Imagine if Ridley Scott’s $100 million dollar budget space epic The Martian, which features astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) sciencing the shit out of Mars, was actually a low-budget “selfie space opera” with Matt Damon sending Snapchats back to NASA instead. That’s exactly what Way Too Indie contributor Nelson Carvajal does in his latest video essay, appropriately titled, The Martian Snapchat. In this video, Nelson condenses the (some say overlong) 141 minutes of The Martian into a minute-long Snapchat “My Story” entry from Mr. Damon. It’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of Matt Damon, The Martian, or just really into the whole Snapchat thing.

What we see on-screen, for the most part, in Ridley Scott‘s The Martian (based on Andy Weir’s popular sci-fi novel) is Matt Damon playing an astronaut, stranded on Mars, who must be resourceful on a resource-less planet in order to return to earth. From that simple premise spawns more entertainment than we’ve seen from Scott in years as we follow the Martian misadventures of Damon’s Mark Watney as he “sciences the shit” out of his dire situation with the (remote) help of his earth-bound astronautic team and the bright minds at NASA.

The movie’s trailers would have you expecting a white-knuckle, isolation-horror story along the lines of Gravity. I was pleasantly surprised, however (as someone who hasn’t read the book), to find a movie that’s optimistic, warm, very funny, and very much un-scary. This is much lighter material than the marketing would have you believe, and that’s a good thing.

The tone is set from the beginning with Mark and his team surveying the martian surface for, uh, science reasons. Mark rattles off smartass quips rapid-fire, and judging from his crew-mates’ joking, amused reactions, it’s clear they’re a tight-knit group. Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) leads the team, who refer to each other on a last-name basis. Martinez (Michael Peña), Johanssen (Kate Mara), Beck (Sebastian Stan), and Vogel (Aksel Hennie) find outer-space comfort in clowning on their good buddy Watney. Suddenly, a violent rock storm barrels through the work site and a piece of equipment slams into Mark, hurtling him into the darkness. Believing their friend dead, the team leaves the planet surface before the storm tears their ship to pieces.

Despite being left to his own devices, Mark finds a way to keep yapping: returning to the Mars base, he starts keeping a video log for whoever or whatever. It mostly keeps him sane as he MacGuyvers his way through the litany of problems that comes with being stranded on an inhospitable planet. The most pressing issue initially is Mark’s limited food supply; should he eventually find a way to contact earth or his crewmates, his current stock of NASA microwaveable meals wouldn’t keep him alive long enough for a rescue team to reach him. Thankfully, Mark’s a botanist, and he figures out a way to make his own water and grow an indoor garden, which bears enough potatoes to keep him going for the foreseeable future.

Much like in Robinson Crusoe and Robert Zemeckis’ Castaway, it’s a delight to watch our hero use his brainpower and willpower to gradually build a little life for himself in a hopeless place. It also doesn’t hurt that Damon finds his groove with the smart and savvy material, adapted by Drew Goddard from the book. Some of the jokes are pretty corny, but Goddard’s always had a knack for making even the cornball-iest comedy sing. Mark’s bright-side attitude is charming: when he runs out of ketchup for his potatoes, he dips them in crushed-up Adderall and jokes bout it; when it dawns on him that, because he’s grown potatoes on Martian soil, he’s technically colonized the planet, he sticks his chin up in the air like a proud child. The movie’s nearly two-and-a-half hours long, but Damon’s so entertaining that it’s a swift, streamlined watch.

The story hops back to earth regularly, where a crowded cast of mostly insignificant NASA officials debate how to tell the grieving public that Mark Watney is not deceased, as they originally reported, as well as figure out a way to bring him back home before his food runs out or a random equipment malfunction kills him. Jeff Daniels and Chiwetel Ejiofor have the most prominent roles as the two highest ranking NASA brains, with the rest of the home planet cast filled out by the likes of Donald Glover, Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Benedict Wong, and Kristen Wiig, who’s in such a nothing role it’s sad. Chastain and the rest of the crew rejoin the story later, after NASA decides how to break the news to them that their friend is still alive.

The visual effects are as spectacular as they need to be, but the movie isn’t enamored with them like too many sci-fi dramas are. Mars looks totally convincing and serene, but the focus is always on what and how Mark’s doing. In essence, Weir’s story is about the wonder and power of science and how the human spirit can unlock its true beauty. None of the action scenes rival anything you’ll see in Interstellar or Gravity, but the that’s not what this movie’s about, after all, which is refreshing. The Martian won’t please those expecting a dark, terrorizing thrill ride where the heroes are in constant peril, but it’ll make the rest of us laugh and cheer, which is something sci-fi blockbusters don’t do enough these days.

