Fly Me To The Moon is a movie made by Apple starring Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johannson, Woody Harrelson, and Ray Romano. You can find it on Apple TV+ if you’re interested. The movie was initially planned for a streaming release, but was moved to a theatrical release after positive early test screenings. That explains why I literally saw zero advertising for it, even at the movie theaters. It had a production budget of $100 million and a worldwide gross of $42,225,354.
You think it would be obvious, but it seems people in the film division at Apple don’t understand that you have to have a clear vision for whether or not you’re going to market your movie and give it a theatrical release. Once they decided to make it a theatrical release, they should’ve given themselves at least six months to release it. That way they could do a full court press on it. I mean, how are you going to make a good movie with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, put it in the movie theaters, and not even tell anyone? I bet this movie could have grossed $500 million if they had done the normal advertising and build up to the movie release. They missed out on a lot of money and on a good opportunity to show the whole world the quality of shows that are on Apple TV+. They need to fire whoever was in charge of that and hire someone who knows what they’re doing because that was just an enormous miss by the production company.
Before I get to the review, I’m sure you have several questions about flying to the moon.
In April 1961, The Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, in his vehicle, Vostok 1, which circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour with the flight lasting 108 minutes. Vostok’s reentry was controlled by a computer. Unlike the early U.S. human spaceflight programs, Gagarin did not land inside of a capsule. Instead, he ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute.
This grand achievement occurred just a year and a half before the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was the height of the Cold War.
The Soviet success suggested that the United States was falling behind in the arms race and fueled new tensions between the two nations entwined in a bitter Cold War. Space would become the newest theater for battling the Cold War and provided an opportunity for the United States to promote leadership and demonstrate the technological advances of a free and democratic society. In order to do that, the United States needed to reach the Moon before the Soviet Union.
One month after The Soviet Union’s success, President John F. Kennedy made a special address to Congress on Urgent National Needs and asked Congress to dedicate $7-9 billion dollars to the space program. The United States, he declared, needed “to take a clearly leading role in space achievement” and “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the earth.”
Between 1960 and 1973, NASA spent $28 billion developing the rockets, spacecraft and ground systems needed for what became the Apollo program. According to a recent analysis by the Planetary Society, that translates into an estimated $288.1 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Not surprisingly, the US ended up spending 3-4 times of what President Kennedy originally thought it would cost. Getting to the moon was a very difficult and expensive goal to achieve.
A fire on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy during a pre-flight test for Apollo resulted in the deaths of astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee as flames swept through the command module. NASA says that “technical and management lapses led to the accident.”
Seventy-three seconds into the Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-51L mission, an “explosive burn of hydrogen and oxygen propellants destroyed the External Tank and exposed the Orbiter to severe aerodynamic loads that caused the complete structural breakup,” according to NASA’s report on the disaster.
Shuttle commander Francis R. Scobee, pilot Michale J. Smith, mission specialists Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair and Ellison S. Onizuka all died, as did payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis and teacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe.
A lengthy investigation found the cause of the disaster was an O-ring failure in the right solid rocket booster, which was aggravated by extreme cold weather in Florida before the launch, NASA said.
The Columbia STS-107 lifted off on Jan. 16, 2003 and suffered a catastrophic failure on Feb. 1, 2003 upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. The failure was caused by a break that occurred during launch when falling foam from the external tank struck the reinforced carbon panels on the underside of the left wing, according to NASA.
Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark and Ilan Ramon were killed 15 minutes before the Columbia was scheduled to touch down at Kennedy Space Center.
The US is planning to set up 2-3 moon bases, according to Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development.
China and Russia are actually in the process of setting up a moon base and are looking to attract other countries who want to join in on it.
To be honest, this scenario sounds much more like these countries are preparing to wage war from the moon than actually having any real intent of living peacefully on the moon. But I guess we’ll see.
Elon Musk said SpaceX will make it so people will be living on Mars in 4 years, be living there in a self-sustaining city in 20 years, and there will be 1 million people on Mars in 30 years.
Elon is putting a lot of pressure on SpaceX and it seems the governments of the world will try to outdo each other in conquering the next new frontier.
