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Toni Lynn Donald (1997 KP) rated Hidden Figures (2016) in Movies
Apr 19, 2020 (Updated Apr 19, 2020)
This was a great movie! It was about 3 women who worked for NASA and the struggles they faced being black women working there. It also was how Katherine Goble helps in the mission and finds flaws in the computers mathematics for the launch. The acting is great in this! I just love Katherine, she's my favorite of the 3 ladies. They also have many other great actors. Just love this movie!
Kate (355 KP) rated Hidden Figures (2016) in Movies
Jan 31, 2019
Another bit of history that everyone should know about, this film does live up to its name and it is about the women behind the space war at NASA and how they helped immensely with the work but went unrecognised until recently because they were women and coloured. Worth watching and you might learn a lot, quite funny in places although it is not a comedy but a serious film. Have seen a couple of times and would quite happily watch again.
This was a very informative and detailed read. Before Hidden Figures the movie came out, I didn't know this was a book and more importantly, I didn't know about these women and their contributions to NASA and the space program. It's truly amazing what they were able to figure out with their minds. This is a book that everyone should read so they can see the ways in which African-Americans contribute to something as important as getting a man in space and then safely back home.
Charlotte (209 KP) rated The Plane Crash in TV
Dec 8, 2017
intriguing & holds your attention (2 more)
incredibly interesting, especially (as the documentary points out) as there had been no experiment of its kind since a failed NASA attempt in 1984
eye opening and thought provoking, challenging the current system and design of our aeroplanes
* although i genuinely believe this is due to the lack of scientific experimentation of this kind that has been done (unsurprising given the fact that these experiments cost millions and a slight mistake can ruin the entire trial, rendering it useless)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hangar 18 (1980) in Movies
May 20, 2018 (Updated May 20, 2018)
Heroically low-budget, almost entirely inept pseudo-sci-fi from the makers of In Search of Noah's Ark and The Mysterious Monsters. There's less of a docu-drama vibe to this one but a definite proto-X-Files flavour as sinister government types cover up the crash-landing of a flying saucer, while fitting up two heroic, improbably-cast NASA astronauts for the death of a colleague in orbit. The cover-up is stupid and unconvincing; so are the astronaut characters; both are better than the special effects and props, which score highly on the crud-o-meter.
Main points of interest are as follows: Robert Vaughn as the slimy White House operator, who doesn't meet the rest of the main cast while giving a performance best-described as very Robert Vaughny. Darren McGavin comes as close as anyone to rescuing the movie as a sympathetic NASA director leading the investigation of the plastic UFO. (This is one of those movies with an almost wholly white male cast, so I expect it will be burnt at the stake in the not too distant future.)
The original ending, in which nearly everyone dies and the world is (probably) doomed by self-serving politicians, seems to have been lost to history, replaced by the one from the TV version, which is less downbeat but thoroughly pointless (so perhaps more appropriate for the movie). This isn't even fun junk, it's just witless stodge. Possibly of some value to cultural historians as a time capsule of fringe late-70s concerns, a waste of time for everyone else.
Main points of interest are as follows: Robert Vaughn as the slimy White House operator, who doesn't meet the rest of the main cast while giving a performance best-described as very Robert Vaughny. Darren McGavin comes as close as anyone to rescuing the movie as a sympathetic NASA director leading the investigation of the plastic UFO. (This is one of those movies with an almost wholly white male cast, so I expect it will be burnt at the stake in the not too distant future.)
The original ending, in which nearly everyone dies and the world is (probably) doomed by self-serving politicians, seems to have been lost to history, replaced by the one from the TV version, which is less downbeat but thoroughly pointless (so perhaps more appropriate for the movie). This isn't even fun junk, it's just witless stodge. Possibly of some value to cultural historians as a time capsule of fringe late-70s concerns, a waste of time for everyone else.
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated What If: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Randall Munroe, ex-NASA employee and current webcomic writer, has a feature on his website in which readers ask him hypothetical questions and he goes about answering them as scientifically as possible. In this book, he has compiled the best of those, along with a few new ones, and the end result is perhaps the most entertaining educational book possible. The questions vary from the sort you may have found yourself wondering to the completely absurd, but he always answers them with a mix of enthusiastic curiosity, scientific fact, and a sense of humor, which makes it hard not to keep reading, question after question. If you are at all a curious person and have at least a passing interest in science, you should really pick this one up.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Operation Avalanche (2016) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
Yet another found footage movie, yet another film about the faking of the moon landings (these must surely outnumber films assuming Apollo 11 really happened by a considerable factor). An ambitious young CIA agent cooks up a plan to save NASA by fabricating footage of a successful moonshot.
Doesn't sound very promising, but just about pulls it off due to obvious knowledge of its subject and an unexpected level of technical proficiency - the team get the expertise they need by stealing it off the set of 2001 (a witty touch, but very well-executed). A bit larky most of the way through, which makes a third-act shift into a much more serious mode difficult to pull off, and not particularly original, but watchable and with some very nice moments.
