I've seen that there's a new movie coming out in November with Matt Damon called The Martian. I haven't watched the trailer (I've been down on trailers for a while) but am vaguely aware that people seem to like it. I found out it's based on a book that one of the Mythbusters' loves. Today's xkcd convinced me I really want to read and see this:
So for $6 it's now downloaded to my Kindle.
Update: Read it, the description is dead on and I loved it. Lots of "Oh Shit" moments followed by a laugh-out-loud line.
4 comments:
I am rereading The Martian right now. It is definitely an engineer's book, and exciting in the way protagonist has to overcome obstacle after obstacle. He addresses each one systematically like an engineer might even though just over the time horizon for each is his possible death. if you haven;t read it it is well worth it.
My wife and I have been having a long running discussion of whether Matt Damon is right for the role. He seems a little old, although you don't get to be an astronaut with out a lot of education and training which takes time. I am concerned that his portrayal will be tainted in my mind by his astronaut character in Interstellar, who I wanted killed immediately. On the other hand if there is voice-over in the The Martian movie to convey the hero's thoughts I am thinking of Matt Damon in Rounders. Can he convey what needs to be conveyed on screen to successfully adapt the novel.
The shear amount of thinking I am doing on this topic ensures that I will go see this movie and that I was quite obsessed with the book when it came out.
Good to know. I typically like Damon. At 44 he doesn't seem too old to be an astronaut, though I don't know the book character (yet).
Note, they've moved the movie up to Oct 2nd. Moving a release to later is usually a bad sign. Moving one up is rare, and I'm hoping is a good sign.
Now that you have pointed out that Matt Damon is younger than me, I looked up the NASA rules for astronauts. There are no age restrictions, and ages range from 26 to 46 with the average being 34. I am likely too old to be an astronaut besides lacking the training, a fear of falling and getting motion sickness.
Still excited to see this movie.
As noted I've finished the book and really enjoyed it. I think Damon will be a good Watney. I couldn't help but read the book with him in mind, but I pictured his character from Rounders most with a little bit of Jason Bourne thrown in. He can definitely play intelligent and dealing with "oh shit" moments and he's done voiceovers well several times.
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