50 new things in 2023, part 10/50

[kindkit]

I skipped last week because I had a lot going on. This week I was in the mood for something fast, actiony, and fundamentally unchallenging, so I watched Gravity (2013), the space disaster movie starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

I remember everyone talking about how great this movie was, but I didn't feel the love. I spent pretty much the whole running time wondering who at NASA decided to send this incompetent, half-trained, psychologically unstable person into space. Her tragic backstory alone should probably have screened her out. And watching her bullshit cause the deaths of at least one person and possibly more made me furious.

The special effects were great, though. I don't think I could have watched this movie on the big screen; all the spinning would have ruined me. But on a phone it was fine.

One final quibble: when your movie repeatedly mentions that space is silent, maybe don't give us thunks and clangs when a character is clambering over the outside of a space station.

Comments

[sparkythegeek]

I remember when that came out, but I never saw it. I remember - just from the previews - thinking that it seemed ridiculous. Haha.

[kindkit]

I can have a pretty high tolerance for ridiculousness if I like the story in other ways. But this was not that story.

[sovay]

I remember everyone talking about how great this movie was, but I didn't feel the love.

I have to tell you that I did not see this film when it came out because it looked stupid and now I feel justified.

[kindkit]

Everything about it that wasn't to do with people is pretty effective. But dialogue, characterization, acting are all a mess. And I remember it being hailed as feminist, but Sandra Bullock's character is simultaneously passive and incompetent.