Our Movie Critic's Weekend Selections

The Martian Matt Damon gives a commanding, often darkly comic performance as an astronaut left for dead by his NASA crewmates when they beat a hasty retreat from Mars. With a limited supply of food and water and no means of communication, he has to figure out how to survive - and how to contact Mission Control - hoping they can bring him home. Stirring, science-rooted stuff from director Ridley Scott; with Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, and Michael Peña. PG-13

Learning to Drive Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley team in this finely honed story of friendship, loneliness, and resilience. She's a New York literary critic who's just been dumped by her husband; Kingsley's an Indian Sikh who gives the suddenly shell-shocked and single Upper West Sider driving lessons. The driving metaphors don't need any added emphasis: Put your car (and life) in forward; be aware and anticipate; know where you're going. R

Time Out of Mind Richard Gere sheds every vestige of his movie star persona in the role of a homeless man moving across an indifferent cityscape, trying to find a reason to keep going. A powerful film, shot on the sly, documentary-style. In cameos: Steve Buscemi, Jena Malone, Kyra Sedgwick, Ben Vereen. No MPAA rating