first of all.
Speaker B:Say we have to talk about the ending separately.
Speaker B:We should talk about the ending separately.
Speaker A:Okay, let's get to that.
Speaker A:I'll just say that.
Speaker A:I'll just say there were at least three different times in the movie.
Speaker A:I was thinking, oh, this is the end.
Speaker A:And then movie would go on.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, there's more.
Speaker A:First Red, Rocky is like rescuing Grace.
Speaker A:And I'm like, okay, that was hard to back level.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's gonna end with like essentially Grace mourning for his friend, but I saved the Earth.
Speaker A:And then, you know, like.
Speaker A:And then again when they say goodbye and he's like heading back to the planet.
Speaker A:Okay, yeah, I mean, that's done.
Speaker A:Yeah, we keep going.
Speaker A:So I'm glad they did because the ending as it is right now, just brilliant.
Speaker B:I. I thought it was perfect.
Speaker B:But before we go, because we should talk about the ending scene.
Speaker B:Because people have been debating about the ending scene.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:To me it was perfect.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But two things where I loved Rocky's humor is.
Speaker B:And this is very relatable, very relatable to me, Benny, because I'm a bit of a OCD with my cleanliness and how you keep your room and all the things.
Speaker B:And me and Amit had a blast at this.
Speaker B:He just burst out laughing when he would enters his spaceship unannounced.
Speaker B:Rocky, he goes like, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty.
Speaker B:Why this room so messy?
Speaker B:I wasn't expecting company.
Speaker B:I loved it.
Speaker B:I've replayed it so many times in my head and I'm like, next time, you know, Amit.
Speaker B:I find Amit has left the room in the mess in the house.
Speaker B:I'm going to be like, dirty, dirty, dirty.
Speaker B:Why the room so messy?
Speaker B:That's my language.
Speaker B:So I love that.
Speaker B:I also loved.
Speaker B:So people have interpreted differently when they're talking about the mates again.
Speaker B:And he says, well, I had a girl and then she left me and we broke up and she went with Mark.
Speaker B:And Rocky's immediate reaction is, Rocky, hate Mark.
Speaker B:I'm like, I like You, Rocky, I love you.
Speaker B:Also, you didn't blame the woman, which is really, really nice.
Speaker B:That's how men should be.
Speaker B:Blame the man.
Speaker A:That's also, like, from a man's perspective, it's like that immediate bond that happens because I personally feel like men aren't as great at developing new friendships as compared to women.
Speaker A:Do women?
Speaker A:I feel like when they do decide to become friends, they just click.
Speaker A:Whereas men, you kind of need to, like, hang out a little bit, get to know each other, blah, blah.
Speaker A:But if this, like, that's the kind of moment that just like bonds you and you're like, hey, I'm on your side, bro.
Speaker A:Like, that guy's the worst.
Speaker A:I got you.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh, this crosses, like humanity across planets.
Speaker A:You know, you just bond.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:So, yeah, and.
Speaker B:And that was an ad lib, I think.
Speaker B:It had not.
Speaker B:It had not been scripted.
Speaker B:They were practicing rehearsing and this came out.
Speaker B:James Oris said it.
Speaker B:And yeah, so Ryan was saying.
Speaker B:Ryan Gosling was saying in an interview that it was to his long, very like, close friend Mark, and he just wanted to mention.
Speaker B:So he just.
Speaker B:His name came at the top of his head.
Speaker B:And people then interpreted it as like, it was a callback to the Martian because Matt Damon's character was Mark.
Speaker B:So it's like, you know, well, people interpret the way they do, but it was quite interesting.
Speaker B:So, yeah, these, these were, these were really good.
Speaker B:And in the soundtrack, amaze, amaze, amaze is my favorite.
Speaker B:The other one is when they say when Ryan Gosling says it's time to go fishing.
Speaker B:I, I love that, that whole setup, because that's a critical moment right.
Speaker B:Where he gets injured after that.
Speaker B:And then Rocky comes.
Speaker B:So I thought the whole.
Speaker B:The way it played out was fantastic.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, my God, he's going to get hit now and he's never going to make it to the ship.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:How's Rocky?
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:So I was at the edge of my seat, basically.
Speaker B:I was like, what's going to happen?
Speaker B:So, yeah, those, those were.
Speaker B:And I like, I said the soundtrack, to me, was fantastic.
Speaker B:The background score, I've been listening to it on a loop.
Speaker B:Benny and I haven't done that with the Hollywood film since a long time.
Speaker A:So, yeah, no, that.
Speaker A:It definitely added.
