If I am not fond of an actor / actress I can find it sometimes difficult to sit through a film. Sandra Bullock just annoys me for example, always has done.
I still havenāt seen any of these modern films in 3D. Gravity seems like it should be an excellent entry point. May have to try some of the over-the-counter options for preventing motion sickness, as sometimes have this problem in films with lots of handheld-cam or first person perspective video gamesā¦ one thing Iāve been wondering about with the 3D films. Would hate to pay the hefty 3D prices and then have to leave before the movie ends
This actually can happen to you in Gravity. Behind me some claimed that they had to look down to avoid getting sick. There are long scenes in which the camera spins around and around.
The incredible first scene, a seemingly endless tracking shot which lasts for 15 or 20 min, contains some pretty extreme parts in this regard.
I have read somewhere that the working title for Gravity was āCattle in Spaceā.
Not sure if that is really true, sounds a bit strange ā¦
Thanks for the heads up, Stanton. Guess I will probably have to try some of the motion sickness remedies and see how they fare (never used any)ā¦ Iām not as bothered as I was growing up, but it does still get me sometimes and its pretty obnoxious when trying to watch a film
Story and characters in Gravity have the classic simplicity of films like Rio Bravo, and are not the main point why one watches Gravity. The directing is pretty impressive with lots of complex shots which are a pleasure to watch. It is one of those films which show you things, and let you be part of them, which you never before experienced in that way. Iām sure in the future film scholars will find a lot of content and meaning regarding birth, re-birth, religion and other meta-physical stuff in it (just think of the way Bullock rises in the last scene and the primeval soup she was diving through before) , which wonāt make the film much better, but will change the way the film will be discussed.
Iām just now not ready to give the film a 10/10, but as I feel a great impulse to re-watch it immediately, and as it is still growing on me since I watched it, and as it floats through my mind too often, it canāt be less than a 9/10.
Will be seeing Gravity this evening if all goes as planned
Just got back from Gravity, beautiful film
I'm sure in the future film scholars will find a lot of content and meaning regarding birth, re-birth, religion and other meta-physical stuff in it (just think of the way Bullock rises in the last scene and the primeval soup she was diving through before)
I was really thinking about these things just past midway through the film, and Iād say its definitely a classical spiritual rebirth story, shown not only in the imagery you mention but outright stated in Bullockās few dialogue moments, and with Clooney playing the role of the teacher/guide/helper which appears at the right moment to assist in the transformation.
3D is definitely the way to experience the film and I imagine it would have lost something if I had seen it for the first time without 3D. The meclizine tabs I took for motion sickness performed greatly and I never felt any nausea at all, although I did (and still) feel a bit high from them (wonder if anyone is using these tabs for off-label purposes 
). There was one 3D trailer shown for the new Hobbit film, and really the 3D effects looked pretty badā¦ not sure if that was just because its a trailer with a lot of fast scene cutting, but if thatās how most 3D films are looking Iām glad I havenāt bothered with them.
I thought Bullock pulled off the role very well and its quite different from anything Iāve seen her do in the past.
Makes me want to view Sunshine(2007) again.
Blue Jasmine
-Quite grim film from Woody Allen. Though it has lots of comedy in it the basis of the film is very dark and partly it was almost hard to watch because I found some of the characters so disgusting. Good film but not a upbeat one like Allenās works usually are.
[quote=āStanton, post:943, topic:2027ā]This actually can happen to you in Gravity. Behind me some claimed that they had to look down to avoid getting sick. There are long scenes in which the camera spins around and around.
The incredible first scene, a seemingly endless tracking shot which lasts for 15 or 20 min, contains some pretty extreme parts in this regard.[/quote]
Thatās good to know. I also have that issue with motion sickness during certain movies that can last for hours afterwards, and I had been planning on seeing this. Even if I donāt happen to get nauseated by the movement, a spinning camera POV shot can give me a feeling of anxiety.
As a part of a horror festival:
Fulci: The House by the Cemetary
-Partly pretty good and gory horror film but partly really campy affair with lots of unintentionally funny stuff, mainly because of the bad english dub/dialogue.
