Project Hail Mary: The Petrova Line Cocktail 🥁🥁🥁🥁

“Fortune favors the bold.” –Virgil

Year Relesed: 2026
Directed by: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller, James Ortiz
( 156 min. PG 13)
Genre: Science Fiction

Not all science fiction is dark and creepy.  Some rare birds are actually optimistic and positive, such as the original Star Trek TV series or even the film versions.

And that is exactly the RX we all need now. As popular as Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is, its dark undertone of government malfeasance brings it down, no matter how many great car chases or set pieces.

In Project Hail Mary the enemy is not the government but a little astrophage that is eating the sun – not just ours but almost all those in the known universe.

Our hero is certainly not what we might expect either

Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes upon a spaceship with no recollection of who he is or how he got there.

I vaguely remember the 1998 film Armageddon, where Bruce Willis embarks on a mission to save the world from an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

Ryland Grace is no Bruce Willis, but he grows into the “greatness thrust upon him.”

But that greatness is very lonely.  I couldn’t help thinking of Tom Hanks in Castaway where he is reduced to talking to a volleyball and actually sobs when it gets caught in a current and drifts away.

I also recalled Matt Damon in The Martian, not realizing until later that the same author penned the books behind that film and today’s feature.  

Others have noted similar links: and one that is a mild surprise:

The film had many clear inspirations, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, E.T., Arrival,and even a direct callout to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But one comparable that comes to mind is Top Gun: Maverick. It lacks the high-adrenaline tone of that film, but succeeds for similar foundational reasons—a sense of unabashed earnestness, and a rejection of many of recent cinema’s worst tendencies. Project Hail Mary is consistently funny, but without a trace of snarky or quippy humor. It’s grandiose in scope and visually stunning but doesn’t ever feel like an empty calorie spectacle (notably, not a single green screen was used in the ­–making of the film). It’s simply good, classic, cinematic storytelling.

–Daniel Blackaby

On another note, an unexpected helper emerges and Dr. Grace names him Rocky.  Since that is the name of our Weimaraner, how could I not love this film?  Of course, Dr. Grace is referring to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky and not my dog, but my Rocky can be a bit feisty, too, so he has a bit of Stallone in him too.  Actually, all 3 Rockys have big, beautiful hearts as well.

Finally, Andy Weir, who wrote the novel, is an acknowledged agnostic.  Much of science fiction makes little reference to God, but we find more than a few oblique references to him in Project Hail Mary, one of which is the film’s title.  Secularized to mean a long shot in sports, this still invokes the original meaning from the angel’s address to the young virgin Mary. 

“Hail, Mary, full of grace…”  Both the title and the last name of Dr. Grace , who holds a Ph.D in molecular biology, are invoked.

“Christlike virtues of sacrifice, loving fellowship, and belief. At ‘the hour of our death, humanity’s Hail Mary points us back to God.” –Daniel Blackaby

The old wartime saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” seems more than appropriate here, since this mission is desperate with a capital D.

A science fiction film for everyone, not just those in love with the genre.  And take the whole family or stream at home and save money on popcorn.

You won’t be disappointed.
–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Film-Loving Foodie

I will let Brandon Johnson of The Martini Shot blog describe his Cocktail.  He does a marvelous job:

One of the most stunning visuals in the film involves what’s called astrophages. Basically these microorganisms feed solar energy and form an infrared line from Sun to Venus as they hop across the galaxy. When our hero Grace stands among them, it makes for a really dazzling scene, and I wanted to capture that in a cocktail. So, keeping with the cosmic setting, this is going to be a bit of a cosmopolitan riff, but we’ll be adding some watermelon and gin flavors to the drink, because it is warming up out there and we need a nice drink for summer. The combination of fruit and botanicals make this a sweet, easy to drink cocktail that utilizes a flavor that doesn’t get a ton of play in most cocktails. Additionally, we’ve got a few special ingredients to make it even more cosmic. So I hope you like it, because it’s the only drink we’ve got onboard for the next two decades.  –Brandon Johnson

The Petrova Line cocktail

Ingredients

·       1.5 oz Gin

·       0.5 oz Watermelon liqueur

·       0.5 oz Cranberry juice

·       0.5 oz Fresh lime juice

·       1 dash Orange bitters

·       Pinch of pink edible luster dust (optional, for sparkle)

Instructions

1.    Prepare the Shaker: Add all liquid ingredients and the luster dust to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

2.    Shake: Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is chilled and frosty.

3.    Strain: Strain the mixture into a martini or coupe glass filled with fresh ice.

4.    Garnish: For a cool, thematic garnish, skewer a maraschino cherry through the rind of a lime wheel and balance it on the rim of your glass.