Doesn't sound very promising, but just about pulls it off due to obvious knowledge of its subject and an unexpected level of technical proficiency - the team get the expertise they need by stealing it off the set of 2001 (a witty touch, but very well-executed). A bit larky most of the way through, which makes a third-act shift into a much more serious mode difficult to pull off, and not particularly original, but watchable and with some very nice moments.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Moonfall (2022) in Movies
Feb 5, 2022
Terribly written. (2 more)
Overacted.
Halle Berry.
Moonfall Review: It’s Raining Moon
Moonfall is a $146 million sci-fi disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla) and written by Emmerich, Harald Kloser (2012, 10000 BC), and Spenser Cohen (Extinction, The Expendables 4).
On January 12, 2011, during what is referred to as routine outer space maintenance (it’s a thing), an unidentified technological swarm caused significant damage to the astronaut’s shuttle; killing one of them and incapacitating the surviving two crew members. Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) maneuvers the shuttle back to earth with no power while his navigator Jocinda Fowl (Halle Berry) is unconscious. Brian takes the fall as he’s labeled incompetent despite previously being an acclaimed hero and he loses his job with NASA.
Ten years later, the moon suddenly begins changing course as a hole 26-kilometers deep is discovered in the center of it. People on earth have three weeks before the moon begins falling to earth in city-sized pieces. While NASA scrambles to discover a solution, an orbital megastructure aficionado and conspiracy blogger named K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) knew about the moon’s shift in course before NASA and may end up being the savior of mankind.
The opening scene of Moonfall lets its audience know that they’re in for an excruciating two hours. Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry argue over the lyrics to Toto’s “Africa” as Wilson musically screeches the 80s rock ballad to annoying results. The film does a few things right like earth’s gravity being a complete dumpster fire and the ocean literally being at foot of everyone’s door like Bo Burnham talked about in Inside. But then introduces the aspect of orbital megastructure in an attempt to not adhere to believable physics while lethargically committing to it.
Flooding, earthquakes, and birds falling to the ground due to gravity alterations are the culmination of the insanity in Moonfall. The moon coming closer to earth also apparently means humans can lift trees above their head and jump over gaps left by fallen bridges with little effort. There’s an awkward car chase between some redneck looters and the main characters of the film.
It’s awkward due to the fact that it’s really funky visual effects (literally everything taking place on the road and in the background) with green screen (the actors driving the cars), but it’s difficult to distinguish what’s what in a bad way. The CGI and special effects in the film are that peculiar blend of not necessarily being bad, but are just off-putting enough to look weird in some capacity. It’s a high speed chase involving a gravity wave, which is mostly just cars and debris floating in the air as the sky turns red. Coincidentally enough, the disaster effects are the best part of the film because they do what they’re supposed to do without overstaying their welcome.
The dialogue in the film is atrocious and Halle Berry is a filter for most of the bad lines. Some of her gems include, “I don’t work for you, I work for the American people and I don’t like keeping them in the dark,” “I am…(the longest pause ever between one word and another)…thinking about our son,” and something overwhelmingly corny about earth’s hourglass and our time running out. Donald Sutherland can barely stomach a brief cameo appearance shared with Berry’s character before excusing himself to the loaded gun he left back in his room (yes, this actually happens).
The evacuation route in Moonfall seems to involve fleeing to Colorado. What is in Colorado and why that’s important is never really explained other than because everyone else is there. Jocinda Fowl becomes the lead director of NASA during the film and her ex-husband (played by Eme Ikwuakor) works for the military. Ikwuakor does nothing but squint like French Stewart the entire time. NASA wants to survey the activity of what’s transpiring on the moon, fly inside of its new fancy made hole, and come up with a plan to save earth in the process. The military just wants to blow up the moon with nukes; screw the consequences, this is America!
With Moonfall, Roland Emmerich has essentially made an even dumber version of Michael Bay’s Armageddon. There’s not a lot to enjoy here apart from KC Houseman’s house cat being named Fuzz Aldrin. With its idiotic premise, hammy dialogue involving some of the most exaggerated emotional speeches ever, stiff acting, unfunny humor, and purposely distorted CGI, Moonfall features an overwhelming amount of frenetic nonsense and has no excuse to be as boring as it is.
On January 12, 2011, during what is referred to as routine outer space maintenance (it’s a thing), an unidentified technological swarm caused significant damage to the astronaut’s shuttle; killing one of them and incapacitating the surviving two crew members. Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) maneuvers the shuttle back to earth with no power while his navigator Jocinda Fowl (Halle Berry) is unconscious. Brian takes the fall as he’s labeled incompetent despite previously being an acclaimed hero and he loses his job with NASA.
Ten years later, the moon suddenly begins changing course as a hole 26-kilometers deep is discovered in the center of it. People on earth have three weeks before the moon begins falling to earth in city-sized pieces. While NASA scrambles to discover a solution, an orbital megastructure aficionado and conspiracy blogger named K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) knew about the moon’s shift in course before NASA and may end up being the savior of mankind.
The opening scene of Moonfall lets its audience know that they’re in for an excruciating two hours. Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry argue over the lyrics to Toto’s “Africa” as Wilson musically screeches the 80s rock ballad to annoying results. The film does a few things right like earth’s gravity being a complete dumpster fire and the ocean literally being at foot of everyone’s door like Bo Burnham talked about in Inside. But then introduces the aspect of orbital megastructure in an attempt to not adhere to believable physics while lethargically committing to it.
Flooding, earthquakes, and birds falling to the ground due to gravity alterations are the culmination of the insanity in Moonfall. The moon coming closer to earth also apparently means humans can lift trees above their head and jump over gaps left by fallen bridges with little effort. There’s an awkward car chase between some redneck looters and the main characters of the film.
It’s awkward due to the fact that it’s really funky visual effects (literally everything taking place on the road and in the background) with green screen (the actors driving the cars), but it’s difficult to distinguish what’s what in a bad way. The CGI and special effects in the film are that peculiar blend of not necessarily being bad, but are just off-putting enough to look weird in some capacity. It’s a high speed chase involving a gravity wave, which is mostly just cars and debris floating in the air as the sky turns red. Coincidentally enough, the disaster effects are the best part of the film because they do what they’re supposed to do without overstaying their welcome.
The dialogue in the film is atrocious and Halle Berry is a filter for most of the bad lines. Some of her gems include, “I don’t work for you, I work for the American people and I don’t like keeping them in the dark,” “I am…(the longest pause ever between one word and another)…thinking about our son,” and something overwhelmingly corny about earth’s hourglass and our time running out. Donald Sutherland can barely stomach a brief cameo appearance shared with Berry’s character before excusing himself to the loaded gun he left back in his room (yes, this actually happens).
The evacuation route in Moonfall seems to involve fleeing to Colorado. What is in Colorado and why that’s important is never really explained other than because everyone else is there. Jocinda Fowl becomes the lead director of NASA during the film and her ex-husband (played by Eme Ikwuakor) works for the military. Ikwuakor does nothing but squint like French Stewart the entire time. NASA wants to survey the activity of what’s transpiring on the moon, fly inside of its new fancy made hole, and come up with a plan to save earth in the process. The military just wants to blow up the moon with nukes; screw the consequences, this is America!
With Moonfall, Roland Emmerich has essentially made an even dumber version of Michael Bay’s Armageddon. There’s not a lot to enjoy here apart from KC Houseman’s house cat being named Fuzz Aldrin. With its idiotic premise, hammy dialogue involving some of the most exaggerated emotional speeches ever, stiff acting, unfunny humor, and purposely distorted CGI, Moonfall features an overwhelming amount of frenetic nonsense and has no excuse to be as boring as it is.
David McK (3191 KP) rated The Martian (2015) in Movies
Jun 14, 2020
Ridley Scott's adaptation of Andy Weir's book of the same name, following the trials and tribulation of botanist astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) after the rest of his crew take off and abandon him on Mars, believing he is dead.
While - of necessity - a large part of the screen time is devoted to Watney and his time alone on the planet, the film (and book) also cuts between his colleagues on the spacecraft home (and how they react once they find out he is alive), and various NASA personnel, most of whom are only given the broad strokes of characterisations
As a Ridley Scott film, you know you're going to get impressive visuals and world building (it's one of the things he excels at), while Damon actually proves surprisingly well cast as Watney. I don't remember the final section of the film being in the book though ...
While - of necessity - a large part of the screen time is devoted to Watney and his time alone on the planet, the film (and book) also cuts between his colleagues on the spacecraft home (and how they react once they find out he is alive), and various NASA personnel, most of whom are only given the broad strokes of characterisations
As a Ridley Scott film, you know you're going to get impressive visuals and world building (it's one of the things he excels at), while Damon actually proves surprisingly well cast as Watney. I don't remember the final section of the film being in the book though ...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hidden Figures (2016) in Movies
Mar 15, 2018
Possibly the most sedentary movie ever to be the subject of a proposed Lego set is one of those which you feel obliged to enjoy on moral grounds. Three African American women do sterling service in the early days of NASA, overcoming racial divisions to do so (well, they're brilliant mathematicians, so division should be easy for them).
Well made and all, but not exactly full of surprises, and if the whole point of the film is that this is a historical true story, why have the facts been stretched and edited and generally tweaked? Does the fact that this is a Serious Issue Movie mean that it gets a pass on what would usually be called historical inaccuracy? One gets the sense this movie is more interested in putting a message across than in telling the story of the real-life events it supposedly depicts. Capably done, with some good performances (a nice turn from Costner as, guess what, a wholly fictitious character), but just a little bit on-the-nose.
Well made and all, but not exactly full of surprises, and if the whole point of the film is that this is a historical true story, why have the facts been stretched and edited and generally tweaked? Does the fact that this is a Serious Issue Movie mean that it gets a pass on what would usually be called historical inaccuracy? One gets the sense this movie is more interested in putting a message across than in telling the story of the real-life events it supposedly depicts. Capably done, with some good performances (a nice turn from Costner as, guess what, a wholly fictitious character), but just a little bit on-the-nose.