Saving Jason Bourne/Will Hunting/Prviate Ryan... In Outer Space? Count Me In!

THE MARTIAN
Director: Ridley Scott
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: October 2, 2015
My Rating: 9/10

In all sincerity, I've been disappointed by the last few string of intergalactic sci-fi flicks that have been thrust full throttle onto the big screen in recent years. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity (2013) was decent, with a great cast and splendid visuals, but not completely satisfying and dubiously realistic (not to mention an unsatisfying, grandiose ending). Clearly, The Academy loved it, since it snagged seven out of ten Oscars, including Best Director and Best Visual Effects.

Christopher Nolan's uber-lengthy space-set blockbuster Interstellar (2014) left me even more vastly disheartened, despite its equally stunning panorama of futuristic landscapes and special effects and A-list cast. (Also, far too much crying)

However, acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) engenders a brilliant thrill ride in The Martian, which is based on Andy Weir's 2011 novel of the same name. The film revolves around Mark Watney (Damon), an astronaut who becomes stranded on Planet Mars after a dust storm strikes, which leads his five fellow crew members (Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie) to abandon him and return to Earth.

Using his wide array of skills as a botanist and engineer, as well as his morbid sense of humor, Watney learns to adapt to the desolate environment on Mars. He records video logs of his survival progress, which he eventually manages to send to NASA after an initial struggle to establish communication with them. Both his crew and NASA's top executives, among them Head Director Teddy Sanders (Daniels), Media Relations Director Annie Montrose (Wiig), and Mars lead mission director/engineer Vincent Kapoor (Ejiofor), scramble to employ ever resource and strategy available, including the assistance of China's National Space Association, to rescue Watney and return him home safely.

Matt Damon (my favorite actor of all time) is outstanding as the optimistic and somewhat snarky Mark Watney. Recalling his roles in the Bourne trilogy, The Adjustment Bureau and many other movies, Mr. Damon immerses himself completely in the role of this multi-talented man who traverses hell and back to reach his final destination. The rest of the star-studded cast also form a magnificent ensemble, with A-list Oscar-nominees Jessica Chastain portraying Melissa Lewis, the valiant and determined Commander of Watney's crew and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the cautious and brilliant Mars mission leader Vince Kapoor. Jeff Daniels channels the same vigor and nonsense-intolerance of his character from his hit HBO series The Newsroom, anchor Will McAvoy, to bring NASA Head Teddy Sanders to life.

Although the visuals of the red-tinged wasteland that is supposed to be Mars are fantastic, the film is not solely defined by them. The score and soundtrack are equally entertaining, particularly the latter. I haven't seen every major/classic space-set sci-fi movie in the history of film, but I'm willing to bet Bill Gates levels of money that this is the only one to include a setlist of mega-corny 70s disco tunes and other classic oldies, from Gloria Gaynor, to Donna Summer, to Gloria Estefan. If the thought of Matt Damon rebuilding a space vehicle while ABBA's "Waterloo" plays in the background doesn't appeal to you, then you can't possibly be a very happy person. Unfortunately, Train's "Drops of Jupiter" doesn't make the cut. Maybe in the sequel.

The script remains substantially true to Weir's novel, with a few minor details omitted, including much of the profanity uttered by characters like Watney and Annie, presumably to justify a PG-13 rating and attract younger audiences. The doses of humor, including Watney's complaints of going seven days without any ketchup for his meals, and his claims of colonizing Mars by being the first human to grow potatoes, with a smug "in you face, Neil Armstrong," to tack it off, keep you as engaged in the story as much as the protagonist is determined to return home safely.

All of these elements contribute to making The Martian a spectacular film that any viewers who remotely enjoy astronaut flicks will remember from beginning to end. Some scientists have claimed that the storyline is very unrealistic in certain respects, while Mr. Damon referred to it as 'science faction.' A few film buffs have described the film as a cross between Apollo 13 and Cast Away, although I believe that the film is meant to be much more. Should Mr. Scott decide to helm yet another upcoming sci-fi film with a similar cast and similar themes, I will be sure to look out for it. In the meantime, go see this film to find out if the the talented Mr. Watney does indeed survive.            

Welcome to Juarez: City of Drugs, Bones, and Sicarios

SICARIO
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Genre: Crime Drama/Thriller
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt, Victor Garber
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Release Date: September 18, 2015 (Limited), October 2 (Wide)
My Rating: 9.5/10

From French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners) comes a bloody, gut-wrenching crime thriller that surely makes the list of my favorite films of this year, and which will hopefully become an Oscar contender.

The title of the film derives from the Spanish word for 'hitman,' a term frequently used in Mexico to describe any type of hired assassin. The film opens up with an explanation of the original meaning of the word Sicario, which dates back to the times of the Ancient Romans, and referred to the zealots of Jerusalem who would give the hunting game to the Romans who had invaded their land. The story centers around Kate Macer (Blunt), an idealistic FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Team agent who is tasked with assisting CIA agent and DOJ adviser Matt Graver (Brolin) and his dubious partner Alejandro (del Toro), who was previously stationed in Colombia, with a mission. This mission consists in bringing down a drug cartel leader named Manuel Diaz, who leads them in turn to an even bigger drug lord named Fausto Alarcon. As the investigation across the U.S.-Mexican border escalates, Kate begins to question the morality of the means being employed, and suspects there may be a double-agent in their midst.

The film is brilliantly shot and laden with gruesome images from the very beginning. I would not be surprised if I learned that some of the photos of decimated and mutilated bodies were completely real. Although the film is rather slow at the start, (after the opening action scene) the magnitude of the mission escalates, as well as the tension between the US government officials, and the body count rises rapidly in the second half of the film. Coupled with an eerie and heart-pounding score by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, (Prisoners, The Theory of Everything) low-key lighting, and first-person-shooter-video-game-esque green lights as seen through special high-tech CIA goggles as the squad travels through tunnels in Mexico searching for the drug lords, Sicario truly makes for a macabre, contemporary thriller.

Emily Blunt delivers a commanding performance as a brave, badass, take-no-nonsense government agent   despite her supremely feminine appearance. Her emotions take a constant turn from suspicion, to terror, to pure anger as she cruises back-and-forth across the border donning nothing but a plain dark tshirt, pants, boots, a bullet-proof vest, and a simple handgun, as well as the occasional cigarette to relax the nerves (or to fit in better with the men?). Josh Brolin is brilliant as the obligatory sarcastic knucklehead team leader whose morals seem questionable from the get-go.

Benicio del Toro is phenomenal as a frightening, yet cool-under-dire-situations man who has suffered personal loss and is just as tenacious as Miss Blunt's character to seek justice, albeit for a different problem and by different tactics. Mr. del Toro, a native Puerto Rican, seamlessly alternates between English and Spanish, and squints his small eyes as he issues threats in a gruff tone. One of the many aspects of the film that undoubtedly made chills run down my spine was hearing del Toro deliver some of his lines before beating or killing a stuck-up yet not-so-smart drug-pusher. The coldest one: "Ahora vas a saber lo que es conocer a Dios en tierra Yanqui." ("Now you will know what it's like to meet God in Yankee territory").

The film ends on a horrifying note, shedding nothing close to a ray of hopeful light with regards to the increasingly precarious cross-border war on drugs. The plot twist towards the end of the film demonstrates that there are clearly more than simply two sides to this issue. Who knows when the dispute will finally end, but one thing is certain after seeing Sicario: in Juarez, Mexico, anything goes, and only those with the nerve to take risks and play dirty will survive.