#346. 'Project Hail Mary'
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With JVL off on assignment, Sonny and Mike hold down the fort to review Project Hail Mary, the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller adaptation of the Andy Weir novel, and both come away delighted: Sonny calls it "one of the most entertaining pieces of pop entertainment" he's seen in years, praising Ryan Gosling's shift from Zero-G comic relief to straight man opposite the alien Rocky, and likening the film's shameless Spielbergian manipulation to Interstellar played completely sincere; Mike agrees wholeheartedly, letting himself be manipulated happily, though both flag the finale as dragging through one too many climaxes (Mike singles out the "too cute" baby-rock-alien coda). They also dig into Ryan Gosling's oddly unresolved movie-star status (Sonny argues he doesn't really "open" a film the way Zendaya or Michael B. Jordan do), cameos from Milana Vaytrub and "the guy from The Bear," Sandra Hüller's icy mission-control scientist, and the movie's stealth Catholic imagery (Hail Mary, Rocky-as-Peter). Before any of that, the guys spend a long stretch catching up: Sonny recounts his family's whirlwind, points-funded trip to Paris in loving detail — a mangled restaurant order that got him a plate of plain ham, a macaron-baking class, a kid melting down at the Musée d'Orsay, and a Disneyland Paris outing where he marvels that Europeans don't bother with Lightning Lane — while Mike tells the story of his son's first Boy Scout campout, where being told "no, you have to set up your tent yourself" becomes a small, poignant coming-of-age moment. The box-office rundown covers Project Hail Mary's roughly $80 million opening, the Ready or Not: Here I Come sequel and its Adam Brody/Samara Weaving cast, and a lengthy, very online tangent sparked by the Pout-Pout Fish movie and HBO's Harry Potter recasting of a Black Snape, complete with both hosts razzing the internet's most tiresome culture-war reflexes on both ends of the horseshoe.
From the show notes
It's a big hit! Everyone loves Grace and Rocky! (Well...nearly everyone.)
Full transcript
Guest00:00:00Hi Grace. You're in a ball. So Rocky No Die and Grace Atmosphere. I come up. Oh, you're coming up. Foreign footy detected. Grace and Rocky, big science. How to kill asterophage together. I keep going this way? This room boring. Science, save Earth, save Earth. Good plan. Put this down here, question. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Rocky, what is the human technology? Dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty. Why are we so messy?
Mike00:00:30Well, I wasn't expecting company, was I? Welcome to the Sub-Beacon podcast. I'm your co-host, Mike Warren. Joining me is my co-host, who looked disgust when eat. Sonny Bunch, Jonathan V. Last is on assignment this week. Uh, we, uh, you can join us over at subbeacon.com. Uh, we've got new episodes on Friday mornings. Tell your friends and family, check out subbeacon.com or new episodes. We're going to be talking about project hail Mary later on in the show. But first it's been a while, Sonny. What, uh, what's, what's happening. You've been to France. You've been, uh, all over the place. Tell what's, what's, what's going on with you. Yeah, it's been, I,
Sonny00:01:26whirlwind whirlwind tour. Uh, let's see. So we did, we went to France, took the kids and wife to Paris. We went to, uh, we, we did also, it's an interesting, it was, it was an interesting trip because a, it was, it's too short, like going in for four days. Not, that's not enough time. Uh, um, and it was, uh, it was, you know, there's two, you get two kids. So you may be four days actually is the right amount of time. Cause it's not like we could have done, you know, we're not, we weren't going to go to like any, you know, Michelin starred restaurants, right? Like we, we weren't, uh, we, we, we didn't even, we weren't even going to go to the Louvre with the kids. We did go to, um, one of, one of the big museums, the Musee de Orsay, which is kind of like, it's like a, it's where they keep a lot of the impressionist stuff and, you know, interest, some fun things there, um, that maybe I'll get to in a second, but, uh, you know, it's, it's not enough time. Um, we, we, but we, we, it was great. We, you know, we, uh, like, like we didn't go to any, you know, big fancy restaurants, but we went to like any, any like bistro that you just pop into is great.
Mike00:02:41Uh, yeah, it's, it's better than 90% of the stuff you eat in the States, like just a random restaurant that you walk into at least.
Sonny00:02:50Yeah. So, I mean, I like, and it's funny because it's expensive. Like it is like Francis. I remember Paris is not cheap, but it's, but it's like New York expensive. Whereas I've heard, I've heard that like, if you go to London, it's like, I've heard the same. Uh, it's, you know, it's like modern Vegas expense. Like, have you been to Vegas recently?
Mike00:03:10Mike, when's the last time I was in Vegas two years ago?
Sonny00:03:14I feel like Vegas has gotten exorbitantly expensive. Like it used to be, it used to like, there used to be like a mix of like nice restaurants and like, you know, kind of crappy places. And like, we, I stayed on the strip. I can grant it. I was staying at the Bellagio. So like, it's not, you know, right. Right. But like every place, every place is, you know, you're not, you're not getting out of dinner for less than 150, 200 bucks a person. Like it's crazy.
Mike00:03:40Um, but that wasn't Paris.
Sonny00:03:42Paris is just like you say, Paris, Paris is Paris. Again, Paris is a lot like New York where it's expensive, but it's like, unless you're doing something extravagant.
Mike00:03:50Sure.
Sonny00:03:51And like, you know, you, you know what you're getting into ahead of time with that, you know? Right. Right. It's. It was fine. Uh, I don't, they, again, what did your, what did your kids think of?
Mike00:04:00Like, I mean, to me as a kid, Paris is the Eiffel tower. So like, what did they make of like seeing the Eiffel tower in person?
Sonny00:04:09They were very, they were very impressed by the Eiffel tower. That was a big, big, uh, big win for them. So the first day, so we got, we, we flew overnight. We fly overnight. We get in at like seven in the morning. Sure. We go drop our stuff off at the hotel and then we just go, we just like go. That's the way to do it. Like get, we, we hit it. We hit the, we hit the ground running. Um, and, uh, like the first thing, uh, I guess not quite the first thing we did, but like, we, we like wandered around a little bit. We went over to, we were staying near some gardens. We went and looked in those. Then we, and then in the afternoon, um, like kind of between lunch and dinnertime, we walked from where we were staying to the Eiffel tower, which is a little, it was a little more than a mile. I want to say it was like, it was like a mile. And it was about, it was about a 30, 35, 40 minute walk with, with the kids. Um, which is not bad, not bad. Uh, but like the, uh, the, the, so like the very first meal we, we stop into this bistro, we're like the first people there. Cause it's 1130 in the morning. Our bodies are all off. Like we have no idea, like bodies like, uh, food, food now, please. No, don't know what time it is. What, where, where are we breakfast? Yeah. Uh, so we sat, we sat down and, um, we're, we're ordered. We're ordering and I'm like kind of trying to order off the menu. There was something I recognized. I was like, I would like this, um, camomile. It was like, uh, camomile bear, like a heated camomile bear. Like, I know, I know what that is. Like, I was like, I I'll just order this. And he was like, no, we don't have that. We're all okay. He's like, what would you like? Would you like, what, what would you like? I was like, I don't know. What do you have?
Mike00:05:47Would you like a cheeseburger? You stupid American.
Sonny00:05:50He was like, I, what about, uh, an omelet? I was like, okay, sure. I'd love an omelet. That'd be great. Okay. You want like ham? I was like, yeah, I would love, I would love a ham omelet. That'd be great. Okay. Perfect. And like my, my wife and I were talking and the kids go to the bathroom. And I, I get, I get a glass of wine. I got like the best Chardonnay I've ever had in my life for like eight Euro. Great. Uh, but the, uh, but the, but the, but then he comes, he comes with the food and he puts my, my son did get a cheeseburger. He, he got the cheeseburger. Uh, and you know, my daughter got whatever my wife got, whatever. And then he puts down, I swear to God. A plate of ham in front of me, like a pit, a plate of like shaved, uh, you know, like not quite pseudo, but like, and I was just like, uh, he's like, yeah, I'm like, I was like, Nope, that's not, I don't know what, I don't know what you, I don't under like, um, that's a French word, isn't it? I don't even understand. I don't understand what I just got, but it's like, whatever I was, I was starving. So I was just like, can I just have more bread? And I will put, I will put the ham on the bread and I'll need it that way. It's great. He's like, yeah, we, we. Um, so that was, that was just, that was the day. Number one, that was meal. Number one, that was meal.
