Release date – 10/4/13
Warner Bros. Pictures
Directed
- Alfonso Cuaron
Produced
- David Heyman
- Alfonso Cuaron
Written
- Alfonso Cuaron
- Jonas Cuaron
Cast
Sandra Bullock
- Dr. Ryan Stone
George Clooney
- Lt. Matt Kowalski
Ed Harris (voice)
- Mission Control
In the meantime, here are some out of context (or are they?) quotes from the episode:
David: “I know when I deprive myself of oxygen, Clooney’s the first place that I go.”
Tony: “Do solar winds whistle through your face?”
Jolie: “I’m a gender betrayer.”
David: “I’m well-versed in crazy… …we’re eskimo brothers.”
- The art of harassment, by David.
- Vin Diesel vs. The Rock.
- Gravity… many thumbs up.
- Mixed reviews of 3D effects.
- Reality spoils everything.
- Damn you, Neil deGrasse Tyson!
- Lung control… Back Seat Producers vs. Sandra Bullock.
- Can you bend in a space suit?
- Lack of oxygen or dream?
- The conversation devolves. Thanks, David.
- The science (maybe) of space death.
- No nipples or bulges.
- The mechanics of space sex.
- Astroglide.
Your Producers for this episode were:
- Tony
- Darrell
- Jolie
- David
This episode was recorded: 10/30/13
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2 replies on “BSP Episode 294: Gravity”
Nice episode!
Of course the dead kid had a place in the movie. Gravity kept coming back to birth imagery and religious imagery. Everyone agreed that there had to be something there to put Sandra Bullock in her shell (or womb, if you want to get gross about it) so that she could eventually emerge, all wet and glistening. To fit one of the themes, it had to be either something to do with a child or something to do with religion, and the religion angle would have been even more cliché than the dead kid.
Also, I don’t think Clooney would have won the spacewalk record. No matter how much oxygen he had left, he’d only last about as long as it took for that shrapnel cloud to cycle around again. And now I’m going to go cry.
I side with Tony on Gravity: I thought it was okay, but I didn’t love it and I really don’t understand why it’s getting so much love with critics.
Tony, you made an observation that I would like to address. You spoke about subject matter experts (lawyers, doctors, cops, etc.) watching a film about their specific profession and then nit-picking the technical flaws. You are, of course, right on the money, but I would also like to address that when subject matter experts watch a film about their specific profession and the movie gets it right. When the movie professionals act using correct procedure and correct protocol, it becomes a happy bonus and falls into the lexicon of that specific occupational group’s favorite movies.
I speak from experience on this: in 2010 I was deployed with Navy EOD guys and one night we watched The Hurt Locker. I couldn’t tell you a thing about that movie except the fact that the EOD guys nit-picked absolutely everything the actors did. They said, “no you don’t split up to cover more ground”, “no you don’t diffuse an explosive like that”, to name a few examples. I have admittedly not watched the movie since and have no interest in seeing it again specifically because my first experience with it was, if not spoiled, very skewed.
On the flip side of that coin, we watched Men of Honor almost every night. Watching Cuba Gooding Jr. rise to the challenge of becoming the first African-American Navy Diver is surprisingly accurate regarding both the military aspect and the Navy Diver technical aspect; and the fact that the writers and director took the time to do their research and get their facts straight regarding the technical specifics and operational hazards of diving made for a truly enjoyable movie experience. It also doesn’t hurt that Cuba Gooding Jr. is a phenomenal actor.
I myself, after spending ten years in the Navy have a soft spot for many military movies that portray the military and the infantry correctly and plausibly (admittedly they are mostly WWII and Vietnam films, though I do have a soft spot for Down Periscope and Crimson Tide), just like I roll my eyes at movies who do it poorly (Battleship). I just wanted to mention the flip side of being a subject matter expert watching a film about your profession and being very pleased when it’s done right.
Keep up the great work.