Come Fly With Me

Up in the Air is a 2009 dramatic comedy directed by Jason Reitman and starring George Clooney, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmigia. The film is about Ryan, a man who spends most of his time traveling as part of his job as a downsizing counselor, it is his ultimate goal to gain ten million air miles, and he gives a motivational speech advocating a life without responsibilities and free of commitment. The company he is working for grounds him and develops a new technique firing people via VOIP. Anna Kendrick plays the young employee who invents the new system. Vera Farmigia plays Alex, a charismatic beautiful woman with whom George Clooney falls in love.

The film deals with modern themes of loneliness, isolation and the intense capitalism of corporate america, George Clooney's character advocated a life lived without responsabilities, without commitment, and describes life as being like a backpack, filled with things and people, he says that the lighter this bag is the easier it is to carry, subsequently after falling in love with Alex, he becomes disillusioned with this theory, and no longer believes in it. The film explores the idea of living a life without friends, possessions or family, he explores the idea of changing, but ultimately decides that his place is, up in the air.

The film is beautifully shot and well acted, George Clooney is complex and brooding in the lead role and Anna Kendrick surprises as the emotionally complex ingenue. Vera Farmigia is as beautiful and elusive as her character, and is the perfect woman who is always just out of reach. As suggested by the title much of the film takes place in airports and in hotels, in totally transitory places that all end up looking the same, this is contrasted with the weekend he spends with Alex at his sisters wedding, which contains much more personal environments, in most of which he looks supremely uncomfortable.

I was pleasantly surprised by Up In the Air, the film is a fascinating, poignant and at times insightful character study about a complex issue facing millions of people, and the idea of a life lived without consequences and without regret. Rating: B+

Ryan Bingham: The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places; and one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.

How to Remake

Bizarre title i know, but i recently watched the Peter Jackson remake of King Kong, and had to compile a list of remakes for the cinema club. I was inclined to discover what makes a successful remake. Many films, such as scarface and The Italian Job are remakes often without people knowing that they are, and with significant plot changes.

King Kong has been remade twice, once during the seventies, starring Jessica Lange as Ann Darrow, and then again in 2005, starring Naomi Watts as the leading lady. In both cases, the films were a technological improvement on their predecessors, however the films do not promote technology for technologies sake, in the 2005 the same technology is used to animate Kong as was used to animate Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, the result of this is the Kong becomes an actual character in the movie, and not just a monster or villain. The character is incredibly expressive, and has a personality and a motive, we understand his actions, and the deep love he has for Ann. He also looks fantastic, and it as scarred and gashed as an animal who has battled dinosaurs would be.

Ann Darrow and the beast (2005)

Often when remaking films, times plots and themes are updated, the seventies remake of King Kong updated the plot to modern new york, and featured Kong climbing the twin towers instead of the Empire State Building. The remake of Scarface updated the plot to feature cocaine smuggling instead of bootlegging, and The Italian Job was updated to modern day Los Angeles, with the plot featuring modern technology and spy equipment. The successes of these remakes relies mainly on the fact that they reference the originals without being shot-for-shot remakes, The Italian Job retains the iconic Mini car chase whilst updating the plot and location, and King Kong references the iconic nature of the character and the final scene, whilst adding much to the plot in the way of action.

Scarface (1983)

There is of course a way not to remake, Gus Van Sant produced a much derided shot-for-shot remake of iconic film Psycho. The problem with these kind of remakes is that they don't add anything to the source materiel, and don't provide the audience with any more insight into any of the characters. The success of a remake relies on insight, homage and iconography, and the ability to add something to the source material that was previously missing.

Blackfish

Blackfish is a  documentary about orcas kept in captivity, notably at SeaWorld The film was directed by  Gabriella Cowperthwaite, and produced by CNN films as part of their documentary series. The film uses interviews with former SeaWorld trainers, along with stock footage and archive news reports. The film focuses mainly on the whale Tilikum, the largest whale currently being kept in captivity, and one of the earliest to be caught, who is responsible for the deaths of three people.

The film details chronologically the time from the capture of Tillikum off the coast of Iceland, to his killing of Dawn Brancheau in 2010 and the subsequent lawsuit. The film takes the perspective that the capture and confinement of orca's is wrong, that orcas live longer in the wild, and that SeaWorld won't admit these facts due to it being economically advantageous to keep these animals captive. The film also features various interviews with marine biologists and orca specialists, explaining the shortened lifespan of these animals, and how their conditions may be harmful.