Woody Harrelson is one of the stars in this movie, but there are some very interesting things about his father that you probably don’t know.
On September 1, 1980, police outside of Vanhorn, Texas were locked in a six-hour standoff with a fugitive and suspected assassin. He was Charles Voyde Harrelson—father of Hollywood A-lister Woody Harrelson.
Crazed and hallucinating from injecting cocaine, Charles Harrelson had convinced himself there was a bomb hidden in the muffler of his car. He pulled over to the side of the highway and began blasting at the car with his gun, blowing his tire.
Harrelson—shirtless and wearing cutoff jeans and gold chains—held himself hostage. With his gun under his chin, he threatened to kill himself and claimed—among other things—that he killed John F. Kennedy. He was jailed in 1973 for murder and released after five years for good behavior. In 1981, he was given two life sentences for the assassination of a district judge, John H Wood Jr, the first federal judge to be assassinated in the 20th Century.
Judge Wood earned the nickname, “Maximum John,” for his famed reputation for being tough on crime and dealing out lengthy prison sentences, especially to drug traffickers.
Wood’s murder was the first assassination of a federal judge in the twentieth century and sparked a massive investigation by local, state, and federal law enforcement.
Hit man Charles Harrelson was hired by drug kingpin Jamiel “Jimmy” Chagra for $250,000 to shoot Wood before Chagra was to appear in Wood’s courtroom for sentencing for a multitude of drug trafficking convictions. Chagra had built a large drug trafficking operation and had failed in his attempt to bribe Judge Wood with as much as $10 million. Ultimately, Harrelson was convicted of murder and assessed two life sentences plus five years. Chagra, who had a separate trial in Jacksonville, Florida, was acquitted of a murder-for-hire charge but was convicted of drug smuggling and obstruction of justice.
President John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Sometime after the murder, photos surfaced of three men under arrest with police walking next to them through Dealey Plaza later that day. The story is told that the three men were found hiding in a train car by many policemen. Because they were found hiding in a train car, which was a way bums used to get free transportation, they were given the nickname of “The Three Tramps.” In those days, a tramp meant a bum.
Endless speculation and debate has come in regarding the identities of the three men. Some have said The Three Tramps were Gus Abrams, Harold Doyle, and John Gedney, all of whom they personally said or their families said were tramps at the time. But I want you to look at the picture of The Three Tramps. You can find it by clicking here. Take a close look at it. What do you see?
Number one: The Three Tramps are well dressed and clean shaven. If they had really been tramps, they would’ve had long beards, and they would be wearing worn dirty clothes.
Number two: The Three Tramps are not handcuffed. This should blow the lid off of what was really happening in the picture. If someone went out and took a few shots at The President today, then were found, they would be handcuffed immediately. Instead, though The Three Tramps were present in Dealey Plaza on the day of the assassination of JFK and were supposedly suspects for the murder, instead of being handcuffed, it looks much more like they were receiving an armed procession.
Number three: Look at the police. They are carrying rifles. Clearly not a standard issue weapon for a policeman in those days or even today. Furthermore, their police uniforms are fake due to the placement of their badges as well as other things.
What this all ultimately means is that The Three Tramps were part of the assassination of JFK in some way, and the fake police taking them out of Dealey Plaza that day were there to get them out of Dealey without actually being arrested.
The fact of the matter is this—Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill President John F. Kennedy.
Let me say that again: Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill President John F. Kennedy.
I’ll easily prove it to you in five minutes.
The name of the best video that was taken of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination is called the Zapruder film because it was taken by a man named Abraham Zapruder. You need to watch it. Click here.
Lee Harvey Oswald was supposedly on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository (TBSD). I want you to focus on the kill shot—the shot that killed The President. At the moment the kill shot was fired, the TBSD was behind President Kennedy. You can clearly see that President Kennedy is facing forward when he was hit with the kill shot. This means that if the kill shot had been fired from the sixth floor of the TBSD, President Kennedy’s head would have moved forward and down.
Watch the video. Which way does President Kennedy’s head move when he’s hit with the kill shot?
