In honour of all things Oscar-related, I thought I would share my review of the seven-times Oscar winning movie Gravity.
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón this movie is an epic survival story and Alfonso certainly deserves the Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing. It is a tense and beautifully executed thriller with stunning visual effects (*see below for Oscars won in visual effects and other categories). He was last behind the camera for the excellent Children of Men (2006) which was nominated for three Academy Awards and I hope he doesn't leave it as long for his next film.
IMDB says: A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, Speed) was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in A Leading Role for her portrayal of brilliant medical engineer Dr Ryan Stone and it is not hard to see why. She leads the film with emotional depth and has you rooting for her character throughout, despite not being given much backstory, you are taken on her journey from scared pessimist, to determined survivor right along with her.
Stone is on her first mission and suffering from space sickness when disaster, in the form of Russian satellite space debris, strikes and she and talkative Kowalski are left stranded in space with only each other to cling to.
George Clooney (Up In the Air, The Descendants) is Matt Kowalski, veteran astronaut in command on his final mission and apart from the voice talents of Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind, The Abyss), Orto Ignatiussen (Aningaaq, Ikingut), Phaldut Sharma (Children of Men, EastEnders), Amy Warren (Human Potential, Rebel Without a Pulse) and Basha Savage (World War Z, Agatha Christie's Marple), they are the only two developed characters, but it doesn't matter in a film of this visual mastery.
*The other Oscars the film took away were Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing and Best Achievement in Visual Effects.
The film also won the Golden Globe for Best Director - Motion Picture, BAFTAs for Best British Film, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film, the David Lean Award for Directors and the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, amongst others.
Tagline: Don't let go. 8.5/10
Though the tagline could easily have been stolen from Alien: In Space No-one Can Hear You Scream
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