At Seaworld, beautiful, majestic intelligent creatures are kept in cramped, dank tanks, and encouraged to do silly tricks so that fat tourists can point and laugh, despite the tanks at SeaWorld being significantly larger that the proscribed legal size, the tanks will never be big enough, in the wild orcas can swim hundreds of miles a day, and have incredibly close nit family units, whereas at SeaWorld and the like, these animals are crammed together, artificially inseminated, often with close family members, and the mothers are separated from their young soon after birth. The film tells a heartbreaking story about a mother separated from her daughter, who floats at the edge of her tank and calls for her, moving and emotional this is film making at it's best.

Many have stated that the documentary doesn't present a balanced viewpoint, and that the film is biased. I feel that we already know SeaWorld's point of view (SeaWorld was contacted numerous times for a statement), they make their point of view known every day when the force poor animals to perform tricks for fat tourists, do we really need to hear it again?I feel that fictional, narrative driven movies are allowed not to be impartial, and no one criticizes them for being biased, yet the instant a documentary appears, everyone suddenly expects impartiality. Despite tha fact that this film was produced by CNN films, it is not a news broadcast, nor are the filmmakers journalists, they are directors, and they have succeeded at making a chilling documentary about a complex issue.

The only thing this documentary doesn't explain in any depth is the legal issue surrounding the scandal, and doesn't tell us why the animal hasn't been put down, or why he is still allowed to perform. Despite perhaps it's focus being a little off, Blackfish remains a compelling watch about a difficult subject. Rating: B

John Hargrove: Those are not your whales.

Prisoners

Prisoners is a 2013 thriller film by Dennis Villeneuve, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film is about two friends whose children are abducted, and the attempt to find them. The supporting cast is filled out by Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano. The film details the day before and the week after the girls are taken. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a police detective, who is charged with finding the missing girls, and Hugh Jackman plays one of the girls father who feels an intense guilt for being partially responsible, and who takes the law into his own hands.

The film is a thriller, and thus the first part of the movie is highly strung, tense and atmospheric. Unfortunately the second half of the film can't match up, and thus overall the film feels overlong, bloated and self indulgent. I don't think ive ever sceen a film be so good in it's first half, only to become unfortunate going into the final act, Prisoners shuns the traditional three act structure for a laborious 5 act structure. Unfortunately the last 2 acts feel completely unnecessary, as the plot has already been mostly tied up, and the film ends with a ridiculous plot twist.

The films dialogue is mostly rather stilted, and despite a good plot the films dialogue is at times rather painful. Despite this the film does feature some quality performances, the films leads are solid, and Jackman gives an emotional and subtle performance as a man dealing with grief and guilt. Jyllenhaal is solid too, however both of the films leads are outshone by Paul Dano as  Alex Jones, a complex young man with severe developmental problems and the mental age of a ten year old, Dano's performance is understated and believable.

The film deals mainly with themes of guilt, and duty. Hugh Jackman feels incredibly guilty for the part he played in the disappearance of his daughter, and his intense guilt leads him to unspeakable acts, all committed in the name of his daughter. Jake Gyllenhaal's character feels a profound sense of duty, he feels that he must find the girls, and that if they end up dead that it is his fault, and it is this duty that will drive him mad. The film deals with how we deal with guilt, how we react to it and the actions it will drive us to commit. It questions whether the end really justifies the means and whether we can still be considered good people if we do unspeakable things.

Overall i was disappointed by Prisoners, the film is so good, so suspenseful and thrilling at the beginning, and yet so disappointing, bloated and masturbatory at the end, never have i seen a film that had all the right ingredients, but which failed to put them together correctly. Rating: C+

Keller Dover: Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Well, i realized recently that i hadn't reviewed this film, and seeing as we are on the cusp of the release of the second movie in the Hunger Games Saga, aka the movie for people too smart to watch or read Twilight. I will disclaim that i have never read the books, and will thus not be critiquing the manner in which this book was adapted to the screen, or the differences between this film and the source material. The film takes place in the distant future in the former United States, now known as Panem, in a world where children are chosen to fight to the death in a reality show known as The Huger Games.

