The Martian isn't even noteworthy fore the complete lack of respect for any sense of reality from the Newtonian perspective.

We are supposed to be excited and fearful that our main protagonist is jeopardized and at risk of life and limb when the writers will 'magically' fictionalize true life for positive resolution, and therefore undermine scientific realism. The Martian is a cinematic children's story.

The ONLY WAY that this movie would have been successful and enjoyable, in my mind, is for the main character to die a slow and painful death while the rest of us on earth watched helplessly from afar and this would make us reflect on the nature of humanity and in fact our own humanity as we question our place in the cosmos.

This Martin might as well just have been a person trapped in a mine underground while we all watch them slowly bleed their remaining life... Ace in the Hole.

Mar's was a macguffin.

oh yes... I am in a BAD mood today.

I have thought that a dissertation on writers of all kinds would make for a nice project. In the old days the screenwriting was seen as the true author of the film. The change came with the auteur theory. Previously, there had been no need to even watch the film to critique it; only reading the screenplay was necessary.

I would like to trace the differences between how writers were portrayed before the director was seen as the film's and after.

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I would like to know what c*cksucker was the first writer to suspend disbelief... and I am not talking religious text.

I do think that exemplary writing CAN be achieved without having to explicitly use the eyes of a realist... but relying on overt fictionality as a crutch by which we resolve a story is just pissing me right off!

Goddamn it.

Anyone else here think that Mr. Spock was far more Human than even J. Tiberious Kirk or 'Bones' McCoy?

The willing suspension of disbelief is from Coleridge talking about Shakespeare. But good writers don't force you to suspend disbelief. It just happens and we accept what is offered.

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that was the whole point

yeah, the plantation scene and extra playboy bunny scenes were cut for a reason...no real need for them - although, the plantation scene has some of the most amazing set design and cinematography of the whole movie

Pretty sure Martian wasn't about Newtonian physics.

If you want to do away with the suspension of disbelief, do away with American politics, but be forewarned, anyone who thought either Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton was remotely qualified to be President is to far down the rabbit hole to be recovered.

Movies are a lie. They don't move. They are merely a succession of still images.

Show your work.

Is there a critique of The General that was written without seeing it?

Goddard admits that auteur theory was a scam.

This is a great movie. It is free to stream from a bunch of places, and, as mentioned, beautiful to watch.

The Martian was fantastic. Project Hail Mary could be even better.

The Holdovers A group of boys in an all boys school have to spend the holidays at the school, under the care of a grumpy classics teacher.

I feel like I've seen this movie quite a few times. Misfits get tossed together under unusual circumstances and, through a series of events learn to understand and like each other.

Even with that, I found this to be really enjoyable. Would recommend.

Last Tango in Paris A man that lost his wife and a young girl that's the subject of a film that her boyfriend is shooting meet when they are looking at the same apartment to rent. They immediately have sex and continue to have sexual rendezvous at the apartment.

I've never seen this, and I'm not sure why.

I'm sure others have a different take on this one, but I absolutely did not like this. Not one bit. Way too artsy fartsy, and just boring. I couldn't wait for it to end. Ugh.

With you on Last Tango in Paris. Made it about 20 minutes in, or whenever Brando's character did the raping, and that was it for me.

I liked You Hurt My Feelings. Small-scope, slice-of-life movie that probes the question how much honesty is the right amount in a relationship?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is good and as far from Elaine as I can recall. Funny cameos from David Cross and Zach Cherry. Stewie from Succession plays basically the opposite of that character which is a trip.

Three Musketeers: Milady - more swashing and buckling. Milday is the focus, which is a good thing when she's played by the absurdly beautiful Eva Green. She doesn't have too much trouble running rings around the Musketeers, in large part because these versions of D'Artagnan and his girlfriend Constance have two functioning brain cells between them.

I felt similarly about The Holdovers. I think I’ve read that type of book more than seen that type of movie, but both exist. For that reason I was a little underwhelmed after all the hype. But to your point, still enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m a sucker for anything Giamatti. Won’t really stick with me tho.

I liked The Holdovers. It's one of those small films that does what it does well. The acting is fine, the story is compelling, and I have been through Deerfield Academy where some of the film is shot.

Last Tango in Paris is a tough watch these days, especially given how Maria Schneider was treated by Bertolucci. But without that knowledge, we can evaluate the film for what it is. Brando breaking down at his wife's coffin is one scene that stays with me. I can't imagine another actor pulling this off. Perhaps Michael Fassbender, but it would be a short list.

