By Lori Vernon
BIG FESTIVAL FILMS
A
With high profile film festivals like
TIFF (Toronto), Venice and Berlin
now over, some clear awards contenders have immerged (The Danish Girl,
Room, Miss You Already, Spotlight, Beasts of
No Nation, Anomalisa) which you will
hopefully be seeing in theaters soon.
Festivals aren't just for films seeking distribution, we've also seen the debut of several mainstream films that will see wide
release this month. Here are a few you
that may end up for award contention
(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who, aided by an
oddball crew of sidekicks, attempted to
walk between the Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center in 1974. Director
Robert Zemeckis uses various cinematic
techniques to give the viewer a realistic
approximation of what it would be like to
be in Petit's shoes as he attempts his
thrilling performance.
Done purely for artistic expression –
not fame or money, the film showcases
how (according to the official website),
Matt Damon in The Martian
14 illinoisentertainer.com october 2015
THE MARTIAN
Directed by Ridley Scott
October 2
Rated PG-13
Based on the novel by Andy Weir, The
Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark
Watney (Matt Damon), a scientist on a
manned mission to Mars. While trying to
evacuate during a blinding storm, Watney
is hit by debris and swept away from the
group. Presumed dead and left behind by
his crew, he awakens to find himself
stranded on a hostile planet with few
usable supplies and no way to communicate with Earth.
Seeming to accept his death as imminent, Watney prepares for the inevitable
but then miraculously decides that he
wants to survive. Faced with insurmountable challenges, he must come up with a
way to use the meager resources that have
been left behind and figure out a way to
grow food so he doesn't starve to death. At
least Tom Hanks could actually breathe
the air and catch fish in Cast Away!
Luckily, Watney is also a botanist so he has
that on his side. The film crisscross