Movie Monday: THE MARTIAN

So I was pretty excited to get to the theater to see THE MARTIAN.

Last year when I read the book by Any Weir, I was dipping my toes in a series of Mars poems -- I've since abandoned that project, but I remain fascinated with Mars One and space exploration -- and of course survival stories! Whatever the setting, I pretty much love survival/adventure stories.

And this movie is gorgeous. Taut and tense and emotional and no doubt the best one we've seen this year. In some ways the movie is better than the book, and it feels like a real accomplishment for a story about one single person who spends much of his time alone on Mars THINKING through his problems and coming up with possible solutions and trying the and failing.... really, that's one of the best things about the movie: what is says about the power of the mind, how we can use our knowledge and our resources to creatively solve our problems. Our hero fails again and again, but he keeps after it. It's about taking risks and making the impossible thing POSSIBLE. So, so good. Go see it!