THE MARTIAN

Having read the book which was often quite dense, the movie version of the story was appropriately streamlined and cleaned up. The visuals, the depiction of future technology and space transport, the cardboard characters back on Earth, the whole package was both exactly what I expected, but with many surprises. Great use of music, for one. Damon's performance better than expected. The whole movie was better than expected, and I wound up seeing it multiple times. A keeper. SCORE: 95.