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Some movies I enjoyed watching lately that you guys might like.

The Iron Claw 2023-Surprisingly well acted true story of a family of pro wrestlers in Texas in the 1980s. Fascinating story with some good wrestling action scenes. Grade A

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 2023 - well done fantasy entertainment with clever scenes and some snappy dialogue Grade A-

Suspect X (2008) Japanese crime drama where you might root for the murderers! They end up in a battle of wits with the police and a smart science Professor who is intent on finding out what really happened, but maybe it would be better to leave this one alone. Grade B only because of a final few scenes that don't work.

I thought Unfrosted by Jerry Seinfeld on Netflix was ridiculously stupid (by design) and extremely entertaining. The story of the invention of Pop Tarts. Features an all-star cast and tons of great cameos. This is just an extremely fun and funny movie. I recommend this wholeheartedly.

I just PRECISELY said that...
you can not ask an audience to become invested in a character or cinematic vehicle at an emotional level if all you are going to do is 'Magically' resolve the plot complications. At the most basic level, things need to be believable... and that means 'based in reality'.

I am not speaking of 'Fantastic' medieval wizards, space adventures with warp drive or even planets with giant sand worms, I am talking about Human Drama's built on top the veil of the real Human existence.

It is just plain stupidity for a story to lay out the saga of making a trek to another planet and having some weird plot complication occur that puts the protagonist in jeopardy and then try and resolve that jeopardy with 'Magical' thinking.

Space ships CAN NOT alter course and turn around in space to rescue their comrades... that's not how spaceflight works in real life... and arguably, without that one feature in the Martian, there would have been NO POSITIVE OUTCOME for that stranded Astronaut.

As I said above, it's not about basing EVERYTHING in reality... it's the way the story is handled by the writer and how the audience is treated when the story is being told.

I don't personally think that there was a Girl named Alice, and I don't think that she magically found a worm hole and fell thru it, but that does not matter because the story of Alice and the looking glass journey is quite spectacular... Dorthy in a land of OZ is supremely satisfying... and JFK, despite being phantasmagorical, has far more reality in it than most people are willing to accept.

I wasn't speaking from a Cinematic technical perspective... but since you zoetroped your way to a conclusion let me say this... while the 'motion' of Cinema is indeed a matter of perception if it is actually 'Film' based, the telling of these 'stories' are not. If Ridley Scott's view was to make a 'Hopeful space movie', he failed miserably.

I love Ridley Scotty and his legacy... I love Matt Damon as a Thespian... I hated this 'Content'.

I don't mean to be argumentative... it's my view on the monumental issues the audience faces with Film Modernity.

The ship did not alter course and turn around. Instead of decelerating the ship used its engines to accelerate and used the Earth's gravity as a "slingshot". This was a pretty major plot point.

Perhaps it is the vehicle that the story is wrapped in that you have familiarity with... Boys school, grumpy teacher, rules, emotional complications.

I found The Holdovers VERY satisfying regardless of what setting the Film took place in.

Alexander Payne has a beautiful way of thoroughly fleshing out multiple character developments without it becoming overwhelming and claustrophobic, even when those characters are in a downward spiral.

The Holdovers supremely illustrates how life's negative outcomes can actually have liberating results and those results can yield both growth and freedoms, and I think that is the overriding message here. The specter of being born out of tragic circumstances, a Phoenix, is what is taking place.

at the risk of getting bogged down in semantics... the mission wouldn't be able to make TWO trips to mars.

These missions are very CAREFULLY mapped out to maximize resources, and accelerating to a distant planet one time is extremely difficult and highly problematic... doing it twice with a single vessel is not possible.

you have to accelerate towards Mars at precisely the right moment the planets are in proper alignment... DEcelerate in order for Mars gravity to capture you... RE-accelerate to make the trip home... Accelerate AGAIN to try and catch up to Mars as it moves out of alignment... DEcelerate again to capture Mars... RE-accelerate again to get home... DEcelerate once again to capture earth, all as the planets move further and further out of alignment and therefore making the trip MORE and MORE fuel and resource critical.

All while trying to avoid micro meteorites, electromagnetic and plasma ejecta.

at any rate, I don't want to get into a debate on what is possible and what is impossible... suffice to say, it's just not possible.