Alfonso Cuaron's sci-fi epic still holds a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Gravity promotional bus rolled into the Toronto International Film Festival this week on the back of sensational reviews at Telluride and Venice including a suggestion from Oscar winning director James Cameron that it is "the best space film ever done."
George Clooney in Gravity
The movie, by Children of Men's Alfonso Cuaron, screened at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, where the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Jason Bateman and astronaut legend Chris Hadfield were spotted adjusting their 3-D glasses.
Cuaron told the audience before the lights went down, "A little pressure for me," though he will know all too that his film is now a serious contender for the prize of Best Picture at the Oscars in February.
He needn't have worried anyway, with the reviews at Toronto equally as strong as those after screenings at Telluride and Venice. Hadfield gave Gravity an enthusiastic thumbs-up, calling the visuals "spectacularly good" adding, "If I ever fly in space again, I want to fly with Sandra," referring to the movie's female lead Sandra Bullock.
George Clooney Is Adrift In Gravity
The movie still holds a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes - and that's after a solid 22 reviews
"This isn't just the best-looking film of the year, it's one of the most awe-inspiring achievements in the history of special-effects cinema" said Tom Huddleston of Time Out magazine.
"This is seat-chewingly tense, virtuoso cinema that explores and exploits space as never before, with 3-D so convincing the audience lurches and gasps as though on a fairground ride," said Kate Muir of The Times.
Richard Corliss said, "If the film past is dead, Gravity shows us the glory of cinema's future. It thrills on so many levels. And because Cuarón is a movie visionary of the highest order, you truly can't beat the view."
The question now is whether Gravity can translate the stunning reviews into Oscar nominations. The Academy are historically averse to sci-fi movies, and with numerous historical biopics in the running for this year's awards - Gravity could get left behind. Back in 1996, Ron Howard's acclaimed space movie Apollo 13 won only two technical categories at the Oscars, losing out to Bravehart for the major awards.
Could Sandra Bullock Win A Second Oscar For 'Gravity'?
Critics are not only unanimous in their opinion that Gravity is Cuaron's best effort, but also that it represents Sandra Bullock's finest performance yet - which bodes well considering she already has an Oscar. "I didn't feel worthy of it when I got it," she told press including the Los Angeles Times of her Oscar for "The Blind Side" in 2010. "So I thought, 'OK, I'm going to spend the rest of my life hopefully earning it - but having a really good time in the process, as well.'"
Sandra Bullock [L] and George Clooney [R] Are Stranded in Gravity
Whether Bullock can u-surp the likes of Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) remains to be seen, though let it be known that everyone involved in the making of Gravity should have their tuxedos and dresses on order for Sunday, March 2, 2014. The technical staff may as well start writing their speeches now.
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