From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

Number one son and I went to see the Project Hail Mary movie today. 4.5
stars out of 5 stars. Now I need to reread the book. And yes, the book
is on my six star list. And Rocky was just the way I envisioned him.

Lynn

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

On 2026-04-04 03:27:44 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:

Number one son and I went to see the Project Hail Mary movie today.
4.5 stars out of 5 stars. Now I need to reread the book. And yes, the
book is on my six star list. And Rocky was just the way I envisioned
him.

Lynn

The movie made some changes, as they usually do.

Author Andy Weir says he has bits of an idea for a sequel novel, but
has other things to do, so may not get around to actually writing it
for a while, if ever. He is currently writing a new science fiction
novel, but hasn't given any details what it is about, other than it not
being a sequel to any of his previous books. He of course wrote the
novels "The Martian" (already made into a movie) and "Artemis" (movie
is in production).

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On Fri, 3 Apr 2026 22:27:44 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Number one son and I went to see the Project Hail Mary movie today. 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. Now I need to reread the book. And yes, the book
is on my six star list. And Rocky was just the way I envisioned him.

Adriaaaaaaaan!

Loved the old movie references (which my 25yo godchild didn't catch :-).
--
s|b
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s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:

On Fri, 3 Apr 2026 22:27:44 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Number one son and I went to see the Project Hail Mary movie today. 4.5
stars out of 5 stars. Now I need to reread the book. And yes, the book
is on my six star list. And Rocky was just the way I envisioned him.

Adriaaaaaaaan!

Loved the old movie references (which my 25yo godchild didn't catch :-).

I read the book PROJECT HAIL MARY a year or more ago and I loved it. Our
sun is dying and humanity places all its hopes in a last-ditch one-shot scientific endeavor. What a terrific adventure it was! As I recall, I knew nothing about it beforehand other than that it was good and that it was by
Andy Weir, the guy who had written THE MARTIAN. Of course I gave it a
chance and I became enthusiastically caught up in the story as it unfolded across the galaxy. I never knew what was going to happen next and I reveled
in every unexpected twist and turn and breathtaking revelation. The book
was great fun.

So of course, I looked forward to the movie. My big regret is that I did
not rush to see it in IMAX at the first opportunity because all too soon MemphisrCys only IMAX screen gave way to the Super Mario Brothers. But thatrCOs OK rCo it was still showing on a reasonably big screen near me and on Sunday afternoon when I could find nobody who was interested in going with me, I
saw it by myself. Sad, I know, but there was no way I was going to end up watching this thing on a TV screen. I knew it was going to be just that
good.

Should I have been surprised when I found myself dozing off? Probably not.
I mean, I knew everything that was going to happen because I had already luxuriated in the enjoyment of a well written book-length tale. And here
was this movie condensing all the great parts and skipping over many of the others. Should I have admitted to myself that I was bored? Should I have wondered why I kept looking at my watch?

The movie has received high praise and I understand why. The stakes involve
the survival of humanity, itrCOs tense, itrCOs amusing, and it is nicely cast and uniformly well acted. It is very well done and amazing to look at in places. I wasnrCOt totally disappointed. But still.

As I was leaving the theater, I asked some of the others in the audience if they thought the movie was as good as the book and they told me that they
had never read the book and they thought the movie was terrific. Well there
you go. ItrCOs a wonderful movie. See it by all means. But for me, as with
THE PRINCESS BRIDE, the movie is just a pale shadow of the book.
--
rCo
Bill Anderson
I am the Mighty Favog
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

On Sun, 12 Apr 2026 01:04:35 +0000, Bill Anderson wrote:

I read the book PROJECT HAIL MARY a year or more ago and I loved it. Our
sun is dying and humanity places all its hopes in a last-ditch one-shot scientific endeavor. What a terrific adventure it was! As I recall, I
knew nothing about it beforehand other than that it was good and that it
was by Andy Weir, the guy who had written THE MARTIAN. Of course I gave
it a chance and I became enthusiastically caught up in the story as it unfolded across the galaxy. I never knew what was going to happen next
and I reveled in every unexpected twist and turn and breathtaking
revelation. The book was great fun.
...

The movie has received high praise and I understand why. The stakes
involve the survival of humanity, itrCOs tense, itrCOs amusing, and it is nicely cast and uniformly well acted. It is very well done and amazing
to look at in places. I wasnrCOt totally disappointed. But still.

