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Gravity (2013) by Alfonso Cuarón
#1
Back in the '80s, I competed in a martial arts tournament in our studio, Wing Lam Kung Fu School. I also helped judge.

Three competitors surprised me (and other judges) by doing nunchuka routines. They did them in direct competition with Hung Gar and Shaolin Kung Fu routines, if I recall. The nunchuka routines seemed flawless. I mean, they were so short, and it's so hard to catch any mistakes with the nunchukas whipping all around. I was docking points for mistakes I saw in all routines, but could see almost nothing wrong with the nunchuka routines.

The nunchuka students cleaned up with some of the highest scores, and I helped them with it. Afterwards, I felt such high scores were probably unwarranted.

Gravity is a nunchuka routine. It's a nice little movie, and while it does have errors, they're very hard to catch. I highly recommend it. Yet there's a side of me that hesitates at such a high recommendation. Gravity is an "incident" movie, where something happens and the rest of the movie is a reaction to that. This seems a lesser effort than a movie with a complex plot and well-developed characters and backstory. But at the same time this looked good, was very suspenseful and held my interest, and as far as I could tell the nunchukas never went far errant. Besides, how often do you get to see nunchukas in space?

I think Lady Cranefly is mostly aboard with this appraisal. If not, maybe I can coax her into debating it here.
I'm nobody's pony.
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#2
I enjoyed it. It was a thriller made better by having really good actors. It wasn't Shakespeare, but it kept me very tense and had the best depiction of life in zero-g that I have ever seen. My GF had a different opinion as she stuffed tissue-paper in her ears after the first calamity and napped through the rest of the film.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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#3
I got to see Gravity before it left the "big screen". I caught it at Bluelight Cinemas (né The Oaks Theaters). Can't beat $5.25 for a movie.

In spite of all I'd heard from Neil deGrasse Tyson about mistakes/errors, I enjoyed the film. The one issue that struck me that I hadn't heard was that when Bullock was "undoing" bolts, she kept turning them the wrong way. Now I don't know how "space wrenches" work or if those Ruskies use reverse threads, but it's "Lefty loosey"...

It occurred to me that the span of time covered in the film is probably 6 hours or so. In that time, Bullock goes from Space Shuttle to ISS to Soyeuz to Chinese Space Station to Chinese Soyeuz copy. I think that might be the most space vehicles occupied in a single day in any space movie.

--tg
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#4
PS: Bluelight Cinemas is pre selling tickets for:

Warriors of Heaven and Earth
Thursday, May 1st, 2014 7:30pm
Premier event of "Chinese Movie Night" sponsored by Ding Ding TV.
Tickets Free! with purchase of one concession item minimum.
Reserve Tickets: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.retrievertickets.com/purchase.php?ostk=2552552&view=Movies">https://www.retrievertickets.com/purcha ... iew=Movies</a><!-- m -->

[Image: blc_event_285_01.jpg]

--tg
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#5
Watched Gravity on the very, very small seat back screen on the way from LAX to Istanbul. I have a feeling I may not have gotten the full impact. Smile
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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#6
I also watched Gravity on a tiny airplane screen, but on the way back from Madrid.  It was distracting.  I'm sure it was much better on the big screen in 3D.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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#7
Finally saw this on cable. Well done and suspenseful. Must have been a spectacle on the big screen. Nice effects of water/blood/flame in the air.

This makes twice that Clooney has died in space.
the hands that guide me are invisible
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