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Saturday, November 2, 2013

Gravity

Saw Gravity last night. It won't make you want to get up in a plane again, and it certainly won't make you want to get into a spaceship. The moviemakers basically took a half hour story and spun it out to an hour and a half, but it was never boring.

Sandra Bullock was better than usual: she didn't do her standard overacting job (since her role actually called for some histrionics). George Clooney got to act heroic, which he does well, and seems to enjoy doing.

The special effects will probably get some kind of Oscar.

I can't say the movie was enjoyable; it was almost too gripping for that.

But it certainly makes you forget about your own problems while you're in the theater. Which is all a movie is supposed to do anyway.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I certainly didn't enjoy it. I was bored, and wanted the Sandra character to die. The story wouldn't scare me away from space travel, but if some calamity happens to destroy your space shuttle, a couple of space stations, and kills 99% of the crew, then who cares if one person (the least-qualified whiner with nothing to live for) survives? If a space-event like that ever happened, the real tragedy would be the lives lost; and if she wasn't a complete narcissistic c-word, she'd be racked with Survivor's Guilt and die a lonely alcoholic.
I found the ridiculous Stallone/Swarzenegger prison-escape movie more compelling. Well, except for the token black rapper co-starring as "the computer genius". I think they wrote that in there for a laugh.

John Craig said...

Anon --
Funny, my wife had the same reaction. I normally can't stand Sandra Bullock characters since she usually DOES come across like a narcissistic c-word, but this one didn't bother me; maybe because she was in such dire straits. I don' know, maybe I was able to identify with her just because the whole idea of being stranded out there is so scary.

Yes, Hollywood does seem to feel obliged to stick those "computer geniuses" in a lot of movies. They never veer too far from the standard propagandistic line.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was good, but couldn't help wondering how much of it was accurate. For a start: would foreign astronauts be allowed into other countries' space stations without prior permission?

- Gethin

John Craig said...

Gethin --
Honestly, I have no idea, but I would think allowances would be made for that sort of emergency.