Mike00:07:01Number one, all the rest of the soup. What, what could he have possibly interpreted your order to think, okay, he doesn't want a, a whipped egg dish with ham. He just wants the ham.
Sonny00:07:18So I think I had ordered, I think I had ordered off the, uh, off of the appetizer menu, um, when I was. Ordering my, uh, my like heated camembert and I think he, so I think he thought that I just wanted an appetizer, but that's, that's not really what I want. Anyway, it didn't, it didn't matter. It was fine. Like that's, that's very funny. If it's literally just a plate of ham, I was like, I was like, well, it's delicious. This ham is very good. I, I'm not, I'm not complaining about the ham, the quality of the ham.
Mike00:07:49You know, that was like, was like, Hey, check this out. Um, I'm going to just bring a plate.
Sonny00:07:56I'm going to bring a plate of ham to this American and he won't say shit. Just watch. And he was right. He was right. I just ate it. I ate it like an idiot.
Mike00:08:03Uh, the first time and, and only time I've been to Paris when I was in college, the first meal that I ordered, like, because I had this anxiety that I don't know if you shared it, but I had an anxiety about like being a dumb American in Paris of all places and like not knowing what to order or like ordering the wrong thing in a restaurant. So we, we like got there around lunchtime and I was just like, I'm going to get a croque Mazur. Like, I know what that is. I've had croque Mazur before. So like, and it was like on the menu, like it was very, it was very, it was, it was that moment where you're like, you just feel relief that like, I know something on this menu and I can order it with confidence and I know what I'm going to get. And that's probably how you felt about your, your, your 86th camembert.
Sonny00:09:01100%. I saw the camembert roti on there. I was like, I know what that is. I'm going to get that. Um, it was fine. It was like all of the meal, all of the meal situations were fine with like little, little variations, little amusing variation. So like, all right. So anyway, I eat my plate of ham. We walked to the Eiffel tower. We take pictures around the Eiffel tower and we start walking back. So the first day we didn't really, we didn't bother with, we didn't bother with, uh, the this, the Metro. We weren't, we weren't much. I didn't like, I was not prepared to like learn how to use the Metro. I was just like, we're going to walk places. We're going to go places. We can walk. And if it's too far to walk back, we'll take a cab. That's what we're doing. Day number one. Um, by the second day we had started, we started to figure out, um, the, the Metro system. And I will say, and this is, this is, I have not actually traveled internationally. I, the last time I was, uh, out of the country seriously was like, almost 20 years ago. Like I went to Israel and it was, you know, that was, but that was like a, on a guided, you know, tour. Sure. Um, uh, and like, I don't think I have, I don't, I, I, I trying to remember, I, you know, I went to, I went to like Aruba for my honeymoon.
Mike00:10:14That doesn't really count.
Sonny00:10:15That doesn't really count. I don't think, I don't think I've been properly out of the country since then. Um, so like it's, it's been a, I don't, I don't, I don't like to travel, man. I don't like to travel.
Mike00:10:27Well, you, you grew up like moving around.
Guest00:10:29Right.
Sonny00:10:30I lived in, I lived in England. I have been to, I've been to like all of Northern Europe. I like, I'd never been to France. I've never been to Spain. I've never been to Italy. I've never been to Southern Europe, but like I've done, I've done as much traveling really as I'm interested in doing. Um, not, not the case with my wife or kids.
Mike00:10:46They, they, so, um, so you're not done traveling is what you're saying.
Sonny00:10:50Probably not done traveling, unfortunately. I don't know. It's going to be a while before we do something like this again, because like it, you know, it was, it was, this trip cost us out of pocket, way less money than like going to Disney world. Sure. Sure. And you even went to Euro Disney. But, but that's, but that's because we, we, the flights were free. We, we just use points to fly to France. Yeah. And like, that was, it makes a huge difference. Yeah. We didn't have to spend, didn't have to spend $3,000 on airplane tickets.
Mike00:11:18You know, when we went to, when we went to Hawaii, which is essentially from the East coast, certainly the equivalent.
Sonny00:11:26That's probably 10 hours at least.
Mike00:11:28Um, but just in terms of the cost and all of that sort of thing, like we, we bought those two tickets for just the two of us on points and like it opened up, you know, a, it opened up the budget in a way that, uh, was, was terrific. And that was just the two of us and it was a celebration and all that sort of thing. But it, it, I mean, it's, this is the most maybe, uh, obvious observation, but like it's just, the flights are almost always suck up. So much of the money.
Sonny00:11:58Well, this is, this is like, this has been the nice thing about like living, living next to living in Dallas and living at what amounts to a Southwest hub at Love Field and having the Southwest credit card, uh, and like accumulating points and having the companion pass, et cetera. We have not paid for domestic flights for the family in like three years. Like everything is points or like I pay for, I pay for my ticket. I pay for my ticket. Uh, whenever we fly and it's like, you know, it's three or three to $500 and then everybody else is covered with either points or companion pass. And like, it makes it make, again, it was just like, this is, this is one reason why I like to stay in the United States. Cause like, I know getting to the place will be functionally free. Exactly.
Mike00:12:42That's, that's a huge game changer. Really?
Sonny00:12:45Yeah. Uh, so, so, so, so the second day we, we did it, we did it. We, the, the, the most amusing thing that we did maybe was we, we, we, my wife had booked a macaroon baking class and we learned how to make bait, make, uh, macaroons. And like, I, I can now bake macaroons. I'm going to do this.
Mike00:13:04I'm going to do this. Macaroons or macaron macarons.
Sonny00:13:06I don't know. The, the, the fluffy cookie. What are macarons? I think. Macarons. Macarons. Macarons are the fluffy, the fluffy cookie. Well, they're both stuff in the middle.
Mike00:13:17Oh, that's whatever. I think it's a macaron, but I also get confused. That's kind of why I asked because I wasn't sure.
Sonny00:13:23Um, and then we went to a zoo that was right now. Next to where the, and that was a mistake. We should not have gone to the zoo, uh, because it was raining and it was a shitty zoo. Um, but the, uh, but so, uh, so let's see. Um, uh, oh, the, the first night, the first, the first night we were there after, after we went to the Eiffel tower, we came back and then we went out to the Musee d'Orsay. And this was, so this was like, again, this was after the overnight flight. Um, my son hits a wall at like, uh, like, like 10 minutes into getting into the museum, like 10 minutes into the hitting. He's just like, I don't want to be here. I want to, my wife is really into it. She's really into impressionism. So I was just like, all right, let's go, let's go. Um, I'm going to take you, I'm going to take you to the cafe. Cause the cafeteria was right there. I was like, we're going to go to the cafeteria. So I went, we went to the cafeteria and sat down and the waiter comes up. He's dressed, you know, he's dressed like French waiter, French waiter comes up and he's like, what would you like in English? Just like, he's not fine. Oh yeah. Yeah. He knows, he knows immediately. I was like, I was like, bonjour. I would like one hot chocolate and one double ice cream, please. And he's like, oh, would you like whipped cream on those? And I was like, yes, I would like whipped cream on both of those. And he, the look he gave me, it wasn't a look of disgust. Like, you know, you, you like snooty French Raider. You, you expect that it was a look of, it was a look of amazement slash horror. Cause he was like, he was like, I know what you're doing. I know he's like. Like takes a look at my son who is like passed out on the table. He's like, I know what you're doing. I was like, yeah, you do good. Good. Cause I, he needs that sugar. And so the sugar worked, the sugar worked. I, I had a, I had a Beaujolais and I had like half that ice cream too. I had like half that ice cream. I, I, he did not eat the whole thing, but, uh, so I, I had a Beaujolais and then we, we, we, we leave and he's like, he's good for about 10 more minutes and then hits that wall again. And I was like, we got, we, I was like, all right, let's go, let's go sit down somewhere in the museum and we really.
Mike00:15:25I actually want a kid, uh, on a sugar high in a museum of fine art.
Sonny00:15:30That's really kind of, well, this is, so I was, I was, I was slightly, I was slight, I I'll put it this way. I'm glad I would rather he crashed than like went full muffin from Bluey. Like, I don't like, like, I don't want him to that's, that's a niche reference.
Mike00:15:45Believe me, I get that.
