THE MARTIAN
If you, too, are a devotee of Ridley Scott's Alien, you'll no doubt remember how its title came into view during the opening credits: as a series of vertical, diagonal, and horizontal white lines that slowly appeared, beginning with the "I," one or two at a time until the capitalized "ALIEN" was wholly spelled out. Thirty-six years later, the title for Scott's sci-fi tale The Martian is revealed in the exact opposite manner: as a full, capitalized "THE MARTIAN" that gradually fades away, one portion at a time, until only the "I" remains.
There have been verified reports of patrons vomiting during the last half hour of The Walk, director Robert Zemeckis' big-budget take on Philippe Petit's famed 1974 high-wire trek between Manhattan's Twin Towers, a tale previously recounted in James Marsh's Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire. The response of those patrons is understandable; as a lifelong sufferer of vertigo - especially when those vertiginous heights are around 1,368 feet above street level - I did have to look at the cineplex floor a few times to steady my nerves. But in the end, my senses of profound terror, anxiety, and euphoria at Zemeckis' cinematic feat proved worth the discomfort. I only wish I could say the same for the movie's first 90 minutes, which could easily provoke vomiting among those, like myself, who gag at the mere thought of revisiting Amélie.
Music
THE INTERN
BLACK MASS
EVEREST
Music
Friday, September 11, 10:25 a.m.-ish: This millennium has already delivered 18 screen hours of J.R.R. Tolkien, our first female Oscar winner for Best Director, and, astoundingly, two Fantastic Four reboots. Why, given such miracles, can't we be treated to even one stalker thriller that doesn't suck?
A WALK IN THE WOODS