The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, a tribute from the twelfth district. Now i am a huge fan of Jennifer Lawrence, and she really shows her versatility in this film, the whole film is about Katniss, and Lawrence has to be reserved and at the same time likeable, we have to understand her actions and she has to be heroic whilst also being believable as a character. Lawrence does a fantastic job and her acting is understated, subtle and captivating, and we never once loose faith in our heroine.

The film uses a handheld camera technique, which reminds us firstly that the film is entirely from Katniss' point of view, it also allows the viewer to become a part of the film, and makes it feel as if we are really there, without resorting to 3D. The handheld camerawork is really well done, and there is no unnecessary shaking of the camera, and i never felt a need to scream at the cameraman!

The film actually contains some strong political themes, these themes will, i imagine, be continued in later films. The main theme is that of revolution and uprising, President Snow realizes Katniss' potential as a revolutionary figure, and the potential she has to unite the citizens of Panem, this is shown when the citizens of the 11th district swear allegiance to her. The film is also a discussion about reality television, and is a bloody satire of the dog-eat-dog culture we live in, which constantly pits people against one another.

What i also like about this film, and this series in general is that it isn't directed in 3D. Studio imposed 3D inhibits directors hugely, and the film would be unable to use the quantity of handheld footage shown here, if the film was in 3D, instead the filmmakers have opted to use IMAX, a high definition format, defining the series as having a true director, rather than having their artistic vision dictated by a studio.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, and by this series in general, it is surprisingly more intelligent than most teen sagas, and raises some important political points about revolution and race. Spearheaded by Jennifer Lawrence supported by a strong cast and good cinematography, The Hunger Games is the most exciting new series right now, and i await the sequel with much anticipation. Rating: B

A Word on Ratings

Hello all, Philip here, just a word to say that i will now be aligning my ratings with the metascore conversion scale found here. I have been looking through some old posts and my ratings seem a bit random, so i will be working to correct this. Reviews coming soon!

The To Do List

The To Do List is a 2013 comedy directed by Maggie Carey and produced by CBS Films. The film stars Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation fame as Brandy Klark, a girl graduating high school and who attempts to get more sexual experience before going to college. Brandy Klark is organized, bright and socially awkward, in addition to being sexually inexperienced and overachieving. The film is set during the summer of 1993, incidentally three months before i was born.

Brandy decides that she needs to get more sexual experience before she leaves for college, true to form she makes a list of all the vaguely sexual acts she can find, attempts to define them, and attempts to achieve them all by the end of the summer. Brandy also works as a lifeguard at the public poo, and the subplot of the movie involves Brandy being hazed by the employees of the pool.

The To Do List is surprisingly funny, and there were many moments in which i laughed out loud, this overall is due to the films fun script and talented cast. I make no secret of my love of Aubrey Plaza, and i watch Parks and Recreation, in part for her performance, it is great to see her in another leading role, and this role strays far from her usual slacker roles. The rest of the cast is also bright and charismatic, and i am also a fan of Alia Shawkat, and it's great to see her outside of Arrested Development.

I also like the film's amorality, the characters have an open and liberal attitude to sex, and by the end of the film, neither their opinions nor their perspectives haven't really changed, and Brandy gets to the end realizing in fact that sex still really isn't that big of a deal - for her at least. Brandy ends the film with a no regrets perspective, regretting nothing and having enjoyed the experience. The only place that the film fails is that there is relatively little character development, and we get to the end knowing little more about Brandy than we did at the beginning, and there are various points in the film where it feels the need to resort to gross out humor that tends to cheapen the film.

Overall, despite not being a great film, The To Do List is a funny and poignant film, the kind of sexual freedom shown in the film is rare, and Brandy's character makes the straight up decision to have sex without the film needing to slut-shame her or regard her decisions with scorn or disdain. The To Do List is an entertaining way to spend a few hours, and raises some interesting points about female sexuality. Rating:B-

Fiona: Hello, welcome to big bun. Brandy: I’ve decided to lose my virginity to Rusty Waters. Fiona: Would you like fries with that?

Inside Llewyn Davis

Finally, an actual review about an actual movie right? Inside Llewyn Davis is a film by the Cohen brothers, premiered in 2013 at the Cannes film festival and won the Grand Prix du Festival. The film stars Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis, a struggling folk musician living in New York's Greenwich Village, and attempting to make it big in the music industry. Carey Mulligan stars as his friend and former lover, Justin Timberlake as her husband and F Murray Abraham as a music executive.