Sonny00:15:47Um, but it was, uh, but it was, it was, it's, it's like a great museum. It's, it's one of these great random museums where they have like five of the recognizable paintings in the world. And it's still like the third most important museum in the city. Like, you know, we're, we're, we're several blocks from the Louvre or I mean more than, I don't know, we're, we're a ways from the Louvre, um, which is like the place, but like this one has like starry night and, uh, you know, several Van Gogh self portraits and it has Rodan's the thinker.
Mike00:16:19Yes.
Sonny00:16:19As you send a photo to JVL and I said, I sent a photo to you guys. Cause it was very funny. It was very funny because my son. My son, I'm like, show, I'm like, I was like, Charlie, look, this is one of the most, this is one of the great pieces of art in the world. And like, everyone will recognize this. And he was like, what's the big deal. It's just a guy thinking it's what I had not, I had not called it the thinker or anything. I just said, what do you, you know, what do you think of this? He's like, it's just a guy thinking. I was like, that's right. You got it right. Good job. Good job, buddy. You nailed it. And he was like, oh, so we, uh, we, we went and we laid down after that.
Mike00:16:55So the photo of your son looks like he is at the edge. He is at the edge of his patients with this whole thing, all this bullshit.
Sonny00:17:08Um, so anyway, we went, we went back to the hotel that night and slept for like 11 hours. It was great. Uh, but we got, and then woke up at, woke up at like seven in the morning, everybody was ready to go. Except for my daughter who I swear to God, if I had not known better, I would have said she was hung over. Cause she like, she like woke up and was like, I feel. I feel terrible. I can't be awake right. I think I'm sick. I'm going to throw up if you make me walk around. So she went back to bed for like 30 minutes, didn't even really sleep. Just like laid down, laid down, closed her eyes and then got up. I was like, okay, I'm good.
Mike00:17:38I was like, what the hell to be a kid again? You know, like I could just bounce like that. Bounce back.
Sonny00:17:44Uh, I don't know. Like we did this, we did this fun walking tour of the city. Um, did you ever get on the Metro? We did get out. Yeah. So the next day we, we started doing the Metro and like, uh, what I was going to say before I, I've been talking for like 20 minutes almost, um, what I, what I was going to say before, before I got, uh, tangent before I tangented off was that Amazon or Google makes trap Google maps in particular makes travel in any foreign city so much easier. And like, this is, I, like, I've, I've known this as true since like just traveling within the United States, like going to a S a different city in the United States is very easy. You just, you can just get around. It's like not hard. It's great. Um, but it's, but it also makes traveling in Europe a million times easier. Like I, we, or at least this trip to Paris was a million times easier. Like the map was like, go to this station, get on at this exit. Like as long as you have some facility with being able to get yourself cards off of the system, you're fine. Yeah. You know?
Mike00:18:47Um, and it's, I, I mean, the thing that I like about the Paris Metro is just, it is, it is in some ways a work of art, like the stations and the uh, and, and the sign, the signage and all of that. It's, it's very nice looking and it doesn't feel grimy. I mean, you know, it feels as grimy as a subway station could, but, but, but it's got this, it's got this elevated, so to speak, uh, sort of, uh, artistic quality to it. That is, that's very nice.
Sonny00:19:16Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, uh, last, last day there, we went to Disneyland Paris, which was, you know, it was kind of interesting in the sense that like, it's a lot like Disney. Disneyland, the Disneyland in, in California, not like Disneyland, where it's like, they have one park and then they have a second park, like kind of attached to it. Sure. They're two separate parks, technically. Um, and they do, they do, they have like a lightning lane sort of thing. I think they call it premier access in, in Disney, Euro Disney, Paris, whatever pair. I think it's Disneyland Paris is what it's.
Mike00:19:49Is that what they call it now? Okay. Not Euro Disney as I called it.
Sonny00:19:52Yeah. It's not Euro Disney. It's Disneyland Paris. Disneyland Paris. Very interesting. Cause it was like the highest concentration of non-French people by far. Right. Lots of, lots of Brits, lots of Irish, lots of Spaniards. Interesting.
Mike00:20:04Interesting. Um, but like you would expect that, like if you were to go to Disney
Sonny00:20:09world, totally.
Mike00:20:10Oh, totally.
Sonny00:20:10You know, you're, you're, you've got people from all over the country. It makes sense. Uh, anyway, uh, the very short version of our trip to Disneyland Paris is that it's a lot like Disneyland, but it's smaller and it's less efficient. But if you do the, if you do the, um, if you do the lightning lane thing, the lightning lane thing, you're not going to be able to go to equivalent. You can get through the whole park in like eight hours, like six, like six hours. Like it was, it was, we had done basically everything we wanted to do by three in the afternoon. Um, uh, as it should be at least in one of the parks. Then we hopped over to the other park. We did some, but like it was, it was, uh, it's like, it's the thing is like no Europeans do the lightning lane thing, like almost none. So the way, so the way lightning lane works in America is. You, you get the thing and you pay amount of money and like you, you get windows and there's like limited numbers of spots for all of the things. So like you kind of have to plan what you want to do when you want to do it. Um, but, uh, in, in at Disneyland Paris, you just like go with your app and you scan it in the thing whenever you want to ride the ride and you can do that once for every ride. And there's a, there like Disneyland and Disney world are testing a version of this in the United States that costs like $400 a person. Or something. There's like, it's like the same ticket. Yeah. But it's like, it's, it's, it's crazy. It's crazy, crazy expensive. But like at, at Disneyland Paris, like just nobody, the Europeans love standing in lines. That's just their, that's their, that's their natural conditioning and
Mike00:21:42they love standing in lines. I mean, what, what, you know? Yeah. That's anyway, that was, that was a trip.
Sonny00:21:47That was what a trip. That's Paris in 20 minutes. Sorry for talking so long.
Mike00:21:52No, I loved it. Uh, well, uh, I, I guess. I don't know.
Sonny00:21:56I don't have anything excited.
Mike00:21:57I guess. So I will be off next week from, from the show because we will be at our own spring break trip.
Sonny00:22:03Uh, where are you guys going?
Mike00:22:05We're going to Asheville, North Carolina. We're, uh, it's my brother-in-law's 40th birthday. It's my mother-in-law's 70th birthday. And so we are sort of all getting together. We're going to get to meet the, uh, the, my kids will meet their cousin for the first time. He's somewhat newborn. Um, and, uh, so it's going to be great, but I'll, I'll, I'll, I might, I might have, I might have stories or things to tell from that, uh, afterward. Um, but what has been going on? I think I've mentioned it probably the show you were gone. I, I went on a little bit about, about boy scouts because my, uh, 11 year old is, uh, is sort of jumped, uh, right into the scouts, uh, since he's been, since he's bridged over and so, uh, I listeners will know I went on about how. Great it is that this is, you know, they really emphasize the boy led, uh, troop, you know, all that stuff. So they had the first new, they had the new scout camp out was the first camp out, uh, last weekend, um, for these new scouts and, you know, they, they really recommend that, you know, nothing is required of course, in any of it, it's all just, you know, come to any of the events, they basically have one camp out a month, um, they have, you know, meetings every Monday and there's, you know, come when you can, um, uh, however much or little as you want. Um, but they all recommended, you know, Hey, come to the new scout camp out because we will, we're going to knock a bunch of the sort of entry level requirements for your rank advancement. Uh, you know, we'll, we'll just knock them off the list and there'll be, um, you know, you'll, you'll get to be able to, you know, have your, have your, uh, various, uh, you know, qualifications for using your pocket knife in a, in a hatchet or for making a fire, those kinds of things. Where, you know, you have to sort of meet those requirements and we'll get them. So, uh, you know, that's great. Um, so, you know, I really appreciated this boy led stuff, but you know, it's not been something that my son has necessarily been like, it's just not been, you know, it's, he doesn't view it the same way. Um, and I've even told him, I said, you know, they, they've, they've told the parents and, and I think this is true, you know, on these camp outs, the, it's almost always just dads, you know, the dads. Have their own campsite is like right next to it. Um, but like they do, they, the, the, the parents do all their own cooking for themselves and all of that. And the boys do everything else. Uh, and there's really no kind of like helping out. And so we had sort of had that conversation a couple of times just to remind them like, Hey, you're going to be kind of on your own, but, but with your, with your fellow scouts and there'll be older scouts there and all that stuff. Uh, we had the, the sort of the moment that it all sank in was, uh, I, I had volunteered to drive, to drive from the church that where the scout, uh, troop is based to, to the, uh, campsite, which is it's in Fairfax County. Like it's like where we live, you know, it's like 30 minutes away. It was not very far. Um, I offered to drive. And so I pack all the stuff in the car. We drive to the campsite. This is like on Saturday morning and we get there and it's time. It's so it's, you know, it's like basically, okay, when you get there, set up your tent and then it's going to be time to start the activities. And so, you know, I parked there and kids got out and they, they sort of, Oh, let's, let's, this'll be our place over here. This place, who are you going to tent with? You know, they got a tent with somebody, uh, et cetera, et cetera. So, uh, my son, you know, gets his tent bag. He starts to sort of walk over to where he's decided he's going to pitch it. And he like pauses and turns around and looks at me and goes, Hey dad, can you, you help me set up my tent? And I just went, no. And he had this look of like, like recognition again, all the things that we had been talking about for the past week and like all of a sudden it's sunk in like, Oh, wait a second. Oh shit. I gotta do all of this by myself. And I, and he was just like, Oh, okay. And like, well, I know it was, it was wonderful and. Terrible all at the same time. It was like that moment where you're just like, this is kind of what I've been setting him up for and, and what, you know, and, and at the same time, it's like, he's asked for my help countless times in his life. And I'm like increasingly having to say, no, you can do it. You know, you do this thing. Um, and you know, and it was interesting, I kind of stuck around just for a little bit, like watched him and, you know, he was like struggling, he was like a little unsure what to do with the polls, you know, it was like, oh, do I, you know, all put this to me and he's done it before with me, but he's never done it by all of a sudden it was like, uh, he had this like sort of lack of, uh, uh, uh, surety. He, he just was unclear if he was doing it right. And, um, but he, you know, he worked it out and then like, there was sure enough, they're like older scouts in the troop walking around, but do you need help with that? Like here, let me know what you got to do is this. And, um, and so it was just, you know, it's like that it's so it's like a nice buildup to. Uh, he's going to scout summer camp for a week, this in North Carolina this summer. And so it's like, we're, we're, we're building up to that, that point, but you know, that's, that's, that's really all it was. And then I left and came back the next morning and everybody was, uh, you know, had, had a terrible night's sleep and, uh, and that's camping. So it sounds like something you want to do, Sonny.
