Over the weekend, I saw The Martian (2015, Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig). First of all, I loved it. I thought it was funny, I thought the science all sounded believable (this from someone who knows nothing about science. I believe everything Tony Stark or the Doctor says too), and I thought it demonstrated the "OH CRAP SOMEONE COULD DIE FOR REAL LIKE RIGHT NOW" very well, even as Matt Damon's character (Mark Watney) talked about his commander's terrible taste in music (disco) and whether or not he could call himself a pirate. He was alone for most of the movie, talking only into video diaries or to himself, and clearly the character is funny and likes to quip, so he quipped even as he stared death in the face.
Over all, The Martian was pretty well written, the acting was decent, and the cinematography was cool. We followed Mark Watney around Mars both with your standard omnipresent narrator type lens (which was really nothing special) and also with the video footage he was recording-using security cameras and his video log. It was a cool and completely appropriate to the situation way of making the cinematography not stand out, plus the video logs gave lots of chances for exposition and explanation. The acting was good enough that I didn't get pulled out of the movie to be all "oh look at Matt Damon making acting faces." The only exception to this was the most brilliant Sean Bean scene in all of history:
Sean Bean played a NASA administrative type and they named something "Operation Elrond." A character didn't know who Elrond was so Sean Bean had to explain about the Council of Elrond. It was the most fun and obvious Easter egg ever in the history of Easter eggs and definitely got a big laugh in the theater.
I saw the movie in 3D, which is usually fun. Unfortunately, I was sitting in the front row of the theater looking up at the screen at a funny angle. Everyone's feet looked big and their heads looked small. The dimensions were weird enough that somehow I spent the whole movie NOT recognizing Sebastian Stan's face (although I recognized his voice and was very confused as to whether or not it was him).
On the whole, The Martian was great, I recommend it, apparently most of the science is legit, and I will seriously consider acquiring the DVD when it comes out.
*obligatory special shout out to the babiest of brothers for his companionship for the seeing of aforementioned movie*
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