Perhaps the reason Project Hail Mary hits the spot in the spring of 2026 is that novelist Andy Weir, who wrote the 2021 novel and also the book The Martian, is fundamentally an optimist. Both stories concern men who are alone,

It's lonely out in space for Ryan Gosling this week, but that's what happens when you embark on a suicide mission to save a planet.

From Gosling's gripping central performance to his character's incredibly sweet friendship with a rock-shaped alien he dubs "Rocky" (puppeted and voiced by James Ortiz), there's a lot to love in "Proj...