Speaker A:I mean, it made the film more complete.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:Because, yeah, I mean, that's the whole purpose of the background.
Speaker A:A good, effective background score is supposed to complement what you're seeing and hearing on the screen.
Speaker A:And I thought that did just a great job in essentially emphasizing the humor, emphasizing the emotional parts of it.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I agree.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:I was really happy because in a long time, and I know we are going to talk about the Rander at some point later, but it's the same thing.
Speaker B:Bollywood also, Ensanto had not had good music in a long time.
Speaker B:And to me, Dhurandar one especially the music felt like a critical, important character of the film.
Speaker B:And then to see Hollywood do this as well, I was like, oh, this is the best four months of my life where I've got albums to listen to on a loop.
Speaker B:Let's talk about the ending scene.
Speaker B:What are your thoughts on the ending scene?
Speaker B:Because there have been debates around this.
Speaker A:I'm curious to hear what the debate is, because I'm not aware of any debates, but I loved it.
Speaker A:Like I said, you know, we are living at times where we just want to cling on to anything that's hopeful, anything that's good news.
Speaker A:You know, we want to go out of the movie theater with a smile on our face.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If they had ended with Rocky sacrificing, listen, I would have said, okay, this is a good movie, but I hated this ending.
Speaker A:I'm not gonna watch this, this movie ever again.
Speaker A:Yeah, but the way they ended it, right, because the first thing that happens is Grace makes this critical decision like, okay, my life is done, but I'm gonna sacrifice it, make sure Rocky is safe, make sure his people are saved.
Speaker A:So he goes to him and the movie could have ended that way.
Speaker A:And just like this, you know, okay, you walk out of it and you say it's a good movie, but to show this life on essentially Rocky's planet, which obviously they didn't show much, but the fact that, you know, Grace is treated like this very special eminent visitor or guest, you know, he's able to recreate like some element of home.
Speaker B:They painted the atmosphere for him because in the book they explain how different Aerith's atmosphere is to Earth and how why it is difficult for Rocky and Grace to survive in each other's atmosphere.
Speaker B:And the fact that they've created light and there's darkness on Ered.
Speaker B:So they only listen through songs.
Speaker B:They don't know light.
Speaker B:So they've created that for him, which is amazing.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Like, yeah, I.
Speaker B:Beautiful.
Speaker A:Everything about it, the visuals, the acting, the dialogue, it sit by the beach, essentially.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You know where the beach is?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Do you know where it is?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:So Erid is essentially Durdledore.
Speaker B:Just look it up.
Speaker B:Up.
Speaker B:It's Uk It's.
Speaker A:It's different that in the uk.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's three hours I've been there and I was like, I need to go there again to find Rocky.
Speaker A:Now that was a beautiful beach and I could believe it is from another planet.
Speaker B:It's called the dinosaur beach as well.
Speaker B:But Durdledore is the name of the place.
Speaker B:It's fantastic.
Speaker A:That's an English name.
Speaker B:Yeah, we've been there twice.
Speaker B:We love it.
Speaker B:And all of us were like, ah, Rocky's just down the road, we should go meet him.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that scene was great where they, you know, Rocky essentially says, you know, you can go home and all that stuff.
Speaker A:And yeah, it's interesting choice that they make where it's almost like Grace is not sure if he wants to go home.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like that was an interesting choice but the kicker was like him and the kids doing his, you know, his passion is teaching.
Speaker A:Teaching science.
Speaker A:Two kids and he gets to do that.
Speaker A:And that was such a cute collection of baby.
Speaker A:Yeah, baby Eridians.
Speaker A:And even just like that ending, that the final shot where you see Grace so happy and thrilled and feeling fulfilled.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, I thought that was like just perfect.
Speaker A:Perfect ending to the film.
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker B:I was like, what do you want in a happy ending?
Speaker B:A person who's happy.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And he was with his best friend.
Speaker B:Best friend.
Speaker B:And he was doing what he loves the most, pursuing his passion, which is teaching kids.
Speaker B:He got both of it.
Speaker B:And then I kept thinking, yeah, why would he go back to Earth where they decided that his life was not important enough?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:So he's found his people and that's great.
Speaker B:I thought it was the perfect.
Speaker A:Honestly, he doesn't have to go back to Earth.
Speaker B:He doesn't.
Speaker A:You know, he.
Speaker A:All the people that he would have known were probably gone, dead or they're way too old and people are going to be like, oh, you're still alive.
Speaker A:Well, thanks for saving us, but I don't know what to do with you.
Speaker B:With you exactly.
Speaker B:You find your calling in life.
Speaker B:He found it on another planet and that's fine.
