Movie - Stillwater

R (2:19)

Wide release 7/30/2021

Viewed 8/8/2021 at Regal Harrisburg

IMBd: 6.9/10

RT Critic: 74   Audience:  72

Critic's Consensus:  Stillwater isn't perfect, but its thoughtful approach to intelligent themes -- and strong performances from its leads -- give this timely drama a steadily building power. 

Cag:   5/Loved it 

Directed by Tom McCarthy

setting:  mostly Marseilles, France

Actors: Matt Damon, Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin

My comments:  First movie-in-a-theater in a year and a half!! Super exciting!  And this was a good choice. Very interesting piece of storytelling.  Equally the story of a father doing anything to keep his daughter happy and a character study of the part that Matt Damon plays. It's about the characters and their relationships, what drives them, what makes them do the things they've done in their lives.  Can we be predisposed to be a fuck up?  I think that's the actual theme of the movie, which I really liked a lot.  Matt Damon was really wonderful (side note:  it looked like he put on a few pounds for this part).  What I saw of the setting, Marseilles, was nothing like what I have e er pictured Marseilles to be like.  I loved the way he learned to speak French and I loved the relationship between him and the nine-year-old girl, Maya.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Unemployed roughneck Bill Baker (Academy Award® winner Matt Damon) travels from Oklahoma to Marseilles to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Academy Award® nominee Abigail Breslin). Imprisoned for a murder she claims she did not commit. Allison seizes on a new tip that could exonerate her and presses Bill to engage her legal team But Bill eager to prove his worth and regain his daughters trust, takes matters into his own hands. He is quickly stymied by language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system until he meets French actress Virginie (Camille Cottin), mother to eight-year-old Maya (Lilou Siauvaud). Together, these unlikely allies embark on a journey of discovery, truth, love and liberation.

MOVIE - Jason Bourne

PG-13 (2:03)

Wide release 7/29/16

Viewed On Sunday, August 28, 2016 at Gettysburg Outlets

RT Critic:  56  Audience:  61
Critic's Consensus:  Jason Bourne delivers fans of the franchise more of what they've come to expect -- which is this sequel's biggest selling point as well as its greatest flaw.

Cag: 3/Liked it

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Universal Studio

Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, 

My comments:  75% crazy ridiculous car chases, 20% eye-rolling CIA garbage, and 5% traveling the world (with Matt Damon as eye candy).  Since I don't like stupid car chases, the movie was only....okay.

MovieFone Summary:  It's been 10 years since Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) walked away from the agency that trained him to become a deadly weapon. Hoping to draw him out of the shadows, CIA director Robert Dewey assigns hacker and counterinsurgency expert Heather Lee to find him. Lee suspects that former operative Nicky Parsons is also looking for him. As she begins tracking the duo, Bourne finds himself back in action battling a sinister network that utilizes terror and technology to maintain unchecked power.

MOVIE - The Martian

PG-13 (2:14)

Wide release 10/2/15

ElCon

RT Critic:  93    Audience:   93

Cag:  4.5 liked it a whole lot

Directed by Ridley Scott

20th Century Fox

Based on the book by Andy Weir

A Critic review:   Damon has never seemed more at home than he does here, millions of miles adrift. Would any other actor have shouldered the weight of the role with such diligent grace?

Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig

My comments:  Fun, though nail-biting experience, Matt Damon's quick wit and quirky grin added to my enjoyment of the film.  Although scifi, it was really quite believable....

RT Summary:  During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, THE MARTIAN features a star studded cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.