But what does the title mean?

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?
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Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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On 4/12/2026 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

...and, arguably, irreligious.


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Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

Right. One of the most famous such plays was Doug Flutie's touchdown
pass for Boston College. It made him a household name at the time and
cemented his Heisman Trophy win.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Flutie>


Brian
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moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

On 4/12/2026 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.

...and, arguably, irreligious.

You underestimate the degree to which football is a religion in itself here. --scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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On 4/12/2026 3:06 PM, Default User wrote:

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

Right. One of the most famous such plays was Doug Flutie's touchdown
pass for Boston College. It made him a household name at the time and cemented his Heisman Trophy win.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Flutie>

In Framingham, MA, there's a road that has been renamed "Flutie Pass"
in commemoration of the event.

pt
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On 2026-04-12, Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time.

I don't know if the expression originated in American football, but
if so, it has since spread to other sports ("Anderson Silva pulled
off this Hail Mary submission vs Chael Sonnen"), military contexts,
and beyond.
--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de
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In <slrn10to6vu.14ui.naddy@lorvorc.mips.inka.de> Christian Weisgerber <naddy@mips.inka.de> writes:

On 2026-04-12, Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time.

I don't know if the expression originated in American football, but
if so, it has since spread to other sports ("Anderson Silva pulled
off this Hail Mary submission vs Chael Sonnen"), military contexts,
and beyond.

I remember General Schwarzkopf using that term when
describing one of the militray actions in what's now
known in the US as Gulf War I.
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
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On 2026-04-12 18:41:24 +0000, moviePig said:

On 4/12/2026 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

...and, arguably, irreligious.

It is religious in origin and comes from people saying a prayer
(sometimes the "Hail Mary" specifically) before attempting something
thought impossible.


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On Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:08:22 -0400 (EDT), Scott Dorsey wrote:

moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

On 4/12/2026 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team. My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.

...and, arguably, irreligious.

You underestimate the degree to which football is a religion in itself
here.
--scott

Exactly. The responses show that there are probably more non-Catholic
sports fans than there are Catholic non-sports fans. Therefore
the majority of a random sample of readers/viewers of the story
in question would not attribute religious significance to the title.
However, the presence of a main character named Grace tilts the
odds. Long story short, we now have to consider the likelihood
that there's a strong religious, even Catholic, overlay.
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On 4/12/2026 7:04 PM, Your Name wrote:

On 2026-04-12 18:41:24 +0000, moviePig said:

On 4/12/2026 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer-a <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference.-a A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time.-a I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team.-a My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

...and, arguably, irreligious.

It is religious in origin and comes from people saying a prayer
(sometimes the "Hail Mary" specifically) before attempting something
thought impossible.

Yes. I was likening 'irreligious' to 'irreverent'.


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On Apr 12, 2026, Scott Dorsey wrote
(in article <10rg1uu$9st$1@panix2.panix.com>):

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team.

Close. It was another Catholic school: Boston College. A further example of the Catholics vs Convicts games: Miami vs Notre Dame and Miami vs BC. Doug Flutie threw a miracle to win the game for BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Flutie

I saw that game. It was one of the greatest Yankee feetball games that IrCOve ever seen. Definitely the greatest college feetball game that didnrCOt have Joe Montana in it that IrCOve seen.

The year before Flutie had attempted a similar throw in a Holy War game, between ND and BC, but it was incomplete and BC lost by one point. (Brigham Young& Utah play a series that they also call the Holy War. TheyrCOre Mormons. Ignore them.)

My father was a massive fan of American
football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.
--scott

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On 4/12/26 8:07 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> wrote:

I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, but I've read the
Wikipedia page and watched the trailers. What is the likelihood
the the title is intended as a religous message in the book?
In the movie?

It is a religious football reference. A "Hail Mary" play is a long
pass made out of desperation; a play that isn't expected to actually
work but is the only alternative at the time. I think the name comes
from the Notre Dame team.

It is indeed generally attributed to Notre Dame and goes back to at
least the 1930s:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass

Lots of info & references & examples on that webpage.


My father was a massive fan of American

football and it made me realize how many football terms leak into our
common language.

Yep - and not just football, either, of course.
Tony



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