Speaker B:He is happy at the end of it.
Speaker B:He's happy.
Speaker B:And to me it was a lovely, lovely ending.
Speaker B:It's very true to the book, which I loved.
Speaker B:So excellent.
Speaker B:Like, well done.
Speaker A:So what was the debate about it?
Speaker B:Yeah, they were like, no, he should have gone back to Earth.
Speaker B:Like, you know, how long is he going to stay on this planet?
Speaker B:It is not the right thing.
Speaker B:You know, people are waiting for him.
Speaker A:And I'm like, oh, they're saying that he should have gone sooner.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Like it was ready, right?
Speaker B:No, no, he should have saved Rocky, which was the right thing.
Speaker B:He did.
Speaker B:But the Hail Mary's has been refueled by astrophysics.
Speaker B:Because again, read the book because they explain how astrophysic.
Speaker B:Why arid had so much more astrophyse than Earth did.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:It's all in the atmosphere and the climate and stuff.
Speaker B:So they refill his.
Speaker B:Refuel his ship, it's ready to go, it's in orbit and they can, they can send him back to Earth.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But he says, can I think about it?
Speaker B:And he says, you think about it a long time, which is like he has, he doesn't want to go.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And Rocky gets it.
Speaker B:So he, he made the choice.
Speaker A:And I think that's, well, the best way I can put it.
Speaker A:As if I was in Grace's shoes and like having lived through his experiences on Earth and then doing all that he did to save Earth and, and you know, the Iridians.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you know, you have your friend right there.
Speaker A:Probably the best friendship that you've had your whole life.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:There's no incentive for him to go.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:I'm thinking you've done your part.
Speaker A:You've done your part.
Speaker A:Like, what more do people need of you, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Why would I go back to a life of loneliness when I have my best friend with me here?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker A:Listen, life is all about finding your people, finding your passion.
Speaker A:And he did both of those.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:He got his passion, he found his people in a way.
Speaker A:And so that's all we ever want, you know?
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:I. I love the ending.
Speaker B:I think it was fantastic.
Speaker B:That's what I would have done if I was in his place as well.
Speaker B:I don't think I would have survived though.
Speaker B:I don't have the brains and the guts for a survival instinct.
Speaker B:So I would be dead on.
Speaker B:Hail Mary, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:If Sandra, like Strat had like sent me up in the spaceship and I woke up in this spaceship, my first thought would be like, oh, Earth is screwed, you're all dead.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:We all said put the bet.
Speaker A:You put your bets on the wrong person.
Speaker B:So are we going to do Benny's Corner then?
Speaker B:Because we are at the end.
Speaker A:Benny's the episode.
Speaker A:Yes, Benny's Corner.
Speaker A:And there's like two parts to this because both of these are talking about favorites and favorite essentially movie versions.
Speaker A:One is favorite space movies.
Speaker A:We've kind of talked about it a little bit.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And just your top three space movies.
Speaker B:You need to tell me.
Speaker B:I don't remember, honestly.
Speaker A:Well, I didn't want you to think too much about it, but I wanted this to be very on the spot.
Speaker A:So if you want, I can go first if you.
Speaker A:If you need more time.
Speaker B:Yeah, go.
Speaker B:Go first.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm trying to recollect which ones.
Speaker B:I'm so bad at this.
Speaker A:So for me, space movies need to be visually spectacular and they need to be just easy or easy ish to understand.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's where a movie like Interstellar.
Speaker A:Visually spectacular.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But do I understand it?
Speaker A:Was I entertained by it?
Speaker A:That's not as easy to answer because it is.
Speaker A:It feels like a very high concept movie for highly intelligent people.
Speaker A:I am not that audience for this movie.
Speaker A:It's way too intelligent for me.
Speaker A:So, yeah.
Speaker A:So thinking about it, Project Hail Mary is in there.
Speaker A:Definitely in the top three.
Speaker A:Maybe there's a little bit of recency bias to it just because, you know, watched it recently.
Speaker A:But among the other space movies that I've enjoyed, one is Gravity.
Speaker A:Have you watched?
Speaker B:Of course, yes, of course.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I love it, but it's very sad also, so.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:So obviously that is sad, but visually.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Oh, amazing.
Speaker A:That was like.
Speaker A:I feel like I was in space with them.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And I really enjoyed that.
Speaker A:I really enjoyed watching that movie.
Speaker A:And it didn't require you to understand.
Speaker A:No, there wasn't too much of a science to it all.
Speaker A:It was more about survival.
Speaker A:It was about, you know, handling loneliness and all that stuff, which it's not entertaining necessarily to watch, but they did make it very visually beautiful.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So my first two would be the same as yours, so I'll not talk more about them.