As Universal Pictures continues to pretend that The Bourne Legacy never actually happened, they’ve turned back to a familiar face of the Bourne franchise. Julia Stiles, who played Nicky Parsons in all three of the first Bourne movies, will reunite with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass in the as-of-yet untitled Bourne 5 movie. Aside from Damon’s Bourne, Nicky Parsons is the only character to have appeared in all three of the first Bourne movies.

In addition to the presence of Julia Stiles, Bourne 5 might feature a notable good guy going bad. Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings franchise, A History of Violence) has allegedly been offered the villain’s role according to The Wrap’s Jeff Sneider. Beyond Mortensen, Deadline earlier reported that Ex Machina star Alicia Vikander is in negotiations for a major role herself.

All this news likely comes in between bites of caviar at Universal, whose major releases thus far in 2015 have included the mega-successes of Fifty Shades of Grey, Pitch Perfect 2, Furious 7, and now Jurassic World. The company currently plans to release the next Bourne installment on July 29th of next year.

Terry Gilliam is no stranger to absurd dystopian science-fiction films. His best work came early in his career with films like Brazil and Twelve Monkeys, and his latest film The Zero Theorem feels like an extension to those titles. Written by a creative writing teacher from the University of Central Florida (Pat Rushin), The Zero Theorem takes a satirical stab at a dystopian future — mocking big government, commercialization, our fascination with always being connected, and even the meaning of life itself. Unfortunately, the outcome is neither as funny nor fascinating as it should be, though after a decade of disappointment from the filmmaker it’s at least a step in the right direction.

Set in an Orwellian future, an introvert computer hacker Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz) attempts to convince Management (played by a white-haired Matt Damon) for the opportunity to work from home, claiming he would double his work output. Though efficiency isn’t the real reason Qohen is so adamant about working from home. It’s actually so that he won’t miss an important phone call from a mysterious party (for reasons not explained until later). Management compromises by letting him work from home as long as he spends his time solving the equation for the meaning of life, aka Zero Theorem. Only in a Gilliam film is finding the meaning of life a difficult task and not an impossible one. But Qohen is willing to accept this challenge.

Frequent interruptions prevent the recluse from making any breakthroughs on Zero Theorem. Perhaps none more distracting than the beautiful bombshell Bainsley (Mélanie Thierry), who shows up at his door after meeting him at a party. She is easily attracted to him, for no reason other than to move the plot forward, and her character has as much depth as a blank canvas. Bainsley distracts him from his work so much that Management sends his cocky whiz-kid son Bob (Lucas Hedges) to help keep Qohen focused on the task at hand.

For a film with such high concepts and philosophies, The Zero Theorem has some serious logic flaws. It’s unfitting that Management doesn’t enforce any rules despite showing authority. Especially considering Qohen is constantly under surveillance by cameras in his home and follows orders from Management. But for some reason the computer genius gets the luxury of deciding to keep working on a never-ending math problem or calling it quits for a beautiful woman. Which seems like a no-brainer, even for a dim-witted person like myself. Putting logic aside, the major themes of the film involving how life is both meaningful and meaningless are successfully carried out. Just don’t expect it to make a lot of sense.

Although the writing is uneven, the acting on the other hand is an area in which The Zero Theorem excels. Most of the weight is put on the shoulders of Christoph Waltz and as usual he handles the load with ease. His portrayal of an isolated computer genius on the verge of a mental breakdown is divine. The young Hedges serves as a solid companion to Waltz, bringing a lot of the same eccentric energy to his character that Brad Pitt did in Twelve Monkeys. Both Matt Damon and Tilda Sinwton are barely on-screen enough to call for much discussion, but do well with their limited screen time. Mélanie Thierry was doomed from the start as her character is so poorly written as a glorified “booth babe”, simply eye-candy with little substance.

It’s unfortunate most of The Zero Theorem takes place indoors because when the film ventures outside, a beautiful fantasy world is brought to life. In Gilliam’s vision of the future, smart cars zip down streets lined with people wearing bright neon colors, with large electronic billboards far and wide. All of the energy and flashing colors from the city is completely unlike the dark and claustrophobic dungeon where Qohen spends most of his time. On top of the gorgeous production design, Gilliam employs his signature off-kilter camera angles to emphasis the satire bend and circus-like theatrics.