Sonny00:27:48I mean, we're, we have a scout camp out coming up in like two weeks. That's the worst. Um, it's.
Mike00:27:55It's just, at least the weather is gonna be better than like, well, I don't even know if it ever really got that cold in Texas, but like it, it was this past weekend was sort of borderline, uh, is it too cold? Is it too high?
Sonny00:28:09No, no, I like, there's no such thing as too cold for me for, for camping, but like too hot is like anything above 65. Like it's, you know, yeah.
Mike00:28:20So I, I, I did have the experience of, uh, when I came back, you know, some of the dads who I know who had, who had. Camped out. Um, they said, you know, the, the geese were, were making noise all night. Uh, it was really, you know, it got really hot all of a sudden. It was just, it was just a miserable experience. And one of the dads who I know pretty well was like, uh, how was your bed? How was your, how was your nice, big, warm bed last night? I was like, you know, that, you know, when it's like, it gets too hot and you gotta take the blanket off and then it gets too cold and, and then you gotta put the big blanket back on and it's like, he was like, fuck you, fuck.
Sonny00:28:54So wait, so you. You didn't, you didn't stay at the dad's camp. You went all the way, you went back home.
Mike00:28:59I went back home because I had my next son had baseball practice, which I'm helping out at, uh, now. And then we went out, um, we actually had a, a rare night, uh, out, uh, go. We went out to, uh, have a dinner, dinner at, at people's house. So, um, uh, it was, it was a very, it was a, it was very odd situation, but. You know, it was nice to sort of like. Let him go do his thing and he didn't need me and it would've been nice. And I would like to join on some of the future ones, but, um, but, uh, but yeah, it was, it was, it was great. And then we just, it was like, when you got three kids and you take one of them out of the equation, you're just like, oh, it's like, it's like, uh, you take the weight off the bat before, you know, that you've been, that you've been swinging. So that's, uh, that's what's going on. Um, all right. Well, what, shall we move on and, uh, talk about the box office?
Sonny00:29:54Sure.
Mike00:29:55Box office, uh, I'm going to, I'm going to just note project tail. Mary is number one at the box office because we're going to be talking about that, uh, after this, but, uh, number one at the box office in its first week, 80. Almost 81 million in its first weekend, followed by hoppers at number two, dropping, uh, uh, dropping one rank. Um, it's it's that, that movie, that's the new Pixar movies grows to over $120 million. So, uh. So far then we've got, uh, Duran, Dar, the revenge. Is that some kind of anime thing or something? I don't know what that is.
Sonny00:30:32Indian, Indian, Indian movie. Oh, that makes sense. That makes sense.
Mike00:30:35So it's like Bollywood, uh, and then ready or not to here I come. Um, which I've seen a lot of ads for ready or not to, and I've seen like Samara weaving, uh, doing like press while she's like eight months pregnant and all this stuff and like, I don't remember ready or not. So like, I, I feel like it's. Supposed to be something where I'm like, oh yeah, it's the sequel. We've all been waiting for it, but I've been waiting for it. What's what story there?
Sonny00:31:02Well, so it is, it is kind of funny. So ready or not came out in 2019, honestly came out like it'd be the, the early part of 2019. Uh, let's see, released a release date, August, 2019. Um, so like it came out in, in 2019 and it w it did, it did okay business. I think it grossed, you know, $30 million in the United States or something like that, but it was real cheap. It was, you know, it was made by box searchlight cost like 6 million bucks. Um, and this movie also costs like 6 million bucks. They kept, they kept the budget down. You know, they're kind of doing the, the Blumhouse model with this one. Uh, so I would say, I look, I it's it, but you, you raised a great point, which is that this movie came out in 2019. I don't think people have really been clamoring for a ready or not to. And I, I would imagine there might have been a ready or not to, if COVID hadn't happened, like COVID happens. And it, it screws up all of the, it screws up production. It screws up release. Um, the, the guys who are making it, the, who go by the moniker radio silence. Uh, uh, this, um, uh, I, I, I don't even know what their real name is. Uh, but Bettinelli open and Gillett, uh, Matt, Matt Bettinelli open and Tyler Gillett. They, they go by this, the moniker radio silence. They, I believe. Made, um, uh, they made, I think two, the next two scream movies. So like they, they, you know, they, they, they were busy doing other things. Uh, they came back for this, I believe. Anyway, long story short, long story short. Um, this movie comes out six, six, seven years later, seven years later. And everyone's kind of like, okay, ready or not to sure. I, I, I, I guess I saw the original, but not until, uh, not until it was on. Like. Like Netflix or something. I, I, I didn't see it in theaters even. Um, I saw it.
Mike00:32:59So is this the movie where she's like, where it's like the wealthy family has, uh, that she's like marrying into and she has to like play hide and seek with them, but it's actually
Sonny00:33:09like a death thing is marrying into a wealthy family. Uh, they play hide and sink. They, if they find her, they kill her and they need to make a blood sacrifice to yada. Yada. I don't know. Something, something about either the devil or possibly, I don't know.
Mike00:33:25Sure. Whatever. Okay. Cause I feel like I've seen clips of this movie on social media. Like before I knew about the sequel, like I, I would see clips of, cause it's got Adam Brody, right?
Sonny00:33:35Uh, got Adam Brody.
Mike00:33:36Yeah, yeah, yeah.
?00:33:37Okay.
Sonny00:33:38Got Adam Brody. I can't go wrong with Adam Brody. It's got Andy McDowell. Everyone loves Andy McDowell. Um, the, uh, and, and Samara weaving who is, you know, best known as like knockoff Margot Roby, um, which is like, uh, Margot, Margot Robbie. Uh, like it's funny because there's. There's definitely, I want to see the movie where Jamie Presley plays the mother of Margot Robbie and Samara weaving.
Mike00:34:01It's so true.
Sonny00:34:02Like it's, it's, it's wild. It's like the same person. It's like, she's, it's like, she's aging into, you know, different, different people, different roles. Um, no, there's a very funny moment in the movie Babylon, which I don't think not many people saw. Not many people saw, but it was the Damien Chazelle movie, the Damien Chazelle follow up to, um, to, uh, La La land. That starred Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, um, and somebody else. I don't know, but like, there's a very funny scene in that movie where Margot Robbie and Samara weaving are like in a scene together. And it's like very clearly, like one is trying to be the next version of the other. I forget which way it swung, who was supposed to be older and younger, but the same, same basic thing. Um, yeah, I don't know. So there's, there's that. Project Hail Mary making $80 million, big hit.
