Watched in theater (October 2013) and at home (March 2014)
This was a great birthday gift last October. My husband and I saw this movie in theaters last fall. Absolutely amazing.
Yesterday, we invited my father over for a lazy Sunday afternoon of grilled burgers (yes, we grilled outside in March because it was sunny and in the 60s) and a movie. He brought home-made carrot cake and Sweeney Todd, but because Terry and I had just seen our daughter perform Mrs. Lovett live a couple of weeks ago in a UNT College of Music production, we passed on watching Johny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. I had two BluRays from Netflix: Parkland and Riddick, but I asked my dad if he’d seen Gravity yet. He had not, so I decided to buy it via Google Play Movies (the HD edition was only $20).
I paid for the movie via my Android smartphone but then couldn’t get it to cast to our Chromecast and home theater system. How frustrating! I’m supposed to be the tech wiz of the family! I unplugged and restarted the Chromecast three or four times with no luck. I rebooted my entire network (cable modem and router) and the Chromecast again. Still wouldn’t play. I apologized to my husband and my dad and told everyone we were cooking instead of watching the movie. Terry headed to the kitchen and I distracted Dad with the latest edition of Sky & Telescope.
I went digging around on Google’s site for a support page and found one that either let me email them or call them. I opted for phone contact and filled out the appropriate form, including an explanation of the errors I’d seen displayed via my Android smartphone and the Chromecast. Their support system called me immediately and put me on hold … for fifteen minutes. At least that’s when the hold music stopped and the dead silence commenced. No one can hear you scream … in space (whoops, that’s a different movie from a different decade) or while on eternal hold. I gave up and hung up. An hour or so later, I did get a confirmation email from Google Support stating that they’d had an issue with their App server at the time I attempted to play Gravity. I decided to try one last time … and was rewarded with an uninterrupted flawless viewing of the movie.
I told Terry to stop prepping and gathered everyone back to watch the movie. I wasn’t sure I’d get as involved in the movie as I did the first time, but even knowing what was going to happen didn’t spoil the ride. And it was one hell of a ride.
Upon second viewing, I still can’t believe this film did not win the Best Picture Oscar nor that Sandra Bullock didn’t win the Best Actress award. (for more information on all the awards and nominations Gravity did receive, see the Wikipedia article subsection Accolades).
Gravity is science fiction, but of the variety often referred to as ‘hard’ meaning more science than fiction. It’s not really in our future, in fact, it may be in our recent past, or contemporaneous, since NASA no longer flys shuttle missions (although the mission number (STS-157) implies the shuttle program in Gravity’s timeline flew twenty-two more missions than ours did). The only scientific quibble I noticed that deviated from what I know of physics happened when Dr. Stone’s tears escaped from her face to float freely about the cabin. To see why this would most likely not happen, read the Scientific Accuracy subsection of the Wikipedia article. Even so, some literary license is allowed; hence, the ‘fiction’ half of ‘science fiction.’
If you haven’t seen this movie, please take ninety minutes out of your hectic down-on-earth life and watch Gravity, where you will learn life in space is impossible and gravity can be uplifting.
Thanks to daylight savings time, we had plenty of sunshine to grill burgers, bacon wrapped jalapenos, baked beans and buttered buns. A third of Dad’s cake topped off the meal and tasted great. Everything tasted great. A satisfying end to our lazy Sunday afternoon.
Glad you liked it.
Waiting to see it at home because the only theatrical version available lately was the 3-D. My eyes, my glasses, their glasses and the image don’t cooperate. It’s dark and hard to see. 3-D is worse than a waste for me.
Luckily, our local theater has separate 3D theatre(s). But we got to see it on the biggest screen in the KC metro area. 🙂 It was great to watch it at home too, though.
Oh, and I haven’t watched a movie in 3D since Avatar. While it doesn’t make me nauseous, it can give me headaches. I don’t need 3D. 🙂
I’ve been meaning to see this, will try to pick it up sooner now. Oh, I second the dislike 3D thought. My kids make me go occasionally, and I do not like them. Avatars was cool, but all 3D since have disappointed.