Gravity (2013)

4.9/5

Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity is a visually mesmerizing and intensely satisfying film. It is, at its heart, a survival tale. Sandra Bullock plays a medical engineer lost in space, fighting for her life in thrilling, edge-of-your-seat action scenes that will leave you gasping for air. But add on to that a character study of an isolated woman, floating alone in the wide expanse of space. The movie gives us time to ruminate, reminisce, remember; it gives us space to think about mankind's history and achievements, man's hubris and arrogance. But add on to that the technical achievements of filming outer space in zero gravity. The effects are so complex they seem to defy explanation, so seamless they feel real. You don't even feel like you're in a theater; you're just floating in space, watching what happens next.

Bullock gives an indelible performance: her fear, her frustration, her courage, her failures all feel so achingly true. She keeps this story of space grounded in humanity. We feel for her. We want her to live, so every small setback feels epic, every new obstacle feels impossible. Despite my praise for the acting, the real star of the show is the cinematography. It is awe-inspiring and stunning. I saw Gravity in a regular theater, but I'm beginning to think that was a mistake. Gravity is the kind of movie that was envisioned and created for the kind of immersive theater experience that can only be appreciated in IMAX 3D. I can't wait to see it again--the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/

Y tu mamá también (2001)

4/5

Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también tells the stunning, unforgettable emotional journey of two young Mexicans on a road trip with a sexy older woman. It is both a tender, funny coming-of-age drama and an exploratory character study of a woman who chooses to join these boys and teach them to mature--both sexually and as human beings--for reasons of her own. Suffice it to say, there are some secrets that are revealed during the journey that explore the characters and their motivations, adding unexpected layers to already complex characters.

As in Children of Men, this movie contains several evocative long tracking shots. Here they are used often during sex scenes and, in my opinion, serve the purpose of deglamorizing the kind of pornographic sex we see in Hollywood movies. They add to the reality and rawness inherent in life that is often lost during filming and editing. Other directorial choices make strong impressions on me as well. There is voice-over narration, but not the lazy, plot point-revealing narration that pisses me off. The choice of what information is and is not revealed through narration fascinates me. It seems to tell a completely different story, about the new, poverty-stricken Mexico that many remain unexposed to.

The performances by all parties are incredible, more than believable, and the other technical aspects are more than competent (although not in any way exceptional). And yet, despite all these positive aspects I find while analyzing the movie, it just didn't fully affect me. I was touched, but not moved. I was impressed, but not awestruck. How universal are the themes? Am I just watching a technically-adequate movie, or does it apply to my life in some way? How does it change me? I can't say it does, but to the sexually confused and/or Mexicans who can get more out of this work of art than I can, I highly recommend it.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0245574/

Paris, je t'aime (2006)

4/5

Paris, je t'aime consists of 18 stories all set in Paris that discuss some form of love. Some of the films intermingle those two requirements, but a lot of them don't. Being a compilation of so many different filmmakers, naturally some will be better than others. This movie has its fair share of bad apples, but also good apples and amazing apples, which made the overall experience really enjoyable. My favorites were by the Coen brothers (Tuileries), Alfonso Cuaron (Parc Monceau), and Alexander Payne (14e arrondissement). Close seconds belong to Tom Tykwer (Faubourg Saint-Denis), Oliver Schmitz (Place des fêtes), Sylvain Chomet (Tour Eiffel), and Walter Salles (Loin du 16e). Most of the rest were decent, and some were merely adequate, but Christopher Doyle's Port de Choisy (Chinatown) stands as far and away my least favorite of them all. And this seems to be the consensus that most people come to after seeing the film, but the great thing about this movie is that there are so many different stories you're almost bound to love one and like most of the others. After you're done you get a wonderful patchwork of emotions and ideas about what Paris is like ... and what love is like. This is by far the best compilation work I've ever seen and is definitely worth a watch. Think of it as a good Love Actually.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0401711/

Children of Men (2006)

5/5

Children of Men transfixed me from its beautiful opening shot and never let me down from that point on. The use of long tracking shots throughout the entire movie gave it a gritty, raw realism that made it incredibly powerful. The beauty of the piece is not just in the shot compositions and precise attention to detail, but also the manner in which such cinematic techniques are all put into practice. Everything about this dystopic future is the background because it is the setting of the story and not the story itself. That is perhaps why an explanation for mankind's infertility is never even attempted. Much of the movie is seen through windows, often barred, trapped in cars or buses. Sometimes the background is so richly textured that it is impossible to focus on the events taking place, and we drown in the abundance of information, requiring multiple viewings.

With a single event about thirty minutes into the movie a la Hitchcock's Psycho, Cuarón totally threw out the conventions of modern cinema and had me on the edge of my seat for the rest of the movie. There was no way to predict what was going to come next; anything was possible. And that made this movie truly terrifying. But the heart of this movie is the setting, the sad world our future becomes, where not even the cure to our disease can stop the bloodshed and anarchy.

The dialogue was brilliant, the acting phenomenal. Clive Owen is a magician, but he never steals the show because every other actor was awesome as well. There is one scene I can still see, in which Michael Caine is talking about Clive Owen's baby while Owen is listening in just around the corner. There is so much emotion and heartfelt sadness in that one scene that I would've been satisfied if all of the movie built up to just that one moment. And that is only halfway in; it just gets better from there. There wasn't much wrong with this movie, except that the camerawork was a bit shakier than I would've liked (although nothing so bad as in The Bourne Supremacy).

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0206634/