His head clearly moves backward and to the left, indicating that the kill shot had to come from the front right. That is the direction of the grassy knoll. In fact, after President Kennedy is hit with the kill shot, you see Jackie Kennedy climb on to the back of the Presidential limousine for a moment. She is, in fact, grabbing some of President Kennedy’s brain off the back of the car. Think about that. How could his brain blow out the back of his head if he had been shot from behind? It completely breaks the laws of physics and thus is not possible.
The Zapruder film is definitive proof that the kill shot came from the grassy knoll. There is no question about it. That means Lee Harvey Oswald, who was supposedly on the sixth floor of the TBSD, could not have fired the kill shot.
Thus, like I said, Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill President John F. Kennedy.
The thing that should trouble all Americans is the fact that those in charge of the government investigation to determine the murderer of President Kennedy had the Zapruder film. They knew perfectly, as you now do, that Lee Harvey Oswald could not have possibly killed President Kennedy. So, the questions are: Why did they lie? Who were they covering for? And who really killed President Kennedy?
Jim Marrs is a very dedicated JFK researcher. He’s a journalist from Dallas and did a ton of interviews to find out what really happened. There is terrific information in his book Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy about Charles Harrelson and his potential role in the murder of JFK:
“Aside from being twice convicted of murder for hire, [Charles] Harrelson . . . had a long history of involvement with Dallas underworld characters linked directly to Jack Ruby. This connection first came to the attention of JFK researchers when Harrelson was arrested near Van Horn, Texas, September 1, 1980. He had been identified as a suspect in the death of federal judge John Wood of San Antonio, who was shot in an ambush by a high-powered rifle.
“High on cocaine, which is well-known for loosening the inhibitions, and pointing a pistol to his own head, Harrelson held lawmen at bay for six hours. During this time, according to the arresting officers, he not only confessed to the Judge Wood killing, but also claimed he had participated in the Kennedy assassination. This statement, repeated in some Texas newspapers, sent assassination researchers to their files looking for confirmation.
“The late Fort Worth graphics expert Jack White, who testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, already had noticed the resemblance of Harrelson to the youngest tramp. Harrelson was forty-seven years old in 1985, making him twenty-five at the time of the assassination. This corresponds with the age of the youngest tramp, who was thought to have been twenty-five [to] thirty years old.
“In June 1981, Harrelson was interviewed by Chuck Cook, then a reporter for the Dallas Morning News. In a telephone interview with [Jim Marrs], Cook recalled, ‘I asked about the Kennedy assassination and he got this sly grin on his face. Harrelson is very intelligent and has a way of not answering when it suits him.’
“Cook said at a later interview he again brought the subject up and that Harrelson became very serious. Cook quoted Harrelson as saying, ‘Listen, if and when I get out of here and feel free to talk, I will have something that will be the biggest story you ever had.’ When Cook asked what that story might be, Harrelson would only reply, ‘November 22, 1963. You remember that!’
“Intrigued with the possibilities, Cook said he later showed photographs of the three tramps to Harrelson’s wife, Jo Ann Harrelson, who ‘was amazed at the similarities.’ . . .
“In an interview with Dallas TV newsman Quin Mathews, Harrelson offered further comments on the Kennedy assassination. ‘You said you’d killed President Kennedy?’ commented Mathews. Harrelson replied:
“At the same time I said I killed the judge, I said I had killed Kennedy, which might give you an idea as to the state of my mind at the time . . . It was an effort to elongate my life . . . Well, do you believe Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy alone, without any aid from a rogue agency of the US Government or at least a portion of that agency? I believe you are very naïve if you do.
“White became convinced that Harrelson was the youngest of the three tramps. White told this author, ‘I have done various photographic comparison tests and everything matches . . . the hair, the nose, the ear, the profile. It’s Harrelson . . .
“In April 1982, Florida law-enforcement officials identified Harrelson as being a member of a shadowy group of hired gunmen, mercenaries, and drug smugglers known as ‘The Company.’
