The Martian

The other day, I overheard a family talking about how NASA is looking for the next generation of astronauts.  I live in Huntsville, Alabama, birthplace of the Saturn V and home to lots of rocket scientists, so this conversation didn’t surprise me.  The father asked his tweens, “Do you think you could figure out how to live on Mars?”  I didn’t catch his kids’ replies.  The night before I had watched The Martian and wondered if the next generation of astronauts would look to characters like Mark Watney to see if they had the right stuff.

In Ridley Scott’s The Martian, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind on Mars when his crew makes an emergency evacuation.  The crew, NASA and the whole world believes he is dead.  Realizing how stacked the odds are against him, Watney moves forward trying make enough food to survive on and find a way to contact NASA.  When NASA realizes that Watney is still alive, they get to work trying to make contact and the whole world unites trying to bring him home.  

Damon’s performance as the stranded Watney is entertaining, thrilling and educational.  He leads the film well, doing his lonely time surviving on the red planet.  While I imagine being alone on a planet to be a form of quiet meditation and crushing loneliness, Mark keeps it light, especially when the various cameras recording his every move for data.  He informs us what he is doing and why, which helps the story progress, usually with notes of light sarcasm.  I wonder if NASA rejects astronauts if they are too serious or melancholy for their own good and selects those that can cope through making jokes.  

When things go wrong for Watney, they are devastating blows, and Damon portrays those well too.  His first scene back at the habitat alone is an impromptu surgery to remove shrapnel from his abdomen.  It can be painful to watch.  When an accident takes out the crops his life was depending on, and makes the habitat dangerously unstable, the psychological blow to Watney is plain to see.  It’s a wonder this man doesn’t crack under the pressure and constant set backs.  

Back on Earth, we see the team at NASA working to help Watney.  Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) is the director of NASA, who seems to cast this aura of doom and gloom with his authority.  Around him are notable underlings played by Kristin Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean who try to remain optimistic and make great strides in rescuing Watney.  I enjoyed Donald Glover’s small role as an eccentric astrophysicist who comes up with a brilliant Hail Mary sort of plan.   

Including Damon’s nomination for best actor, The Martian is nominated for seven Academy Awards.  The other awards include best adapted screenplay, production design, sound mixing, sound editing, visual effects and best picture.  I feel that Damon is simply too lighthearted in this role to win over juggernauts like DiCaprio or Redmayne, but I doubt The Martian will leave Oscar night empty handed.  

Overall, I believe that The Martian is a wonderful film worthy of its Oscar nominations.  It reminds me of Apollo 13 with a lighter approach.  If anyone out there really wants to part of the next generation of astronauts, I would highly recommend they see The Martian (and Apollo 13, The Right Stuff and Gravity just to name a few).  It’s mind boggling to think about all the intense life or death problems real astronauts need to be able to solve quickly and with very little to work with.  Well done astronauts of the past, future and fiction.  

“Mars will come to fear my botany powers.”

Terms of Endearment

The summery on this little Netflix slip began with something cheesy like daughters are from Mars and mothers are from Venus.  I groaned, realizing I was in for mother-daughter weepy feelings time, where most people reach for the tissues, I grab a bucket.

Aurora (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) are very close.  The father died when Emma was still a little girl, so they’re instantly closer than your average only child family.  In those first few minutes where we watch Emma grow up, it seems that Aurora is sometimes more of a friend than a mother, but maybe that’s just what happens as a single parent.  The night before Emma is going to marry Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) Aurora puts her mother face back on and tells her straight that marrying Flap will be a mistake.  “You are not special enough to overcome a bad marriage.”

Well, with that whole Mars-Venus thing Emma doesn’t listen and the main story is her and Flap’s married life from kids, Flap’s crappy job moving him across the country, money problems, marriage problems and all the juicy stuff Emma shares on the phone to her mother every day.  Emma’s life makes for some good gossip, if it were less quirky and didn’t have any good hearted laughs it would be daytime television material.

