The director of coming-of-age classic Y Tu Mamá También, the best of the Harry Potter films (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), the masterful dystopian action drama Children of Men and Gravity, a leading contender for the year’s best big-budget release, Alfonso Cuarón has one of the most impressive resumes of any working filmmaker. To commemorate the release of Gravity, our writers look back on some of his best works.
[ READ MORE: REVIEW: Gravity ]
George Clooney in Gravity
“It’s a Hollywood movie to its core, an $80 million CGI extravaganza set in outer space, starring A-listers Sandra Bullock (The Heat) and George Clooney (The Descendants). It’s big. It’s loud. And it’s really, really good. So good, in fact, that it made me want to strap Michael Bay down, A Clockwork Orange-style, and force him to watch it over and over again until he wept at the realization that, for all his money and creative freedom, he never made this.” — Robert Gifford
[ READ MORE: LASTING IMPACT: Children of Men ]
1984 with explosions and Clive Owen
“I have never watched a movie while high, but I imagine that experience would be quite similar. My brain probably wouldn’t have been ready for Alfonso Cuarón’s magnum opus if I hadn’t just chugged slightly more than the recommended amount of Robitussin. In that state, every tilt of camera, every plot twist, every ounce of blood came across as an almost religious epiphany.” — Warren Zhang
[ READ MORE: LIST: Alfonso Cuarón’s best tracking shots ]
Y Tu Mamá También
“Rather than relying on quick cuts to establish momentum, Cuarón’s lengthy shot revels in the slow build, the agonizing tension of never being able to look away.” — Eric Bricker