Mike00:34:55Yeah. That's like, that's, that's the big news, right?
Sonny00:34:58It's the, I think it's the second biggest opening ever for a non-franchise film. You know, like it's not technically an original cause it is based on a very popular book. It's a, you know, it is, it is adapted from, from a pretty popular book, but, uh, it is, it's a huge hit.
Mike00:35:15Can I just say before we move on to the, to that particular movie and discussing it, uh, I'm just noticing on the list here, number nine this week, new entry. The pout, pout fish, which like literally my three-year-old is like, has just discovered them that we have a bunch of them at my house. And, uh, like just this week, he's like, discover them as like reading them. But like, I, I am like the target demographic, supposedly I'm a parent of somebody who would want to go see this. I'm like, I've heard nothing about this.
Sonny00:35:47I got to say, I don't, uh, so I don't know the studio that is releasing this Viva pictures. I don't know how precisely. This thing came into existence. Um, but I started seeing trailers for it like two weeks ago. I was like, wait, what? Pout, pout fish? Like the book.
Mike00:36:04Um, yeah, it's like, look, it's Nina, uh, Nick Offerman, uh, Nick Offerman does the
Sonny00:36:09voice, Nick Offerman. I, I gotta say, I'm curious. I kind of, I kind of want to see it because I just am curious how they get around like the whole sexual assault aspect of that, that book, which is like Nick Offerman. The pout, pout fish is sad. He's sad. And he's lonely. And he's just, he's got a grumpy, wumpy face all over the place.
Mike00:36:31Correct.
Sonny00:36:32And, and then he gets turned around by somebody forcibly kissing him on the mouth. And then he goes around forcibly kissing everyone else. It's just like a daisy chain of sexual assault in the underwater kingdom. I like, I don't understand. I don't, I don't know how they, they get around that. Frankly.
Mike00:36:49Uh, I'm looking at, I'm, I'm, I'm skimming the Wikipedia plot. Summary here. I don't see anything about kissing. So I think they just, they just, they just wrecked.
Sonny00:37:01This is what they do with our, this is what they do with our classics. Mike, they have to whitewash them to make them acceptable for the, the masses. They, they're their masses.
Mike00:37:09I know they're made, they made, they made Snape black in the HBO show and they took the kissing out of pow, pow fish.
Sonny00:37:16Look, we could do, we could do a fucking hour on that because I am fascinated by this, this thing. Like it's all right. I won't do an hour, but I will do two minutes, which is good. Go ahead. Making, making Snape black is unless you are, unless you're really fucking around with like the allegory aspects of Snape. Yes. The thing about Snape, the thing about Snape is that he's an, he's like an ugly incel loser who is bullied by Harry Potter's dad and still loves Harry Potter's dad's wife and mom. And like, but like adding a racial context. Component to that in a, in what is essentially a British upper class boarding school. Like, does it, doesn't Harry Potter's dad like hang Snape from a tree?
Mike00:38:09Yes. I believe that is a, like, that's literally what happened.
Sonny00:38:12And I'm just like, you're going to make, all right. Like, I'm not saying that I like a lot of the race, a lot of the like race bending controversies are a little bit overblown. Like you want to make Hermione a black girl. That actually. Like, I think that that actually works better as a metaphor in some ways. Right. Cause she's a mudblood. Right. Like you can, you can do.
Mike00:38:32It adds the racial, uh, the racial undertones of the, of the mudblood stuff. It makes it overtone, which is.
Sonny00:38:39Yeah. Yeah. Maybe, maybe it's like two hat on a hat, but like, okay, fine. Yeah. But no, I think it would work. But it would, but at least, at least it would work again. You start, you start when you make Snape a black guy. So like, it's interesting. So like, so you have like the only black teacher in the, in the school probably is like harassing Harry all the time. Like you have, you have like, is it, I just, I think, I think it, it's, it, it, it adds, it adds a layer there that I assume they know what they're doing. Cause they're spending, did you see how much money they're spending on this? It's like, it's spending a hundred million dollars an episode. They're spending a billion dollars on a season of television, like $1.2 billion on this season of television. How do you make money on that? I don't know how you make money on that. How do you make money on that?
Mike00:39:27I mean, it's Harry Potter, like it prints money, right?
Sonny00:39:30Like that's the, yes and no. Like, but my point is it is Harry Potter and it does print money. That's why you don't need to spend a billion dollars on it. Like, you don't, you can do, you can make the season of TV for $400 million and everyone would be like, oh yeah, this is nice. This looks nice anyway. Um, but yeah, no, the, the black Snape thing is, and of course then you have like the worst, the worst people in, on, in the world are yelling about the show. Cause you have like, you have like the conservative. Cranks who were like, this is what they do to all our heroes. Like Severus Snape, they make them black, like, okay. The greasy hair, like also like Snape, Snape being. I, again, I have not read the books, uh, closely. I kind of listened to them while my wife was reading them to my daughter. I have seen the movies, but like, Snape is kind of Jewish in the books. Right. Isn't that like kind of the class metaphor that's going on? He's like the outsider.
Mike00:40:23Yeah. I would say it's like. I don't know if Jewish, I'm sure there's an interpretation of, of, of that. I think it, I think it's definitely, uh, it's definitely could be a subtext to it. I, I always took him to be sort of, um, actually you were a little more spot on with the incel stuff because he's sort of brought in to the kind of wizard nationalist, uh, you know, movement, but then sort of sees the light or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and so, so there's, there's something more to like the, the angry, you know, anger. The incel, uh, angle, uh, of course, like 30 years before that, before that
Sonny00:41:01was a thing, neither, neither here nor there, neither here, uh, the, anyway, that the whole thing is, the whole thing is like kind of fast. I get, it's, it's going to be an enormous hit. Is it in the, so, oh, well, no. And the other part of that. So you've got like the angry conservative cranks who are like, ah, our heroes are being taken from us. But then you have the, then you have like the left-wing people who are like, if you watch even a second of this, you are putting thousands of dollars into the pocket of JK Rowling. So she can personally stone trans people in the streets. Like, it's like, okay, I like, you're all off like this fucking horseshoe. The Harry Potter horseshoe is one of the worst is like, uh, is like, uh, if you wanted to, like, if you wanted to make a Venn diagram of worst people on the internet and people who hate Harry Potter, it's pretty, it's a pretty close circle. It's like, and that's, and that's a fascinating change too. Cause like a lot for a long time, the most annoying people on the internet were the people who were really. Into Harry Potter.
Mike00:41:56Totally. Yeah.
Sonny00:41:57Like the, the ones who are like, this is the metaphor of our time.
Mike00:42:00I'm a Gryffindor. You're a Slytherin. Yeah. But like, it is a funny reversal of all this and it makes me think. So first of all, there's like, there's the thing that I think about that is like, that's how do you know something is super mainstream, right? Is if those different ends of the horseshoe are, are, are hating it. Um, but, but also it, it does like, it's not just mainstream. It's just so embedded. In the culture that like, you can't, the only thing you can say about it. That is interesting on the internet is to like hate on it. Right. Like that, that is, that, that is a huge, you know, like what, what else? Like that, the whole, like what house are you type of internet discussion, which I also hated, um, is like, it's, it's passe like, like, cause like everybody that, you know, if kids who have never read the books or seen the movies are wearing Harry Potter stuff, you know, so it's, it's just,
Sonny00:42:55it's why it is wild how popular it still is. Even with like my daughters, my daughters love it. It's crazy. I like literally there is nothing else like this in, in our time, even like, and it's been, it's been this way for 25 years, almost 30 years. Right. Like the first book came out in 97, 98, something like that.
Mike00:43:1497, I think.
Sonny00:43:16Um, I gotta say, so for 30 years now, for 30 years now, this has been happening and like, I genuinely cannot think of another thing like this in, in our lifetime, the closest is probably star Wars, but even star Wars have like lulls, right? Like totally return, return of the Jedi comes out in 83 and then like, and then there's still like, people are still kind of into it for a while. And then it really goes away. It does like it go, it recedes into like the, the reaches of nerd culture. It was like, it was, you know, it was not the mainstream thing that it would return to being after, um, the prequels came out and the prequels come out. And then it's pretty consistently like.