Jack Nicholson plays the retired astronaut who lives next to Aurora.  The character’s name is Garrett or something like that, but it doesn’t matter because this is Jack’s usual character and he quickly became the entire reason I started to enjoy the film.  He enjoys getting drunk, hitting on inappropriately young girls and driving too fast in his silver Corvette, so obviously prim and propper Aurora thinks he’s horrible.  One day Jack asks Aurora out on a casual lunch date, but doesn’t accept it until a few years later, during her third 50th birthday party.  Sounds to me like Jack is just a little lonely and Aurora wants to feel young again.  These two are much more interesting than Emma and her pile of dumb decisions.

So that’s basically it; mother-daughter long distance relationship, issues with their men and then some tragedy.  Throw in some laughs and Jack Nicholson to keep those who don’t sponge up the dripping estrogen entertained and this movie isn’t half bad.  I wasn’t moved or enlightened and no, I did not cry.

Even before considering the slew of Oscar noms (11) and five wins (Jack Nicholson, Shriley MacLaine, and James L. Brooks for Director, Writing and Picture), I understand how this film can work into one’s heart and into the Best Picture slot.  But it just felt too conventional to me.  Maybe it’s a generational thing where I found the music cheesy and reminiscent of an afternoon special.   Perhaps I’m just a cold-hearted fool who thought Emma was an idiot for marrying Jeff Daniels in the first place.  And I couldn’t believe that there was anyone in the world who wouldn’t enjoy getting drunk with Jack Nicholson and driving that Corvette along the beach.  Seriously, I’d put a brick on that pedal and climb up top with him.

I think you can tell what my favorite scenes from Terms of Endearment were:

“-You’re just going to have to trust me about this one thing. You need a lot of drinks.
–To break the ice?
-To kill the bug that you have up your ass.”

Good Night, and Good Luck

This is that odd little picture no one really heard of until it was nominated at the Academy Awards.  Everyone asked, why’s it in black and white?  What’s it about?   Isn’t George Clooney in it?  He directed it too?  Since when could he direct?

Of the five nominated films of 2005, I believe Good Night and Good Luck was seen the least by the public.  I don’t have any hard proof, but when I say Brokeback, Munich, Crash, or Capote at least multiple ears perk up.  When people list movies with Robert Downey Jr., they seem to skip Good Night, but always remember Iron Man.  But I understand.  This movie isn’t flashy, loud or an adrenaline rush.  It’s very quiet and tense.  The hectic word of early television could only be truly understood in a bold black and white.  And today, people really want to see pretty colors.

They story centers on a news crew at CBS.  Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) is the anchorman bringing stories that challenge Senator McCarthy, trying to expose him for the witch hunter he is.  He and his crew, consisting of George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Daniels and others, are proud to bring the truth to television when so many others are hiding from it.  But of course, airing such daring stories come with consequences.  The morning papers start accusing CBS of commie relations.  Soon McCarthy agrees to appear on Ed’s show claiming to clear the air.  Instead, he simply eloquently spouts more commie hate and accuses Ed of association.

These reporters do their homework and aren’t out for shock value and ratings.  They’re honest men putting heir jobs and lives on the line to show Americans McCarthy’s real agenda.  They’re like newsmen vigilantes, defenders of freedom in suits.

Today with so many of our political reporters just jabbering away saying one thing about our President or situations and turning around to say the opposite the next day, we’ve lost faith in our news.  So many news programs just turn into jokes the next day, any episode of The Daily Show will tell you that.  Good Night and Good Luck film brings us back to the days of real honest news by men who truly believed in what they were doing for the American people.  How refreshing.

Alright, the list of people who probably wouldn’t care for this film is a long one, but I’ll share some things that could turn you on.  The acting is great and if you’re a fan of George Clooney or Robert Downey Jr. this should be on your list.  Its’ not all news stuff, there’s a bit of secret romance going on since two employees at CBS cannot be married.  Of course, if you’re interested in how classic television or the McCarthy era, this will definitely interest you.  And for all of you afraid of the black and white, it’s really a beautiful film, black and white hasn’t looked this fresh and vibrant in a while.  Try it out, it might just grow on you.

“We will not walk in fear, one of another.”