In Theaters: October 2, 2015

There is only one wide release this weekend and one expanding to a nationwide release.

The Martian

Put on the fast track after the success of Gravity in 2013, The Martian is another story about an astronaut that gets stuck.  This time the astronaut is stuck on Mars (hence the title) and this time the movie is based on a novel.

I have to say this movie looks really really good.  It looks like someone took Gravity and threw away all the ridiculous bits and the boring "character moments", then took Interstellar and removed all the too-long cuts and the sound of Hans Zimmer falling asleep on his pipe organ, put the two together and made The Martian.  Basically it looks like the child of those two movies who ONLY got the good genes.

Also, Ridley Scott directed it.  He's like the Energizer bunny.  He's 77 years old but he's directed thirteen movies in the last fifteen years.  And not just little ones; that list of movies is peppered with huge productions such as: Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Prometheus, Robin Hood, Exodus: Gods & Kings, Black Hawk Down, and more.  It's wild.

The Martian is rated PG-13 for some strong language, injury images, and brief nudity.  (brief nudity is Matt Damon's buttocks - presumably while switching space suits or something)

Sicario (expanding)

This is supposed to be the most taut and tense action thriller in years.  This director is known for a sort of hard edge.  The action and suspense, they say, is very raw.  If you cooked it a bit more it would probably become something like 2014's Sabotage (with a pink center).  And if you left it on the grill even longer it would become something like Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (well done).  And if you burn it to a crisp it becomes The Incredibles.  I may have carried that joke on too long.

The tagline tells us that "In Mexico Sicario means Hitman."  Sicario is about a special agent sent in to an escalating drug war.  She finds out that some wack stuff is going on and gets caught up in some kind of twisty windy conspiracy.  The cast sounds amazing for a movie like this.  Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin.

Sicario is rated R for strong violence, grisly images, and language.

      Big Shot Critic