Review: Ad Astra

by Murtada Elfadl

The thing about having daddy issues is that you can never escape them. No matter how far you travel, even into space. In Ad Astra these issues drive Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), an astronaut sent on a mission across the solar system to find out the reason behind recent catastrophes,  including fires and plane crashes, taking place on Earth. The kicker here is that his astronaut father (Tommy Lee Jones), who went missing in another space expedition 29 years ago, might be connected to what’s happening. Not only does Roy have to confront the dangers awaiting him on his mission, he also has to deal with his feelings about his father and being abandoned by him.

The space odyssey element is surprising twist for writer director James Gray (The Immigrant, Two Lovers) but the father son imbroglio isn’t at all...

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Ruth Negga is Going to Space

by Murtada

Ruth Negga has finally booked a movie post Loving. We’ve been waiting for an announcement on a new project for her long before she was Oscar nominated. Basically since Loving premiered to raves for her performance at Cannes in May of last year. It’s a performance we are especially enamored with, hence the impatient anticipation for a new film with her.

Negga is joining Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland in James Gray’s Ad Astra. The long in development project is a sci-fi adventure about a man’s journey across the solar system to find his missing father, a renegade scientist who might be a threat in a futuristic lawless environment. Pitt is the lead and Jones plays his father. Negga’s part is being kept secret which is a good sign since if she was playing the wife/girlfriend they’d be no need for the secrecy. Gray recently was able to beautifully frame another actress known for having a very expressive face; Marion Cotillard in The Immigrant. So we are excited for this collaboration.

Gray was also praised for coaxing óut of Charlie Hunman a performance unlike any other he’s given, in The Lost City of Z. This writer was even more impressed with Sienna Miller in the same movie, who managed to elevate the smallish part of the wife into something truly memorable. What is your favorite performance in a Gray film?