Unfortunately, The Zero Theorem lands in the middle of the road in terms of Gilliam’s work. The film doesn’t reach the levels that Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or Twelve Monkeys did, though it easily surpasses his most recent efforts in Tideland and The Brothers Grimm. The Zero Theorem stumbles not for a lack of ambition, but a misfiring of good ideas ultimately stretched too thin. Ironically, The Zero Theorem preaches everything while trying to convince the audience that the film actually amounts to something.

Dangled before us since early last year, Terry Gilliam’s highly anticipated next film The Zero Theorem has a new international trailer that continues to tantalize us. With a vague “Summer 2014” expected US release, the film follows Qohen Leth, played by a very pale and bald Cristoph Waltz, an existentially angst riddled man in an Orwellian future. Qohen is a reclusive computer genius obsessed with his task of uncovering the meaning of life. Unwanted visitors continue to interrupt his progress, including a seductress played by Mélanie Thierry.

David Thewlis, Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton also star. Swinton, playing a character named Dr. Shrink-Rom and sporting a crazy set of fake teeth, proves she can act right through any ridiculous costume. Though it’s hard to remember the  last role she had where she wasn’t playing an on-screen caricature.

At any rate, The Zero Theorem is part of Gilliam’s “Orwellian triptych” which includes his 1985 film Brazil and 1995’s 12 Monkeys. Both of are some of his best work and decidedly better than recent endeavors such as The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Tideland, and I won’t even mention a certain disappointing 2005 fairy tale flick. Glad to see Gilliam back at what he does best.

Check out the new trailer.

International Trailer for The Zero Theorem

In 1973 there was an oddball scandal involving two New York Yankee pitchers who decided to swap wives and families, long before the celebrity reality television programs. Now, the script for The Trade, penned by Oscar-winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, seems to have found a director in Jay Roach.

While Roach is most know for silly comedies like Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers series, the director proved to have seriocomic chops for HBO’s Recount and Game Change. The too-strange-to-be-fake story of Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich seems like a project that can work for Roach, as long as he lets the natural comedy speak for itself. Spoilers for real life: the story didn’t quite have a happy ending (at least for one of the participants), which should have plenty of dramatic possibilities, as well. And there should be ample opportunity to the goofy 1970s haircuts and clothing that helped make American Hustle a hit.

As a child, when staying at a motel or sleepovers with friends with premium cable, watching HBO always felt sneaky. You never knew what un-edited adult gem you’d come across. Watching Behind the Candelabra I was suddenly transported back to those days–and I’d hit the motherload. A behind the scenes look at one of the world’s greatest entertainers: Wladziu Valentino Liberace or, as the world knew him, simply Liberace.

Considering the man made a career of wooing and winning the hearts of many a purple-haired granny, his story wouldn’t seem to fit in with the typically nitty-gritty fanfare of HBO original films. But Behind the Candelabra, based on the tell-all book, can hang with the dirtiest of them. Bringing in HBO’s highest ratings since 2004, the film follows Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), who met Liberace (Michael Douglas), or Lee as his friends called him, when he was only 17. While Matt Damon can’t quite pull off 17, Douglas is a bit old to be playing Liberace anyways, but facial prosthetics (featured a bit too prominently in this film) aid in making him just like the original. With one tour of his gold-gilded home, a dip in the hot tub, and some words of wisdom from Lee about animals, “…they love you no matter what, that’s what makes them dumb animals, I guess,” and Scott is quickly on his way to being another one of Lee’s precious animals lovers.

The film moves quickly, not stopping to focus on the actual attraction between Lee and Scott, just jumping into the relationship. Between sex scenes Lee convinces Scott to have plastic surgery to look like him. He discusses adopting him. Scott develops a pill popping addiction, introduced to him by his scene-stealing plastic surgeon played by Rob Lowe. Before Scott knows it, Lee is over him, ready to move on to the next pretty young thing.

This is supposed to be Steven Soderbergh’s last film. He’s vowed to retire, and if that’s true it’s a shame he had to end it with a film that could only find distribution through premium cable television. Studios wouldn’t touch the film, afraid it was just too ‘gay’. And although the man denied his homosexuality up until the day he died of complications with HIV, he really was the most flamboyant entertainer in show business. However, being “too gay” is not the main fault I find with this film. Instead it’s the complete lack of romance, gay or straight. There’s glitz, there’s glam, there’s grit, but there is none of the pizzazz that any quick YouTube search of Liberace will show you the man possessed.

Michael Douglas recreates Liberace’s performances to the T, and his accent and mannerisms seem to be spot on, but he just doesn’t exude the sort of enchantment that kept Mr. Showmanship the top paid entertainer for 20 years running. There just doesn’t seem to be enough of Liberace’s theatrics and allure present to find him believable, as both an entertainer and a lover. And while Damon plays Thorson credibly naïve, his character’s immaturity doesn’t allow for much intimacy. The film picks up as the two become pitted against each other after the break-up, but then tries for an emotional ending with lukewarm results. Douglas and Damon give fantastic performances, just not the right ones.

