There's a reason that Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity came within a whisker of being one of the first genre movies to win the Best Picture Oscar in years. Like no other film released last year, Gravity pushes the envelope in terms of what cinema is capable of and dares to boldly go where no film has gone before. Even the trailers for Gravity make it clear that it must be seen on the big screen. The inky vastness of space is rendered beautifully, with central actors Sandra Bullock and George Clooney little more than specks on the celestial landscape. Fans of Cuaron will expect the seemingly unbroken takes, but it's impossible to prepare for the opening sequence, in which his camera casually circles the entire Earth. He is also one of the few directors to actually justify the existence of 3D technology, using it to create a truly immersive world. Like Avatar before it, it's possible that Gravity could feel like quite a conventional film when stripped of its scale and enormity. It's a film that everyone should make an effort to see, but it really benefits from the cinema experience.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
