Houston, We Have a Problem! (2016)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fresh and Exciting

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

While this documentary promised a deep look into a deal between Yugoslavia and the United States to transfer space technology to NASA, there is not enough new information presented to even fill a short magazine article. Most of the film is padded with stories about Yugoslavia's history, Tito and a single scientist from Yugoslavia who travels back to his home country for the first time in 50 years.What little information is presented comes from an American historian who seems to be the only one in the documentary who speaks English. Subtitles are needed for most of the interviews in this film.In any event, if you want to see a documentary that gives a passing mention to the Yugoslavian space program and more of a backstory into US-Yugoslavian relations from the 1960's to 1970's you may enjoy this. Beyond the first 30 minutes or so don't expect to learn much about NASA, the space program or what this title is supposed to focus on.

The movie could be interpreted in many different ways, that is the reason why it is so entertaining. You can see it as comedy and a stupid presentation of Yugoslavia like Borat did with Kazakhstan, you can see it as black satire made by Kusturica, you can see it as story that actually happened (somehow) in real world or you can see it as total fiction..... . The special aspect of movie is in Slavoj Žižek's involvement. For those who never have any experience with Yugoslavia it seems that he is the person who is trust able - at the end he said, that even it is not truth, it really happened. For those who lived in Yugoslavia, it could be some "way for explanation" why living in Yugoslavia was not so frustrating and was really better in comparison to other communists states. On the other hand, the consequences of "selling space program".... were so devastating for many in Yugoslavia. Anyhow,it is must to see this movie...

This movie is really an amazing peace of work. I took everything it told me as truth and let it create certain feelings. At the end I went back to an assumption that it is fabricated but the feelings remained very solid and suddenly a lot of other information about the past started to fill in the gaps where fabrication was removed. Everything started to make more sense. It was not a pleasant discovery. It's one thing to feel as a victim of some powerful force, but to finally realize your own active role in the abuse, I think it is even harder to accept. Every movie, no matter what genre, is some type of manipulation and an attempt from author to present his own illusion. This movie seems like it is an illusion constructed to deliver the truth, indirectly.

For starters, every movie that gives you new information and makes you think, is a good movie. That said, I didn't really like the whole picture that movie tried to describe. But, that said, that picture is directors prerogative, and I respect that. There are a few informations in this film that were hardly obtainable before it, but they are used to paint that fore-mentioned directors vision. In his eyes, by my opinion, he tried to paint the story of Icarus, through a whole country of Yugoslavia and its late president Tito. But, in essence, it is a classic story about capitalism vs. communism (sociallism derived from communism) OK, Tito was master of "sales of testicles for kidneys" (majstor prodaje muda za bubrege), but nevertheless, while he was president, of former socialist republic of Yugoslavia, people always had their 13th paycheck, they were getting condos from their firms for contribution, and they had 30 days a year of paid vacation. It was a happy life. His main mistake was, by my opinion, that he didn't MAKE his successor in like 1965., and gave him power over country in 1970., continuing to lead from the "shadows". This movie, in first half is very joyous, but later it makes you think that all the bad things that happened in Yugoslavia were direct consequence of one bad deal in 1960, and some kind of revenge for that bad deal (SPOILER ALERT: Nikson says: "we will bomb the hell out of those Yugoslavs". In what civilized society is killing people OK as an retribution for bad deal?!). Film is also describing Slavoj Zizak as copy/paste of today's Srdja Popovic. Really didn't like the, not bitter end, but obnoxious end. (It is destiny of a single person, and opinion too. And a bit much dramatically intense). Base 505 (Objekat 505) was a military project whose prime mission was control of the Yugoslavian sky from strategically good position.Whose to say that Yugoslavia didn't sell a working project and after that America just said "IT DOES NOT WORK" (They did send a man on the Moon 7 years later). This is a movie that is supposed to tickle your imagination, and it is very good it that aspect. Makes you think, and that is what I love about it! 4 years ago I saw trailer for this movie and I was expecting it on my toes. I heard it was finished a year ago. And, if you look form marketing aspect, or marketing point of view, why wait so long for premiere?! Well, it has to have something with change from summer to autumn, people tend to stay at homes because it is cold outside, it is Sunday and this is literally THE PRIME TELEVISION time. HBO, Sunday, 8 PM. Prime goal is to reach to as many people/viewers as it can. (...but that is normal economic goal too...) So, to conclude, very interesting movie, but don't take it as the whole truth! :D