Thursday 22 October 2015

Matt Damon

Matt Damon gained critical and public recognition for writing and starring in the Academy Award-winning drama Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck in 1997. Since then the American actor and filmmaker has continued to impress critics and audiences with noteworthy roles in films such as the Bourne series, the Oceans trilogy, Dogma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The Departed. Damon is also recognised for his producing and his humanitarian work.

In 2009, Damon portrayed South Africa national rugby union team captain François Pienaar in the Clint Eastwood-directed film Invictus, which features Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. The role earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This year he starred as astronaut Mark Watney, in Ridley Scott's The Martian, based on Andy Weir's best-selling novel of the same name. For this MAP club meeting we watched Invictus at home, followed by The Martian at the Newtown Dendy cinema in a MAP club first - MAP club at the movies! Geoffrey Rush was spotted at the cinema but he wasn't wearing a MAP club T-shirt so unfortunately I don't think he's in the club...yet.

For dinner we enjoyed a medley of foods in part supplied by Lette's cafe job. There was chicken salad, roast pumpkin and rocket, quiche, chocolate biscuits, orange juice and Ceylon tea. At the cinema we paid money for popcorn but snuck in our own blueberries from home. #frugal.
Our thoughts on the films are below with the Matt Damon completion patch!

     

Billy on Invictus: I hadn't heard of this film before - totes me every week in MAP club! I thought it was a very interesting story, very political and very encouraging. All of those positive things were mostly to do with Morgan Freeman's performance and Nelson Mandela's compassion, wisdom, political insight, and big heart. Damon was a little absent as the rugby team captain. Chester was a better character. I'm not overly familiar with the book or indeed the actual story though, so Matt may have portrayed an exact likeness to Piennar for all I know. Eastwood made some questionable choices for the soundtrack and the rugby action shots.

Lette on Invictus: I really liked how this movie captured 1995. Not only is it a snapshot of a very important time in South Africa's history, it's also a great snapshot of life in the 90's, lots of great tracksuits. Matt Damon did well as a rugby brute, not sure about the verdict on the accent, sounded reasonably South African to me. It was an entertaining movie, a few odd choices in the soundtrack at the hands of Clint Eastwood's son Kyle but I'll forgive him for that. This film reminded me of my lovely holiday to South Africa and the beautiful landscape of Cape Town but also reminded me that Robben Island was booked up for the week I visited and I missed out on visiting that important landmark. Thanks for that!

Billy on The Martian: I loved MAP club at the movies! I just felt so current and on trend, you know! #lols. I thought the Martian was great and a much more notable (noticeable) performance from Damon. I generally like Ridley Scott (flashback to Bladerunner. Never flashback to Prometheus - uck!) and I have to say direction-wise he beat Clint here. I enjoyed the innovative gardening on Mars, the scientific imagination, the (literally) out-of-this-world visions of stunning landscapes, and the 70s disco soundtrack. "I NEED SOME HOT STUFF BABY TONIGHT!" Now....Donald Glover. *swoon*. Glover pops up (again, literally) as a funny likable character who has the genius smarts to solve the ultimate problem of getting the stranded astronaut home to earth. SPOILER! (but does the plan work???). Donald is in my top 2 celebrities I'd like to date. Just sayin'. That's all.

Lette on The Martian: This was a perfect choice for the Matt Damon completion patch. Not many movies have such a focus on one central character but I guess if the movie is about someone being stuck on Mars then that's the point. I'm not 100% sure about the accuracy of the science behind growing potatoes on Mars, admittedly i'm not a botanist, but I was certainly entertained. We made a special trip to the local cinema for this review, such a treat, but during the film an odd lady starting stomping up and down the stairs. That provided a bit more drama and spectacle to the evening. I also saw Geoffrey Rush when I went to purchase the tickets, talk about an eventful MAP Club meeting.

The Matt Damon completion patch.
Who needs pants when you have an awesome MAP club shirt like this!