Oscar Isaac is Llewyn Davis, a young folk artist who has released an album, which has failed and has nowhere permanent to live, he ends up shifting between friends sleeping on couches and on floors, and hitchhiking to Chicago to meet with a record executive. Llewyn Davis used to be a member of a duo, with his best friend with whom he released an album, however his friend committed suicide, and he now has to try to make it as a solo artist, Llewyn Davis is a man who lives without consequence, and who doesn't think about the future, his life is lived on a day to day basis, and thus the film has a meandering structure, with no real plot.

The film, being about folk musicians features plenty of music, and the films music was produced by T Bone Burnett, the man who made Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing, and who won an academy award for his work on the film Crazy Heart. The music in the film is fantastic, and is mostly constituted of covers of old, and mostly little known music. Part of the film features around The Gaslight Cafe, a Greenwich Village bar known for it's music scene, and it's discovery of artists such as Bob Dylan.

The film features a nonlinear plot, however one won't know that it is nonlinear until the end, the only thing that tells us that the plot is linear is the appearance of a cat that Davis picks up, the film opens with Llewyn Davis playing the gaslight, and then eventually shows us the week leading up to this point, however the film makes no attempt to iron out the plot and tell us where we are, it instead contents to simply allow us to work it out. This is a kind of audience respect that few contemporary films have, as most seem to incorrectly or not assume that their audiences are morons.

Oscar Isaac is fantastic in the title role, he carries the weight of the whole film, and manages to show us inside someone who is complex, conflicted and mourning. Llewyn Davis is a man who cannot look past his own self importance and who despite desperately trying to make it in the music industry, isn't willing to sacrifice his musical integrity in order to make it big. Isaac is really likeable in the title role, and we feel his pain as we rejoice with his triumphs. F Murray Abraham also has a bit part as a record executive. It is fantastic to see Abraham in a feature film again, after having been absent for so long, and although his part is small, it is entertaining.

Overall i really enjoyed this film, despite the film not really going anywhere, it is a fun journey nonetheless, and in this case, the journey is not really external, but internal, it is not the characters on screen who change, they are exactly the same at the end as they were at the beginning, it is more our perception of them that changes, and as we come to understand why they are the way they are, we understand who they are. Wonderfully shot and beautifully acted, Inside Llewyn Davis is a powerful character study, and a harrowing portrait of the hardships of the 1960's music scene. Rating: A

Jean: I should have had you wear a double condoms. You should be wearing condom on condom and then wrap it in electrical tape.

Host and Musical Guest: Lady Gaga!

Well, please forgive the insular nature of this post, whilst i appreciate that no-one really want's a blow by blow account of Lady Gaga's hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, i have an intense desire to write one. I do promise that there are some real cinema posts coming along soon, i am going to see Inside Llewyn Davis tonight and recently watched The To Do List, so reviews for those will be up soon, but right now i am far to immersed in the music industry and whilst i accept that SNL is not film, it is funny, and you never know what funny can do. Whilst i am a huge Lady Gaga fan as you may know she has never hosted SNL before despite having appeared on it twice in 2009 and 2011, and i was intrigued by her acting abilities, Gaga is actually a trained actor, and studied at TISCH school of the Arts at NYU, however she has really only started doing  film work this year. Having previously been highly impressed by Miley Cyrus' hosting gig earlier this season, i was looking forward to this episode.

The episode started badly, the first sketch featured various interviews with recently disgraced Toronto mayor Rob Ford on canadian television. Despite Taran Killam's rather uncanny handling of the canadian accent and Bobby Moynahan's transformation into the disgraced mayor, this sketch is way too long, clocking in at 4 minutes, it becomes a bit of a bore, and whilst being current, the subject matter really isn't that interesting to me. Rating: C

The first recorded skit features Jay Pharaoh playing Obama as a severely depressed president advertising a new anti-depressant (formulated for second terms), and also available in republican strength, whilst this sketch wasn't as strong as other SNL advertisements, it was effective, if not particularly funny for the most part. Rating: C+

The first live sketch of the night featuring out host was a fictional morning show hosted by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, called "Morning with Kimye", Nasim Pedrad plays Kim and Jay Pharoah plays Kanye. The sketch is funny and plays up Kanyes arrogance, Kim's stupidity and his apparent control over what she wears. The featured guest that week was Karen, who works at the Apple store, and who thought she was there to fix an macbook air. Kanye then criticizes what she is wearing and Apple calling her a genius. Kanye pits her style against Kim's in a segment called Kim Wore It Better, despite them not wearing the same thing, and decides that, indeed, Kim wore it better. Gaga then pokes fun at her own love of fashion and eccentric dressing style. Overall the three are very funny in this sketch, and it is an fun dig at modern pop culture. Rating: B+

