Andy Weir is very respected for his detailed hard science-fiction storytelling -as in the concepts and technology and general science of his stories holds up to scrutiny and authenticity with regards to his premises. And it is actually a very compelling method of relating the high concepts he explores. The Martian is enthralling because of this -what would it realistically take to survive on Mars? Add in a bit of tension and humour, and a device with which to essentially educate the audience and it becomes something like a fun theoretical experiment in a science class. There is less of that in Project Hail Mary , which does at times veer more into the implausible than The Martian -perhaps due to it dealing with the subject of aliens. But it is still intriguing via Drew Goddard’s adaptation, and what it loses in some of the ingenuity to its technical character it makes up for in a significant strength of psychological character. This is a movie about a lonely, insecure man -s...
Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut is exactly what I expected, which is to say, not at all what I would anticipate for a person’s first feature. Stewart has a very singular personality and perspective, and I figured that would translate into a very distinct directorial style -but I didn’t know exactly how it would manifest. As it turns out, it is a perfect distillation of her character and instincts in cinematic form -uncompromising, organic, a little bit eerie, experimental, and beautiful; a fairly enrapturing movie that speaks to a vivid talent with an incredibly promising future behind the camera. The Chronology of Water is not, as I assumed, the biopic of an Olympic swimmer. It’s not my fault, the title and imagery associated with this movie since its debut at Cannes last year has fostered that supposition. It is about a person who aspires to that, but the dream is dashed relatively early on -and unlike in conventional biographic films- is never picked up again as some grand ...