Gravity

Gravity (2013) starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Bullock and Clooney play astronauts who get stranded in outer space by satellite debris which strikes the shuttle they came up in. It seems that there is no way for them to get back to Earth, but they formulate a plan which involves going to the International Space Station and using the Soyuz escape capsules to safely descend from orbit. This is a propulsive nail-biter of a movie, with seemingly accurate depictions of what it would be like to be marooned in space. I found the soundtrack to be a bit intrusive at times, but that is a minor quibble. My main regret is that I didn't see this film in an Imax 3D theater. I imagine it would have been spectacular. Cuaron won the Academy Award for Best Director, and the film won in several technical categories. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: A-