Every year, when awards season comes around, I am curious as to what movie will take me by surprise and be the best picture of the year. I always have my anticipated hopefuls that I have been following since their genesis. 
The scripts that are picked up by a director I like, and the cast he or she chooses for their film: it is usually about two years out from this point that I am finally able to see the movie in theaters. I wait for the first trailer to be released just to get a glimpse at the images and style I can expect for the film. 
I read all the hype and I let my anticipation build to an anxiety that gets me to the theater a half hour early to a matinee showing on opening day, but I never truly know how great or disappointing the film will be until the credits are rolling and I am walking out of the theater. This is why I love awards season. It is the time of year when the studios hold out their best movies in hopes of bringing home a gold statue.
I watch them all, every movie that has some Oscar buzz from early September to mid-January. There are always some truly great movies and the last couple years there has been such amazing competition that it is hard to choose a favorite… but I always find one. 
Surprisingly, it is never the movie that I thought it was going to be. It usually is something that I did not see coming, something so unique and different that it is hard for the studios to market. It’s hard for them to make a trailer because the movie doesn’t fit into a mold that a large audience would find appealing. 
This year, early into awards season, I think I found my favorite. This movie is something special and I knew it immediately. I could feel it with every scene that unfolded before me. 
This movie will join the ranks of great movies such as “Forrest Gump,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “Saving Private Ryan.” This movie will be universally loved because it is about one of the most important themes in any great story: the strength of the human spirit, the will to survive against insurmountable odds. This movie brings hope. 
The movie I have been building up to is “The Martian,” the new film from director Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Drew Goddard (adapted from the book by Andy Weir) and staring Matt Damon. 
This film takes place on Mars and revolves around Mark Watney (Damon), an astronaut left for dead by his crew after an emergency evacuation goes wrong. He wakes up to find he is totally alone, badly hurt and low on oxygen. This is just the beginning of his problems. Every scene of this movie drives the next, and every scene brings a new problem that Watney must manage in order to get back home alive.
Damon, who has never been more likable in a role, carries this movie and does it with a lightness and ease that makes the weight of his whole situation seem manageable. I found myself rooting for this lonely astronaut to just make it back home alive and well. 
We follow Watney through the highs and lows of the challenges he is faced with, though he is alone on this planet, you can feel the collective group in the theater wanting nothing but the best outcome. 
This is a movie you should see in theaters. This is a movie you should not see alone. This needs to be enjoyed with friends or family. It is truly something to experience. This is absolutely worth your time and money on a Friday night.