Mike00:43:55I would say it, it, it, it not, not to, not to quibble a little bit. It's like, it does sort of start in the, uh, a couple years before the prequels with the, with the re-releases of, of the originals, um, which even, but even
Sonny00:44:07after, even after the, the, you know, even after revenge of the Sith comes out, people are kind of tired of it for a while. It goes, I don't know. I like it. My point is star Wars kind of is up and down. It's like, but Harry Potter has been like the Harry Potter books have been in the top hundred bestselling books of Amazon parts. Since Amazon was a thing, right? Like it's, it's, it's, it's wild to think about and none of the sort
Mike00:44:31of like over saturation of like, or did I even let me back that up and say like, you know, the, the, what are the, the movies that, that came out about the American wizards that, uh, I can't remember, it's got, uh, Eddie Redmayne and, um, yeah, all of that stuff. Like, which I, I gather were like, not like that great.
Sonny00:44:52Well, the, the first one did okay. But was like under. Overwhelming. The second one was like poorly received, but, but yeah, but also, yeah, like
Mike00:44:59critically and, and like audience, like nobody kind of really liked them. Um, and it like did not diminish at all. The Harry, the, the love for the franchise as, as, you know, as a whole.
Sonny00:45:10So, and it's got the musical or the parks are huge was, was big. Like it is a, it's an enormous thing, but it is, it is interestingly limited to Harry Potter, which is like kind of, there's a reason they're going back. Yeah. And like, they have not been doing it again. They have not been able to broaden out this world and like star Wars has kind of the same problem. And you see, it's funny because you see some of this in star Trek too. They constantly are going back to Kirk era Trek. Like they, they, they don't know really what to do and they're, you know, they're, they're not there. And, and, and a lot of the times when they try other things like this fucking star Trek Academy show, which every clip of it that I see looks like a parody of the daily wire made of woke star. Trek. I'm just like, how is this real? How is this, how is this a real, like, you're really, you're really handing it. You're really giving gifts to the, the, it is like they were, it's like
Mike00:46:05they were making the show in a hermetically sealed bubble. Uh, and they like missed two 2024, essentially, uh, like the vibe shift
Sonny00:46:14is real and they missed it anyway.
Mike00:46:17All right, well, let's move on. Why are we, why are we delayed? I know, uh, to talk, but no, we shouldn't because there's so much to talk about project tail, Mary, the number. One movie at the box office, uh, this week and, uh, on its way to making quite a bit of a cache, Sonny, do you want to give us a big boy review
Sonny00:46:35of project hail, Mary project hail, Mary it's the new film from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Who's the guys who, uh, produced and wrote the spider verse films. They made the Lego movie. They were on, they started making solo, got fired from solo much to the chagrin of everybody who eventually saw solo. Um, uh, is, uh, it's the story of a man who wakes up on a spaceship. He doesn't know why he's there. He's like, Oh, what am I doing on the space? I'm floating. I got, what am I doing here? Got to figure it out. Oh, everybody I'm with is dead. They're all dead. It's just me. It's me alone. What am I going to do? So this guy, his name is Ryland grace. He has amnesia because he's been in sleep. He's been in space sleep for the last several years, a couple years.
Mike00:47:21Yeah.
Sonny00:47:22I have questions about the timing of all this stuff. This, anyway, it's neither here nor there. Um, he, uh, he wakes up and he's like, ah, I got to figure out what's going on. And he kind of pieces together through flashbacks that we see as he is having these flashbacks. He's remembering things. Mike, did you read the books?
Mike00:47:39No, I want to read the book. Okay.
Sonny00:47:41I want to read it when you were, when you were watching, I've had this conversation with a couple of people when you were reading it, did you think he was remembering, you thought he was remembering the things as we were seeing them, right? Basically.
Mike00:47:54I interpreted it as he was piecing his memory and we, what we were watching was sort of a chronological backstory as he, as he realized it because it would always cut back to him, sort of like, almost like taking something away from that new memory and applying it to, to what he was doing in the.
Sonny00:48:16Yeah. So anyway, he figures out that he has been sent. To a nearby star to figure out, uh, why it is immune from a disease of microorganisms called the astrophage astrophage are these little buggers. They're eating, eating sun light, little microscopic buggers that are eating sunlight and then, and it's going to make the earth too cold to live on. Can't we haven't you seen the movie sunshine? We can't do that. You can't have, can't have an earth. That's too cold to live on the crops. Won't grow. So he has to go and he has to get to this planet and figure out what's going on. And when he gets there, there's another ship, there's a much bigger ship, a much more technical technologically advanced ship. It's got a rock man on it. Well, rock Spider-Man. Name Rocky. That's what he calls him. He calls him Rocky and this is, and, and so the movie does an interesting thing with the introduction of Rocky. And I know there are lots of people complained about Rocky being revealed in the trailers. They were like, oh, that should have been a surprise. And it should have been for a group for like, for like the sake of the narrative. Yes. However, you want to get people to see this. And so how do you get people to see them? You, you promise them cute rock monsters. who looks kind of like TARS from Interstellar. Yeah. And talks kind of like TARS from Interstellar, at least in the same kind of tone of voice.
Guest00:49:34Anyway, the movie does an interesting thing here,
Sonny00:49:38which is that when it starts, Ryan Gosling is the comic character. He's the comic character. He kind of does pratfalls in Zero Gravity, and then when he's on Earth in the flashbacks, he's got a straight man, straight woman in the form of Sandra Huller, who plays this kind of icy European scientist who's trying to save the world and has no time for his monkey shines and foolishness. And then when he finds Rocky, he switches a little bit. He doesn't become a pure straight man, but he is now straight man to Rocky's rolling ball of energy, who's like, Rocky is like part child, part dog, part space genius. Yes. And that is, and like learning how to communicate with him and try to do all that is very funny. It's all very well done, but he has to be, he is now the straight man to Rocky's kind of comic figure. And it's like, it's a really interesting performance from Ryan Gosling, who like the big doc on this movie that I've heard is that he is like, he's just, he's not serious enough. It's too quippy. It's, you know, he should, why can't you treat the end of the world with a little bit more seriousness? Ryland Grace, how dare you? And like, I kind of get it. And I get, I also get the, concurrent complaint that the movie is very manipulative. It like does, it, it is trying to get you, it is moving you from place. Like you can feel yourself being moved from emotional state to emotional state. And I like pushed, I like kind of pushed against that in the first 20 minutes or so of the film. And then I was just like, oh, you know what? This is actually fucking delightful. And Ryan Gosling is delightful. And I am, I am enjoying, I'm enjoying being pushed. Keep pushing me, Lord and Miller. Take me. Anyway, I, I, I don't know how deep into spoilers you want to get here, but as they figure everything out, the real story, it becomes, it becomes a buddy comedy. It becomes a, it becomes a, it's kind of like the Martian though. I, I think the, the heart is also based on the Andy Weir. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it's, which is an Andy Weir book as well. But it's, I, I, I take a little issue with some of the people who are like, this is, you know, it's hard science. He's going to science the shit out of some things. I'm like, this is all nonsense. Like everything that happens in this movie is nonsense. It's all, it's all space fantasy. But that's the key here is that like the movie, the movie this most reminded me of the recent movie, this most reminded me of was Interstellar. And this is for reasons of like size and scale and scope and like the deep space nature of it all. And like the score, the score feels like Hans Zimmer's score from Interstellar constantly. And it's 70 millimeter IMAX. It's, you know, it's got the, anyway, so it's got all that. And that's great. But the, but, but like, whereas Interstellar is best understood as it's so funny because Interstellar was pitched to audiences as this is the second coming of 2001 and Stanley Kubrick and hard science, hard science. And you watch it and it's literally a movie about the power of love transcending space and time. Like that's what, that's what he goes into a black hole and he's, he winds up in a library and they're like, yes, love will save it. And like, okay, that's not hard science. That's this, this is Spielberg. This is pure Spielberg schmaltz. And like TARS is pure Spielberg. Like TARS is a creation of us out of a Spielberg or George Lucas thing. And this movie is a lot like Interstellar, but instead of tamping down some of those Spielberg influences, it leans into them fully. It like embraces them. It's like, this is, we are, we are doing the Spielberg thing. Um, and, and as a result, it's like one of the most entertaining, uh, pieces of pop entertainment I have seen in many, many years.
Mike00:53:36Yeah.
Sonny00:53:37That's it. Mike, what did you make of project Hail Mary?
Mike00:53:41Uh, I really enjoyed it. I just let it wash all over me. And I had a great time. I mean, like I don't really take issue with anything that you said, I don't really take issue with the complaints about it. I just don't care about those complaints. Like it was enjoyable and fun. And it was fun to go to a movie and see this movie and sort of like you say, be manipulated and I did not care that I was being manipulated and that's fine. That's what, that's what I'm there to do. It's like, that's like complaining. That the roller coaster, uh, you know, manipulates you by taking a long time to get up to the top of the hill before you go down the hill. It's like, well, yeah, but that's what I write it for, you know? So I, I, I enjoyed it. I love it. I mean, I have some, some like small quibbles or like things that I would have changed, like, which mostly have to do with the ending of it, um, which I thought was just a little too cute. Um, but like, that's a pretty minor complaint, like I will say the, the ending with like, I guess, spoiler alert here, like the ending with like all the little rock guys, all the little rock kids that he's, that he's teaching. I was like, okay, like, this is, this is getting, you're getting a little too cute. Now, now you're just making the, the plush toys to sell, you know, sort of. Yeah. So, um, but, uh, I, I mean, I was, go ahead.
Sonny00:55:14Let's let's drill down on one thing before that though. Did you feel like there were too many endings? Cause this is the one real knock on the movie that I, I am kind of with it. It is a little bit long and it, it has a rhythm at the end that is like climax. Oh, we're not done yet. There's more plot climax. Oh, we're not done yet. There's more plot climax. Here we are. We're finally there. And there's, it does, it does this like, it's like the, the hills in one battle after another, like you keep going over and, uh, and like it, it, it, it, I, I do think that that goes like maybe one time too many, like they could have condensed that just a bit.
Mike00:55:49I, I, I tend to agree with that. I mean, again, It's like, it's not the end of the world. It was all, it was all for the most part enjoyable. So I wasn't like, I wasn't like, oh, this is bad. Um, it just, yeah, I, I do think it's sort of, it dragged things on a little bit and, and it, it maybe would have been just fine to end it when, when Grace and Rocky are reunited and, and just like, let, let us fill in what happens after that, if that, you know, like. Um, and, and, and instead, yeah, it does have one too many things, but it's, it, it was fine. I, I just, I thought it was like people, if, if anybody's out there complaining that it's Spielbergian, like, I don't know what to tell them. Maybe, maybe nobody's doing that.
Sonny00:56:39I don't know, but like, well, they're not putting it, they're not putting it in that nobody, very few people outside of like the real dipshit, like communists are like, ah, Spielberg is bad. You don't want to be like Spielberg. Um, there was, there was in the, in the, in the eighties and nineties, there was a, there was like a, um, a movement against Steven Spielberg as like meaningless schmaltz, like, you know, corporate products and triumph over the art of cinema, you know, real cinema is Tarkovsky, not this, not this, you know, Spielberg crap and like, fuck those people. Those guys are assholes. But like most, I do think there is there, I, from people who are not like that, from people who do like Spielberg, there has been, oh, I, again, they're like, you can feel yourself being manipulated while watching the film. And I understand resenting and pushing back against that. Like I said, I did myself, frankly, for, for 10 minutes or so. I was like, I was like, I don't know about this too much. And then I was just like, ah, you know what? This is delightful. It's a delight.
Mike00:57:47Yeah. It, it, which it is, it is a, it's a delightful movie it's I can see why it's doing so well, like it's, it's, there's no, there's no mystery, uh, to, to that. And Ryan Gosling, I think is, and, and perhaps this is sort of just established and, uh, and, and, and it doesn't require any more comment, but it's like, he's a movie star, uh, and like, we've been talking for years about, so you don't, so you disagree, Sonny, you, you think he doesn't open a movie and maybe he doesn't. But like, I mean, I want. Like he, he has that quality where like women wanna men wanna be him kind of thing. And I think that he, he is, he is delightful to watch on screen. He is funny and he does the dramatic well, like he he's, he, he's a good actor and he's a good star and I love seeing him and I wanna see him in the next thing he does and the next thing he does and the next thing he does, like what, what, what more do you want?
Sonny00:58:48I, I tend to look, I like movies. I like Ryan Gosling a lot. Uh, I have liked him for many years, right? He's great in the nice guys. He is, he was, he was great in the fall guy. The question becomes, the question becomes like, okay, is he the, the movie star question is a very specific one about like, does he open a movie? Right. And like, that is the answer to that has up until now been functionally. No. Like the fall guy came out two years ago, I think, right. That was 2023 fall guy comes out two years ago. Yeah. And, and it's a, it's a good movie. It's a good entertaining movie. It's a lot of fun, but people didn't go see it. People weren't interested. People, people, people did not want to go see it. And so like, I think he is one of these guys where I don't like, I'm not saying that he is precisely like Chris Pratt and this is not, and this isn't, this is a movie that I don't know Chris Pratt would have opened quite as well either. Interestingly. I don't know. I like it. I, I will say this is, I I'm rambling. I'm like kind of, because I like, I like him a lot and I would love for him to be considered a movie star, but I do not think he is like Michael B. Jordan in the sense that like there's, there's, there's a, not a big audience that is like, I am definitely going to go see the new Ryan Gosling movie. Like there is with Michael B. Jordan.
Mike01:00:08Interesting.
Sonny01:00:09Um, or even Zendaya. So like Zendaya, you know, you, we could talk about like, oh, well, challengers didn't did okay. Cause, but it's a small adult drama, but like, remember when Dune came out? So like. Zendaya is an interesting one because her, her biggest hits are, are much like, uh, like Tom Holland's or Timothée Chalamet's they're, they are franchise fair. Right. It's like you have, she's in the Dune movies and she's in the Spider-Man movies. And that's like, those are, those are her big hits, but I will say, I know I have heard from people who would know that when people are polled about Spider-Man movies, she is the number one reason that people go outside of it's Spider-Man. Like it's, it's like, she's above Tom Holland. Like people go see the movie because when, when Dune came out, when Dune came out, remember like she was all over that first trailer and she's barely in the, the first Dune, like she's in it for like 10 minutes and then people were pissed off, people were like, why isn't Zendaya in this movie more? And the reason they, the reason she was in all the promos and the reason they, they highlighted her is because she was, uh, she's a big draw because people were. People really want to see her. So I think she is a big movie star. I think I, again, I think, uh, I think, um, Ryan Gosling is maybe he's okay. So then he's getting there.
Mike01:01:34So then let me, let me reel that back and just say, so maybe he's more of a Robert De Niro type, which is like, uh, a good actor who makes lots. I mean, he does make weird choices with his movies, but they're, they're choices that like, I'm looking through the movies that Ryan Gosling has made. Okay. Over his career. And there are so many movies that I personally love that he is a part of. So like particularly sort of starting, uh, around 2011. So he makes, I didn't see crazy, stupid love, but like drive. I love that movie, uh, which he's the star of. Um, I love the Ides of March, which is like a, kind of a, a little, uh, DC.
Sonny01:02:15Uh, yeah, that's the political thriller.
Mike01:02:17Yes. Uh, which he is in, uh, the place beyond the pines. Uh, I just thought. That was, uh, I was, uh, interesting movie. Again, this is not like a, that is not a movie that made like, you know, uh, I was not a blockbuster by any stretch, but it was a great movie and I enjoyed it. Um, then you've got the big short in 2015. You've got the nice guys and La La land the next year, uh, blade runner 2049. I did not see first man, but, uh, you know, you got first man, uh, Barbie, of course, fall guy and project Hail Mary. Like these are all like these. They feel like movies that people will keep talking about among the people who will keep talking about movies for a while. And like, he has a, he has a place that I think is, um, is interesting within the conversation of like stars and movies and actors and that sort of thing. But, uh, but I could be biased because I like a lot of those movies and a lot of them came out in a time when I was seeing lots of, uh, movies and really interested in, in learning more about, about movies and, and seeing interesting stuff. That wasn't just top of the box office.
Sonny01:03:24I'll say, I'll say like, we'll, we'll have an interesting test of this with star Wars star fighter, which comes out in 2027. I think that's in post-production now. Um, and it's going to be, so you've got the Mandalorian and Grogu coming out this
Mike01:03:39may, which the trailer I saw looked rough.
