Movie Review: Project Hail Mary (2026)

Project Hail Mary (2026) directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on board a space ship with no recollection of why he is there. His memories slowly come back as he explores the ship and discovers its mission. Three astronauts have been sent to a star eleven light years away to see why it is not being devoured by Astrophage, a strange biological substance that is slowly destroying all the stars in Earth's immediate (so to speak) vicinity. The other two astronauts have died in cryosleep, leaving him alone. By the time he gets to the destination, he's recovered a lot, but not all, of his memories. He also discovers another ship from another planet with another sentient being on it. They make contact and work out a way to communicate, which lets them work together on the problem that may save both their home systems.

The movie is based on a book by the author of The Martian, so it has enough scientific street cred to be plausible. Even so, the science is the least interesting part of the story. Gosling's solid performance holds things together. His character's human interest story is more compelling than the science disaster back home. The script injects a lot of humor to balance out the drama which often threatens to get excruciatingly sad and bleak. The slow reveal of Grace's backstory benefits from this too. 

Recommended.

Game Review: Unlock! Supernatural Adventures by Space Cowboy

Unlock! Supernatural Adventures by Space Cowboy

This set of "escape rooms at home" use a deck of custom cards and a downloaded phone or tablet app to guide you through the adventure (and keep track of how much time you have used). Some of the games also require components in the box, including the occasional surprise set of components. Here are some supernatural adventures...

Nova City Under Threat

A group of superheroes hangs out at their HQ when the call comes in to thwart a bank robbery! Players use the heroes to save the hostages and end the threat, but that's only the beginning of the action as a supervillain behind the robbery enacts a bigger scheme that could mean disaster for Nova City.

The game has a great premise using a variety of heroes with different powers. Things started off a little slow, making it hard to figure out where the game was supposed to be going. The situation did not improve as we got frustrated with a lot of the logical leaps we needed to make to proceed through the narrative. We took a lot of hints, went down a lot of wrong rabbit holes, and went way overtime trying to solve this one. It was very disappointing.

Dia de Los Muertos

Ana's Abuela wants to celebrate the Day of the Dead, though not all the family ancestors were the most respectable people when they died. Ana has a brother and sister. They all dress up and go to the family celebration, which turn into an adventure in the afterlife, trying to set the situation right.

This game has a lot of fun puzzles that tie in well with the theme. The use of the app is very clever with some unexpected twists that move the story along nicely. We had the usual assortment of very easy and very inexplicable puzzles. We used hints a few times but did not think anything was too much of a stretch (well, maybe the one with dates). This was a lot more fun and a bit easier than the previous deck, which surprised us. We did take a really long time getting through it.

Raganrok

Players start off as a Viking warrior on a ship that fights a mighty sea beast. The ship is wreaked and you wander into the afterlife where Loki has kicked off Ragnarok, the Norse Apocalypse! Can you make it through the end of times and still be alright?

In addition to the usual card and app puzzles, the game includes a couple of cardboard weapons that are used with cards to solve puzzles. Players also use runes that they can cast in sets of four to solve puzzles. One card lists a handful of runes; later in the game another card adds even more. The app has a special spot to "cast the runes" by clicking their images in order. While very thematic, this mechanism was also very problematic. Many times it was hard to tell the proper order of the runes. Some were easily guessable, others were entirely cryptic. Occasionally, we had to guess at which runes were part of the puzzle, making it even more challenging. We used a lot of hints. After about an hour, we took a break to continue the next day. The app rebooted, meaning we had to repeat everything we had already done. That was a bit more frustration added on. We finally made it through, though we were more motivated by completing it than having a great time.

This was the first Unlock! box that was more disappointing than fun. It has some interesting ideas but the implementation did not work for us.