“The Company, which according to lawmen took its nickname from the CIA, involved more than three hundred persons, many ex-police or ex-military men. Federal drug agents said the group imported billions of dollars’ worth of narcotics from Central and South America as well as conducting gunrunning and mercenary operations. During one criminal trial involving members of the group, federal prosecutors claimed The Company owned more than $30 million in assets such as planes, ships, and real estate.
“Florida lawmen investigating this group claimed Harrelson was a member and that Jimmy Chagra, the man who allegedly hired Harrelson to kill the judge, also once hired The Company for protection.
“Oddly enough, the very day that Harrelson was formally charged with the Judge Wood assassination—April 16, 1982—a Dallas news reporter and a JFK assassination researcher were scheduled to meet with Harrelson to discuss his role in the Kennedy murder. Although Harrelson had been jailed for more than a year and a half, when the formal charges were filed, all visits to him were canceled. JFK researcher and author J. Gary Shaw claimed, ‘I feel this was done at that particular time to prevent Harrelson from revealing what he knows.’
“During Harrelson’s trial, Joe Chagra, brother of Jimmy, testified that Harrelson got the Wood contract after telling his brother that he had participated in the JFK assassination. Researchers find it remarkable that a man reputed to be a high-ranking mobster by government agents should hire Harrelson on this claim rather than boot him out of his office—since everyone had been told the assassination was caused by only a lone nut.
“Harrelson, who died in prison in 2007 while serving a life sentence in the Wood assassination, was never interviewed thoroughly about his role in Dallas, though his son’s acting career prospered. Researchers are left only with his cryptic reminder: ‘November 22, 1963. You remember that!’”
(Marrs, Jim. Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, pages 324-326. Kindle Edition.)
Even Charles Harrelson himself makes it plain that a portion of a rogue agency, which is obviously the CIA, participated in the assassination of JFK.
But the intrigue doesn’t stop there.
Now the life and crimes of Charles Harrelson are back in the spotlight after it was revealed he may have fathered not one, but two, Hollywood A-listers.
Speaking on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, Matthew McConaughey said that Woody Harrelson, Charles’s Harrelson’s son and his True Detective co-star and close friend, could be his half-brother. The connection was made when McConaughey’s mother said she “knew” Harrelson’s father. The duo are even considering doing a paternity test to investigate further.
“You know, where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, has always been like a murky line,” McConaughey said. “And that’s part of our bromance, right? My kids call him Uncle Woody. His kids call me Uncle Matthew. And you see pictures of us and my family thinks a lot of pictures of him are me. His family thinks a lot of pictures of me are him.
“In Greece a few years ago, we’re sitting around talking about how close we are and our families. And my mom is there, and she says, ‘Woody, I knew your dad.’ Everyone was aware of the ellipses that my mom left after ‘knew.’ It was a loaded K-N-E-W.”
McConaughey, though, said he was wary about doing a paternity test. “Look, it’s a little easier for Woody to say, ‘Come on, let’s do [DNA tests],’ because what’s the skin in it for him? . . . It’s a little harder for me because he’s asking me to take a chance to go, ‘Wait a minute, you’re trying to tell me my dad may not be my dad after 53 years of believing that?’ I got a little more skin in the game.”
His reluctance is easy to understand: if a test proves he is related to Charles Harrelson, then that’s quite the legacy to inherit. As detailed in the investigative podcast Son of a Hitman by the journalist Jason Cavanagh, Charles V Harrelson was a ruthless criminal: a murderer-for-hire; a woman-beater; a con-man; a drug mover and user; and debt collector.
One wild story even has him smuggling weapons into Cuba with Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald. The sister of one murder victim described Harrelson as “cold as ice… there was nothing in his eyes.”
Woody had also said he believed his father was a secret CIA operative. “I shouldn’t get into this right now,” Woody said. “This is where we’re going to get into trouble… I know it’s true.”
Harrelson was a known womanizer and one ex-girlfriend, Sandra Sue Attaway, describes how she instantly fell in love with him. A Texas Ranger calls him: “A con man with personality.”
“Almost everyone I’ve spoken to has said he was incredibly smart and incredibly charming,” says Jason Cavanagh.
