Best Of

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
It had been a long time since a sequel improved this much upon the original movie. By building upon the already great bar The Hunger Games had set, Catching Fire is the perfect continuation to the story, fleshing out the characters, the world and most importantly, the themes the series tackles. The acting remains as great, if not greater, as what we were presented to the last time around. There are definitely some very emotionally charged scenes, especially through the first act. Showing up this time around are some amazing cinematography work, a way better explored score and some much needed comic relief to some scenes. I still had a small problem with how redundant the story is as a whole, but this is an unavoidable problem that unfortunately is more apparent in movie form. But overall, an absolutely amazing experience that should definitely not be missed. This is a phenomenon.
4.5/5

GRAVITY

Gravity is one of those few movies that terrifies you to the core. It creates this feeling of despair when all seems lost. None of this is bad though in the case of this film. It is a spectacular filmmaking achievement which sends your emotions to levels that are rarely reached. Alfonso has given us a melancholic and unbelievably immersive film that is a huge step for cinema.

It was so tragic and just genuinely gloomy at times and Sandra Bullock is the sole reason for that. Her performance was very impressive and I think she lifted this film so much; not that it needed lifting anyway. The hardship of the situation they were in just felt so real and at times, deeply melancholic.

As for those technical aspects, Emmanuel Lubezki proved to be a convincingly consistent cinematographer of modern cinema, it's just absolutely breathtaking what he does with these long takes, absolutely flawless. The visual effects are undoubtedly of the highest standard and the score helps the film so much.

Alfonso is a genius.

★★★★½ (this is so close to 5 stars, I need a 2nd viewing)

David Heyman has confirmed that he is producing.

http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/david-heyman-confirms-he-will-produce-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-film-95005/

Heyman, who confirmed that he will be producing the film, said that Rowling hasn’t turned in a finished script just yet, but that “Jo is at work” and tremendously excited about the project. “She’s not doing it for any other reason other than she loves the world and she had a story that she wanted to tell,” he said.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” he continued. “She doesn’t have to go back to this world, but something pulled her back. This is not Harry Potter. This is not Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This is a separate story within a universe related to the Potter universe.”

“The fact that she’s going to this world means there are stories to tell,” he said. “When I was doing the Harry Potters, what was clear to me is that Jo’s knowledge of this world is infinite. What you read in the books was just the surface of her knowledge. She had notebook upon notebook of stuff. I would call her and say, ‘What’s the sixth use of dragon’s blood?’ and she’d have it at her fingertips.”

“In the fifth film, I think it was, we had the Black family tree,” he recalled. “I called her, and literally 20 minutes later I receive this family tree, via fax in those days, with a hundred names and about six generations with birthdays, death dates, marriages, all figured out. She knew it.”