First Man

Agent Coulson

The first trailer for La La Land director Damien Chazelle’s upcoming biopic First Man has touched down. The film will follow the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong as he prepares to become the first human to step on the moon.

The film is based on Armstrong’s authorized biography, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, written by James R. Hansen. While that book was a comprehensive look at the late astronaut’s life, the film will cover a smaller snippet: the years between 1961 and 1969, as the space race shifted in to full swing.

CatFromHue

Looks like Chazelle will be up for another best picture award!

El Duda

Loved Whiplash. Admired La La Land.

Looking forward to his first departure from the world of Jazz. This should be good.

pixelburp

If the trailer is anything to go by, looks like they're emphasising just how improvised and (relatively) cobbled together the NASA program was. Real 'wing and a prayer, and duct tape' stuff. That should certainly help the movie develop some tension in telling the story of a historical event.

Ryan Gosling though, oof; once more it looks like another one of his pensive, mumbling, dead-eyed performances. In his defence, NASA astronauts are not known for their excess of charisma, so maybe it'll be a good fit in spite of his talents.

No doubt the movie will be a rallying cry for all the conspiracy nuts who believe the moon landings (all 6 of them) never happened, look forward to that

CatFromHue

El Duda wrote: »

Looking forward to his first departure from the world of Jazz. This should be good.

It's a little known fact but once Armstrong stepped onto the Moon the first thing he did was the Jazz Hands dance move

TheIrishGrover

I liked that. I mean, yeah, Gosling is a charisma vacuum (No pun intended) but it's nice to see a serious take on the Apollo (And Gemini) programme as a whole.
It's not going to change the world but it looks good. I'm looking forward to it. Obviously carefully timed.

I would recommend viewing HBO/Tom Hanks' From The Earth To The Moon. Similar to HBO/Hanks' Band of Brothers, it's a 10 part mini series with obsessive attention to detail (Right down to capsule communication being from transcripts apparently). It may be a bit dated (4/3 screen ratio, some alarmingly young actors who went on to big things). But it covers everything this film would: From Gemini right up to wind down of Apollo.

Maybe a bit too close to the movie if you want to go in unaware but, if you are interested, it's worth a watch

JP Liz V1

Claire Foy is building an impressive CV after The Crown

bnt

Full trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4GtJB5WAlQ

Slydice

Now that's a well crafted trailer!

So much so that I starting wondering why I was starting to feel hypey about another moon landing film.

pixelburp

It's very slick and emotive, seems to capture the gravity (hoho) and scale of the event - so far by the evidence of the trailer it looks a cut above the norm with hollywood biographies.

expectationlost

it looks extremely well made but also conventional, I mean the focus of the drama on Armstrong is interesting as the rest of the story is probably better told as documentary. But still we've seen the man going to space with worried family at home story in the Right stuff, Apollo 13 etc. (Armageddon :P)

siblers

****ing trailer gives away the ending

Hector Savage

I haven't looked forward to a film so much since Interstellar

valoren

Big uproar about how the flag isn't shown planted on the moon. Some people just look for anything to complain about. They conveniently forget that the flag is prominent on their spacesuits and on the Saturn V rocket of course. The flag is shown on the moon as well apparently. What the hell is it with people and flags?

https://www.space.com/41715-first-man-movie-buzz-aldrin-controversy.html

nix

valoren wrote: »

What the hell is it with people Americans and flags?

Fixed

pixelburp

The American Right have always had a knack for sniffing out apparent offences against Patriotism, so it's not all that surprising they've latched onto this film's supposed lack of desired jingoism. You go back a few decades and they were having conniptions when Superman stopped talking about 'truth justice and the American way', so you can't win. Of course ultimately it has only helped the media profile of the film, and doubtless the studio are already calculating the expected gains at the box office.

Venom

valoren wrote: »

Big uproar about how the flag isn't shown planted on the moon. Some people just look for anything to complain about. They conveniently forget that the flag is prominent on their spacesuits and on the Saturn V rocket of course. The flag is shown on the moon as well apparently. What the hell is it with people and flags?

https://www.space.com/41715-first-man-movie-buzz-aldrin-controversy.html

Buzz Armstong and Chuck Yeager have come out and criticized the movies portrayal of Armstong. I'd hardly consider them as just some people looking for something to complain about.

Technocentral

Venom wrote: »

valoren wrote: »

Big uproar about how the flag isn't shown planted on the moon. Some people just look for anything to complain about. They conveniently forget that the flag is prominent on their spacesuits and on the Saturn V rocket of course. The flag is shown on the moon as well apparently. What the hell is it with people and flags?

https://www.space.com/41715-first-man-movie-buzz-aldrin-controversy.html

Buzz Armstong and Chuck Yeager have come out and criticized the movies portrayal of Armstong. I'd hardly consider them as just some people looking for something to complain about.

"criticized the movies portrayal of Armstong" i.e. that it isn't a hagiography, his family are happy with it apparantly.