Harrelson was first tried for the 1968 murder of Alan Berg, a carpet salesman from Houston. At the time it was alleged that a rival carpet seller named Frank DiMaria had hired Harrelson to kill Berg. Sandra Sue Attaway, who testified against Harrelson, claimed that she helped lure Berg to a bar, where Harrelson forced him into a car at gunpoint and shot him in the head. Berg’s skeletal remains were found in a marshy ditch six months later. The next morning, a picture of a police officer holding Berg’s skull was published on the front page of the newspaper. (DiMaria was found not guilty of being involved in Berg’s murder.)
Cavanagh had planned to show up at DiMaria’s place, but Alan Berg’s brother David warned him bluntly: “Do not go over there to try to talk to him. Just don’t do that.”
“Going into this I knew I’d be looking at this intersection of different worlds that were potentially dangerous,” says Cavanagh. “The FBI, CIA, organized crime, and Hollywood—a lot of people who have an interest in not having the full picture told. One person told me that he knows how to ‘disappear people.’ He can make that happen.”
Harrelson was found not guilty of Berg’s murder, thanks to his celebrity defense attorney Percy Foreman, who was known for representing organized crime figures, James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King, and Jack Ruby.
“How Harrelson afforded him and how he was even put into contact with Foreman in the first place is beyond me,” says Cavanagh on the podcast.
Harrelson was next tried for the shooting of Texas grain dealer named Sam Degelia. According to the prosecution, Harrelson had been hired by Degelia’s business partner, who wanted the life insurance payout. Degelia was found in a barn, shot twice in the head. An accomplice recalled Harrelson saying: “Isn’t it h*** when your buddy kills you to collect the insurance?”
The trial ended in a deadlock jury and Harrelson had to wait in jail for three years before the retrial. One prison guard recalls how Harrelson always had money and status in prison. He even paid off a guard so he could have sex with another inmate’s sister.
Harrelson was found guilty at the retrial. On the way out of court, one juror was overheard whispering to Harrelson: “I’m sorry, that’s the best I could do.” Harrelson was sentenced to 15 years but served just five.
[Charles] Harrelson revealed his literary ambitions to Kenny Gallo, a convicted mafia “associate” in the FBI witness protection program. “He wrote to me saying he was writing the book that exposed all the lies written about him over the years,” Gallo said.
He denied that Harrelson had killed 50 people: “He may have been involved in that many killings, maybe driving the car or something, but he only carried out maybe six killings himself.”
America no longer produced assassins like Harrelson, he added. “Today, you want someone killed, you call in a Russian or an Israeli. I don’t know how Woody feels about his father, but Harrelson was probably the last of a killing breed.”
There’s a nasty intersection between the CIA, FBI, Organized Crime, Hollywood, and Politics. The true story of Charles Harrelson and Woody Harrelson starts to uncover just the tip of the iceberg, but there is so so much more there.
Now that I’ve thoroughly blown your mind it’s time for the review.
We’ve grown so accustomed to Scarlett Johansson taking down bad guy after bad guy for the past decade and a half in her legendary role of Black Widow, that it’s actually nice to see what she can do with a complex acting role. From hustling business men, to multiple accents, to a difficult romance, Scarlett had to do it all in this movie and she was extremely entertaining. In her role of Master Marketer Kelly Jones, we got to witness again why Scarlett is one of the greatest actresses of our time. With the way she has to manipulate one person after another in the movie, you start wondering: Is there anything Scarlett can’t do?
I think the part that really takes it to the next level is when Channing Tatum’s character says, “Can you do a Louisiana accent?”
Scarlett responds, “Which one? New Orleans or Baton Rouge?”
Channing replies, “I don’t know. Whichever one [the Senator’s wife] is from.”
The next second, the Senator’s wife opens the door and welcomes them in. Scarlett immediately jumps into a Louisiana accent (I’m still not sure if it’s New Orleans or Baton Rouge) and immediately makes friends with the Senator’s wife.
That’s some great writing and spectacular acting.
Interesting Note:
Set to present an award at the 2015 Academy Awards (in Atelier Versace, no less) a mere five months after giving birth to her daughter, Rose, Johansson did what any new mother in Hollywood would do: She smuggled a breast pump in her purse. “I had to bring my breast pump, because I was nursing and every ounce is like liquid gold,” she said.
