The Odyssey (2026)

Around the same time that I read Homer's epic, I saw the 1997 miniseries thereof, which didn't blow me away but helped cement a few memories. Not enough that some parts didn't feel new again, as I would discover. If nothing else, I could count on director Christopher Nolan to make it his own, even without Cillian Murphy or a male character mourning a dead wife or girlfriend.

Royalty has a somewhat different meaning in ancient Greece, where King Odysseus of Ithaca (Matt Damon) sees no choice but to fight in the Trojan War himself, shortly after the birth of his son, Telemachus. His side wins, but the return journey is fraught with episodes of supernatural peril, keeping him and his troops away much longer than other veterans. Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) holds out hope despite a widespread assumption of Odysseus's death, which leads to dozens of suitors taking up residence at the palace. She can't dismiss them without breaking the oft-cited Zeus's Law (i.e., show hospitality in case a guest is a disguised god). By young adulthood, Telemachus (Tom Holland) is thinking of ascending the throne, but the suitors, unofficially led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson), conspire to kill him first.

The Rip (2026)

I knew this was getting a middling reception from general audiences, but someone had recommended it earlier in the day. Besides, I hadn't seen Matt Damon and Ben Affleck together since Dogma in 1999. And this was the only movie left on my Netflix list that ran less than two hours.

The title is slang for confiscation. A Miami police team under Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon), including Det. Sgt. JD Byrne (Affleck), Det. Mike Ro (Steven Yeun, not to be confused with Mike Rowe), Det. Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Det. Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Mareno), searches a decrepit Hialeah house suspected of storing loads of cash for drug dealers, with only one Desi Lopez (Sasha Calle) at home. They find about $20 million, far more than they anticipated. This is not entirely good news for them, because both career criminals and cops might do almost anything for that kind of take. Dumars insists that they count the money on site (trusting any labeled amounts on stacks to save time) but not call it in, and they must prepare for a shootout. Naturally, tensions rise within the team.

Oppenheimer (2023)

I knew my dad and I would have to see this while it was still in theaters. Not only is it popular, but it loses something on a smaller screen. Not that nuclear explosions, "real" or imagined, make up much of the three hours.

The story covers the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) from his doctoral student days in 1926 to his receipt of the Enrico Fermi Award in '63. His key work on the Manhattan Project and reactions to its aftermath tend to dominate the focus, but there's more to it than that. He hangs out with communists too much for the comfort of authorities, and two party members, eventual wife Kitty Puening (Emily Blunt) and codependent Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), become his love interests.

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

I took this long to get to this Academy Best Picture nominee because, apart from the DVD wait time, it sounded predictable. Another auto race flick, and judging from respective reputations, I could guess who won by virtue of underdog status. Still, it is nonfiction, however loaded with anachronisms and other errors, and has two highly watchable leads.

In the 1960s, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) is furious that his company has become something of a laughingstock. Who should answer his demand for a good idea but Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), who taps former champion racer turned auto company founder Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to design a car that might break Enzo Ferrari's (Remo Girone) winning streak at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shelby makes controversial, job-threatening decisions in this effort, not least in insisting that the main tester and racer be broke mechanic Ken Miles (Christian Bale, in one of the few times I've heard him act with a British accent), who is excellent on both counts but hard to work with.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

As I predicted, I got around to seeing a second adaptation of the same Patricia Highsmith novel. I'm glad I waited, because I could no longer remember much of what happened before. Nevertheless, looking back over my review of Purple Noon, I noticed a number of differences, some of which reportedly hew closer to the source material.

In the '50s, a New York shipping magnate (James Rebhorn) mistakes master of fakery Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) for a former classmate of rebellious son Dickie (Jude Law) and hires him to fetch Dickie from a prodigal life in Italy. Tom becomes a friendly third wheel to Dickie and girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow) but soon reveals his mission, which he utterly fails. This does not end Tom's welcome in Dickie's eyes, but when that does run out, the two have a physical fight and Tom kills him. Tom begins telling earlier acquaintances that Dickie is away somewhere and telling later acquaintances that he is Dickie. Offhand, I'd say it's his hardest con job yet. It could be funny if it weren't deadly serious.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

I've been putting this off a long time, because unlike most viewers, I got very little out of the first two Bourne entries. The Bourne Identity struck me as an odd combination of stark and semi-comically unrealistic; despite my viewing in a theater, even the car chase failed to excite me. The Bourne Supremacy, which introduced more popular director Paul Greengrass to the franchise, was too bleak to provide much fun, and I kept getting déjà vu. Fans of the third have described it as almost too intense, and less generous critics have said it is too intense (and has no actual ultimatum). Nevertheless, between its Academy Awards and its continual placement on the IMDb top 250, the threequel seemed necessary for my cinematic education.

The Netflix jacket would have you believe that the only new elements are a few moderately famous actors and several major cities on three continents, but I can do a little better at summarizing. The titular rogue secret government assassin (Matt Damon) has apparently kept a low profile for weeks following the Moscow events in TBS. Then a Guardian journalist writing about him reveals insider knowledge of one Operation Blackbriar, getting his attention -- and, less welcomely, that of the CIA. With fresh clues and the cooperation of a disenchanted operative (Julia Stiles), Jason Bourne resumes his search to fill the sizable holes in his memory, all the while evading or fighting the agency led by Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and, more sympathetically, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen).

The Martian (2015)

Thanks to my vacation and time catching up on other things, I have a lot of movies to review. For once, I won't review them in the order in which I viewed them, because it doesn't matter and I'd rather give priority to the more widely interesting ones. In particular, I'd like to review the Oscar nominees before the ceremony on Sunday.

Set at some unspecified but probably near-future date, the action begins on Mars -- and I do mean action, within the first five minutes. A massive dust storm jeopardizes a small crew of astronauts. When Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets knocked out of visible range and his suit stops sending signals, the mission commander (Jessica Chastain) reluctantly decides that they are better off presuming him dead and leaving the planet early. (Sounds familiar, but Watney doesn't blame them.) Having miraculously survived the onslaught, Watney uses his relevant knowledge, especially as a botanist, to extend his food supply, enhance his transportation capacity, and eventually establish communications with Earth. But no matter what solution the best minds in science can devise, any rescue effort will be a close shave. Manned flights to Mars take years, after all.