The next sketch features famous people singing bad covers of other peoples songs. It is amusing and fun, and their are some really odd pairings, such as Susan Boyle singing We Didn't Start The Fire and Adele singing the theme song from LA Law, which incidentally has no words. Lady Gaga plays herself, supposedly singing a cover of Express Yourself, but simply singing Born This Way instead, and poking fun at the similarities between the two songs. Overall this sketch is fun, and the celebrity 'cameos' are entertaining. Rating: B

Next Lady Gaga performed Do What U Want alongside R Kelly, the performance was significantly toned down, featuring no backing dancers except one woman who was there simply to hold R Kelly's sunglasses. . . really? The vocals during this performance were fantastic, and the simple staging ensured there were no distractions from their vocal abilities. Overall the whole performance was just a little wierd, and that's me talking. It felt a little improvised, which i'm sure was the point, but it just seemed a little awkward. Rating: A-

The next sketch wasn't great ever, again it lacked coherence, the sketch featured a couple trying to get approved by a co-op board, and meeting the buildings kooky inhabitants, overall it was a little boring and too eccentric to be funny, and again not quite eccentric enough to be funny. Rating: C

I didn't like the next sketch either, it featured children who are part of an acting school, acting out famous scenes from films, Gaga was perfectly adequate in this sketch, and on paper it seems like a good idea, however the whole thing was just a bit shrill and annoying for me, plus i hate children. Rating: B-

The next recorded sketch was a tribute to blockbuster featuring a trio of employees who are laid off, and who go on a spiritual journey, and who are reborn by a Gaga-like goddess as Best Buy employees. The sketch is effective and funny, and highly topical seeing as Blockbusters just closed down all their locations in the United States. Rating: B

The next performance featured Gaga singing Gypsy from her new album, i will admit that i do have a soft spot for this song since hearing it on the album, however this performance really is something special, Gaga sounds fantastic, and the staging is fantastic, i might be biased, but this is just really great. Rating: A+

The penultimate sketch featured John Milhiser and Lady Gaga as annoying and driven stage parents who give their daughter a complicated and inappropriate dance routine to perform at her schools talent show, and then proceed to dance along with her in the audience like annoying pageant parents. The sketch is simple and amusing, and becomes more and more outrageous as it goes on, so overall, success! Rating: A-

The final sketch is as hilarious as it is tragic and moving, Lady Gaga plays a geriatric version of herself in the year 2063 on the upper west side, when everyone has forgotten about her, and she has to call the super up to her apartment just to have someone to talk to, however unfortunately he doesn't recognize her, and knows none of her music, Gaga's willingness to make fun of herself is astounding. The sketch is as funny as it is sad, and is a reflection of the fickleness of fame in our society, and it makes one think about the fact that there are actually people who live like this, and who are unable to let go of the people they used to be. Rating: A+

Overall Lady Gaga sets a high bar for the rest of this season of SNL, her ability to make fun of herself makes her a successful host, and this episode of SNL is the best so far this season, almost topping Miley Cyrus and even Tina Fey's hosting gig's, i mean, if she's as good as Tina Fey she's doing something right, right?

The Pixar Slump and The Disney Revival

It seems to me whils not waiting in line at the supermarket that Disney and PXAR are like a see saw, when one is up, the other is down. This of course is not a hard and fast rule, and there are exceptions, for instance PIXAR released their first film in 1995, when Disney was coasting through the ninties, high on the Disney Renaissance, nonetheless the film was critically acclaimed. PIXAR animators recently spoke about the alleged rivalry between the two studios, passing it off as being healthy and necessary.

The ninties represented the height of disney animation, during the early ninties disney paid PIXAR, then a struggling graphics studio 10 million dollars to co-produce a piece of software with them that would allow them to paint the films using a computer, and bypass the ink and paint stage, when a deal could not subsequently be reached between the two companies, Disney gave PIXAR millions of dollars to produce their first animated feature film, it was called Toy Story. The relationship between PIXAR and Disney subsequently evolved with Disney buying the company in 2006 for 7.4 billion dollars, even more than they paid for LucasFilm. Disney's string of commercial and critical successes ended in 2000 with the release of Fantasia 2000 and Dinosaur, the first films in a long slump for the disney studios commercial and creative output, culminating with disney shutting down it's hand drawn animation department.

