I saw Gravity and I had to suppress several screams during the first half of the movie. It stands out in my mind as one where I was seriously considering leaving the theater in the middle of the movie. The only other movie where I seriously contemplated leaving the theater in the middle was "Splice." But I think I made my feelings known about that movie. Worst movie I have ever seen in a movie theater, period. Bad quality, Squick, Troubling, the whole 9.

For Gravity, I was not sick, I was anxious. And I am not agoraphobic or claustrophobic (except in MRI machines).

It is a good movie, but I am not sure I would recommend it to anyone.

Snowpiercer: wow. Just, wow. I was on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. The performances blew me away, all the little details with the characters. From Edgar to the dude who wouldn't die (Frank the Elder, I think?) to the guards doing head count. It wasn't goon 1 and goon 2, there was personality and history in how they slouched and elbowed, instead of the typical stormtrooper upright stance with a blank face. Tiny, tiny little directions that spoke volumes.

And it's everything everyone's said: the best; full of logic holes to, well, drive a train through; world-building that was at once wonderful and leaving you with a feeling of being incomplete and asking you to do too much of the legwork; thought-provoking ( was the polar bear at the end a wink at current real-world circumstances reversed, or was it the Korean bear-creation myth I read put forward as a hopeful ending? ).

After, I was a bit miffed that we didn't get even a shot of Curtis' body, but then realized that the last shot was him holding a woman with only one good arm, and that felt right, that felt like a good end for him, he'd done what it he thought took to be a good man, a good human, a leader, and held a woman in his arms.

I loved that it wasn't "the white man saves them/outlives them and is the star of every scene". So many good characters who all had their moments of bad-assery without them feeling like "moments".

I was scared, truly, at the end, when I thought the movie would end with the horror, like The Ring, where the hero of the story perpetuates the horror.

Bravo to a violent movie that made me grieve almost every death, even when it was CGI train cars falling down a mountain.

Thinking more on it afterward, all those logic-holes made me think that this movie is beyond ripe for the picking for fanfic to fill in the gaps.

Another movie it made me think of was 28 Days Later, at the military base/estate. "They promised us women" and the horror of what people will do to survive, and the ethics of at what point do the means not justify the ends, and also the redemption of rejecting "in a heartbeat".

Man, that was riveting and heartbreaking and so damn beautiful.

My biggest nitpick of the most shallow degree was a very tense/emotionally charged scene near the end, and I couldn't help notice in the extreme closeup that the makeup department had done a horrible job on Evans' hair dye, as his black beard was bristling with blond at the ends.

And the only bad CGI was the food vat.

I need to see it again, because this is also the kind of movie that has wonderful foreshadowing.

Juliebird,

you need to fix some of your white font.

thanks, that was a biggie. Geez, I don't even know what that snafu was, since I had the spoiler formatting activated, probably a weird space or lack of. Hope I wasn't a total movie-ruining bastage to anyone.

And something something "Art is supposed to destroy your complacency," something something "all you want is empty-headed pablum!"

Pffft, whatever. I'm a fan of all sorts of disturbing things, and I say that statement is NONSENSE.

I didn't watch Gravity, for the reasons le-nubian outlined.

We all have our own responses to art. I can handle violence and sadness just fine, but horror is unbearable. So no horror movies for me--I know I am missing some great art, but what good is the art if I am so uncomfortable that I don't really take it in? It's just a waste of two hours.

I agree about Snowpiercer that if bloody violence isn't your thing, do not watch it. Seriously.

However, I will say there's at least one (if not more than one) episode of Hannibal that squicked me way, WAY more than any of this (his old colleague's fate is all I will say). However, I've been watching it on DVDs, so it may not have been what was broadcast live or available via DVR.

On the other hand, Snowpiercer is fast like The Road Warrior, but it is way more bloody.

Also, anybody who thinks Chris Evans is just another pretty face needs to hear his story near the end. Horrifying monologue and delivered just perfectly.

I want to see Snowpiercer but the only times were in the afternoon at a theater 35 miles away or at 11:30 pm in town. I couldn't do either this weekend.

Matt, I am super sensitive to motion sickness, like, had to leave the theater during the first Hunger Games movie levels of sensitive.

I had no problems with Gravity. Just FYI, Fwiw.

Thanks Conseula. It's not really motion sickness behind my concern though (I love roller coasters and driving through hills). More the combo of wide open space and claustrophobia - I had to leave the theater during Sunshine when Cillian Murphy did his spacewalk. Everything I've read and seen in trailers tells me Gravity would be like that scene stretched out over 90 minutes.

Weirdest effect of Gravity for me was that the 3D was so successful that I kept turning my head to keep up with a rotating Sandra Bullock and getting knocked out of the 3D effect.