Friday, October 4, 2013

"Gravity" (2013)

Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney
Written by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Rated PG-13 - Peril, frightening images, language
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Trailer

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), an astronaut with little training, is on a mission to install a prototype scanning device she designed on board the Hubble telescope. She's joined by her mission commander, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a veteran of the program on his last mission. While on a spacewalk to install the device, their space shuttle is hit with debris from a destroyed Russian satellite. The debris is circling the world at high speed, destroying other satellites and creating more debris.

With their crew dead and shuttle destroyed, Stone and Kowalski find themselves alone in Earth orbit, out of contact with mission control in Houston. Stone's lack of training is causing her to panic, and her dwindling oxygen supply isn't helping. With limited options, and time running out before the debris circles round the planet for another devastating event, Stone and Kowalski make a desperate run for survival and salvation.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

'Continuum' Season Two (2013)

Starring Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster and Erik Knudsen
Created by Simon Barry

Following the terrorist bombing in downtown Vancouver in Season One, time traveller Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) decides to end her official association with the Vancouver PD. She feels it's safer for her and her allies there to work on the fringes. Meanwhile, her friend Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) suffers a personal crisis: His stepfather has been killed and his stepbrother Julian (Richard Harmon) was arrested in connection with the bombing.

Elsewhere, the terrorist group Liber8, now led by Sonya Valentine (Lexa Doig) continue their campaign to alter the future by taking the bold move of assassinating Vancouver's mayor. Kiera teams up with VPD detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) once again to investigate the crime, and eventually pulls Alec back into the fold as well. But schisms within Liber8 set up an even deadlier set of circumstances as rival factions set off a gang war in the streets.

All the while, the influence of the mysterious and powerful owner of Piron Corp, the man known as "Escher" (Hugh Dillon) becomes known. Who is Escher? What interest does he hold in Kiera and Alec Sadler? And why is he using his money and power to turn the Vancouver Police into a private army with little regard for the rule of law?