TV Review: Little House on the Prairie (2026)

Little House on the Prairie (2026) created for television by Rebecca Sonnenshine based on the book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Ingalls family heads out west to start a new life in the town of Independence. Charles Ingalls (Luke Bracy) took a flyer at its word and sought his own piece of land. The Osage Indians still live in the area but the federal government is working out a deal. The trip is treacherous, almost costing their lives. They find help from some neighbors and some of the Independence townfolk, including Doctor George Tann (Jocko Sims), who patches up some injuries on Caroline (Crosby Fitzgerald), the mother. Daughters Laura (Alice Halsey) and Mary (Skywalker Hughes) have a tough time adjusting. Mary is bookish and misses friends and family; Laura is more of a tomboy and has troubles being more lady-like. They go through various adventures as Pa builds the house and farms the land while the rest of the family interacts with the neighbors (including a Native American family with a much nicer house and Mr. Edwards (Warren Christie), a rough settler living on his own nearby). Trips to town put them in touch with the local women's club (creating social drama for Caroline) and the general store with its cute young boy clerk (creating romantic drama for Mary), and the James family with its two daughters about the younger Ingalls's ages (creating social drama for both Mary and Laura). 

The stories are loaded with drama thanks to the difficulty of frontier life. All the episodes are interesting and a lot of attention is given to side characters like the doctor, who gets romantically involved with the general store owner. The Native American family are part of the Osage tribe about to be displaced if the deal with the US government goes through. Most of the adventures have happy endings and the family's plucky American spirit often wins the day.

Another television adaptation ran for ten years starting in 1974. Starring Michael Landon as Pa and Melissa Gilbert as Laura, the show was a childhood favorite in my family. The two stars have a lot of star power, boosting an upbeat and family-friendly drama. This new series has fine acting but no one is particularly outstanding. The stories have a slightly larger scope, telling the experiences of side characters, especially the indigenous population who are more sympathetic than in the 1970s show. The old show did not do much with the Indians, though a scene of two males invading the Ingalls cabin and taking most of their stuff is in both shows. In the 1970s, it's a moment of unmitigated terror (Pa is in town, leaving the women alone to face the half-naked males who don't speak English). In the new show, subtitles reveal that one of the Native Americans claims he is justified in taking the Ingalls' stuff since the whites have taken a lot from the Osage. They still come off as bad people and get something of a comeuppance, but they are treated as more complicated than earlier. 

I haven't read the books, so I don't know how either series compares to the source material. This new series seems like a prequel because the 1970s series is set in Walnut Grove, the existence of which only comes in at the very end of the 2026 series.

I enjoyed this series though I think the original 1970s show is better. Maybe that's my childhood bias showing? I would watch more of this show if/when they make more.

Mildly recommended.

As I write (August 2026), this is only available streaming on Netflix.

Carrollton Hall, Maryland

To commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, Carrollton Hall in Ellicott City, Maryland, had an open house and cookout. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress but signatures did not go on until August. Charles Carroll of Carrollton was one of the four signers from Maryland. He was also the only Catholic to sign and he lived the longest of any of the signers, dying in 1832.

Carrollton Hall was constructed from 1831 to 1833, so he did not live to see it completed. He did not even plan to live in the house. The area was called Folly Farm, owned by Charles Carroll, who gave it to his granddaughter Emily Caton McTavish in 1831 when she married. Grandpa financed the building of the hall, an extra gift to the young couple. The hall and farm remained in the family until it was sold during the American Civil War to Charles Dougherty. The land went through a number of owners, eventually being sold to the Franciscan Friars Conventual who built the Shrine of Saint Anthony, a friary right next to the hall, in 1928. Only recently has the house been restored enough to be rented out for business meetings or retreats. And for public tours, which we took advantage of.

The day we visited was rainy which made the grilling even more smoky than it otherwise would be. The house looks a bit fog-covered but it's really smoke from the cooks in the back yard.

Carrollton Hall exterior

The house follows the Greek Revival style inside and out, with spacious rooms and amazing views off the "back porch."

Main hall

One of the many fireplaces

A map displays the plan of Folly Farm with the hall taking up only a very small part of the land. 

Plan for Carrollton Hall

The first floor has rooms on each side of the main hall. The pair of left-side rooms have a very wide doorway, allowing larger gatherings. 

