The Martian, quick thoughts

I've been talking about The Martian for months now. I've been patiently (and excitedly) waiting for the movie and I finally got to see it last weekend. It's an excellent movie that does a really good job of remaining true to the book.

I took my wife to the movie and she thought it was a good movie, which bodes well for all the married gentlemen out there. The movie is thrilling from a problem solving perspective, but it's also funny and smart and highly entertaining. My one gripe with the movie was the climax, which deviated from the book and felt like a Hollywood executive shouting, "MOAR OVER THE TOP!" I think there was also a desire to make the climax more 3D appealing, which it probably was had I seen it in 3D. It's minor and only decreases from the movie because I've read the book.

I would love your thoughts on the movie in the comments below. If you haven't seen the movie, what are you waiting for?

The Martian: A Fantastic Novel and now a Matt Damon movie

The Martian: A Novel is a book written by Andy Weir that has been turned into a movie set to release this November. The book is about an astronaut in the near future who gets left behind on Mars. He must learn to survive Mars' harsh environment while waiting for a rescue that could take years. The format is in the form of a journal logged by a character who deals with high stress situations by using humor, that is quite entertaining.

I first heard about the book on Adam Savage's podcast Still Untitled, I read it in February, and now I'm giddy after watching the trailer today.

There's also this video, which I found yesterday, giving a small peak into some of the humor from the book that I expect to get translated into the movie:

The movie isn't without its suspense and drama as Whatney, Matt Damon, must solve complex problems to continue to survive. I highly recommend the book, if you haven't read it already. According to Savage, who has talked to NASA personnel about the book, the technology and math in the book are solid. It's easy to read and also very affordable at $6 - $16 depending on the version you want, Kindle to hardcover. If you enjoy reading this is a must read for the Summer.

Media Links April 6, 2014

A Friend With Photoshop Is All You Need - Javvad Malik - J4VV4D

I love a good Photoshop post.

What Meetings Feel Like For Engineers - Via Lauris Beinerts - Fail Blog

Perpendicular lines, red ink using green and transparent ink, kittens and balloons.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Is About Obama's Terror-Suspect Kill List, Say the Film's Directors - by Asawin Suebsaeng - Mother Jones

This is fairly spoiler free, aside from the plot details. Saw the movie Thursday night and my buddy who was two seats down from me (who I also work with) texted me towards the end of the movie, "That NSA context." You'll agree, if you read the article and watch the movie. 

Latin America Movie Ideas

I took at Latin American film studies class in the fall 2013 semester at the University of South Carolina. It was a very interesting course, which covered the film industry in Latin America. One of the points made during the class was that there were not really a lot of Latin American representation in Hollywood. This included: actors, actress, movies, etc.

I'm taking an introduction into Latin American history this semester, spring 2014, and I'm a little surprised that Hollywood hasn't dipped into this treasure trove of film ideas. Today, in particular, we were covering the independence of Cuba and, my gosh, there's a movie trilogy there, maybe even more. It took three wars for Cuba to gain it's independence: The Ten Years War (1868-1878); Guerra Chiquita (1879-1880); and the Final War (1895-1898).

Jesus Perez a vigilante who returned runaway slaves attempting to join the independence army to plantation owners, who himself later joined the independence army, is one protagonist for a movie idea in the Ten Years War.

Another protagonist would be Antoni Maceo who was a free Afro-Cuban who joined the army as a soldier and quickly rose to the rank of General. He fought all the way through the first Treaty of Zanjon (1878).

The Guerra Chiquita or Small War is set on a plantation in East Cuba named La Esperanza, which translates, ironically, to "hope." This War involved a slave revolt, where the slaves demanded the dismissal of an overseer. The army was called in and was unable to subdue the slaves initially, as they remained defiant to the army Colonel Aguillera.

Then there's the Final War, which saw the return of Antonia Maceo. This time around the independence army had much greater support from the Cuban population.

I would love to go into much greater detail about the synopsis for these films, and maybe I will in the future. Today wasn't the first time I've thought about a piece of Latin American history as a movie idea. The history of Latin America is plentiful with movie ideas and I'm a little surprised that more movies haven't come out on the topic.