Gravity - Go!...but don't let go!

If you want the short verdict before I get all thematic and psychological on you - GO SEE Gravity!

Sandra Bullock plays Dr Ryan Stone, a biomedical engineer, on her first space shuttle mission who is left drifting in space after a spacewalk goes terribly wrong. The duality in the film title Gravity, suitably foreshadows the films exploration of serious themes while keeping you riveted to your seat with its intense action scenes and nail-biting tension. Visually superb, with an absolutely stunning performance from Sandra Bullock, a solid supporting role from George Clooney and a great soundtrack, do not be surprised if this is an Oscar contender on a few fronts come February 2014.

To be quite honest, Hollywood throws a lot of trash at these big screens every year (yes, Lone Ranger, I'm still looking at you!) and often the ticket price is just not worth what is being served up, but if you are going to visit the movies one more time this year and want to make sure you get some bang for your buck, GO SEE Gravity!

Exploring themes of life and death, birth and rebirth, living vs. existing, holding on and letting go, Gravity brilliantly portrays the impact of tragedy in our lives and our responses to it. Terrifying on a very human level, director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) has used space, the remotest of all locations to bring us a very personal and emotional reflection of our souls' innermost struggles. And I use the word "reflection" carefully - you'll notice very subtle placement of mirrors and reflections throughout the movie. 

Everybody at some point in their lives will experience "debris" in life - that is random uncontrollable events that can impact our lives suddenly and without much warning. The gravity of such moments is always experienced in deeply personal ways but for many of us, such turbulent and sometimes tragic times can prove so traumatic that our only reaction is to close up shop and shut down. Sure, life goes on but it is in survival mode, barely existing - almost waiting for the next tragedy to hit us, as it often does. We instinctively impose solitary confinement on ourselves, if not physically then at least emotionally curling ourselves into a fetal ball, sometimes even wishing we had not been born at all.

Gravity captures the awful loneliness of the soul in these moments with breathtaking visual effects, expansive cinematography and an incredibly nuanced performance from Sandra Bullock. 

But Gravity also offers hope, whether it be the simplest sound of a dog barking, or a little baby crying, a tear drop falling into space, or the sight of the sunrise on the Ganges - these simple things in an instant can affirm life, they keep us grounded - they are like our gravity in life. They speak to our soul in a way that sometimes words just can't. They tell us life does go on, it is worth living for. 

In a world currently dominated by terrorists, scare-mongering and fear, Gravity reminds us that trauma and pain is not only part of life it IS life and accepting it and dealing with it no matter how painful and how scary only makes us stronger individually.

45 years ago, Stanley Kubrick created what many claim to be the greatest science fiction movie of them all with 2001: A Space Odyssey, a frightening masterpiece that predicted if not the overthrow of humanity then the enslavement of humanity by technology. 

45 years later, Alfonso Cuaron has created his own science fiction masterpiece where we may be tethered to technology but we are still in control of our own destiny. And in Cuaron's Gravity, life and technology can be very fragile but the true conqueror is the human spirit.

A powerful and empowering movie experience. Go see Gravity.

World War Z

Swarming Zombies in World War Z

This summer has been about big budget flops with Lone Ranger, White House Down and Pacific Rim leading the charge downhill!
Prior to release, much of the online chatter had World War Z heading the same way.
With a budget of over $200 million spiralling out of control and widely reported script changes and reshoots, World War Z was looking like it was fast turning into World War Zzzzzzzz.
Instead, director Marc Forster has given us a simple yet extremely effective and entertaining zombie action flick.
Brad Pitt plays a retired UN investigator, Gerry Lane, who has swapped the horrors of war crime investigation for the rigours of making pancakes for breakfast for his hard-working wife (an effective, if slightly 2-dimensional Mireille Enos) and their two daughters. As a global zombie pandemic erupts, our homely Mr Mom is called out of retirement to trace the original infection and help find the solution that will save what remains of the world population.
The plot is hardly original and the script is not going to win any awards but a couple of key decisions make this movie inescapably enjoyable.
Firstly, Marc Forster created zombies that, rather than slowly lurching and dragging themselves somewhat aimlessly after their prey (leaving you increasingly mad at each victim for not having moved a little bit quicker), are fast and furious and swarm at astonishing speeds. In essence you get the feeling very early on that if you are in plain view of them, you are a dead man walking...running...dead man..hmm. Well you get the idea. It's scary and that's what you wanted walking in right? It's non-stop action and intense.
The second thing director Marc Forster did to great effect was to change the balance of the movie. Most movies have an opening act, a middle act, and a final or third act. Each act is designed to build to the climax in the third act where the protagonist (generally the good guy) duels the antagonist (generally the bad guy) and wins the day (see The Avengers and Man of Steel as classic examples). That final scene is the scene where you get all the big action sequences and huge CGI productions. Its the fireworks at the end of the parade or after the big countdown. Except in World War Z there is no big countdown. Within two scenes of the movie opening, the fireworks have already been set off and they keep going until the final third of the movie. Then the brain work begins for the final third of the movie. And amazingly, it works! Part of what makes it work is Brad Pitt's understated acting ability. Really. He actually is a good actor and he shows it as he carries the final third of the movie to it's natural conclusion.
If you don't walk into this movie with preconceived ideas of what you want this movie to be you will walk out thoroughly entertained. And isn't that all you really want from a movie? If so, quit reading now and go see this movie while it is still in theatres.

If you are still reading, chances are you are a bit of a movie geek like me. Maybe action and escapism and a decent review are not enough for you. Maybe you like to see deep meaningful parallels between the movies you watch and the world we live in. You want relevancy. Who knows why. I mean isn't the entertainment business there to simply entertain and provide some escapism from our world? Well if you disagree, fear not. While the masses swarm in and out of movie theatres, dead to everything but the most basic of instincts there are some who believe in gleaning more from what we watch. And World War Z has a little bit of that too - just for us movie geeks - not so deep that it gets lost in its own importance but enough that it adds to your experience and just for a few seconds it adds to your perspective on life.

The truth is we all live in a world that is getting faster and faster and more and more congested, a society consuming all in its wake and a society that dares you stand still for even a second without fearing you may be left for dead. What World War Z does very well and not so subtly is suggest that maybe the best way to survive as a society is to stop, maybe even disassociate ourselves completely from the world, or at least slow down, quiet down a bit and turn off the technology if just for a few moments. From an opening scene where the TV news channel is never completely tuned out by the dad trying to play happily retired Mr Mom to the scene where a cell phone creates an all too familiar disturbance with devastating results, it's clear to us geeks that the enemy here is not so much the zombies but the speed and direction that society and technology and social media is taking us.
Not surprising then that the final third of the movie plays out away from the global scenes of chaos and CGI swarms and without the aid of technology, ending up on a beautifully remote landscape in Novia Scotia. It's a simple truth that gives you pause to think............but really this is just a cracking action movie and I want you all to blog, twitter, text and facebook this instantly to your friends and family before you move on to the million and one other things you have to get done today!