We saw Gravity this week - had meant to see in at an IMAX theatre while in Columbus, but Ohio's Revenge got me. The movie is technically brilliant, hard to know just how some of those effects were perfected. Even so, I was a bit disappointed. I found the unrelenting feelings of tension went on too long. The movie is only 90 minutes long, but an hour would have been sufficient for the part we saw, with 15 minutes tacked on at each end to outline what led up to the story at the beginning, and more detail at the end of the full outcome. I'll say no more in case a passing reader is waiting to see the film.
Solar
Husband left me an article from a local newspaper: "Utilities, solar companies fight over rates."
Snip~
It's a pity that some (all?) power companies have been so short-sighted as to not get into the solar market from the very beginning. But then, in Oklahoma they wouldn't would they - 'cos their Senator, James Inhofe says global warming is a hoax."Some power companies are proposing an extra fee for solar customers. Others are trying to roll back or block programs that allow those customers to trade the solar power they generate during sunny days for power they need from the grid during other times.
As rooftop solar extends from a niche product to a mainstream way to save money on power bills, utilites are afraid they will lose so many customers - and revenue - that they won't be able to afford to build and maintain the grid.............."
Racial
How race affects who audiences forgive - Woody Allen and Roman Polanski get a pass from white audiences for abuse allegations - black artists don't. By Feminista Jones
I was glad to note that most commenters felt as I did, that this type of article is unhelpful and pretty darn worthless.
If anyone hasn't seen this piece by Eric Idle, formerly of Monty Python:
America the Half Beautiful,
do take a look. It's a good read. I responded, loudly, with "Hear hear!"
(More on Eric Idle and his natal chart in a post, Monday Mirthmaker, HERE.)
Strong Mind or Good Eye?
Here's something I saved a while ago, have lost my note of the website from whence it came, so I cannot link to its origin - my apologies to whom it may concern!
Well...can you read it? I stumbled over the first 2 lines then quickly "got my eye in" and read it quite easily. Strong mind - moi .....they might think that, I couldn't possibly comment. ;-)
I'd have loved seeing "Gravity" in 3D IMAX, but I'm sure I won't see it at all.
ReplyDeleteA new movie release, "12 Years a Slave" is receiving rave reviews. I'll read the book...a true story that is relatively unknown until now.
I read the same article regarding solar power and how utility companies are wanting to charge grid access fees. Any electrical utility customer receiving electricity over the grid pays for the grid in surcharges tacked-on. I can understand the utility companies' point, but I think that is something the USA gov would be wise to subsidize (don't mention my suggestion to the T-party). The grid surcharges are supposed to sharply increase in the near future to provide infrastructure improvements.
A smart piece by Eric Idle...thanks, but just rubs it in further!
I had no problem "reading" the "Brain Study"...I'm not sure about the strong mind part, either, Twilight. I suspect it means that I don't question what I see and can fill-in blanks quite easily. Maybe this means I'd be a pitiful witness to a crime! I've long suspected my mind of playing tricks on me.
mike ~ I'm not a fan of 3D (never liked pop-up books either!) I have seen only one film in IMAX - a documentary about The Alamo story.
ReplyDeleteIt's a spectacle alright, but I'm well-satisfied with normal-sized screens. I grew up with tiny cinema screens as compared with what we call "normal" today. :-) I'm quite pleased we didn't get to see "Gravity" in IMAX - it would have added to the tension. I can understand why people DO prefer it though.
I shall watch (in time) for DVD or TV showing of "12 Years a Slave" - on limited release it'll never reach our cinema!
Re solar - yes the USA government has been tardy for too long - and continues to drag its feet.
Eric Idle - my favourite Python. He wrote what so many on t'other side of the pond (and on this side too) are thinking, and said it in a not unkind way (not easy to do), I thought.
The husband read it straight away too - even bragged that he has used a similar method for constructing his internet passwords. I have trouble remembering the simplest of those darn things, never mind constructing weird ones. ;-)
Twilight ~ Gravity was "unrelenting" at times! I wondered if it was just me. Intense as it was (in parts), I still thought it was excellent and so did my husband. And we both thought Sandra Bullock did a great job in a completely different type of role.
ReplyDeleteWithout giving too much away, it's kind of a metaphorical piece, don't you think?
