Garrett Griffin

U.S. Astronaut Mark Wartney (played by Matt Damon) stares at the vast openness of the Martian planet while working on a plan for survival and eventual rescue.
Image Courtesy of Screenrant.com.

You can travel to Mars for the price of a single movie ticket and see an action movie on the side. It seems like someone would realize that maybe Matt Damon is not the best person to send on an important mission since he always needs to be rescued. This week, though, you can go and see the United States spend millions of dollars saving an American hero: astronaut Mark Watney. Not to diminish the film, the movie The Martian is a great action movie with some of the best, if not the very best, computer-generated-graphics currently available. It has been well received by many critics.

I attended the first 3D viewing of the film on October 10th at Texarkana Cinemark Theater. I don’t know that the 3-D adds too much to the film, so if you are used to seeing the standard 2D presentation of the film, you will still have a great time. I will first say there are a few curse-words both uttered, as silent-lip-readings, and as abbreviated visuals. Because of this the movie was assigned the rating of PG-13.

The biggest thing that struck me was the realistic representation of Mars’ surface. Even without IMAX the film envelopes and places you on the planet. The time period during which this is supposed to occur is not stated but it appears to be the present. This makes the film much more relatable to the point where you would think you could turn on the television or computer and see the status of the rescue mission.

The movie does tend to use more scientific dialogue, which is understandable for a team of NASA astronauts. For the science-minded person this film will be well-received and thoroughly enjoyed. For those who are not, the film has enough action and a nominal amount of emotion to keep the viewer entertained.

The current ratings and reviews of the top three movie critiquing organizations have been rather positive. The movie currently has a score of 8.4 from the IMDB (Internet Movie Database). Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 93% and lastly, Metacritic gives it a score of 81%.

If you are looking for something to do, I would definitely suggest seeing this movie. It is nothing short of a great science-action film. See it before its gone.

Ti’Ana Marshall

“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity”-Viola Davis.

Originally, this article was going to be about my feel good weekend. I planned on relating my travels to anyone else who had ever done the same thing. Blasting music as loud as it will go, looking over at my love like those romance movies, while we toured the open highway—then something else happened.

I am overwhelmed with emotion and the tug of responsibility is yanking at my heart. History was made last night and it would not be right to talk about travel, and not the Nubian Queens who finally made it outside of the colored lines.

September is the month of (insert hash tag here) black girl magic. For the first time last night, a black woman won an Emmy for best lead actress in a drama series. The incredible Viola Davis was crowned supreme for her role in the hit television show “How to Get Away With Murder”.

Before accepting the award, Davis alongside four other actresses, was plastered across the screen in four windows. Each individual window full of their faces as they waited to hear who would take home the prize. Viola Davis sat alongside her husband, eyes shut, head down, with her hands tight against the chair. Then they said her name, “Viola Davis”. A stunned actress literally shook in her seat and her husband seemed to pull at her arm as if to remind her that this was real life.

With the grace of a thousand goddesses, Viola Davis strolled upon stage, clearly overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions. The lights twinkled against her ebony skin as she began to give a speech full of truth, beginning with a quote from abolitionist Harriet Tubman:

“In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me, over that line. But I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.” “Here’s to all the writers, the awesome people that are Ben Sherwood, Paul Lee, Peter Nowalk, Shonda Rhimes, people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black.” Before taking her seat, Viola Davis thanked other trailblazing actresses of color for “taking us over that line”.

The image of the black woman is changing not only on the big screen, but on the newsstands as well. For the first time, not one, not two, but seven major fashion magazines all   feature black women on the cover. Misty Copeland, another history making woman of color, graces the cover of Essence, while Beyonce slays the September cover of Vogue—the most prestigious and sought after cover.

All of that leads me to this. My open letter to all the future Viola Davises, the Gabrielle Unions, Vivica Foxes, Meagan Goods, Misty Copelands and more. To all my beautiful black baby girls who like me had longed to see myself on the big screen without being praised for my physical attributes—the time is now.

Realize you are beautiful, you are worthy of making history. Whether you are the lightest shade of tan, to the deepest of ebony, hear me—you are special! There is elegance in the sway of your hips, beauty in the thickness of your lips, intelligence underneath your kinky-curly hair. Use it to the best of your ability.

Continue to shine and break the mold. Let us continue to redefine what the world thinks of us as we reshape ourselves into the queens we are descendants of. This is black girl magic. This is only the beginning.

Stephen Jones

In September of 2015, the Evangelical movie War Room sat atop the American box office, marking a unique trend among movie theaters nationwide: low-budget Christian movies raking in millions. Even though the Christian movie is not new to cinema, the amount of its recent success is. As with many things related to religion, these films have garnered controversial and polarizing opinions from critics and average moviegoers alike, and perhaps it is this contrast in attitudes that is garnering large amounts of attention; but before drawing any drastic conclusions, it is necessary to look at the statistics surrounding these films.

Three films in particular have boasted large box office success despite their meager production budget in the past couple of years: God’s Not Dead, Heaven is for Real, and War Room. The average production cost of these three movies is under $6 million, and they currently possess an estimated average of $63.8 million at the box office. Taking these numbers into account, these Evangelical films have definitely struck a chord with a portion of the general public, but critics have not exactly held the same enthusiasm. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a website that calculates the percentage of movie critics that gave a movie a favorable review, the average rating of these films is a disappointing 33%.

Although these movies have been critically panned, creating a Christian movie seems to be a very lucrative business proposition. With the production cost only a fraction of the modern Hollywood blockbuster, the risk in making a cheap Evangelical movie is fairly low. If a director can produce a movie appealing to churches across the country, finding a church van or bus in a
movie theatre parking lot will not be a difficult task. Much to the chagrin to the majority of critics and large sections of the general public, as long as filmmakers are able to rake in millions of dollars, the future production of Evangelical movies is indeed a certainty.

Stephen Jones

One of the best factors about going to the movies on a slow day, such as a Thursday as I did, is the lack of giant crowds and long waiting times. I prefer not having to wait for a solid 30 minutes just to get a ticket and a drink. The parking lot was not even halfway full when I purchased my ticket to American Ultra, resulting in the concessions not having any lines. How could I beat that?

Once I entered Theatre 6, I realized I would be watching American Ultra with two complete strangers sitting on opposite ends of the 150-seat theatre. Once the movie began, I noticed how the absence of people meant a significantly less chance of cell phone interruptions, especially since I sat near the front and a light from a phone screen would not be able to disturb me in the least.

As the movie progressed, I noted one downside: the lack of laughter. When people get together to see a comedy show, like a standup comedian or a comedy film, the audience seems to feed off of the energy and laughter that is shared amongst its members, but the movie was not really that funny to begin with. Making a movie about lazy stoner kid who is unknowingly a CIA sleeper cell is obviously going to be an Oscar-worthy event.

Even though the movie was, in my eyes, just a solid C+, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I did not have to worry about long lines and cell phone disturbances. I know some people might enjoy the spectacle of a major movie release, but as someone who loathes the thought of intermingling within a mass of humanity, I find the calm atmosphere nearly perfect for watching a movie completely free of distractions. Honestly, it is really amazing how one can really appreciate, or criticize, the content of movie without having to worry about disturbances.