Another fireplace

Looking from the front room into the back room

Fancy marble fireplace

View of the back lawn from inside

The back of the house

View from the back porch

The food was supposed to be served outdoors but the rain ruined that plan. We were lucky enough to get in the food line before it became very long. We enjoyed our burgers, fruit salad, and mac and cheese on the back porch. Some people took their food inside.

We saw the food line from the dryness of the porch

Back inside, we were able to go upstairs and see some more rooms. None of the original furnishings are there, resulting in some interesting items that surely were not owned by the McTavishes. 

The stairs

A bit of art

The top of the stairs has a small cupola to let light in.

Two light sources (and a wet camera)

The rest of the room

One room is set up for board meetings, including a monitor.

One of the upstairs rooms

The room's fireplace

A central room overlooking the back lawn is set up for a more causal meeting, decorated with a fancy chess set.

A more casual space

The kind of chess board you want to show off

Hard to get a good close up of the pieces

Yet another fireplace

Our visit was pretty short but enjoyable. 

Book Reviews: The Way of the Househusband Vols. 10 and 11 by Kousuke Oono

The Way of the Househusband Volume 10 by Kousuke Oono

Tatsu the Immortal Dragon (former Yakuza member turned househusband) continues living the domestic life while using his organized crime sensibilities to handle difficulties. In this volume, he deals with a Christmas illness in the family, an overweight woman, giving up smoking, and working in a grocery as a shoplifting buster. The humor is good and the stories read very quickly. I found it entertaining though it is very slight.

Mildly recommended.

The Way of the Househusband Volume 11 by Kousuke Oono

Tatsu and the missus go to an amusement park where they have to square off against another couple. Well, at least Tatsu and the other guy compete. Then Tatsu has to help is buddy Masa find an new, cheap apartment. They have a cooking competition too. Then Tatsu fights the ultimate rainy season enemy--mold. Plenty of other short adventures fill this volume with more of the typical light humor playing on the contrast of a yakuza living the life of a househusband.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Bringing Up Baby (1938) directed by Howard Hawks

Mild mannered David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a paleontologist about to get the last bone for a brontosaurus he's been building and about to marry his coworker Alice (Virginia Walker) the next day. David plays golf with a potential donor to get him to give his million dollars to the museum where David works. Right at the first hole, David runs into Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a flighty but intelligent young woman who manages to screw things up for him. That night, they run into each other at a restaurant where David tries to reconnect with the donor. More hijinks ensue. The next day, he winds up at her apartment where she is keeping a leopard sent by a relative. She wants to run it up to her aunt's house in the country and eventually finagles him into going along. More wackiness ensues as she tries to help him and he tries to get away from her.

This classic screwball comedy has all the usual elements--overlapping dialogue, physical comedy, awkward situations, misunderstandings, romance. The leads are great though Hepburn's character is a bit grating. That she falls in love with David is not so surprising but David's eventual falling for her is much less believable. Susan's character is a prototypical Manic Pixie Dream Girl, exhibiting the wild and frivolous behavior of a character seemingly designed to break a man out of his humdrum stupor, using both unintentional and intentional manipulations. I found her irresponsible attitudes very unattractive and his eventual admission of love inconceivable. But the film is very funny and moves at a breakneck pace with a lightness that sparkles. The overall charm and wackiness balance out the negative bits.

Recommended.

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we braved the downtown Washington, D.C., crowds and visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It's part of the Smithsonian Museums.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

We started in the lobby which features a film introducing the museum. Overhead is Swing Low, a bronze sculpture that evokes the fluid motion of a band of angels. Crafted by Richard Hunt, it is inspired by the famous Negro spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

Swing Low

We descended to the bottom of the museum to tour the historical part of the museum. The exhibits begin with the arrival of African slaves in the 1600s.

Collar and chain from slave trade

The largest mainland slave revolt in the English colonies was the Stono Rebellion in 1739. Twenty slaves rose up under Jemmy, a literate enslaved man, and they marched toward Spanish Florida for freedom. The South Carolina militia chased them down, killing most of the rebels, whose number had swollen close to a hundred as they traveled. 