Lenzi: Eaten Alive
-Interesting cannibal film where the usual brutality of the genre is mixed with the idea of a Jim Jonesā cult.
Lucky! Hope that festival comes to L.A. Itās been slim pickings here lately for Italian cinemaā¦ Went to see Bad Grandpa yesterday. I havenāt laughed that hard in a long time. Hi-larious!
Yeah, those are some great titles for viewing at the cinema!
I saw Zombie 2 last year at the cinema, made me like it even more hearing the audience reactions to certain thingsā¦ like the woman getting her eye poked out, etc
Yeah, those are some great titles for viewing at the cinemaGood entertainment. I brought along a friend who doesn't watch these kinds of films and he really got a kick out of Eaten Alive. :)
Thor: The Dark World
awesome
Off to see Boondock Saints in a bit. Lots of average titles like this playing for weekend midnight movies at the local (three) dollar cinema, but at least its something.
Off to see Boondock Saints in a bit. Lots of average titles like this playing for weekend midnight movies at the local (three) dollar cinema, but at least its something.
Wow, this film does not age well for me. Really did not like it at all this time around, actually was totally bored by the time it was over and wanting to leave. Only some slightly good moments and the rest is just not good. Back when I first saw it, it had a certain charm as I had not seen any of the really good vigilante action movies yet for the most partā¦ now it just seemed really contrived and lacking all over, with bad acting, bad music, and flimsy hack writing & direction. Wonāt be bothering with this one any more.
Blue Jasmine - Woody Woodpecker
More funny than I expected after reading that it would be another āseriousā Allen film. Not great, but entertaining. It is Blanchettās film, of course. 7/10
Gravity (CuarĆ³n/13)
āGravityā (2013), directed by Alfonso CuarĆ³n, at its heart, is a film of survival, of battling an inhospitable environment against all odds, with no help and little chance of success. Framed like this, the film looks less like a science fiction film, and to call it one would perhaps do it an injustice. CuarĆ³n has endeavoured to make it as realistic as possible, from the interior of space stations to the movement of the human body in zero gravity. Utilising 3D extremely imaginatively, he shoots the many scenes set in the deafly silence of space to simulate the appearance of the camera āfloatingā, and hence, the audience feels like they to are in the midst of space too, buoying alongside George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. This creates a sense of credibility throughout and makes the peril the characters face even tauter. CuarĆ³n creates a milieu that is ideal for showing the fragility of humanity against the vastness of the cosmos; writing the screenplay with is son JonĆ”s, they populate the drama with only two characters to reinforce the emptiness of space.
These two characters though, are the audienceās anchor, and are refreshingly well-written, recognisably human, reacting to events in a way that conforms to reality. Both Clooney and Bullock are excellent, never letting the extensive CGI dominate, while being appropriately ordinary enough to allow the viewer to identify with them, particularly Bullock. This is crucial for a film that concentrates so fully on characters.
The cinematography though, by five time Academy Award nominee Emmanuel Lubezki is perhaps another character in the film, being the prism through we which enter the drama. Starting with a bravely held shot of Earth that permit us to slowly make sense of the conversation over the radio between the astronauts and NASA (represented by an un-seen Ed Harris, one of the stars of āApollo 13ā [1995]), it continues with an extraordinary, nearly twenty minute long continuous shot. Itās virtuosic, and is carried on for the entire film, with there being a total of only around one hundred and fifty four edits in total (the usual blockbuster contains on average six to seven hundred cuts, sometimes a lot more). Yet this isnāt down for its own sake; in doing so, CuarĆ³n brings you into the film and introduces a sense of claustrophobia with people stuck inside their spacesuits and the cramped interiors of escape shuttles and space stations. This had to be worked out in immense detail far in advance to shooting, so this was one film where cinematography and editing (by CuarĆ³n and Mark Sanger) are intimately linked.
The music by Steven Price is very good, allowing for silence where there needs to be, and overall this exemplar of pure cinema, with no villain except the harshness of the universe, is probably the best original film of the year. It masterfully builds tension and character simultaneously and remains resolutely human throughout.
Hollywood can still surprise.