1. Gravity
Never doubt in the power of Alfonso Cuarón. The Mexican director is one of the most well-regarded filmmakers working today for a reason – his last film, 2006’s Children of Men, is one of the best films of the 2000s and certainly one of the greatest science-fiction movies ever made, largely because of Cuarón’s powerful direction, which included some heart-stopping single-shot action sequences.
Expect to see more of those breathtaking, seemingly unbroken shots in Gravity, which aims to take “In space, no one can hear you scream” to a whole new level. The film will follow two astronauts (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock) who are trapped in space after debris from a satellite decimates their shuttle. The trailers we’ve seen so far have been utterly terrifying, including ‘Detached,’ which appears to be one of the director’s famous unbroken shots:
I’m expecting Oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Visual Effects, but a Best Director nomination for Cuarón is also a distinct possibility, considering how much this film will rely on his ability to maintain the film’s sense of simultaneous claustrophobia and depth.
Gravity hits regular theaters and IMAX screens on October 4.