Something about sci-fi has changed. It used to be that a sci-fi movie required an elaborate set up, an operatic host of characters, and a bridge from our sense of reality to theirs. Look at Jurassic Park, Sphere, or even Star Trek and Star Wars. Each movie comes with its own mythology, it’s own introduction, and its own explanation for why it does not take part in our sense of reality. Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity embarks in the new tradition of speculative science fiction films – like Moon - that hones in on the small moments that take place in the cracks of our grand dreams of the future. And it hits theaters October 4th.
In Gravity, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock play two astronauts who drift off into space after an accident in a routine space walk. From the sparse description of the movie, we can assume that most of the film takes place … nowhere, with only two characters conversing about their pasts, and perhaps employing flashbacks, like 127 Hours did. It looks to be an uncomfortable film that explores less the frontiers of human knowledge than the frontiers of what we want to know about humans.
The movie, to me, actually sounds more like a play. With titles like Oblivion, Elysium, and Pacific Rim entering our horizons, it looks like it will be a strong year for science fiction. Hopefully, films like Gravity will not only explore the limits of time and space, but the limits of the genre itself.
What are your thoughts on the project?
Written By Michael
Michael is an avid writer, recluse, one-time vagabond, beer-brewer, and reluctant bartender in the vast No-where flats of Ohio. When not working on his short stories, you can find him in his room watching movies, or ignoring everyone in public with his face in a book and a beer in his hand. He graduated with degrees in writing and philosophy and plans this fall to move on to the University of Virginia, to pursue his MFA in fiction. He’ll gladly sit down with you and a beer to discuss a film.
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