Gravity.

[Avocado]

I'm going to see it.

 

[The Ü™]

I hope you still like Gravity. I didn't consider it "artsy." And I don't think it tried to be too profound, it's pretty much a survival story literally and metaphorically. Pretty straight-forward.

Well, you're right, it wasn't that "arty" in the sense that it's screaming to get an Oscar. That honor will be going to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty this year. It seems whenever an actor or director is trying to get an Oscar, they just copy Forrest Gump, case in point, Big Fish and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Anyway, where were we? Why in the hell did George Clooney make Sandra Bullock speak to him when her oxygen supply was at 1 percent?

I liked the movie otherwise, the fx were quite good, except for the compositing of faces on the space helmets. I'm gonna have to do research on whether or not Sandra Bullock's body outside of the spacesuit required any CG enhancement...her body looked like it was 20...and then we see her face and she looks like she's on her death bed.

Another thing that really didn't annoy me (but annoys me in most other space movies) was the lack of sound in space. It was a very novel approach to have whatever sound there would be by incorporating it into the music score, which was excellent, by the way.

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, you're right, it wasn't that "arty" in the sense that it's screaming to get an Oscar. That honor will be going to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty this year. It seems whenever an actor or director is trying to get an Oscar, they just copy Forrest Gump, case in point, Big Fish and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Yeah, I saw that trailer today too. I gotta say, they ran a good trailer for it; that kind of movie can be a hard sell, and I think they cross-marketed to men and women well enough. No idea if it'll be any good.

Anyway, where were we? Why in the hell did George Clooney make Sandra Bullock speak to him when her oxygen supply was at 1 percent?

I did wonder about that, but I guess he figured she was freaking out / hyperventilating, and the talking might have been the lesser evil. He was the old pro.

I liked the movie otherwise, the fx were quite good, except for the compositing of faces on the space helmets. I'm gonna have to do research on whether or not Sandra Bullock's body outside of the spacesuit required any CG enhancement...her body looked like it was 20...and then we see her face and she looks like she's on her death bed.

She really did look lean and cut. What is she, about 50 now? I mean, it's possible she toned for this (and chopped her hair), training for roles seems to be a big thing today even for older actors.

Another thing that really didn't annoy me (but annoys me in most other space movies) was the lack of sound in space. It was a very novel approach to have whatever sound there would be by incorporating it into the music score, which was excellent, by the way.

I liked the score too. I thought they made effective use of silence. Here I think it contributed directly to the feelings of isolation (whereas it just seems a "literal" thing in other movies).

I thought it was pretty eerie when

she was working to untether the parachute from the capsule, and behind her the entire satellite station was being shredded by debris, she was oblivious to it. I don't think there was sound, aside maybe from music there, it was all visual destruction.

 

[The Ü™]

Yeah, I saw that trailer today too. I gotta say, they ran a good trailer for it; that kind of movie can be a hard sell, and I think they cross-marketed to men and women well enough. No idea if it'll be any good.



I did wonder about that, but I guess he figured she was freaking out / hyperventilating, and the talking might have been the lesser evil. He was the old pro.



She really did look lean and cut. What is she, about 50 now? I mean, it's possible she toned for this (and chopped her hair), training for roles seems to be a big thing today even for older actors.



I liked the score too. I thought they made effective use of silence. Here I think it contributed directly to the feelings of isolation (whereas it just seems a "literal" thing in other movies).

I thought it was pretty eerie when

she was working to untether the parachute from the capsule, and behind her the entire satellite station was being shredded by debris, she was oblivious to it. I don't think there was sound, aside maybe from music there, it was all visual destruction.

You remember the movie Red Planet, where Trinity extinguishes the fire by opening the airlock? I always wondered about zero-gravity fires since then. Gravity has thankfully made it more believable.

As for Bullock, I wonder if the dudes at Framestore maybe comped her face on some supermodel's body just like they did to the space suits.

 

[Totenkindly]

You remember the movie Red Planet, where Trinity extinguishes the fire by opening the airlock? I always wondered about zero-gravity fires since then. Gravity has thankfully made it more believable.

I don't think I saw red planet.

As for Bullock, I wonder if the dudes at Framestore maybe comped her face on some supermodel's body just like they did to the space suits.

From what i've read so far, she trained like hell for the movie, but I haven't seen actual photos.

 

[The Ü™]

I don't think I saw red planet.

I'm surprised at how many people didn't see that movie. It was one of two Mars movies released in 2000, and this was back in a time period where two similar movies were released. In the case of 2000, there was Brian DePalma's Mission to Mars, which I thought was very underrated, and Red Planet, which had wasted potential, particularly the lack of any interesting ideas behind it, and really shitty CGI, save for a cool robot dog.

As for similar-genre movies that came out during the time period, 1999 saw two haunted house movie remakes, The Haunting and House on Haunted Hill, the former of which, in my opinion, was underrated much like M2M, although while it was often creepy, it was also unintentionally funny or, because of Owen Wilson's presence, unintentionally obnoxious. And the other...a slasher flick with unintentionally hilarious gore moments but not particularly scary or even creepy.

In 1998, we had Deep Impact and Armageddon. Both of these I liked, but for different reasons.

In 1997, Dante's Peak and Volcano. Both were entertaining but silly.

And there's more, but I don't feel like posting them.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, I think I tend to run from "Doublemint movies" like that when they appear on the scene. I didn't go see armageddon/disaster movies in 2012 either.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Wow, I loved it. Tense and exciting all the way through, and it makes you feel like you're in space like no movie ever has.

My favorite part was that Cuaron composed beautiful shots that put you in space with the action and then had the patience to linger on them. Nobody lingers anymore - it seems like two second shots are "long" at this point. The 3D added to that by creating depth and scale and making you feel the distance between astronauts, orbiting objects, and the Earth. I love that the 3D was used to create levels of depth instead of for "gotcha" moments - the best and most effective 3D always positions the screen as the foreground and pushes depth of field into the background instead of having objects jump out of the screen.

That 15 minute unbroken shot at the beginning of the movie blew me away. I can't even imagine the logistical VFX work and wire work that went into that sequence. It actually reminded me a lot of the Hubble 3D doc from a few years back - I'm sure a lot of the realism came from study of that film.

My only quibble would be that it seemed like there was maybe an attempt to make the film more spiritual and deep that was later abandoned for straight ahead action and suspense. There were only bits of that kind of spirituality, and it made that strand of the story feel unfinished and therefore a bit one-note and hokey.

A common complaint seems to be that there are scientific inaccuracies, but even as a lifelong NASA nerd, they didn't bother me for the most part and they didn't take me out of the movie. Quite to the contrary, I think Gravity has more verisimilitude than most Hollywood action/adventure movies. Maybe the fact that the movie was largely realistic makes the moments of inaccuracy stick out more in people's minds. It doesn't matter. This is a fictional action movie, not a retelling of a real event like Apollo 13, and I think that grants latitude.

See it, and see it in 3D even if you're a 3D hater. I'm not a fan of 3D for its own sake, but some movies use it intelligently and make it an inextricable part of the storytelling. This is one of those movies.