Take #18: The Intern

This is a movie that will bring a smile to your lips in the first five minutes- a smile that will thereafter stay on for the next two hours. 

Watch it also for effortless performances from two of the finest actors of their respective generations. 

A simple story, simply told, with great chemistry between the lead pair, it's not surprising to figure out why this is still running to packed houses in week 2. 

For its feel-good factor, this is a movie you'll want to see.

On a different note - I'd rather like to see this film remade by Balki with Amitabh Bachchan as the intern and Anushka Sharma as the entrepreneur.

Take #17: The Martian

Another eminently watchable film from Ridley Scott, what makes this one special is that it is heart-warming and entirely believable, in spite of its extra-terrestrial setting. 

One man's determined struggle to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds ("the truth is that space does not cooperate"), Matt Damon has essayed the role with dry humour and an always-there vulnerability that draws you in and lets you go only when the end-credits roll. 

Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean, Kate Mara and others provide excellent support - and the Mars landscape is far more credible than that shown in "Interstellar". 

There will, I suppose, be the inevitable comparisons with "Gravity", but my vote is with this one. 

Also - I have it on excellent authority that the book by Andy Weir, on which this film is based, is absolutely brilliant : I now have no doubt about that, and can't wait to read it.