Speaker B:My third one, I would tie it up with.
Speaker B:It's a tie.
Speaker B:I can't make up my mind.
Speaker B:The Martian and Apollo 13 just.
Speaker B:I don't know, I just enjoyed them a lot.
Speaker B:Mainly because of the main actors, Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in the other one.
Speaker B:So really, really enjoyed it.
Speaker B:But on the fun part of fun things I can think of is like, you know, the Star Trek movies, the reboot with Chris Pine and.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And then Back to the Future, which was like a childhood favorite.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So those were your first introduction, kind of.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:To space travel and time travel and things like that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But yeah, if I would have to rewatch, I think it would be Hail Mary, Gravity, The Martian, Apollo 13, Apollo 13.
Speaker B:I've watched quite.
Speaker A:The Martian is really an interesting pick because I watched it and yes, it was visually the story Was interesting too.
Speaker A:But I again, I feel like I read the book and somehow I was like, okay, I don't know why.
Speaker A:It's made me appreciate the movie less.
Speaker A:And this is why I'm like, you know what?
Speaker A:Either I read the book or not.
Speaker A:If I know a movie's coming out, I'm not going to read the book.
Speaker A:I'm going to just avoid it.
Speaker B:But it really depends because I thought, like, there are lots of movies which did a better job than the book.
Speaker B:Like the Godfather.
Speaker B:I love the movies more than the book, so.
Speaker B:And I don't know.
Speaker B:You're watching Slow Horses series.
Speaker B:Have you watched it?
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker A:I'm all caught up.
Speaker A:Amazing show, amazing show.
Speaker B:So the books are super.
Speaker A:I started reading, I read the first.
Speaker B:I finished three.
Speaker B:I'll start my fourth one tomorrow.
Speaker B:But I have never felt that they did injustice to the books.
Speaker B:I actually enjoy the books a lot more because I love the show so much more.
Speaker B:And now I'm in a vicious circle where I'm going to rewatch the whole thing again because now that I've read the books, but I don't think anything has been.
Speaker B:I didn't feel anything that didn't.
Speaker B:Is not being captured in the series.
Speaker B:So there are.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's different with every book adaptation, if you ask me.
Speaker B:But I don't think Project Hail Mary did a bad job.
Speaker B:It did a pretty decent job.
Speaker B:Which is your second.
Speaker A:So the second part of it is favorite aliens.
Speaker B:I just have one.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker A:Because I was thinking about this.
Speaker B:Sorry, sorry.
Speaker B:I have two.
Speaker B:I have two.
Speaker B:I have 2.
Speaker B:I have 2.
Speaker A:So I have 3.
Speaker A:And obviously Rocky.
Speaker A:And forget recency bias.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:He is my all time favorite alien and I've seen a lot of aliens in movies in my life and so easily, easily the best that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I've seen Very funny.
Speaker A:It's a hero because he saves Grace and is willing to sacrifice himself.
Speaker A:So that.
Speaker A:Or just take a longer time to return home just so that, you know, Grace can go home, save Earth, all that stuff.
Speaker A:And the way he was depicted in the movie, the way it was portrayed.
Speaker A:And kudos to the puppeteers and voice actor.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it even like 10, 15 years later, this character will stand the test of time and people will always go back to him as one of the greatest aliens.
Speaker B:Greatest aliens ever.
Speaker A:I agree.
Speaker B:Until.
Speaker B:Until Grace.
Speaker B:It was my childhood favorite.
Speaker B:But yeah, I think Grace takes so about now.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker A:I would say ET Is.
Speaker A:I would say Second favorite.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Because of the time period of my life that I watched.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:As a kid, I watched ET and obviously as a kid, that was an alien designed to be like a kid's friend, you know.
Speaker A:And I love the movie and I just loved an alien who is very empathetic and understanding and it's like really like a close friend at the same level as a kid.
Speaker A:So I think it's just because of the time that I watched it, it's just like imprinted in my head.
Speaker A:He's like one of my all time favorites.
Speaker A:The third one is probably slight curveball because this alien is unlike the other two.
Speaker A:It's from the Alien franchise.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:The violent, murderous.
Speaker A:The murderous and violent alien.
Speaker A:It's hard to say favorite, but just in terms of depiction, like just classic and timeless.
Speaker A:Just the design of the alien and.
Speaker B:Just like the entry, the first entry.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's imprinted in everyone's mind.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So just an alien that I just like love watching on the screen.
Speaker A:So those are my top three aliens.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So mine, mine was always one and only.
