Gravity is one of the most extraordinary movies I've ever seen, 90 minutes of pure cinema that took my breath away. It is really the first film that I've seen in IMAX 3D that seemed like it was better in the format; if you can see it in this format, do so, because it is worth the extra money you'll pay for it.
On the surface, Gravity has a simple plot and is an old-fashioned adventure story. Two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock (as a doctor on her first trip to space) and George Clooney (as a veteran with an emotional connection to The Right Stuff) stranded in space when their shuttle is wrecked by debris from a Russian spy satellite that has been blown up. It is about survival - physical, emotional, spiritual. It is about character, and the ability to innovate and improvise in impossible situations. And the structure of this tightly written 90 minute movie is simple and linear.
But that does not even begin to describe the real achievement of Gravity, which effectively puts the audience in space with Bullock and Clooney, making us feel the vast and unknowable aspect of it all. There are moments when Bullock's character is tumbling through space, untethered to anything or anyone, that your heart and stomach will be in your throat. And director Alfonso Cuarón does things with the camera that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how he did them. There are long stretches of the film that seem to be one shot, as the camera pans from open space to a view of Earth, to the astronauts working on the Hubble telescope, to what appears to be a point-of-view shot from inside Bullock's helmet, back to a wide shot of the astronauts. It is fluid and majestic and intimate, all at the same time. And breathtaking.
Gravity is an exceptional piece of work. See it, and see it the way it was meant to be seen.
I have two excellent red wines to suggest to you this morning, each of which I enjoyed during my trip Il Buco, a wonderful Italian restaurant in New York's Greenwich Village. (Yes, this is the place where I ate the risotto with Brussels sprouts.
They are the Ronsel do Sil Ribeira Sacra and the il Colle Brunello do Montalcino - two reds, and both delicious ... especially with risotto.
Finally....
I want to thank the Network of Executive Women (NEW) New York Metro Regional Group, which hosted me this week for a speech at a networking event that had well over 200 people in attendance. I have never been less that wildly impressed by the folks involved with NEW, and this was no exception.
And may I say to all of you who were there ... you are amazing, too.
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday.
Slàinte!
On the surface, Gravity has a simple plot and is an old-fashioned adventure story. Two astronauts, played by Sandra Bullock (as a doctor on her first trip to space) and George Clooney (as a veteran with an emotional connection to The Right Stuff) stranded in space when their shuttle is wrecked by debris from a Russian spy satellite that has been blown up. It is about survival - physical, emotional, spiritual. It is about character, and the ability to innovate and improvise in impossible situations. And the structure of this tightly written 90 minute movie is simple and linear.
But that does not even begin to describe the real achievement of Gravity, which effectively puts the audience in space with Bullock and Clooney, making us feel the vast and unknowable aspect of it all. There are moments when Bullock's character is tumbling through space, untethered to anything or anyone, that your heart and stomach will be in your throat. And director Alfonso Cuarón does things with the camera that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how he did them. There are long stretches of the film that seem to be one shot, as the camera pans from open space to a view of Earth, to the astronauts working on the Hubble telescope, to what appears to be a point-of-view shot from inside Bullock's helmet, back to a wide shot of the astronauts. It is fluid and majestic and intimate, all at the same time. And breathtaking.
Gravity is an exceptional piece of work. See it, and see it the way it was meant to be seen.
I have two excellent red wines to suggest to you this morning, each of which I enjoyed during my trip Il Buco, a wonderful Italian restaurant in New York's Greenwich Village. (Yes, this is the place where I ate the risotto with Brussels sprouts.
They are the Ronsel do Sil Ribeira Sacra and the il Colle Brunello do Montalcino - two reds, and both delicious ... especially with risotto.
Finally....
I want to thank the Network of Executive Women (NEW) New York Metro Regional Group, which hosted me this week for a speech at a networking event that had well over 200 people in attendance. I have never been less that wildly impressed by the folks involved with NEW, and this was no exception.
And may I say to all of you who were there ... you are amazing, too.
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday.
Slàinte!
- KC's View:
