The Martian

When a mission on Mars goes awry following a terrible storm, astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is presumed dead and abandoned by his crew. Watney, however, survives the catastrophe and finds himself alone millions of miles from home with no way to let NASA know he's alive. Using only his wit, ingenuity and limited supplies, Watney must figure out how to contact both the team of NASA scientists on Earth, who are desperately looking for him, and his crew, who are planning a bold, near-impossible rescue mission.

Director: Ridley Scott. Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie. 2015. 144 min. Action.

Life

A young photographer, Dennis Stock (Pattinson), working for Magnum Photos wants to get the jump on a photo essay for Life magazine. His subject is an up-and-coming, free-spirited young actor named James Dean (DeHaan), and his editor, John G. Morris (Edgerton), gives him the go-ahead, despite some reservations. When Dennis and Jimmy meet, the pair quickly hit it off, forming an unlikely friendship. Based on the true story of Stock’s experience with Dean and Life magazine, this film explores a time of flux in the worlds of art and culture. With Dean at the forefront, Stock’s photos lead to some of the most iconic photographs in history.

Director: Anton Corbijn. Stars: Robert Pattinson, Dane DeHaan, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Peter Lucas, Lauren Gallagher. 2015. 111 min. Biography.

Hotel Transylvania 2

A lot has changed at Hotel Transylvania, which has left behind its monsters-only policy and now welcomes humans to stay as guests. It’s also home to Dennis, Mavis (Gomez) and Johnny’s (Samberg) baby boy and Dracula’s (Sandler) grandson. Though a proud and loving "vampa," Drac is a little concerned that his half-human, half-monster grandson’s vampire side doesn’t seem to be coming through. When Mavis and Johnny go to visit Johnny’s parents in California, Drac and his monster pals set to work putting Dennis through a rigorous monster boot camp to bring out the vampire in him.

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky. Stars: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, Keegan-Michael Key. 2015. 89 min. Animated.