Speaker B:So Spock.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:From Star Trek also because it was the way Leonard Nimroy played him.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So he was so, so good.
Speaker B:I've loved him since forever.
Speaker B:And I, like I said now Rocky tops.
Speaker B:Tops it all.
Speaker B:So yeah, two of them.
Speaker B:If you want me to choose a third one, I would pick Superman, but only as Henry Cavill playing Superman.
Speaker A:Technically you're right.
Speaker A:He is an alien.
Speaker B:He is an alien.
Speaker B:He's comes from another planet.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:I was in my head, aliens.
Speaker A:I'm thinking, yeah, no, no, that's fair.
Speaker B:Not very handsome creatures.
Speaker B:Not very human.
Speaker B:Like good things.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:I need my aliens to be quite good as well.
Speaker B:I think that was a bias.
Speaker A:Is just brilliant.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Rocky.
Speaker B:Rocky has a human looking alien.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And he has so much heart, Benny.
Speaker B:I think he has the most emotions better than humans.
Speaker B:Humans can learn from Rocky is what I feel more.
Speaker B:So when I read the book I was like, wow, he's just brilliantly written by Andy.
Speaker B:Hats off to him to have imagined it and made him like this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, great movie and sounds like it was great book as well.
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:I don't know what book this author is working on, but if he's, if he were to write another space related book and if it was made into a movie again, I'm like Martian Project, Hail Mary.
Speaker A:I think this person has a good track record.
Speaker A:So I do want to see this, but yeah, I'm really glad this movie came out when it did because like you mentioned earlier, we needed a movie like this, not just as a movie gore, but just like in the times we live in.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's good to watch something that just is very uplifting and it's a good reminder of the good traits of humanity.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Trust, friendship, collaboration, all the buzzwords you hear in corporate world.
Speaker A:But now we are seeing a demo action.
Speaker A:Even if it's on a movie, you know, it's just a reminder.
Speaker A:And especially the fact that this has connected with younger audiences means there's hope for the future in a way that, you know, these kids are seeing good examples and hopefully that leaves an imprint on them.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:And it's lovely that the adults and the kids have cried at the same scenes.
Speaker B:So it's wonderful to read that that generally it's not like that, you know, adults will not be crying at kids movies and stuff.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:It's just such a fantastic movie for all generations.
Speaker B:So highly recommend.
Speaker B:And what's your final rating on this one?
Speaker A:Oh, yes, reading.
Speaker A:Honestly, there isn't really much leeway or much like nitpicks for me.
Speaker A:I'm just Giving this a 10 on 10.
Speaker A:This was just a brilliant, perfect movie.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker B:Yeah, me too.
Speaker A:No, no, it's 10 out of 10.
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker B:10 On 10.
Speaker B:Like I said, I get why book readers would have been have some complaints about the film.
Speaker B:Yeah, not me.
Speaker B:I think it's a great adaptation.
Speaker B:The book was great.
Speaker B:The movie is great.
Speaker B:10 On 10 for everything.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, this is.
Speaker B:Watch it.
Speaker B:Listen to the soundtrack.
Speaker B:Everything's perfect.
Speaker A:Yes, highly recommended by the Talking Talkies podcast.
Speaker A:And I truly believe that this will be like a, like a classic that even 10, 20 years down the road, you know, when people discuss top sci fi films or top space movies and top characters they will always be featuring in the discussion.
Speaker A:So absolutely great job by everyone associated with this film.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker A:So on that note, we are going to wrap up Mino, as always, a pleasure to talk movies.
Speaker A:Well, talk about anything in general, but especially movies.
Speaker A:Same here, Betty.
Speaker A:And again, I'm not going to make promises that we're going to be doing more episodes and all of that because we all have busy lives.
Speaker A:But we have been talking about doing another episode very soon on another movie that's captured a lot of attention, created a lot of conversations, controversies, debates, everything.
Speaker A:Durandar, I think is a movie or both movies, you know, the first and second part worth talking about and we do plan to do that.
Speaker A:So if you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to tune in.
Speaker A:Follow us on the social media feeds where you found this podcast because we will definitely let you know when another episode comes out.
Speaker A:But yeah, thank you for listening.
Speaker A:And Meenal, once again, thank you for your time today.
Speaker B:Thank you, Benny.
Speaker B:It is, it's like I said, it's always been a pleasure.
Speaker B:And yeah, we should catch up for the run, that we should do that pretty soon.
Speaker A:Very, very soon.
Speaker A:I'll just say, ladies and gentlemen, you will be ready for this one.
Speaker B:Bye, everyone.