Technocentral

The achievement was GETTING to the moon, not sticking a flag into some dust, any idiot can do that!!

valoren

Venom wrote: »

Buzz Armstong and Chuck Yeager have come out and criticized the movies portrayal of Armstong. I'd hardly consider them as just some people looking for something to complain about.

Some user tagged Yaeger on Twitter claiming the portrayal of Armstrong was as a "liberal progressive, anti-Trump (in spirit) non-flag waver.

Yaeger responded and said that's not the Armstrong he knew.

He suggested that Armstrong, who died aged 82 in 2012, had not regarded himself as an "American hero," and that the accomplishment of reaching the moon "transcended countries and borders"

pixelburp

Venom wrote: »

Buzz Armstong and Chuck Yeager have come out and criticized the movies portrayal of Armstong. I'd hardly consider them as just some people looking for something to complain about.

That's par for the course though when it comes to biography: it wouldn't be the first time relatives, friends or whatnot complain about how accurate the subjects portrayal is - what's tiresome in this case are the right-wing rags such as Fox dog-piling on an unreleased film because it's not suitably jingoistic (ringing particularly hollow given how at the time it was emphasised as a human endeavour, not an American one).

Hector Savage

F*ck off politics out of this one !! jesus

Technocentral

Fantastic film, the space and flight sequences are extremely visceral, the personal stuff done equally well. Gosling acquits himself well as does all the cast even those in minor roles. Doesn't feel like 2 hrs 20 either. 4.5/5.

Ipso

Technocentral wrote: »

Fantastic film, the space and flight sequences are extremely visceral, the personal stuff done equally well. Gosling acquits himself well as does all the cast even those in minor roles. Doesn't feel like 2 hrs 20 either. 4.5/5.

How was the stuff with Kubrick directing in the sound stage in Nevada?

pleas advice

Hector Savage wrote: »

F*ck off politics out of this one !! jesus

I mean, it *was* the Space Race, like...

Technocentral

Surprised at the lack of interest in this on here, its a fantastic cinematic treat, reviews all positive too????

pixelburp

It ain't out here 'til the weekend, so I doubt many have seen it yet...

TheIrishGrover

I'm looking forward to this. Gosling is a bit of a personality vacuum (No pun intended). But, then again, Armstrong was quite a quiet man so it is good casting. I mean, as someone stated above, it looks pretty conventional but it's still great to see. At a time when science is being demonized by nervous hang-wringers or American partisan fearmongers or....or...... FLAT EARTHERS (in 2018!!!!!!) it's good to celebrate science and technology and man's spirit to explore. I know that's cliche as hell but it's also my genuine belief.

I would heartily recommend Tom Hanks and HBO's "From The Earth To The Moon". Similar to their later "Band Of Brothers" in that it was Hanks produced after he made related movie and similar attention to detail (Right down to capsule-capcom chatter being pretty much transcript apparently)

Technocentral

pixelburp wrote: »

It ain't out here 'til the weekend, so I doubt many have seen it yet...

I know but in terms of anticipation, loads of film threads on here with hundreds of posts before they come out

Tony EH

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

I'm looking forward to this. Gosling is a bit of a personality vacuum (No pun intended). But, then again, Armstrong was quite a quiet man so it is good casting.

Well, as you say, Armstrong didn't appear to be one for shouting from the rooftops either. The film is probably more to do with the astronautical events he took part in and not necessarily him.

At least, I hope so.

Tony EH

Technocentral wrote: »

I know but in terms of anticipation, loads of film threads on here with hundreds of posts before they come out

Probably has a lot to do with the fact that most people will know or have a good idea of how this film (or much of it) will play out, already in their heads.

It'll probably barely touch upon his time in Korea, then as a test pilot and then onto the Gemini and Apollo programs.

S.M.B.

Didn't realise it was Chazelle who made this. Will bump it up the list of movies I now need to see.

Technocentral

Tony EH wrote: »

Technocentral wrote: »

I know but in terms of anticipation, loads of film threads on here with hundreds of posts before they come out

Probably has a lot to do with the fact that most people will know or have a good idea of how this film (or much of it) will play out, already in their heads.

It'll probably barely touch upon his time in Korea, then as a test pilot and then onto the Gemini and Apollo programs.

Its actually a good mixture of the personal and the technical, Armstrong doesnt come accross as a total automotom. I recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible the flight/space flight scenes are very viscarel.

AMKC

Technocentral wrote: »

Its actually a good mixture of the personal and the technical, Armstrong doesnt come accross as a total automotom. I recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible the flight/space flight scenes are very viscarel.

Please tell me it has not been released in 3D and is a 2D only film.

Guy:Incognito

Where's the best place to see this in Dublin?

Normally I'd have headed to Dundrum but it's not on in the mezz.

Stella arnt showing it.

Edit. Been meaning to go see something in the lighthouse. Would that be a good spot for it?

silverharp

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Where's the best place to see this in Dublin?

Normally I'd have headed to Dundrum but it's not on in the mezz.

Stella arnt showing it.