For contrast the 2000's represented the roaring twenties for PIXAR, producing a long string of critical and commercial successes. It did seem for a while like PIXAR was unstoppable, after film after film did well at the box office, and with the critics. WALL E, Ratatouille and UP were a string of particularly acclaimed film, coming one after the other. During this period Disney animation was in a slump, the company had failed to make the jump between hand drawn and computer animation, and their films were lacking in the visual and story departments, the box office returns weren't great either.Disney struggled to make the gap between the two mediums, and these films were always lacking visually, the studio underwent some reshuffling after the release of The Lion King, with Jeffrey Katzenberg relocating to Dreamworks for co-found Dreamworks Animation, thus the films that were released during the early 2000's were really the first to be developed after the departure of Katzenberg, a similar effect can be seen now with PIXAR, as the PIXAR films being released now are the first developed since the purchase of PIXAR by Disney, which perhaps explains their problems.

The period in which we are now living is known as the Disney Revival, a series of films higher in quality than those released in the early 2000's. In contrast, PIXAR is suffering what can only be described as a slump, since Cars 2 none of their films have reached the heights of PIXAR's golden age, this can be explained by some reshuffling having taken place since the companys acquisition by Disney.

What is interesting about the alleged rivalry is that each division tries to outdo the other on their own soil, and yet PIXAR rarely comes out on top, in 2007 Disney released Meet The Robinsons, about a boy inventor who travels forward in time, despite not being a huge critical or commercial success, the film is one of my favorites. The movie does tend to encroach on some PIXAR territory, but they do really well with it, and the film is a fun and touching father-son story, in addition to being a sci-fi movie and a buddy comedy. In 2012 PIXAR released Brave, an original fairy tale about a mother daughter relationship that goes awry. Despite not being a Cars 2 style faliure, the film just doesn't match up to Disney fairy tale adaptations like Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid or Tangled, it pales in comparison, and although i have seen it one, i have absolutely no desire to watch it again, whereas i have seen tangled dozens of times, the PIXAR style of animation also doesn't translate well to fantasy stories, and the film doesn't have the painterly style of Tangled of the upcoming Frozen.

This is a tough post to write, as i truly do love PIXAR films, and i am hugely excited about their upcoming attractions, however the Disney Animation Studios is simply more versatile, and has a longer history, and they too have had their slumps, in fact from Sleeping Beauty to The Little Mermaid was one long slump. Overall these slumps are part of any studio, and this doesn't mean that PIXAR had 'had it' or that they're 'over', it simply means that their evolving into a full blown studio, and that this is a hugely exciting time to be a Disney animation fan, because when Disney nails it, they really nail it!

Nobody Can Hear You Scream

Well i will start this review by saying that if you will need to go to the toilet, or want to make a cup of tea, then i suggest you do it now, we may be here for a while! GRAVITY is a 2013 science fiction film directed by mexican director Alfonso Cuaron. The film is set in outer space and follows Dr Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock in real time as she completes a spacewalk and  attempts to reach the international space station in order to return home.  The film is notable for containing very few actors, and Bullock is joined by George Clooney who plays a seasoned astronaut attempting to break the record for the most hours spacewalked. These are the only two actors seen in the film, however we do hear a few actors voices, most notably that of Ed Harris, playing mission control in Houston, Texas. This is a funny tongue in cheek reference to Harris' role in Apollo 13, a fun reference for the cinemaphiles amongst us.

Gravity is a dramatization of the Kessler syndrome, in which the density of objects in orbit is enough that collisions could cause a series of chain reactions, each collision producing debris and thus increasing the likelihood of other collisions and making space exploration impossible. The film may be categorized as a thriller, being fairly dark in nature and the whole film being fairly high strung. Despite being a science fiction film, GRAVITY is much less allegorical than other Sci-Fi films, and is much less a tale of morals than say, 2001 or WALL-E. Instead GRAVITY is a psychological analysis, with the story being the example of a relentless murphys law and with Ryan Stone's solitude becoming a source of her strength, technology is also used as a metaphor in some cases with Stone finding the last bit of power on the spaceship, and the last bit of energy from within in order to survive.

