What the corpus says about Ad Astra (2019)

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Ad Astra (2019) and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Ad Astra (2019) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[Blank Check — Patreon · The Fifth Annual Blank Check Awards · 1:22:48 · David Sims (0.30)] Ad Astra ↔ Ad Astra · craft · Named alongside Uncut Gems as a cinematography standout. · "Ad Astra is great."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Fifth Annual Blank Check Awards · 1:12:33 · David Sims (0.50)] Ad Astra ↔ Ad Astra · verdict · Brad Pitt's accessible performance made David give him his single Ad Astra nomination over OUATIH. · "I really love Brad in it."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 1:41:09 · unknown (0.30)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ Ad Astra (the host's read) · cribbing · Ad Astra is called the one other film that feels realistic about space travel, and it cribs from 2001. · "is cribbing from it so much where like the way at Astra depicts space travel"
[The Big Picture · The Snubs and Surprises of the 92nd Academy Award Nominations | The Oscars Show · 0:16:23 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Ad Astra ↔ James Gray · craft · Speaker praises the sound of Ad Astra, which earned a sound editing nomination. · "I think the sound of net Astro is wonderful."
[The Big Picture · Our Alternative Academy Awards | The Oscars Show · 1:13:29 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50)] Ad Astra ↔ Brad Pitt · people · The movie can't be saved, but the scene where Pitt records a message to his father is Pitt having therapy on screen. · "Brad Pitt's having his therapy on the screen and someone filmed it and let me watch it."
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Fifth Annual Blank Check Awards · 1:22:19 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Tommy Lee Jones ↔ Ad Astra · verdict · A 'sweater and a fretter': in space fretting while wearing a good sweater. · "He's a sweater and a fretter."
[The Big Picture · Our Alternative Academy Awards | The Oscars Show · 1:11:53 · Wesley Morris (0.50)] Ad Astra · fun · Wesley's take: why is it set in outer space and not a therapist's office; the dad-message scene is the only $18 reason to see it. · "Why is it set in outer space and not a therapist's office?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 0:54:01 · unknown (0.30)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ↔ 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) · programming · Film and Clarke's novel were developed side by side, each holding the other hostage. · "But the 2 of them were being done in tandem."
[Blank Check · Dune · 1:12:45 · unknown (0.40)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ Silent Running (the host's read) · lineage · 2001 spawned heady, serious, clean sci-fi like Silent Running. · "2001 leads to a spat of things like silent running, you know, these movies that are like very heady."
[Blank Check · Dune · 2:54:20 · unknown (0.40)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read) · lineage · 2010 was made because the novel sequel existed, a movie made just because they had to. · "Because Arthur C. Clark had come out with a 2010 novel."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2010: The Year We Make Contact · 0:02:34 · unknown (0.40)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read) · lineage · 2010 is the sequel to 2001; the speaker's reaction to the Kubrick film is the benchmark throughout. · "And I said, oh, you know, 2010, the sequel to 2001 and they were like, the what?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange · 2:48:04 · unknown (0.40)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010 (the host's read) · lineage · Peter Hyams made a film sequel to 2001, following the books. · "But, like, he rolled up his sleeves and he was like, 2001?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 0:11:43 · Jordan Hoffman (0.70)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2010: The Year We Make Contact (the host's read) · lineage · The film has a sequel, and Clarke wrote three sequel novels. · "Obviously, the sequel exists."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 0:42:56 · Jordan Hoffman (0.30)] 2001: A Space Odyssey ⇒ 2069: A Sex Odyssey (the host's read) · lineage · The porn parody is said to be very influenced by 2001. · "actually is actually very influenced by this film."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2001: A Space Odyssey · 0:52:22 · unknown (0.30)] The Sentinel (short story) ⇒ 2001: A Space Odyssey (the host's read) · lineage · The film and companion novel drafted off Clarke's short story The Sentinel, which had the germ of the monolith idea. · "So it's going off drafting off of the Sentinel."
[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] Amanda Dobbins · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Mamma Mia!’ Meets ‘The Strangers'! It’s a Movie Swap! · Loves The Strangers' withholding craft and a good tense horror film without gore, but likes fun, communal movies like Mamma Mia. She dislikes supernatural or gory horror, which irritates her more than it scares her. She is a sucker for stars and for Googling a movie mid-recording. · stances: The Strangers is scary because of what it doesn't show or explain; Ending explanation weakens it; no answer would be better; Prefers 'withholding' filmmaking; Defends Mamma Mia as joyful and intentional
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[speaker] Wesley Morris · latest sketch, The Rewatchables · ‘My Cousin Vinny’ · Loves Marisa Tomei, the grits scene, and the clothes; is a sucker for Fran Drescher. Dislikes car-driving-away endings and thinks the film has done harm by encouraging self-representation. · stances: Tomei deserved the Oscar; Race in courtroom movies matters, and this one is warmly integrated; The Nanny is basically Mona Lisa Vito
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Ad Astra (2019); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Ad Astra (2019) itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.