Drum from 18th c. South Carolina

During the American War for Independence, much like the rest of the people in the colonies, there were Blacks who supported the cause for independence and who supported British control of the colonies.

Black Patriots (to the US cause)

Black Loyalist (to the UK cause)

The next exhibit looks at the tension between the Founding Fathers' fight for freedom alongside the acceptance of slavery. Plenty of black freedmen and women contributed to the early United States in spite of cultural biases against them. 

Paradox of Liberty

Richard Allen was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1760. He converted to Methodism, bought his freedom, and became a preacher to whites and black along the east coast. He founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church after frustration with an integrated church in Philadelphia that became less integrated over time.

Richard Allen and his money box

Phyllis Wheatley was a popular poet during the American War for Independence, publishing a book called Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral. 

Elizabeth Wheatley

Benjamin Banneker was a gentleman scientist living near Ellicott Mills, Maryland. He was hired as part of the survey team for the District of Columbia, laying out the border stones that can still be found today.

Benjamin Banneker

One of the big economic drivers that preserved slavery was the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s. Before this machine, cotton seeds had to be removed by hand in a laborious process. The new speed of processing made growing cotton more valuable. Without an engine to harvest cotton, human labor was used to work the fields, perpetuating the need for low-cost labor that slavery filled.

The Cotton Gin

A haunting display is this stone platform that was used during slave auctions to "display the wares" to people bidding to own other people.

Auction stone

Harriett Tubman was given a lace shawl by Queen Victoria in 1897 in recognition of her valuable work helping slaves flee along the Underground Railroad before the American Civil War. She became a spy for the North during the war. After the war, she became an advocate for civil rights for blacks and for women.

Tubman Shawl

The next section describes the American Civil War, with a map showing the then-extant states and how they voted in the 1860 presidential election that put Abraham Lincoln in the nation's highest office.

Election results in 1860

Displays show photos and items from the Colored Troops who served for the Union during the Civil War.

Blacks fighting in the American Civil War

The historical displays continued on through Reconstruction all the way to the Civil Rights era in the 1960s. We were hungry for lunch and moved on to the cafeteria.

After lunch, we went to the upstairs displays which are focused on culture. One interactive exhibit has visitors choose a driving path for some Chicagoans visiting relatives down south. On the way, big cities would have more restaurant and hotels that catered to black clientele. The Green Book was a directory of friendly garages, restaurants, hotels, and other places across the nation. During the period of Jim Crow laws, where segregation was the law in some jurisdictions, the Green Book was a handy tool to have.

Driving exhibit

Info about Jim Crow and the Green Book

Interactive screens on items owned by but not displayed at the museum

One hall presents the various religions of African-Americans, running the typical gamut of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and other religions.

Religious items from African American communities

From a Catholic Church in New Orleans

Another hall chronicles military service by the different major American wars.

Uniforms through the years

WWII items

Mid- to late-1900s conflicts

Another section shows farming techniques brought to the Americas from Africa, like this exhibit on developing tidal rice fields.

Tidal rice field development

This statue of Mary McLeod Bethune is a copy of the one in the United States Capitol Building. Each state has two statues in the Capitol's rotunda. Bethune represents Florida. She was a civil rights activist in the 1930s and an educator. Her statue replaced a Floridian who was a Confederate general.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Many famous athletes came from the African American community. Pele was a famous Brazilian soccer player in the mid-1900s.

Pele!

Serena and Venus Williams are sisters who were tennis sensations in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Williams sisters

Michael Jordan is perhaps the most famous basketball player in the world. His statue seemingly floats off the ground as he takes his shot. 

Michael Jordan

Jackie Robbins was the first black player in Major League Baseball, playing as #42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His legacy of breaking down barriers has been an inspiration for almost a century.

Dodgers memorabilia

Base-stealing!

The museum had a lot more that we didn't get to see. What I did see was a lot less "woke" than I was anticipating. Lots of it does not look at the African-American experience through the lenses of oppression and victimhood. Of course, historically there has been oppression and victimization, but many men and women rose to their historic occasion and beyond it, making achievements every American should be proud of.