Behind the Candelabra is a well-crafted film with two remarkable lead actors. It stands out among HBO original films and has enough dirt to satisfy 7 year-old me, but not enough genuine emotion to satisfy adult me. Too much shock, not enough awww, but a bold last go from Steven Soderbergh. A man who will continue to keep us wanting more.

With its release on Blu-Ray and DVD last week, Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret has once again caused a stir online. By now the story behind the film’s troubled post-production, lawsuit and stillborn release have been regurgitated so many times it feels like a formality to explain what happened (The New York Times did a piece here that does an excellent job going into detail about the film’s history). Of course some basic facts have to be told just to give a sense of why Margaret has such a devoted following.

Kenneth Lonergan shot Margaret in 2005 and was contractually obligated by Fox Searchlight to create a final product that was under 150 minutes. It took him nearly three years to finally hand in a cut that met the studio’s requirements, but by this time producer Gary Gilbert, Fox Searchlight and Lonergan were in court over the film. Margaret was shelved for another three years until Fox Searchlight released cut Lonergan handed in years earlier into theatres for a very brief run last fall. Some critics began hailing it as a masterpiece and, by the end of the year, a small but vocal group of the film’s supporters convinced Fox Searchlight to schedule more screenings.

Earlier this year Searchlight announced that a Blu-Ray of Margaret would be released with a DVD containing an extended cut. The extended version would run 186 minutes, adding over a half hour worth of new footage and hopefully grant Lonergan the freedom to finish the film he wanted to make seven years ago. It was a pleasant surprise, and a generous move on Fox Searchlight’s part considering the amount of grief the film has put their company through.

I decided to watch the extended cut first, figuring that it was the director’s cut when it actually wasn’t the case. As Lonergan explained in a recent interview with Indiewire,

“The cut that was released was the cut I delivered. They’re both the director’s cut; they’re just different cuts. One of them was just free from the constraints of worrying about the time.”

Of course, the cut that Lonergan delivered was only done out of necessity rather than choice. Having seen both cuts now, it’s easy to understand why it took so long for Lonergan to hand in a version he was satisfied with.

As Margaret starts we are first introduced to Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) when her math teacher Mr. Aaron (Matt Damon) confronts her about cheating on her math test. Lisa is dismissive as she tells her teacher that none of what he teaches has any application in the real world. She leaves, and we see bits and pieces of the rest of her school day. After school she goes shopping for a cowboy hat to wear when she goes horseback riding with her father (played by Lonergan himself) but comes up short. She notices a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) wearing a cowboy hat and she starts to chase the bus down, screaming and waving at the driver. He waves back, but fails to notice the red light ahead and runs over a woman (Allison Janney in a memorable cameo).

The bus accident is one of the first key moments where the two cuts differ. As Lisa is holding the woman and the attempts by two pedestrians to stop the bleeding fail, the traffic around them starts getting louder as more and more car horns start to blare on the soundtrack. In the theatrical cut the effect is there but it’s mixed into the rest of the background noise. In the extended cut the noises get so loud in the mix that it threatens to drown out the dialogue.

The extended version’s aggressive sound mix heightens the anxiety of the scene and gives a clear sense of what’s going to happen over the rest of the film. In Margaret the crash turns into a reality check for Lisa. Her naïve, selfish view on things is shattered again and again the more she tries to restore her life before the accident. As the woman starts to slip away and the horns blare on the soundtrack, Lisa breaks down completely. For Lisa it’s a horrifying situation knowing that her actions were responsible for a brutal death. To everyone around her, it’s a tragic accident and nothing more. As the crowd around Lisa forms a cocoon blocking off everything around her, we can hear the outside world screaming to break through. The world might have stopped for Lisa at this moment, but everyone else has to keep moving.

The extended cut’s sound mix’ purpose is evident, and it explicitly lays out what Lonergan wanted to do originally. Lisa’s story isn’t any more or less important than anyone else’s. One of the scenes missing from the theatrical cut slowly pans across Lisa’s apartment building from the outside. As the camera moves past each window we can hear bits and pieces of the conversations going on in each apartment. Eventually the camera settles on Lisa’s apartment where she’s talking to her mother (J. Smith-Cameron). It feels like the camera isn’t tied down to Lisa in any way, as if it simply chose to focus on her when it could follow someone else at a moment’s notice.