GRAVITY is in 3D, and whereas most films use 3D to a financial end, GRAVITY takes 3D technology to new heights. GRAVITY is the third film that i have seen in 3D, and it is so far the only one that i felt would have been missing something without the added third dimension. The first film i saw was Toy Story 3, and whilst the 3D was perfectly acceptable, it was not a necessity, and the film was fine without it. The second film i saw was Iron Man 3, and whilst the 3D was tolerable, it was hardly necessary. GRAVITY would be a shame in 2D, as the 3D is used primarily to add dept, and the technology creates a point of reference which is useful, this is particularly important during the numerous scenes featuring space debris. In two dimensions there would normally be no real size difference between the debris and star, however in 3D the debris is in a different plane to the stars, and is thus easily discernible. The 3D allows us to experience the film, and to dodge pieces of solar panel with Ryan Stone, rather than just watching her dodge them!

George Clooney plays Lieutenant Matt Kowalski, the head of the mission, and a veteran astronaut. Kowalski as played by Clooney is charismatic, bright funny and caring, much like the man himself. Sandra Bullock plays Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer and rookie astronaut. Stone's character is headstrong, brave and focused, what is so amazing about this film is that despite the film not being very long and being told entirely in real time, we feel as if we know Bullocks character, and this is entirely thanks to her phenomenal skill as an actor, lets just give her the Oscar now shall we? GRAVITY also looks fantastic, and one might almost believe that this whole film was actually made in space, until logical reasoning tells us that this is impossible! The film is incredibly realistic and the visual effects are derived of necessity rather than animators attempting to prove their self worth.

Overall GRAVITY is a film that transcends genre, only enhanced by 3D GRAVITY is a film which encourages the audience to experience it, to live it rather than to simply watch it, and which is not simply a trip to the cinema, but a trip to outer space, these stars will shine for light years to come. Rating: A+

Matt Kowalski: Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Last night i had a bit of a surprise, i had always been fascinated by disney animation, and growing up during the disney renaissance, and living now through the disney revival, i was intrigued by Waking Sleeping Beauty, a documentary detailing the rebuilding of the animation department during the late 80's and early 90's. The film is produced by the Walt Disney Company itself, and yet provides an honest and unbiased insight into the period between the production of The Black Cauldron and The Lion King.

The film is notable for the fact that it uses no new filmed interviews, instead it uses new audio recordings and archive footage, most of it filmed guerrilla style without permission by employees of the animation department, as well as vintage recorded interviews and clips from various disney movies of the era. The film starts by detailing the state of the animation department at the height of its success, just before the release of the lion king, when the money was pouring in and animation had become a powerhouse again, the movie then details the era from 1984 up to this point, showing the rebuilding of the animation department.

The film, despite being released by Walt Disney Pictures, offers an unbiased and honest account of this period, the film openly depicts the infighting and tension of this period. The company was being restructured and Michael Eisner was brought in as chairman, and he brought in Jeffrey Katzenberg, his colleague from Dreamworks. He quickly ruffled feathers by personally editing The Black Cauldron, to make it more child friendly, and insisting that he wanted to win the 'Bank of America Award'. The artists were terrified they were going to be layed off, they were finally unceremoniously evicted from the inking and painting building on the disney lot, and forced to move into a delapidated warehouse in glendale, a big shock for the department who developped Cinderella and Peter Pan. From the ashes the animation department rose into flame and produced some of the best animated films of all time.

Overall i found the film to be surprisingly honest, the film despite being produced by the Walt Disney Company, doesn't sugar coat any of the events portrayed, and is honest about the sleepless nights, the long hours, the carpal tunnel and the overworking, and is refreshingly honest about the difficulties of working for the Walt Disney Company, including dealing with difficult bosses, including Roy E Disney, Walt's nephew.

Waking Sleeping Beauty is a surprisingly watchable film, and doesn't sink to the salacious depths of other Michael Moore style documentaries, and manages to be surprisingly balanced, not having a singular narrative voice, but many, the film, if one has to see a point of view, is essentially from the point of view of the artists, and tends to empathize with them rather than the management or the marketing department, interesting considering that disney is a mega-corporation known for marketing themselves as being like a family. Waking Sleeping Beauty is a surprisingly fascinating look into one of the most tumultuous and groundbreaking decades in the history of animation. Rating: A-