Movie Review: Gravity

Watching Gravity is a humbling experience. Feelings of awe and sheer terror are bound to surge through your gut as director Alfonso Cuaron takes you on the most fucked up thrill ride imaginable, 372 miles above the Earth.

Despite it's jaw dropping special effects (and 3D shenanigans), Gravity is actually a surprisingly simple story. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are astronauts repairing the Hubble Space Telescope when a rogue wave of debris trashes their shuttle and seriously ruins their day/lives. This is basically what you see in the film's trailer. The rest of the movie is a cat and mouse game between humans vs physics in the terrifying vacuum of space. Think Castaway or Life of Pi, but shipwrecked in space...and instead of drowning, you drift aimlessly through the endless cosmos, forever.

Clooney does a great job playing himself, but it's Bullock who literally carries the film on her shoulders. I've never been a huge Sandra Bullock fan before, but her performance in Gravity is amazing and is basically her best role since Demolition Man. While the cast is great (both of em...they're the only two actors with any screen time) it's director Alfonso Cuaron who ends up stealing the show. His last film, 2006's Children of Men was both a technically dazzling and poignant film, with layered characters and plot that had little focus on special effects. Gravity is the exact opposite, a simple story with almost stock characters but features some of the most insane special effects and cinematic pizazz ever put onscreen. The opening sequence above Earth's orbit is one continuous 17 minute shot and is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. Hats off to Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki for expanding upon their already legendary camera work from Children of Men and taking it to a whole new level. The sparse use of music and sound throughout the film demonstrates the frightening silence of space and reaffirms one of the scariest elements of the entire film: just how small and insignificant we are in the universe.

On a lighter note, Cuaron should be commended for loading Gravity with nods to other space films. Ed Harris provides the voice of NASA's Houston control straight outta Apollo 13, alongside a slew of references to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. While Kubrick's film saw space travel and technology as a path to mankind's transcendence (via monoliths and star babies), Gravity is all about forgoing the hustle and bustle of our high tech world (dAt astronaut LYFE) and remembering it's the little things that make life worth living. It's existential rebirth by way of oxygen deprived claustrophobia. You know, the fun stuff.

Kubrick Exhibit @ LACMA

I kicked off the new year with a long overdue trip to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art to check out the Stanley Kubrick exhibition. The exhibit pays tribute to the late film maker's entire career. From his early days as a photographer for Look magazine, his first foray into film making with his short/documentary film, 1951's Day of the Fight; and of course his classic film's like Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove..., 2001: A Space Odyssey  and The Shining to name a few.

Full Metal Jacket was the first Kubrick film I ever saw. I must have been in 8th grade and was on a serious war film binge after Saving Private Ryan came out. I was sorting through my grandpa's VHS collection looking for some new war/action film to watch and saw the oddball cover of Full Metal Jacket. The white background, the cartoon-ish looking helmet that says "Born to Kill" but has a peace button right along side it. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be like the average Vietnam flick. Other than that, I had no idea what I was in for. That's when I fell under Kubrick's spell.

Here are some photo's from the exhibit. Forgive the poor quality. I was recovering from a nasty illness and was spellbound.

German Dr. Strangelove poster with the uber sexy Tracey Reed

2001: apes gonna ape

A Clockwork Orange: Alex's costume and a milk bar statue.

The Shining: creepy ghost twins

Full Metal Jacket: Animal Mother looking raw onset & Joker's helmet below

Eyes Wide Shut: orgy masks for all...

self explanatory

Lil' ol' me hanging out w/ Alex, Jack and Joker.

It's safe to say that Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. He was more than just a director, he was a visionary. His films were never huge box office smashes and he never won a major Academy Award (save for 2001's special effect's win) yet here we are, with a globe trotting exhibition housed at world renowned museums paying tribute to his legacy. Kubrick was so ahead of his time, it's almost as though he made his films for himself and for future generations to enjoy. Why else would such a secretive/reclusive individual who shunned Hollywood leave a literal warehouse of archival material behind after his death. Either way, I'm glad he did. This day at the museum was just what I needed to kick the pain in me gulliver. I was cured all right...

If you're in Southern California I seriously recommend you check this out. The Kubrick exhibit runs until late June 30th. LACMA is also just a rad place to visit in general.

The Answer Is...(5)

Just as Jim feared (wow, can't believe I went there), Mr. Pat Hatt's encyclopedic movie knowledge led him to another victory. Thankfully, he abbreviated his answer and allowed a few others to play in the reindeer games as well:

So congrats to G and Nicole as well as the unstoppable movie trivia juggernaut that is Pat Hatt on guessing correctly. Although nobody identified the film's title, their answers proved sufficient enough. The answer to the previous challenge was:

Stanley Kubrick's hilarious 1964 classic, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The image I selected is of actress Tracy Reed. She plays General Turgidson's sexy secretary/mistress and also doubles as the film's Playboy centerfold, "Miss Foreign Affairs."

What can I say about Dr. Strangelove that hasn't already been said? It's one of Kubrick's finest works and easily stands as not only one of the funniest movies, but you know, one of the greatest films ever made. Nearly 50 years after it's release, Dr. Strangelove's morbid/black humor is as potent as ever. While the Cold War may have ended peacefully, the larger theme of Kubrick's ingenious satire still rings true, that of mankind's uncanny ability to favor irrationality/bat shit insanity over reason and common sense. The smartest species to ever walk the Earth, is also the only one dumb enough to destroy itself and the entire planet as well. It's so tragic/terrifying when you think about it, all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all. Thats exactly what Kubrick does in Dr. Strangelove.

awesomeness

The film centers around a paranoid Air Force commander named General Ripper who launches a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union because, well, he's bat shit insane. The President gathers his top military advisers and tries to figure out how to stop the strike and do damage control with the Russians before they retaliate and the entire world is annihilated by way of mushroom cloud. Unfortunately, mostly everyone on the case is either out of their minds or utterly incompetent. Peter Seller's is brilliant playing three different roles. His President Muffley is the ultimate bumbling bureaucrat while his Captain Mandrake character is the film's sole voice of reason. Sellers also plays the film's title character, the president's chief scientist, former Nazi brainiac Dr. Strangelove. Of course my favorite character is George C. Scott's General Turgidson. His character sets the template for modern Neo-Con Rupublican's foriegn policy, which is funny because he's the equivalent  of  Daffy Duck in a military uniform.

Again, even though the film is nearly half a century old, it's held up amazingly well. I think this serves as a testament to Kubrick's innovative directing. Even the cheesy split screen/model plane shots look cool! 50 years later and his work still seems contemporary. The film's cast is superb, Kubrick's direction flawless and two generations later, the satire/political commentary is still biting. If you haven't seen Dr. Strangelove, I emplore you to do so.