These kinds of moments are why I think Lonergan took so long to hand in a cut he was satisfied with. By removing or minimizing that aspect of the film it would fail to show what he wanted to get across in the first place. Another scene at a restaurant where Lisa is talking to a classmate is dominated by the sounds of other customers so much that it takes almost two minutes before we hear a single word of Lisa’s conversation. It’s moments like this that show just how significant the differences between the two cuts are.

The theatrical cut, which is a good film on its own, doesn’t have the same expansive feeling as the extended version. Several subplots are chopped down including a romance between Lisa’s mother and a Colombian businessman (Jean Reno). Character motivations are sometimes muddled since the scenes explaining them stayed on the cutting room floor. The worst example of the theatrical cut’s editing comes towards the end of the film when Lisa confesses something that was never mentioned up until that point. In the theatrical cut it isn’t known whether or not Lisa’s confession is true, but the extended cut clears up any doubts one might have had about the scene.

Each of these edits unfortunately takes away what makes Margaret such a great film. Lonergan clearly wanted the film to be a big, sprawling piece that reflected the messiness of real life. By taking away the subplots and focus on Lisa’s surroundings it shrinks the film’s universe when it needs to be as large as possible. The theatrical cut makes Margaret feel more like Lisa’s story while the extended repeatedly states that it’s anything but. In one scene Lisa gets into an argument with Emily (Jeannie Berlin, who has one of the strongest presences in the film),a friend of the woman hit by the bus. She yells at Lisa that everyone around her isn’t a supporting character in the story of her life. In the theatrical cut the line feels more like someone dressing down Lisa, while the extended cut makes it feel more like a summary of what Margaret is trying to accomplish.

It would be a waste of time to go on about what could have been if Margaret didn’t take almost seven years to come out. It’s unfortunate that the film was robbed of any chances of getting awards recognition (especially for Paquin and Smith-Cameron), but the fact that Margaret is available to watch in a version longer than 150 minutes is a small miracle. In the context of the extended cut it’s hard to see the theatrical version as anything but a director’s vision being muffled. While Margaret‘s status as a masterpiece may be up for debate, the 186-minute version definitely feels closer to earning that status than the contractually-obligated one.

The Coen Brothers’ set themselves up for a challenge by deciding to do a re-make of a classic Western film, True Grit, that starred John Wayne. The Coens work again with Jeff Bridges from his role as The Dude in The Big Lebowski and give him the tough role of replacing John Wayne from the original True Grit (1969). But do not let the movie poster fool you, while Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin all do exceptional jobs, the true stand out is the young, less-known Hailee Steinfeld.

Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is a fearless 14 year old farm girl whose father was recently murdered by Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She sets out to capture the killer with help from a U.S. Marshal who is notorious for being ruthless. Considered a man with “true grit” she hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Cogburn was recently on trial for being so careless with the amount of killings from his trigger-happy finger. She deems this a perfect candidate to help her seek redemption.

A Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) explains he would like to join Mattie and Cogburn in their effort to capture Chaney. Both LaBoeuf and Cogburn decide to try ditching the young girl to catch the killer and split the reward money between them. However, Mattie is forceful and stubborn, thus not easy to get rid of. The three set out on a journey filled with danger and unexpected circumstances.

It was not blatantly evident that True Grit was done by the Coen brothers. Typically, Ethan and Joel Coen put a quirky and irony touch to their films, however, they normally do original films that produce massive cult followings. This is time they decided to do a re-make of a classic John Wayne Western film. So do not go into it assuming they are picking up where they left off from No Country for Old Men, it has a lesser “Coen brothers” feel to it.

The cinematography in this film is phenomenal. True Grit looks like an authentic Western shot from the time period thanks to Roger Deakins. The buildings, clothing and even their language felt very true and accurate. The shots around the campfire were pleasantly done and the landscape is majestic.

The thing I enjoyed the most about True Grit was the acting performances. Jeff Bridges was born to play Westerns, he has the lazy, raspy voice that perfectly fits the role. This is something that proved true in the last film he did, Crazy Heart. The two roles were not all that different. Matt Damon did not seem too out of place as I expected he might. Hailee Steinfeld had the right amount of passion required for her role as a determined and stubborn lead character.

True Grit has a straightforward storyline that showcases beautiful landscapes and talented actors while proving that re-makes of classic Western’s are still possible. While I am not a huge fan of the Western genre, I feel like the Coen brothers paid some homage to the genre and did nothing over-the-top, probably for the better. However, I could see an even split between Coen lovers loving it or hating it, since it does not scream Coen. But if you like Western’s or just want to see a well-made one, you do not have to look further than True Grit.