In 'Gravity,' Holding on to Faith and Belief for Dear Life

BY CARLTON BUSH

IF, this time last year, anyone had asked what the Academy Award frontrunners for Best Picture would be, the smart money consensus would have opined that the then-unseen “Les Miserables” and “The Hobbtt: An Unexpected Journey” were clear favorites and easy bets to win.

In reality, the sleeper hits, “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Life of Pi,” were the outstanding motion pictures of 2012.
This year, three standouts have already emerged. “Gravity,” which opened last week and continues to rollout through mid-December, is one of them. The film exceeds the innovations in cinematography of “Children of Men” among Alfonso Cuarón films and equals “Life of Pi” in its seamless use of CGI in the 3D format.

The introductions of swimming in space, floating in air and fire are majestic. See this film in the biggest IMAX screen possible, in Dolby Atmos, if possible. The first 17 to 20 minutes is one unbroken CGI shot that frames the story.

The initial momentum of the film’s $55.6 million U.S. opening weekend (4-6 Oct.) has elicited a backlash about factual representations of science and space as depicted in the film, of plausibility of the physics of events. Ignore this negative campaign completely. It is nonsense, fueled by bad intentions and ill spirits. (See video at top).

This is not a story about space. This is a story of adversity and the overcoming of it, of the voice in isolation and the Leap into the void.

Sandra Bullock’s, Ryan tells George Clooney’s astronaut Kowalski that she could get used to the silence. But he keeps talking throughout.

The voice of Ed Harris’ “The Right Stuff” astronaut serves as Mission Control in Houston in constant voiceover. Kowalski constantly reminds Ryan to keep talking even if she thinks Mission Control can’t hear.

The silence of space will doom you.

The sound design in “Gravity” is impeccable. The filmmakers have created a beautiful sound floor with discreet off-center touches and noises, with a beautiful sensibility of air and voice mingling with air.

The voice that calms you down is often your own. The film affirms the need for calm in life-threatening and near-impossible situations. Not the voice of the obscure, but the voice of the normal everyday that, when isolated in space, is resonant and redolent of home.

If the dialogue in “Gravity” seems matter of fact, it is seductive and will become clear why by the end of the film. The voice in your head will keep you grounded. The voice in your head will pull you back to earth when you are lost in space. The voice in your head will keep you alive.

There remains another that restores Ryan’s hope although it is meaningless – it is not Mission Control or another astronaut – through which she is reminded of the sounds of earth almost as in song. It is a counterpoint to her statements early in “Gravity” where she tells Kowalski that she listens to anything as long as there is no talking. Her voice in the film is the voice of prayer.

Astronauts Ryan (Sandra Bullock) and Kowalski (George Clooney) navigate space and other matter(s) in "Gravity." Photo from "Gravity" Facebook page.

It is significant that the astronaut in “Gravity” is a woman, Not only because SB nails the performance, but also because her reactions are so subtle. Divorced from life and isolated, she is jerked back to life by the nagging responsibility to live through this, to become aware, to use her senses, to constantly leap from one crisis to another, to react though she has willed herself to be numb.

The accidents of life have left her unmoored. Now the reality of being stranded forces her to remember her life, to remember her training, to come back from the brink and constantly try.

To survive, to live your life, you must leap into the void and believe in yourself.

This is a film about restoring one’s faith.

“Gravity” is Rated PG-13 for intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images and brief strong language; visit http://www.gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/#/home to learn more about the film.

In ‘The Heat,’ Avoiding Ugly Ways of Too Many Women

IT really doesn’t matter that so much of the dish on “The Heat” is cool. So, what? It is predictable, formulaic and coarse.

Melissa McCarthy sprays her surroundings with the f-word as if she is passing out business cards at a sales convention. Yes, all of that foul language is tiresome. Sadly, the film lacks too many genuinely funny moments.

But it’s summertime and the livin’ is easy, so “The Heat” gets a pass. This is a perfect film for the weekend before Independence Day weekend. (See video above).

What really matters, though, about “The Heat,” which opens nationwide today in the United States and also stars Sandra Bullock, is that it is a female buddy film, almost a rarity in Hollywood. Just as important is that its protagonists are two women who don’t engage in ugly who’s prettier politics.

Though these two law enforcement professionals – one is a Boston cop; the other is an FBI agent – mesh like oil and water or a cat in water, they respect each other. Otherwise, it would be a little difficult to bring to justice the wayward drug kingpin evading their grasp … More shortly

"The Heat" is rated R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence; visit http://www.theheatmovie.com/ to learn more about the film.

'Red Tails' and 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'

INCREDIBLY, “Red Tails” is the first widely released feature film based on the story of The Tuskegee Airmen. HBO’s “The Tuskegee Airmen” (1995) enjoyed a very limited release in theaters, but only after its debut on cable.

For those scratching their heads, the flyboys in question is the U.S. Army Air Corps' 332nd Fighter Group, the all-black combat unit trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama around the time of the WWII. They served and fought heroically in a segregated military.

The George Lucas-produced “Red Tails,” which opens today, picks up the action in Italy where the airmen are grounded 100 miles behind enemy lines except for meaningless flight exercises. It is an important film because it puts the spotlight on a piece of American history and military history that continues to linger in the wings. Even today – in the 21st century – one still hears through the grapevine the occasional story of a university history professor, for instance, asserting that no black pilots served during WWII.

If for no other reason in a culture where books are increasingly falling out of favor with the masses, “Red Tails” should be required viewing. The service of these young men to their country should be as well-known to the general public as the number of days Kim Kardashian was married.

While “Red Tails” is important viewing, it is aside from some spectacular fight sequences not an engaging film. In fact, it has many cringe-worthy moments … More shortly.



Also opening today is “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” another film based on true events.

Specifically, it is adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s best seller about precocious and extremely curious 11-year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn in his acting debut) who finds a key left behind by his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) who died in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Oskar sets out across the boroughs in an Alice in Wonderland-like pursuit of the item that the key opens.

As with the book, many reviewers are ambivalent. Whether they like the film or not, they cite the nature of the material, wondering whether it is exploitative; some disdainfully dismiss it as cloying. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 is still fresh in the psyche of many Americans, particularly New Yorkers and those in the Tri-state area. It is sacred territory on which one must tread extremely carefully, lest s/he upset tender sensibilities. Generally, reviewers based in the Northeast are a bit more circumspect than those from other regions.

There is almost universal agreement, though, that the film is well-acted. For his turn as Oskar, TH is getting a lot of positive notice in a cast that also includes Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, John Goodman, Max von Sydow and Jeffrey Wright.

“Red Tails” is rated PG-13 for some sequences of war violence. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images and language.