Sonny01:03:44The second trailer was better. I thought there was more, it's more kind of action adventure-y, you know, I think it's, I think it's going to be all right. But I will say it does look like a fucking TV show. That's exactly what I was saying. It looks like a TV show. Anyway, um, the, we'll see, we'll see how that does. But you know, star Wars star fighter is the first big, it's the first star Wars movie really since, uh, since again, depending on how we want to think about Mandalorian and Grogu, which again, feels kind of like an extension of the TV show more than a big standalone movie. It's going to be the first star Wars movie in seven years when it comes out. Um, I, you know, that there's kind of a lot writing on that, uh, and I'm sure that they are very thrilled to see the numbers on project hail Mary. Cause it's like, you loved him in this space movie. We got another space movie for you.
Mike01:04:33Um, all right, well, let's, let's get off Ryan Gosling real quick and just, and just talk, uh, about the movie a little more because, um, so a couple of things, one, I love seeing Milana Vayntrub, AKA the AT&T girl. I love her. You know what? Criticism of this movie could have used.
Sonny01:04:51More, uh, of her 100%, 100%.
Mike01:04:54What, what, what, what were they thinking? Exactly.
Sonny01:04:57Well, okay. She shows up, he shows up and sees the AT&T girl in outer space. And it's like, whoa, this is great. I'm never going back to earth. Let's go back to the AT&T girls planet, planet of AT&T girls.
Mike01:05:08Uh, so, uh, I love that. I love, I, I loved her and love seeing her. Um, uh, the, the Rocky creature, I agree. They should have showed it in the, uh, in the trailer, but like, I still found the sort of the reveal was well done and delightful. Like in the movie, you know, that's the, you get the sense that it's this could be this scary creature and, and, and the sort of reveal that no, it's actually this lovable Rocky teddy bear, uh, is, uh, you know, it was, was just great. The, the, the buddy comedy stuff of it worked really well for me. Um, I thought the structure of it, and again, having not read the novel, I don't know if the novel is this way, but the structure of it, maybe just the surprise of it. Uh, is, is, uh, is what appealed to me, but, you know, having watched the trailer and thinking, this is going to be a straightforward narrative. He, you know, we start with him in the classroom and learning that, uh, that he's being called to help with this project. And then, and then going off, like starting it in medias res was like a shock to me. I was like, Oh, we're, we're already here. And I, I, I enjoyed, I enjoyed that. And I enjoyed piecing it together, uh, as, as he was piecing it together. Um, and, uh, and I thought, uh, Eva Eva, right. That was the, that was the harsh German lady who was kind of running the, uh, the, the, the operation back home was driven.
Sonny01:06:33I was just calling her Ilsa, Ilsa, Ilsa. She will.
Mike01:06:39Um, I loved seeing, uh, what's his name from the bear, the, uh, the pastry chef from the bear.
Sonny01:06:45Um, I, I, that was great. I was like, and it took me, it took me like his entire time on screen to remember who he was from the bear. Yes. Yes.
Mike01:06:54Uh, that's funny. Um, so it, uh, it was, I, I agree with you. Delightful movie. Um, there it's interesting to see, like, I, I pick up on some of these things from like, uh, from, from Catholic, uh, you know, writers and talkers and stuff. Um, it's a, it's a, a movie called project hail Mary. There's like a little bit of, um, you know, nods, obviously, obviously project hail Mary is, and you know,
Sonny01:07:20you mean hail? Mary, the movie that's full of grace, full of grace.
Mike01:07:23Exactly. The, the ship itself is the hail Mary and it's full of little hat on a hat.
Sonny01:07:28Yeah, exactly.
Mike01:07:29Rocky. Right. Uh, uh, you know, as in Peter, you know, the, the rock on which the church is
Sonny01:07:35built, uh, Peter, Peter is great for rock. Peter is great for rock.
Mike01:07:39Um, so it's, uh, it's all at all, you know, it's, it's, it's not that deep of a movie, but it's a fun movie and, um, and I love the, I love the concept of it. Like, I love the concept of this, like, of this sun eating, you know, microbes.
Sonny01:07:56Astrophage.
Mike01:07:57Yeah. Astrophage. And which is a great name. I love that name and like, oh, and like, it's not eating this one. I'm like, let's go figure it out. And then it's this other thing that, uh, this other, I don't know, organism of some kind that, that stops it.
Sonny01:08:12So, um, where did the astrophage come from? That's what I want to know.
Mike01:08:16Well, how did it get there? Yeah. How did it get there? It just kind of appeared, I guess, showed
Sonny01:08:20up everywhere all at once. What, what the hell, the hell astrophage, fuck off.
Mike01:08:25As they said in another movie, life finds a way, um, go back
Sonny01:08:28to your own, go back to your own dimension. Um, you know, and, and the, the, the, the evil, the dark evil is trying to snuff out the light.
Mike01:08:39Hmm. There we go. It's all this out there. It's all there. It's all there.
Sonny01:08:45Um, so you're saying, so what you're saying is that this is now in competition with. Uh, with, uh, Top Gun Maverick and, uh, the, the mission impossible, uh, the last two mission impossible movies as like the most Catholic blockbusters.
Mike01:09:03Uh, perhaps we also have to include, um, uh, the equalizer three in, in that. Um, that's also, also very, very Catholic movie.
Sonny01:09:11Um, so he's in Italy more feels more old Testament, frankly, uh, I think
Mike01:09:20I discussed some of that on this show. Um, all right. Uh, is there any other thoughts that we have on project hail Mary, any other like criticisms or, or controversies that, that need to be dealt with and, and dispensed with here on this podcast?
Sonny01:09:32I mean, look, I, the thing is, if you, if you find grace annoying, you are going to find this movie annoying because you spend the whole movie with them. Like there, and there are people who are just like, it's funny because one out of every 10 people or so was like, I just really did not like, I found him annoying. He wasn't serious enough. I didn't like him. He's too quick.
Mike01:09:52Not serious enough.
Sonny01:09:53Like, and I just like, I just like, I get it. I kind of get it. Um, you know, uh, but also no, you're wrong.
Mike01:10:05That, that has this, that has this, the, the, that gives me the idea of like, this is not the movie I wanted them to make kind of vibes, right? Like I wanted them to, you know, I, I wanted them to wanted a more serious movie.
Sonny01:10:18Yeah. I wanted interstellar.
Mike01:10:20Yeah. Well, you already have interstellar. Go watch interstellar again. Come on.
Sonny01:10:25Yeah.
Mike01:10:26Dickheads. Exactly. All right. That is all the time we're going to give to this episode. Uh, join us over at subbeacon.com and we will talk to you next time. Uh, I, I have also have to say the use of the Beatles song in this, the, uh, two of us, uh, surprised me just because. It's like, it's not often you hear like Beatles songs used in movies and that's a pretty, I mean, it's the first on an album. It's the first track on that album that it's on, but it's like, it is kind of a, it is kind of a deep cut, uh, of Beatles songs. I thought that was interesting.
Sonny01:11:09I have no thoughts on that. I have no thoughts on their use of a boy band from the 1960s.
Mike01:11:14Do you have any, do you have anything to say? Do you have anything?
Sonny01:11:17My, my, my, my one last parting Ryan Gosling thought. we did not even discuss his his debut directorial feature lost river which is by all accounts one of the worst movies ever made like i i i i saw i remember seeing trailers for this a bunch and then it just went away and did not come out and was it was kind of dumped to vod i'm looking after a token token release um but it's uh it uh i i don't it's kind of good i haven't i haven't actually i haven't actually seen the the film i kind of want to but it is it is it's got this
Mike01:11:54like weirdly stacked cast yeah christina hendrick sershi ronan matt smith ben mendelsohn oh eva mendez that's that's no surprise uh he couldn't he couldn't bring a good movie out of that
Sonny01:12:06um no the answer to that apparently is no but i do want i do want to see it because it does i'll send you the trailer mike because it is it is genuinely one of the uh it's it's this it's an amusing trailer because you can see all of the like nicholas winding reffin influences there because it this was he made he directed this like in the midst of making uh drive and place
Mike01:12:31beyond god forgives and i know that was somebody else but yeah that all that sort of thing stuff um all right well uh and i do like on the wikipedia page it says starring all these people and eva mendez in her final film role and so she's dead she's not dead
Sonny01:12:48it's funny because i i thought i was like wait what happened to even oh that's right she like she's just she's just married she's well i guess not married but like she's
Mike01:12:56yeah yeah it's just funny i'm sure it's fine
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