Goes to show that movie stars are just like everyone else.
I can’t wait to watch Scarlett in her next role. Let’s hope it’s soon.
Scarlett Johansson Performance Grade:
9.8 A+ World-Class
In the role of the tough-minded military man Cole Davis, Channing Tatum’s acting was spot on in this movie. The first time I saw the movie I thought he might have been a bit too serious with his character. But as I thought about it, his character had flown many missions in combat action, plus he was the man in charge of getting the U.S. to the moon before Russia. He would’ve had the weight of the world on his shoulders. For the rest of us, life is hard enough as it is. Imagine having to be in charge of getting your country to the moon. That is probably the most difficult human achievement of all time. Add to that the fact that of course there will be failures. And when there are failures, it means people die. Put all of these things together, and you would have someone who is very serious, very determined, completely overwhelmed, and trying to hold it together while leading a large group of men to do the hardest thing that’s ever been done. Once I really thought about Channing Tatum’s character, I think he played his role spectacularly well.
Interesting Note:
Did you know Channing Tatum struggles with Dyslexia?
In fact, he never thought of himself as intellectual—he struggled with ADHD and dyslexia in school.
“I have never considered myself a very smart person, for a lot of reasons,” he tells T, The New York Times Style Magazine. And that made his teen years difficult.
“Not having early success on that one path messes with you,” he admits. “You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, ‘Okay, so this is where I’m at.’ Or you get put in the typical classes and you say, ‘All right, I’m obviously not like these kids either.’ So, you’re kind of nowhere. You’re just different.”
Now, as a top-earning actor and Hollywood producer (who made millions when Magic Mike became a smash hit), the 34-year-old credits the arts with helping him find his way out of the confusion he felt.
Tatum says his parents were not artistic, but he “was drawn to people who knew about movies, art, even fashion.” When he moved to New York as a model, “I just learned everything I could from anybody who knew something I didn’t,” he says.
The Foxcatcher star believes he has a talent for choosing good mentors. “I can look at a person and say, ‘They’ve got something that I want up there in their head. I’m going to do my best to get in there and absorb it.’ My mom said, ‘Be a sponge.’ And so, I’ve learned more from people than I have from school or from books.”
It’s very impressive that instead of giving up, Channing realized he had to do things a different way and he kept trying and trying until he could figure out what the way was. He’s a true inspiration for every child (and adult) who struggles with learning disabilities.
You’re not going to laugh at anything Channing Tatum does in this movie, but that’s not his role. His role is to accomplish the most difficult thing that’s ever been done in the history of the world.
Channing Tatum Performance Grade:
9.4 A Excellent
I’m going to be honest. Woody Harrelson generally is not my favorite actor. I’ve seen him in plenty of roles where I thought he was pretty bad. But then, somehow, Ron Howard worked some kind of crazy magic and got Woody Harrelson to be an excellent actor in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Woody Harrelson’s the kind of actor that needs a great director to get the most out of him. So, I was not super enthusiastic when he entered Fly Me To The Moon in the role of Moe Burkus, a shady yet powerful man from the White House.
Surprisingly, Woody Harrelson was pretty entertaining in this movie. He played his part quite well. Moe is mean, nice, tough, understanding, and powerful all in one. In short, Moe will manipulate anyone and everyone in any way he has to in order to get what he wants. For the most part, I thought Woody Harrelson did all of this pretty well.
I would love to detail some of my favorite parts of Woody Harrelson in this movie, but then I’d spoil it for you. It’s the way he deals with people. Never the same. Always something different, something new. Always speaking a language to people that they understand.
Moe Burkus was a great character and Woody Harrelson played him quite well. In fact, this is one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Woody Harrelson, and that’s saying something.
Woody Harrelson Performance Grade:
7.8 B Good
Ray Romano plays the role of Henry Smalls, who is basically Cole Davis’ (Channing Tatum) assistant. Ray doesn’t do anything spectacular for this movie, and I don’t think his role calls for that. But what his role does is give the audience (and Kelly) greater insight into Cole Davis. In fact, at one point in the movie, Ray has a conversation with Scarlett that is very powerful. Ray Romano’s acting and his role in the movie are like a steady guiding hand for Channing Tatum and his character. He makes a nice addition.
