Gravity, not gravitas

Gravity

A feast of special effects. Hyped beyond belief. Sold as some sort of metaphysical philosophical sci-fi, probably to counteract the predictable claims that it is nothing much more than a vehicle for the special effects boys to do their thing.

At the start of Alive!, there's the plane crash (sorry to spoil that for anyone). Without the plane crash nothing much that follows would make any sense. It isn't a short sequence, and it involves the tail bit falling away from the rest and loads of stuff and people flying around and skidding around on the snow and stuff. Then, actually, the film starts.

Luckily, I had an idea that Gravity wasn't going to start. So I wasn't disappointed. There were a series of those plane crash scenes, not separated by too much in the way of boring bits (boring bits that now, always, have me picturing DLL saying “what, exactly, is this film about?” in her best spoilt American teenager cadence – first used to make it clear that she didn't think much of Jim Jarmusch's rock 'n' roll vampire flick, Only Lovers Left Alive). The thing is that, at least on my (very) small screen, and not in 3D, and probably helped by it being stupid o'clock in the morning, the effects are very good, and they drive things along well, and the premise isn't too improbable.

Not that improbability has any negative impact on my enjoyment of anything.

It's a disaster movie, made with the kit at disaster movie maker's disposal in 2014. Instead of burning skyscrapers, there's malfunctioning space-hardware (some of it burning, actually, but more carbon-dioxide extinguisher size than Steve McQueen's burst the water tanks inferno) and the (small) cast are weightless for most of the time.

The 3D trailer, in 3D, gave me a headache and looked a bit retro. Back to early days of overdoing it and sending everyone home via the chemists for Anadins and anti-seasickness pills. 2Ds were plenty enough for me. Three would've been overkill.

Somewhere, someone with a sharpened poison pen will have written about the glorious three-dimensional effects, and the not-so-glorious one-dimensional characters. It isn't always characters that drive things along or that hold the attention.

In the negative corner, this is an action film even DLL (who has inherited my non-critical genes, at least in terms of action films) does not fancy.

On a positive note, what's wrong with a slightly longer rollercoaster ride than usual?


Given the chance...

...I'd vote for independence. For the region, for the county, for the town, for the parish. I'd vote in favour of independence for our road. For our house, in the middle of our street, our house, in the middle of our street...

Not on the basis of any mature thinking or reasoned debate. Just as a way of saying up yours to the centralised government telling us how to live our lives. While they claim £39 breakfasts on the taxpayer, because they can.

I guess it's just too forelock-tuggy for my eastern european side to take, being told how to live by a bunch of Westminster suits. The Westminster suits that make up all of the parties that steal over 95% of the vote.

Hell, I'd vote for the independence of the room I'm in (as long as I could strike up a trade deal with the kitchen when I'm hungry).