All of us who were assiduously taught “Brave New World” & “1984” in school now have TVs, cable boxes, shopping assistants and mobile phones that tell the authorities what we’re saying, what we’re doing and where we are at all times. YOU HAD ONE JOB. Great effort, everyone.
We announced yesterday that MGM is extending the exclusive theatrical window for PROJECT HAIL MARY so it won’t be on streaming anytime soon. This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen - and w a full return to IMAX screens for 1 week only starting this weekend, make plans to see it in a theater now!
Bring friends and loved ones. It’s an experience to share with others.
If you’re wondering how Project Hail Mary holds up the second time around, I can advise: The first time it’s a total surprise. Everything’s new and is coming at you so fast and your awe gland gets quite the workout. But the second time you go to the theater it’s a whole new vibe. Your brain wants to study in depth the things that clocked it before and sped by so fast and really drink them in.
CONCLUSION: It’s well worth it.
Making a movie is so tangible and physical. Your feet hurt. Your hair gets too long. Your jeans develop character (holes). For months you are together as a crew (what a crew!) until you become a unit.
Releasing a movie on the other hand is completely abstract. You get an email saying how it’s doing. The one thing that makes it feel real are the stories people like you share about it.
A film in fact never exists by itself. It is shot out at the speed of light and sound 24 times a second and instantly disappears. It only exists in the minds and hearts of people who see and hear it and think and talk about it. So what we feel today is just immense gratitude to so many people, for seeing it early, for staying up late, for sitting in the front row all the way to the left, for reading the book, for going in blind, for bringing a friend, for your precious and generous undivided attention, for the posts and the drawings and edits and animations and costumes and homemade figurines fer crackin’ ice. You have brought the movie to life with your big beautiful empathetic human brains. You are part of the movie now. So if you are one of the 1000+ artists who worked on it or one of the folks around the world who came out and watched it…
Thank. Thank. Thank.
❤️ Chris and Phil
( v - the day we wrapped - v)
National Hooky Day was a rousing success. I ran into a fellow work-ditcher at the movie theater and sat myself beside him. Probably dozens around us were celebrating the new-found freedom. I ultimately decided against jumping up on stage and introducing myself and welcoming everyone.
Thoughts on seeing Project Hail Mary the second time: the juxtaposition of certain colors over and over is just beautiful. The spacecraft sets are breathtaking. I was able to pay attention to the score and soundtrack and it’s just fantastic. There are times your brain slips into an I’m-at-a-museum mode and you can bliss out. I don’t think there are many actors who could have embodied/personified the character of Ryland Grace. Gary Cooper circa 1936 comes to mind, but he was a bit too aw-shucks. I suspect the pursued romance angle with the project leader ended up on the cutting room floor. It feels implied anyway, the way a reader can sometimes sense edited-out prose and assign it a place in the brain’s world building anyway.
Anyway, such a great movie, made intentionally to be impressive at every level.
And did I catch a hat-tip to Interstellar on Rocky’s ship?
END OF TRANSMISSION
LAST CHANCE:
Make your excuses. Sell ya wife, sell ya kids. National Hooky Day is moments away. Millions are expected to ditch work. Productivity across all sectors will drop precipitously. Mr. Dun will look across the empty landscape, drop to all fours and proceed to bite Mr. Bradstreet on the leg. Hear ye, hear ye! Everyone’s gone to the movies, as Steely Dan once said, and you can’t say fairer than that. See you there!
Curators of social media platforms: We need to make these places more like Sicily, circa 1903. Vendettas! Assassinations! Threats of terrifying violence!
Me: What if I just decide to look away?
COSMP: We inject it into your pre-frontal cortex under the guise of improving your cognition. Ha ha! You will literally beg for it!
ANNOUNCEMENT: People are always bossing each other around on here for one damned political thing or another, but I’m going the other way by calling for a NATIONAL HOOKY DAY Wednesday afternoon to go see Project Hail Mary for a matinee showing. It’ll be my 2nd time - maybe it’ll be yours - that’s a good thing. Write in your official work schedule that you have a last minute “off-site” meeting. See you there!
(I’m also willing to forge doctor’s sick notes for a small fee.)
ANNOUNCEMENT: People are always bossing each other around on here for one damned political thing or another, but I’m going the other way by calling for a NATIONAL HOOKY DAY Wednesday afternoon to go see Project Hail Mary for a matinee showing. It’ll be my 2nd time - maybe it’ll be yours - that’s a good thing. Write in your official work schedule that you have a last minute “off-site” meeting. See you there!
(I’m also willing to forge doctor’s sick notes for a small fee.)