Two movies to see

A month ago critics were either praising or dismissing Woody Allen's latest movie, "Blue Jasmine."  Lucky for me, it's still in a couple of theaters and I have to come down on the side of praising.  I don't think it's a movie you can dismiss, even if you don't like it. It is one of his most powerful, most pointed movies ever, sad and bleak, yes, but that's nothing new for Woody Allen.

As critics have written, you can see "A Streetcar Named Desire" in this film, Cate Blanchett's Jasmine a perfect copy of Blanche DuBois in so many ways.  But the movie is more than that, or perhaps it's because it's on a big screen and we get big close-ups and so our impressions of Jasmine are immediate and intense.  Blanchett is incredible, making the most of this woman in the middle of a breakdown.  I am a fan of Allen's movies so can't pretend to have approached this movie with any sort of impartiality.  I know people who saw it and were exhausted by its darkness and I understand that reaction.  It is dark.  There is little Woody Allen humor here, very little.  But if you are up for a study of the unraveling of a woman's life, watch it.  If you are looking for something enjoyable, don't bother.

If "Blue Jasmine" doesn't appeal to you, maybe "Gravity" will, although it isn't a stroll down a sunny street either.  Talk about edge-of-your-seat movies!  Everyone has read about this movie, I'm sure, but seriously, when was the last time you saw a movie where there are only two people in the entire thing?  Not another face, just Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.  No one else. 

I saw this in 3-D and to me this is where 3-D belongs. Zero gravity means things float, and the 3-D effects are used very well, to the extent that a couple of times I almost felt light headed, as if I was getting caught in the zero gravity wave.  But even if you don't see it in 3-D, try to see it on a movie screen.  I think the enormity and emptiness of space will be lost on a TV screen.

Bullock and Clooney are excellent, of course, but outer space is a huge character here.  That and the vastness of our own minds.  You honestly don't know if these two people are going to live or die in this movie and it almost isn't the point. You are ready for either eventuality.  When the movie was over, I sat motionless in my seat. It ended perfectly, so perfectly that for some reason I almost wanted to cry.  That's a first for me. 

"Gravity" is very good.  Very different, thought-provoking and strong.  In my movie grading system I give it an A, something that is a rare occurrence for me.  See it, if you can. 

.