Movie: The Story of Carl Sagan

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Dr. Carl Sagan. (NASA)

Have you heard about the upcoming movie about Carl Sagan called Voyagers? Andrew Garfield of Spiderman fame will be playing Dr. Sagan. Daisy Edgar-Jones will play the part of Ann Druyan. The new film will be one of many shown at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, starting next week.

Here is the basic outline of the film by The Hollywood Reporter:

The film is set in 1977 as NASA is preparing to launch humanity’s first interstellar probes, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions. A team, led by Sagan, sets out to create a message to accompany them: the Golden Record, a group of images and sounds meant to express the essence of humanity and act as a first-contact greeting for any galactic lifeforms the probes might reach. But what starts out as a race-against-the-clock mission becomes an epic, unexpected love story between Sagan and his collaborator Druyan.

I have seen Andrew Garfield in a number of films and TV shows, and he never disappoints. Seeing his take on Dr. Sagan’s story should be fascinating and fun.

With all the recent films and series on twisted business icons, I will be happy to take a break and watch a film that covers one of science’s great icons. Maybe it can encourage a new generation of scientists and supporters of science.

Movie: Dune, Part Two Trailer Available

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Preview image from Dune, Part Two. (Warner Bros.)

If you are a fan of Frank Herbert’s series Dune, as well as the 2021 film version of the first book directed by Denis Villeneuve, then you will be pleased to see the latest trailer for the second part of the film. It does not give too much away to those who do not already know the story, but it demonstrates that we can expect the same quality of film later this year.

It would be nice if the other books in the series get picked up by Warner Bros. in the way the Lord of the Rings led to increased interest in the tales as well as more movies. It is a tricky balance that can be abused, as we have seen with too many series, but carefully done it would be amazing to see.

You can read more about the upcoming film in a cover story by Vanity Fair. It also has plenty of photos from the new film (such as the one below).

Dune, Part Two should be in theaters by November of this year.

Image (Credit): Baron Harkonnen languishing in his restorative bath. (Vanity Fair/Niko Tavernise)

Movies: The Return of Star Wars Films

Posted on by onespaceman2000

While The Mandalorian and Andor have does a nice job filling in the gap between Star Wars movies, three new film projects are now in the works. But we are not looking at another trilogy, or a trilogy of trilogies. Instead, the three films with three different directors will cover different periods in the Star Wars saga.

Here is how it was broken out by StarWars.com:

  • The film directed by James Mangold will “…go back to the dawn of the Jedi”;
  • The film directed by Dave Filoni will “…focus on the New Republic,” with tie-ins to the various TV series covering that period; and
  • The film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will “…be set after the events of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” and include the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey.

This sounds a lot like a bunch of Rogue One films that try to carve out an interesting piece from the original nine-film series, which is fine with me if it is done properly. So far the TV series spin-offs have been successful about half of the time, so there is a risk that the Star Wars name is not enough. Then again, I would rather see an attempt at more Star Wars then the current batch of superhero films.

Movie: 65 (Million Years Ago)

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Sony Pictures

Adam Driver (from Star Wars fame) is starring in a new movie released this weekend that combines Planet of the Apes with Jurassic Park. Driver plays a space traveler who goes back in time and does not know the “uncharted” planet he landed on until the big-teeth neighbors come around to say “hi.”

Here is the set up from Sony Pictures:

After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth…65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.

You can catch the trailer here as well.

So far, Rotten Tomatoes has give it a critic’s score of 36%. Here are a few of the comments:

  • There’s a reason such films have, in theatrical terms, been pushed to the brink of extinction, and 65 represents such an uninspired effort as to look like a fossil even before the credits roll.
  • Sometimes a short, simple premise with good leads is all you need. 65 is no Jurassic Park but it will entertain and get out before you want it to.
  • It’s not schlocky enough to be so-bad-it’s-good and nowhere near good enough to be taken even a tiny bit seriously.

I thought the movie was expected to be released on March 17th, but instead the movie 65 was in theaters this weekend.

Don’t let the critics deter you. If you are looking for a simple, fun film, I would check it out.

Reason Magazine Discusses the Space Age

Posted on by onespaceman2000

The December issue of Reason Magazine has plenty of fun articles on space travel, the ethics of terra-forming, science fiction books and films, and more. The magazine tends to favor privatization of just about everything, so expect some cheering for space billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, but overall it is a nice collection of thought-provoking articles.

Here is a sample of the articles: