Ad Astra

[theworstbuddhist 572]

Has anyone else seen this crazy film yet? I liked it but man, it is bonkers and I was shocked to see it has a high RT rating (though the audience rating is not so hot, which is less surprising). Brad Pitt is amazing in it, the whole cast is good, Max Richter's score is, well, a Max Richter score, but more memorable than usual. It's a bizarre combination of introspection, therapy, daddy issues, Event Horizon, 2010: Odyssey Two, Interstellar, Gravity...

As I said, I liked it a lot, but I also really love the Soderbergh version of Solaris, so calibrate your expectations accordingly.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

Ya, I saw it yesterday. I loved it so much. I knew nothing about it going into it besides Brad Pitt and space, and walked out in a daze of like 'whoa damn that was an experience.' Favorite movie of the year so far, easy.

[WatchOutForSnakes 807]

I also saw it and was blown away by it. Pitt is at his best this summer. He really carried that role and of course it was beautiful! It was at once infinitely expansive and intensely internal. My only nit pick was the end scene at Neptune. It felt more melodramatic and more of a stretch than the rest did. 

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I wouldn't describe it as bonkers, but it IS a gorgeous film with a great performance by Pitt. I think it does have some problems with character motivation and some of the voiceover is unnecessary and too on-the-nose for my taste, but it was just so wonderful seeing a heartfelt, adult science fiction film being made in 2019.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

2 hours ago, Quasar Sniffer said:

I wouldn't describe it as bonkers, but it IS a gorgeous film with a great performance by Pitt. I think it does have some problems with character motivation and some of the voiceover is unnecessary and too on-the-nose for my taste, but it was just so wonderful seeing a heartfelt, adult science fiction film being made in 2019.

If a movie with moon pirates and rabid space apes isn't bonkers, I don't know what is. But I hear you. I saw it with my son in a regular theatre this past weekend and I just realized that I live in a city with an IMAX theatre, so I may have to go again this weekend.

[BBtangtang 0]

You guys - this is literally one of The Worst movies I have EVER seen. I l i t e r a l l ymade an account on this forum to post about how fucking terrible this fucking piece of shit was. 

[GrahamS. 803]

38 minutes ago, BBtangtang said:

You guys - this is literally one of The Worst movies I have EVER seen. I l i t e r a l l ymade an account on this forum to post about how fucking terrible this fucking piece of shit was. 

Have to disagree with you one million percent. Just saw it in IMAX tonight and loved it. But I guess it’s going to be divisive because it resists easy categorization.

[GrahamS. 803]

Much rather have this than the majority of Zack Snyder’s films.

[GrahamS. 803]

But one the other hand, I hear ya. When I first started my account, I posted about how much Midsommar sucked (and I still think that film sucks). Everyone has their own opinion.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

Movies are personal, like music or anything else. I can explain what I like and don't like about a given movie - my recommendation to anyone who wants to discuss a film with me is be able to say more than just "it sucks, it was the worst." Stuff like that just makes me assume you have hardly seen any other movies, or you don't care enough to be articulate about it. So why would I care about responding?

In general terms, I find I enjoy films that show me something I wasn't expecting. Maybe the trailer gives me one set of expectations and then the film itself is a delightful surprise somehow.

I also enjoy films that are just fucking strange in one way or another - where I find myself asking, well, "How DID this get made? How did this script get past a Hollywood executive? Who thought this would be a good idea and why were they so invested in it?" I tend to be more impressed with that kind of thing if the film has a big budget and big stars, therefore big stakes but they still do something bizarre because somebody is using their clout to get it done.

I will add that with today's home theatres and the blurring of the line between what a movie even is and what television is (eg., Netflix), I appreciate films that give me a reason to go to a movie theatre with a big screen and immersive sound and at least a few other people who also care about that experience. Production companies essentially use the same tools to make everything now, it's just a matter of how big a budget you have to do special effects and hire bigger stars or whatever.

So I can certainly understand why Ad Astra is not for everybody, but it's my kind of film in at least those three ways, and probably some others I'm too lazy to talk about now.

[changescat 2]

I was also mystified by the high RT rating. So many issues... like if it only takes 79 days to get out there why hasn’t anyone gone looking in almost 30 years? A subtle Brad Pitt performance unfortunately wrapped in an incredibly over-the-top film (hello, V.O.).

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

On 9/26/2019 at 8:00 AM, Quasar Sniffer said:

I wouldn't describe it as bonkers, but it IS a gorgeous film with a great performance by Pitt. I think it does have some problems with character motivation and some of the voiceover is unnecessary and too on-the-nose for my taste, but it was just so wonderful seeing a heartfelt, adult science fiction film being made in 2019.

Yeah, amen on the voiceover. All it does is tell you things that are already obvious from watching what happens on screen. It really bugged me after a while.

Otherwise I liked the movie.