The Intern, The Martian and Sicario

I had normally avoided movies from Nancy Meyers (Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want and It's Complicated), although I did see The Holiday on TV. So I had no great expectations for The Intern, except Robert De Niro seemed quite funny on the trailer. But a 70 year old intern? I just had to see that. In the end a gentle and witty story (yes, Nancy Meyers can write a good script) with passable performances from De Niro and Anne Hathaway. Not everything came off and I can remember two embarrassing moments in particular, but an enjoyable movie with, at last, an original screenplay. Cute.

The Martian certainly lived up to all the hype. Ridley Scott is back on form. An astronaut stuck on Mars seems an unlikely premise, but the construction of the story is so cinematic. Tense, exciting and moving. The idea of Mark Watney (superbly played by Matt Damon) creating a video diary is brilliant. The alternating scenes between Mars and Earth work really well. A terrific cast, I particularly liked Mackenzie Davis as a young female nerd. To cap it all, the songs were great: "Happy Days", "Starman" and "I Will Survive" and lots more. And I'm glad I didn't see it in 3D.

A violent but thrilling and morally complex story of the fight against Mexican drug gangs is elevated to a spectacular movie through the cinematography of who else but Roger Deakins. Nominated perhaps nine times but never won an Oscar, is this the film that makes it this time. It should. Not just the superb landscapes (day and night) on the American/Mexican border, but the action sequences and indoor scenes too. Emily Blunt is terrific as the FBI officer who joins an elite task force (not FBI so who?). She, like us, is in the dark, and this puts us right in the hot seat. The filming of the four vehicle raid early on is Roger Deakins at his best. Director Dennis Villeneuve and writer Taylor Sheridan have made a powerful and gripping movie with a good cast. At the beginning we have no idea what  the excellent Benicio Del Toro is doing there, and later wished we hadn't.