Ray Romano Performance Grade:
8.5 B+ Very Good
Jim Rash plays the gay diva film director. I think there are a lot of Hollywood A-listers who could not have played this role as well as Jim Rash did. That was the role made for him. I’m not sure if he’s gay in real life and it doesn’t really matter to me. Along with Kelly, Jim’s character infuses quite a bit of humor into the movie and Jim played his role very well. He’s the artist who’s never satisfied and easily overwhelmed. His character and his performance were a terrific addition to the movie.
Jim Rash Performance Grade:
8.8 A- Very Good
Overall, the acting in this movie is very good. With a World-Class performance from Scarlett Johansson and an excellent performance from Channing Tatum, the rest of the cast follow suit and do a very good job of acting.
Overall Acting Grade:
8.7 A- Very Good
The Plot in Fly Me To The Moon is quite good. There are some twists and turns early on that you don’t see coming. Just as important, the movie moves at a good pace. At no time do you ever feel like the movie is dragging.
Plot Grade:
7.5 B Good
There is a lot of terrific dialogue in this movie. The writers crafted some terrific, very entertaining characters and the result was a lot of fun dialogue, characters doing fun things, and characters trying to manipulate and outsmart each other.
Dialogue Grade:
8.3 B+ Very Good
Overall, Fly Me To The Moon is the best written movie of the year so far. There was clearly no rush job here from the writers. They took their time, crafted some terrific characters, and wrote it very well. The result was a very entertaining movie. Hollywood writers should take note of the writing in this movie.
Overall Writing Grade:
8.1 B+ Very Good
The music in Fly Me To The Moon was pretty good. There’s nothing that’ll blow your mind away, but it fits the tone of each scene very well.
Music Grade:
7.5 B Good
There aren’t a ton of incredible cinematographic shots in this movie. The best shots are probably CGI shots of the space ship taking off. It is shot well, but once again, the cinematography isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind.
Cinematography Grade:
7.0 B Good
The acting in this movie was very good and the cinematography was good. But something that really stuck out to me was that they re-created the inside of NASA’s launch center at Cape Canaveral. That had to be super difficult and very time consuming. They also had to re-create a fake moon as well as re-create several fake NASA locations. The level of detail in all of those things was terrific and the movie felt very real.
If you put all of that together, I think the Directing by Greg Berlanti was terrific. He was definitely the right man for the job.
Directing Grade:
9.2 A Excellent
There are some cuss words in this movie, but there are no sex scenes.
Fly Me To The Moon is a very entertaining movie. The acting is terrific. The writing is very good. There are interesting characters and the story moves at a good pace. There’s nothing about this movie that I can say was bad or needed significant improvement.
In my opinion, Fly Me To The Moon was one of the best movies of 2024.
Fly Me To The Moon Overall Grade:
7.8 B Good
Fly Me To The Moon is a movie that almost everyone will enjoy.
My Recommendation:
SEE IT
Adrian Harris is a writer, author, and business owner. He hopes to soon open his own movie studio and become a movie producer, director, and actor. Read Adrian’s Bio.
Adrian Harris is a writer, author, and business owner. He hopes to soon open his own movie studio and become a movie producer, director, and actor. Read Adrian’s Bio.
*Comedy Short Story
Adrian parked the car in the driveway as he and his beautiful wife, Hannah, arrived at home. As they got out of the car, Hannah looked at the blooming flowers in their garden then at their two-story house, “It’s good to be home.”
Denis (I believe it’s pronounced Deni. The s is silent. Denis is French and French words and names are never pronounced how they’re spelled. The same can be said for a lot of English words) Villeneuve’s Dune Part 2 was probably the most anticipated release of the year.
About six years ago, I received the worst possible revelation from the Holy Ghost you can possibly receive. The Holy Ghost told me to study the Book of Job. The moment he told me that, I immediately put my head down. I knew what God was saying.
