Image (Credit): Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary. (Amazon MGM Studios)
“I think that’s what’s so special about this film, and why people are having such an emotional connection to it … it’s like we’ve been so saturated with dystopia in future narratives for the last decade to the point where it feels almost inevitable at this point. Then you have Andy sort of reminding us through his work that human beings are always making the impossible possible.”
-Statement by Ryan Gosling, star of the upcoming film Project Hail Mary, in an interview with Scary Mommy. He was interviewed along with author Andy Weir.
The long-awaited second feature film of a book by author Andy Weir is almost here. After enjoying both the book and later movie-version of The Martian back in 2015 (yes, more than a decade ago), we are ready for his next film based on his 2021 book ProjectHailMary. Now you only have to wait until March 20th
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
Basically, this story is about a lone astronaut that survives his peers on a long journey to save Earth only to encounter a sole-survivor, spider-like creature that can help him save Earth. This story might remind you of a 2024 film called Spaceman with Adam Sandler about a lone cosmonaut who travels far from Earth to meet with a spider-like creature. This creature is the sole survivor of a sickness but still able to find a way for Adam Sandler’s character to save Earth.
I’m not saying you have seen this movie before, but..
If you are interested in the story and science behind it, you might want to listen to an interview with the author on the Planetary Radio podcast.Andy Weir probably goes too far into the science, but it’s a good chance to dig a little deeper into the background of his book.
On February 27th, a new movie called In the Blink of an Eye premieres on Hulu. It sounds like an interesting story told in three parts over thousands of years from primitive human life all the way to travel to a new planet. You can see the outline for yourself in this trailer.
While I did not see many movies showing up for 2026 in this realm, they tend to pop up like mushrooms when they are ready. That is fine with me. It also has the same director as WALL-E, which gives me hope.
At just around 90 minutes, it often feels like the Cliffs Notes version of a 500-page novel.
And Rotten Tomatoeshas the TomatoReader at 16 percent based on 19 reviews. Richard Lawson with The Hollywood Reporter states:
There is so little texture to these character arcs that the actors are mostly just working in service of a blandly uplifting message. It’s as if they’ve all been commissioned by a well-funded science museum.
I still want to judge the film for myself. Plus, I like the cast that includes Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones, and Daveed Diggs.
You can wait for the perfect film, or simply take what is offered at the moment.
Image (Credit): A scene from the film In the Blink of an Eye. (Hulu)
It seems two movies covering Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was not enough, so an entire television series is being readied by Amazon Prime for release this year.
Of course, Amazon Prime has been talking about this series since at least 2022, with the Motion Picture Association stating back then:
Blade Runner 2099 will no doubt continue these storylines, but considering it’s set a full 50 years after Villeneuve’s film, you can expect entirely new characters, plot points, and environments. Amazon has now proven itself successful working on a massively scaled genre series with the current success of its most ambitious project to date, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Blade Runner 2099 will provide the streamer with another major opportunity to continue the story of an already hugely popular franchise, with a fan base no less fervent than those who love Lord of the Rings.
I am not so sure that Amazon Prime’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a good comparison since it was not a great success. Forbes magazine called it a flop, noting that:
Just under two-thirds of all Rings Of Power viewers quit watching the show before the finale, missing out on some truly ghastly television in the process. The big question I have is: Out of all the viewers who did stick around for all eight episodes, how many were hate-watching?
It also doesn’t help that (1) Blade Runner 2049 was a flop at movie theaters and (1) the main star in this new television series, Michelle Yeoh, was part of an already discussed movie flop last year with Star Trek: Section 31. Given that Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh did well in the series Star Trek: Discovery, I blame the film creators more than the actors.
The good news is that Ridley Scott will be back at the helm on this new series. Denis Villeneuve gave us the Blade Runner 2049 film. While he was brilliant with the two Dune movies he crafted from the books, for some reason he could not make it work when expanding on another director’s work.
I am not seeing any specific premiere date, but the industry noise seems to be pretty upbeat about a 2026 release.
The odds are not in Amazon Prime’s favor, yet I am rooting as much as anyone else that this series is successful.
It is that time of year to look back at the science fiction movies of 2025 and determine which ones were really bad. We might as well go through this process because I cannot remember any that were really good, particularly in the area of space adventures.
You may be surprised to see a Star Trek film among the contenders, but you would not be if you actually watched it. It was an embarrassment for the franchise to show something like this. The story line made no sense, the acting was horrendous, the special effects and music were subpar, and the only words that came to mind were “Section 8,” that retired military term for those diagnosed with a psychiatric condition.
Section 31 was originally planned as a spin-off television series from Star Trek: Discovery, but instead it was released as a film. I cannot image any of this as a series. At least with a movie it is once and gone, rather than a continuing open wound.
I am just happy that the Star Trek creative team spent its time and money on the new series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. While the new series is not perfect, it has heart and closely follows the expected story line. In the case of Section 31, I cannot remember anything that tied it to the larger Star Trek story line other than one Starfleet character who was not really much of a character at all.
Of course, one could argue that the Federation entity Section 31 was all you needed as a tie-in, but the role of this group was never properly explained within the overall Star Trek universe. Anyone wandering into this film would not understand the basics and hopefully left the room before experiencing any real brain rot.
But wait, there’s more. If you thought that actress Michelle Yeoh would save the movie, you can forget that idea. In fact, she was nominated for Worst Actress. Section 31 was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress, Director and Screenplay.
I think it would be best if we all pretend the movie never existed and get on with our lives. Looking back is just too painful.
Image (Credit): Some of the characters from Star Trek: Section 31. (Paramount+)
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