LB ~ I didn't find, or come to think of it, didn't look for any metaphor in the film. I came to the conclusion that it was just a vehicle for showing off the best and most recent technological advances and possibilities in film-making, using space as background, carried by a fairly sketchy plot.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to see it again, whereas I could watch "2001 a Space Odyssey" again and again.....and again (and have).
I must be the odd one out, this time.
I'm interested in the metaphor thought though - can you give me a wee hint as to that, without giving away too much?
Twilight ~ OK then, just a teeny-tiny hint (lol) without explaining and ruining the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it already. Actually, it's more than a tiny hint. Think of an R word that has to do with transformation.
ReplyDeleteAbout "2001: A Space Odyssey". We watched the whole thing recently, and except for the special effects and some of the scenes where HAL is being disconnected, I didn't like it. At all.
Good post, tws. Yes, you know I enjoyed most of "gravity" but saw some points that sort of took me out of it. The globs of water floating were stunningly realistic until one of them hit the camera lens. Then I was suddenly taken back out of the story and put back into my theater seat. The same happened in that powerful last scene. A mud splatter on the camera lens took me off the sand and back into the theater. You'd think they shot that scene dozens of times and would have a take that didn't have that splatter.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this will act as much of a spoiler as people will be looking for those points now. Other than that, I simply don't know how they did some of those scenes. The effects were quite stunning.
Kubrick, without CGI, with his straight forward flat mats and mounted photographs for special effects still rates as one of the best SF movies ever.
LB ~ Hmmm - Thanks. I can certainly think of a few, but still not seeing a metaphor. Maybe I'm being especially thick today. :-/
ReplyDeleteOh - I'm surprised you didn't much like "2001" - if you haven't already, take a look at the "2010"
sequel - it might help. I like them both but "2001" is a classic for me.
anyjazz ~ Ta very much! Yes, you look for stuff I don't appreciate at all. I tend to sit slack-jawed and brain at half-mast concentrating on the story. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI know nothing of flat mats etc. but love "2001" for its mysterious "feel" in general, and the signature music, of course.
Twilight ~ I know you'll see the metaphor with a little encouragement. Think of the last scene in particular. Re_____
ReplyDeleteThis would be easier if we were playing charades.
Maybe we should see the sequel to 2001. I like the cast, so there's hope. Thanks!
FYI
ReplyDelete"New Zealand author Eleanor Catton has, at the age of 28, become the youngest ever winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries.
...Her book, a Victorian mystery tale set during the New Zealand gold rush, is intricately structured according to astrological charts - with each section exactly half the length of its predecessor."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24541612
LB ~ Hmm - more than one Re- could describe feelings at the end, I guess. One more letter, please - might help. :-)
ReplyDeletemike(again)~ Dang - have you been reading my mind? I prepared a post for tomorrow, yesterday and included that piece of information. I found it on another astrology site last week. Will take a look at your link though - thanks. :-)
ReplyDeleteTwilight ~ b
ReplyDeleteSPOILER ALERT (again)
ReplyDeleteTwilight ~ Apparently, more and more viewers are talking about the metaphor. Rather than drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out, here's a link: http://www.ign.com/blogs/thecognitivegamer/2013/10/10/gravity-is-one-big-metaphor-for-birth
Once you know, the symbolism is hard to miss.
LB ~ Thank you for the "b" and the link. Well, goodness me! I really had not seen that coming, but having read the link I do see it now.
ReplyDeleteI must have been too busy clenching my fists and pushing a sense of vertigo away to even cast a thought in the direction of metaphor.
Until I read the part about "fetal position" I was, honestly, still on the fence, but that scene had impressed us both as memorable - though for no known metaphorical reason, but now I see that it fits and was not accidental, it clarifies the rest for me. :-)
SPOILER ALERT
ReplyDeleteTwilight ~ It makes sense, doesn't it? Although for me, it was more about the emotional/psychological/spiritual *rebirth* of someone struggling to find their way home after having been cast adrift, lost and without human connection . . . which is a metaphor for depression.
LB ~ Yes, the re-birth you describe is a better version.
ReplyDeleteI sent my husband the link you passed on - he's not convinced though. Thinks it's a stretch to see a metaphor for birth there....grumbled that the piece about metaphor is poorly written. Tsk - LOL! Mercury conjunct Saturn.
I'm with AnyJazz on that one!
ReplyDeleteRJ Adams ~ I shall tell him so. :-)
ReplyDelete