Edit. Been meaning to go see something in the lighthouse. Would that be a good spot for it?

don't know about best, but the Isense screen at the Point is a good one for visual movies. Was going to go Sat night but seems like there is something on at the arena so the car parking will be a pain.

johnny_ultimate

I was interested to see how Damien Chazelle would handle a film that wasn't about the world of music, so I was caught off guard by how musical this film actually. I don't mean it's a musical, but music - and the broader soundscape, which often encompasses long stretches of relative silence - feels like it drives this film in terms of tone and pace. From a superb, politically-charged sequence scored to Gil Scott Heron's Whitey on the Moon to the sense of isolation created by Justin Hurwitz's eloquent use of the theremin, it's a film that has a propelling musical pulse, despite it all seeming to be a world (or, ahem, satellite) away from the material Chazelle has tackled before. And it properly gets the sounds of space travel too - whether that's the creaking of metal or the overwhelming absence of noise on the lunar surface.

It's one of the first films I've seen that seems to have been directly influenced by Christopher Nolan stylistically (which isn't to say it's derivative, because this has its own character). It's actually strange that that's the case, given how successful Nolan has been. But this has the same enthusiasm for cinematic form, and in crafting a proper big screen experience. And yet one or two well-judged exceptions aside, I think this largely foregoes traditional blockbuster spectacle in favour of something much more intimate. It's an uncomfortably confined film at times, very much determined to stay within the characters' space - which is often a very cramped space indeed! But thanks to the camera getting right up in there and hugely forceful editing / sound design the whole thing roars at the same time without ever devolving into a mess of SFX (indeed, even in the clearly enhanced scenes the illusion is almost always absolutely convincing).

That intimacy isn't just to save money or anything: it's also informed by the story being told. Ryan Gosling isn't the most expressive actor in the world, let's be honest - but this film uses that to its advantage. Neil Armstrong here is an elusive, insular figure - using the space programme as a way to fight through grief, even when the programme brings its own share of trauma. Gosling's performance is well contrasted with Claire Foy's, who plays his first wife as a force of nature unwilling to let her husband completely disappear into his own obsession. Whether any of this is super true-to-life I couldn't tell you - but it makes for some good old character-driven drama!

I tend to be rather cynical about biopics and historical dramas, and there are absolutely stretches in this that are fairly traditional, uninspiring fare. But Chazelle isn't content to let this just become a straightforward bit of historical hagiography, like many films before it - this boasts a considerable amount more flair than I for one was anticipating, which is always a welcome surprise.

johnny_ultimate

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Edit. Been meaning to go see something in the lighthouse. Would that be a good spot for it?

The Lighthouse is pretty much always the best spot for any film.

Beau

I found it very dull and boring to be honest.

branie2

I saw it this evening, and I thought it was brilliant.

Technocentral

Beau wrote: »

I found it very dull and boring to be honest.

Theres no hope for you so.

QuintusFabius

It's not getting great ratings on imdb, but I suspect that could be from unhappy yanks about now planting the flag scene ..

johnny_ultimate

IMDB ratings are to trustworthiness as America is to sensible political discourse - i.e. not very.

Also: you clearly see the flag. Anyone who gets offended that it’s not shown being planted is at best manufacturing fake outrage, and at worst is Marco Rubio. Frankly, if I was a raging republican, I’d be more concerned about the (excellent) sequence where it’s basically pointed out the whole space programme was a costly, arrogant propaganda exercise :pac:

emo72

Why shouldn't the Americans be delighted about the flag being planted on the moon? They were there first! Actually no one else has been there! Since the early 70s. They did something amazing. Fair dues to those lads and lasses

Tony EH

emo72 wrote: »

Why shouldn't the Americans be delighted about the flag being planted on the moon? They were there first! Actually no one else has been there! Since the early 70s. They did something amazing. Fair dues to those lads and lasses

Because when that's all you can take from the achievement, there's something wrong.

emo72

Tony EH wrote: »

Because when that's all you can take from the achievement, there's something wrong.

But it's not. They put 12 men up there. Is that not epic?

Tony EH

emo72 wrote: »

But it's not. They put 12 men up there. Is that not epic?

By why reduce that epic achievement down to merely planting a flag?

emo72

Tony EH wrote: »

By why reduce that epic achievement down to merely planting a flag?

I don't. It's just symbolic I guess.

johnny_ultimate

Again: you clearly see the flag. Demanding a scene where it's overtly planted - as some have - is nothing more than empty jingoism.

Anyway, this isn't a film about the nationalistic glory of the American space programme. It's an intimate character study about one of the people involved in it.

Sycamore Tree

The flag controversy is embarrassing for the idiots that took offence.

Pero_Bueno

Tony EH wrote: »

Because when that's all you can take from the achievement, there's something wrong.

eh ... no I don't think that's all they are taking from it!

It was an iconic moment, and Hollywood hates Trump and patriotism so much that they leave that ICONIC moment out of the film, they should have just left the launch itself out too.

Really sad how divided that country has become, I can't ever see it recover.