For a quick visual breakdown of the mixing process and to see how the sparkly "astrophage" effect looks in action, check out this YouTube Short by The Martini Shot.

The Martini Shot

The Devil Wears Prada 2: The Devil’s Roast Cocktail 🥁🥁🥁

Year Released: 2026
Directed by: David Frankel
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci
(PG 13, 119 min.)
Genre: Comedy

“May the bridges I burn light my way.” – Emily Charlton (former assistant to Miranda Priestly)

The actors aged better than the film.  Basically, we get a stagnant series of set pieces linked by some drama, but the sting is gone.  Who wants Miranda effectively neutered or a too happy ending that borders on sappy?

And those set pieces seem interchangeable, too.  How many parties with glittering gowns and aloof runway models can we take? Not to mention another aging icon, Lady Ga Ga, still trying to strut her stuff.  Not quite as cringeworthy as Madonna’s recent leg over the rail escapade, but close enough.

And we have too many links to the now 20-year-old original as well.  Are the writers and producers as egotistical as Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), thinking that first film was engrained on our brains like the Rosetta Stone.

I had to rewatch the original to get all the little inside baseball humor.

And that made me realize even more how superior the first film was.  We miss those endless repetitions of Miranda throwing her huge purse and coats on her assistant’s desk and her many waspish comment or stares.

Maybe one reason The Devil Wears Prada 2 has lost some of its sting is the timing.  It is 20 years since the original, and times have changed.  We no longer tolerate or even look up to the in-your-face decadence of overpriced gowns or purses that cost a down payment on a house.  Or least we pretend we don’t.

We now empathize with the down trodden, or again, we pretend to. 

Empathizing about the down trodden. That is exactly what Andy (Anne Hathaway) has done in the 20 years since she left Mirada out in the cold.  She is a serious ward winning journalist now, but the world being what it is, she and the whole serious magazine she works for are terminated minutes before she receives her latest accolade.

And this tidbit is a bit of an overreach, too, since now only 28% of Americans believe that journalists are telling the truth or acting in the public’s best interests 

The vibe that supported the original is gone, gone, gone.

Of course, a lot of that timing error is due to the behind the scenes battle that Anna Wintour – the longtime editor of Vogue Magazine and the supposed inspiration for Streep’s Miranda Priestly – has staged to keep both the original and the sequel out of theaters.

Perhaps that is why the politicly savvy or some might say the political opportunist Meryl Streep goes somewhere else for her role’s inspiration. In a recent interview she said the following:

Meryl Streep based her iconic portrayal of Miranda Priestly on Clint Eastwood and legendary filmmaker Mike Nichols. 

Streep revealed on  that she combined the traits of the two men to create Miranda's commanding demeanor: 

·       Clint Eastwood: Streep channeled Eastwood's "quiet authority," specifically adopting his signature habit of never raising his voice. Instead of yelling, she used a soft, measured tone that forced people to lean in and strain to hear her commands. 

·       Mike Nichols: Streep heavily imitated the sly, understated humor that Nichols used while directing. She wanted Miranda's biting remarks to carry a dark humor rather than just being outright mean. 

At any rate Andy is back at Miranda’s Runway Magazine, which sadly, is mostly a digital affair now.  Andy, the serious journalist is again peddling fashion fairytales with the best of them, working for clickbait like everyone else shunned from the airwaves.

I won’t go into the convoluted plot, but suffice it to say that the ending is a little too happy for Different Drummer’s taste – sappy as we hinted earlier.  All is forgiven, backstabbers become best friends or at least more cordial “frenemies,” and even Miranda thaws a bit.

If we were looking for a balm to put on any bruised egos, or a saccharine story to lull us to sleep, there is always the Hallmark channel.

The Devil Who Wears Prada has been dehorned, and this critic is none too happy about it.  

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Even if Miranda is almost neutered in The Devil Wears Prada 2, she still has her love for coffee.  Let’s allow Brit and Co to fix up a cocktail in celebration of that caffeine addiction.

“Directly inspired by Miranda Priestly’s signature coffee order, this take on the classic espresso martini is elevated even more with a pinch of salt and golden espresso beans for the garnish. “ Brit and Co

The Devil’s Roast Cocktail

Here's how to make it:

1. Add 1 ½ ounces Grey Goose Vodka, 1 shot of espresso, ¾ ounces coffee liqueur, and a pinch of salt to a shaker.

2. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with three espresso beans. (Coat them using gold edible glitter for a shiny, Instagram-worthy effect.)

(via Grey Goose Vodka)

Brit and Co