The Martian

[Frelga]

He also twitted

Hidden text.

The @MartianMovie may be the first SciFi blockbuster — ever — in which nobody dies.

At this point about 500 people complained about being spoiled and 77 about Neil believing in global warming.

Personally, I want to know that kind of thing, but I understand not everyone does.

[Primula Baggins]

I would like knowing that in advance, too—

Hidden text.

some kinds of suspense are too stressful to let me enjoy the story as entertainment.

I have a friend who's passionate about dogs and relies on a website called "Does the Dog Die?" that reports the deaths, injuries, and abuse of fictional animals in movies—she can't endure seeing it even knowing that no real animal was harmed.

My son thought the film was excellent and said that the 3D actually does contribute something of value, which he often doesn't find is the case.

We'll definitely see it, but not in 3D—a month after his first cataract operation, Tom still can't see clearly out of the operated eye. Tissue swelling that's taking a looooong time to go down. It will, we're being assured, but for now the eye is not much use, so 3D would make the film look worse, not better. (The poor guy can't even drive! And he reads for a living, so this has been a strain on the eye that still works.)

[Túrin Turambar]

Just saw it and thought it was great. Very much a sci-fi directed at sci-fi fans (and fantasy fans, given the LotR references).

I have to admit that, with Gravity, Interstellar and now the Martian, there's a definite trend towards hard(ish) science fiction which I really like. There's now a precedent that films like this can do well at the box office.

[Primula Baggins]

I'm enjoying this trend, too. Science fiction and space opera are not the same thing, and it's fun to see actual SF in cinematic form. "Tennis with the net up," as someone once described SF that actually obeys natural laws.

[Impenitent]

I almost got to see it on Saturday, but we neglected to buy tickets in advance and when we got to the cinema, they had only front row seats left - ick for someone prone to headaches.

So my daughter shouted me to a Chinese meal instead and we sat outdoors with a cocktail and enjoyed the passing human parade .

I can see The Martian any time, but nights out of that ilk with my girlie are rare.

[Túrin Turambar]

I’m curious how this film will age, and in particular, how it will be looked back on if we ever do send a manned mission to Mars. To my knowledge, it’s the first really mainstream film trying to depict a realistic Mars mission. The risk here is that there’ll be comments like “ha, they got the shape of the lander right but the people are still using cellphones!”. I thought it was interesting that they made no real effort to make the clothes and cars and other odds and ends of everyday life look any different to those in 2015, which was a valid choice creatively. Although it could mean that, in retrospect, this will look like a film about the Moon landings where the characters are wearing frock coats and top hats and riding in carriages and steam trains.

Also, I did like the way that they avoided trying to come up with late-21st century music (or whenever the film is set; they don't let on) with the deliberately-anachronistic disco music trope.

[Primula Baggins]

That was a creative choice on the part of the book's author. He's clearly a smart guy. I'm mildly disappointed about the future on Earth looking like the present—I always get a rush from seeing someone's ideas about what might be coming—but the book makes no attempt to foresee anything new, either, and certainly it saves time and money.

The Victorians and Edwardians certainly wrote about frock coats in space. Edgar Rice Burroughs avoided this by having his hero arrive on Mars completely naked.

I have yet to see The Martian, but have hopes for this coming weekend.

[yovargas]

If you look at clothing for the last 50 years or so, the common, mainstream wear for adults hasn't really changed all that much. The outfit I'm wearing right now* at my office probably wouldn't look that out of place even way back in the 50s. I wouldn't be that surprised if that was still the case by the time we have the technology to go to Mars.


*I generally go to work wearing something like this (but with less goofy hair):

[Primula Baggins]

It's true the clothing items are more or less the same, but they way they're cut, and what looks fashionable and what doesn't, changes a lot. I know. I lived through the 1980s. <shudder> Frizzy perms and football-sized shoulder pads and creepy color combinations, all in polyester.

Back in the 1960s SF movies and TV shows imagined that we would all wear metallic jumpsuits in THE FUTURE. Or those stretchy knit outfits they wore on Star Trek, which the actors pretty much all hated. I think they made creative decisions not to try to show what we see around us all the time, people following a convention more or less, with varying tastes and needs so the effect is variations on a theme.

[Primula Baggins]

I did finally see it, and I loved it. It was exactly what I'd hoped, filling in what was missing in the book for me (visuals [from writing] and emotion from the characters). A few mostly wordless moments from Matt Damon were really powerful, and they weren't in the book at all. They couldn't be, given who Mark Watney is and that he tells his part of the story in his own words; it's not a complaint against the book, just pointing out an advantage the film had (and exploited beautifully).

Fine effects, tight writing, and a solid cast from top to bottom. It's just a pleasure to see a film made so well in nearly all aspects.

Nearly. The "score"—

[Túrin Turambar]

I really liked the score. But then some of those songs are in my own collection of disco music, so I might be biased .

[Primula Baggins]

You have to understand, I had the terrible experience of heading off to college in 1976, at the very moment the disco revolution was happening. Every class that came after me loved it more, and snickered more loudly at rock and roll. Disco drove rock off the radio (that was a thing then) and off the dance floor. I was scarred for life.

Mark Watney at least has the distinction of hating it for esthetic reasons.

[Impenitent]

We finally have tickets to see it tomorrow night - 3D, iMax. Giggly with anticipation.

[Frelga]

I think I'll go Thursday or Friday, at the pizza and movie place. Don't fancy navigating a large theater on crutches.

[Primula Baggins]

So The Martian did well at the Golden Globes, taking Best Picture Comedy or Musical (believe it or not, the category in which it was nominated) and Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for Matt Damon. This can't affect Oscar nominations, which will be announced Wednesday, but it could affect Oscar voting.

I don't think it has much of a chance for a major win at the Oscars, but I expect it (and, quite possibly, Damon) will be nominated.

(The Star Wars film was not eligible for the Globes this year because it didn't screen before the cutoff. It is eligible for Oscars.)