It has been far too long since I blogged. And the boot in the pants to get back to it is of course OscarsFest. If Tori can get back into creating amazing meals for each of the nominated Best Films, then the least I can do is a quick write up. (Especially since I already wrote one for my teaching blog.)
So here goes...
Gravity Sucks
By which of course I mean the gravitational pull of the earth, the force that attracts all physical bodies to each other. It sucks us to the Earth.
But the film doesn’t.
I saw Gravity today.
Wow.
One of the problems presented by space films is the emptiness. But Sandra Bullock really fills the blackness. Her performance is phenomenal. This is a story about survival and hardship and perseverence.
Given my emersion in all things Cold War last year, of course I couldn’t help but view the film through those lenses. The whole issue of getting Lost In Space was caused because those irresponsible, pesky Russians created too much space junk. The Reds are in the wrong again.
It could also be seen as an allegory of grief, a woman facing the chasm of grief, the unexplorable, unexplainable emptiness of life without meaning, without love. An unfathomable challenge.
There is also that hint of conservation story telling here. Lets stop junking up our skies, our planet, our lives. Because we only have one.
As I said, Bullock is incredible in thius film. She commands that character in a way I have never seen her do. Street beyond Gracie from Miss Congeniality. Such gravitas on the screen. Though George Clooney's performance is impressive as well. He's back to his thoroughly likable self.
I am actually pleased that I didn't see this at the cinema, and I'm stoked I didn't see it in 3D. I probably would have hurled all over the 3 rows in front of me. The cinematography is powerful and lurching, and imersion in that world would have sent my poor little tiny balance sea-sick ear bones into a tailspin. And given the fact that The Secret Life of Walter Mitty got no joy in the cinematography category, this is now my pick.
As far as space flicks go, this doesn't have goodies and baddies. There is no force or warp speed or beaming anybody up anything. Its real people, in tiny spaces, with loose tethers to things, the world, each other, themselves.
Worth it.
So here goes...
Gravity Sucks
By which of course I mean the gravitational pull of the earth, the force that attracts all physical bodies to each other. It sucks us to the Earth.
But the film doesn’t.
I saw Gravity today.
Wow.
One of the problems presented by space films is the emptiness. But Sandra Bullock really fills the blackness. Her performance is phenomenal. This is a story about survival and hardship and perseverence.
Given my emersion in all things Cold War last year, of course I couldn’t help but view the film through those lenses. The whole issue of getting Lost In Space was caused because those irresponsible, pesky Russians created too much space junk. The Reds are in the wrong again.
It could also be seen as an allegory of grief, a woman facing the chasm of grief, the unexplorable, unexplainable emptiness of life without meaning, without love. An unfathomable challenge.
There is also that hint of conservation story telling here. Lets stop junking up our skies, our planet, our lives. Because we only have one.
As I said, Bullock is incredible in thius film. She commands that character in a way I have never seen her do. Street beyond Gracie from Miss Congeniality. Such gravitas on the screen. Though George Clooney's performance is impressive as well. He's back to his thoroughly likable self.
I am actually pleased that I didn't see this at the cinema, and I'm stoked I didn't see it in 3D. I probably would have hurled all over the 3 rows in front of me. The cinematography is powerful and lurching, and imersion in that world would have sent my poor little tiny balance sea-sick ear bones into a tailspin. And given the fact that The Secret Life of Walter Mitty got no joy in the cinematography category, this is now my pick.
As far as space flicks go, this doesn't have goodies and baddies. There is no force or warp speed or beaming anybody up anything. Its real people, in tiny spaces, with loose tethers to things, the world, each other, themselves.
Worth it.
