Alfonso Cuaron Movies
Alfonso Cuaron movies are incredibly, delightfully varied. If not for his recent bend toward science-fiction (even of the two visions of the future in question couldn’t be less similar), we might be labeling Cuaron a possible heir apparent to the auteur-theory-destroying throne of Steven Soderbergh.
Of course, like Steven Soderbergh movies, those of Alfonso Cuaron carry certain thematic and stylistic consistencies that bridge considerations of genre. And while the rich, darkly comic patchwork that is Cuaron’s Harry Potter universe might not much resemble the bleak, civilization-in-ruin vision of Children of Men, what’s true of both films (and, I expect, Alfonso Cuaron movies in general) is a hopefulness in peril—a generally optimistic worldview among pessimistic situations and characters.
It seems like that’s Gravity in a nutshell, and considering how well that approach has worked for Cuaron in the films of his I’ve seen (admittedly, they aren’t many, although there aren’t a ton to begin with), it’s easy to see why Cuaron’s newest movie is one I’ve been hotly anticipating for weeks, months, years.
Alfonso Cuaron Movies
Love in the Time of Hysteria
A young Casanova-type is given a false AIDS diagnosis by a nurse he once scorned.
(1991, 0 viewings)
Sounds pretty bold. I’ll be there…sometime…
A Little Princess
Following the death of her father, a young girl is sent to serve at a boarding school.
(1995, 0 viewings)
I’m going to need someone to tell me this is more than a kids movie before I fork over two hours. Anyone?
Great Expectations
A modernization of the classic Dickens novel finds a New York painter pursuing a woman from his past.
(1998, 0 viewings)
I mean, if there was anyone who’d get me into a Dickens adaptation that isn’t A Christmas Carol, it’d probably be Cuaron.
Y Tu Mamá También
Two privileged Mexican teenage boys and an alluring older woman embark on a sexually charged road trip.
(2001, 0 viewings)
One of the films (from any director) that I’m most ashamed for not having seen yet. I keep waiting for Criterion to announce this one (it always seems to pop up in their forums as a possible future title), but maybe I just need to bite the bullet and, gulp, watch the Netflix streaming version.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
During Harry’s third year at Hogwarts, a convicted murderer has escaped wizarding prison and is hell-bent on finding The Boy Who Lived. (Click here for my full Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban review.)
RATING: 
(2004, 5+ viewings)
The fact that Cuaron turned the worst Harry Potter novel into one of the best films is a nice achievement. I’m not as high on this film as a lot of other Potter fans (it’s a respectable fourth on my list behind 5, 7.1, and 7.2), but I appreciate Cuaron’s contributions to the world. He separates tone from story, unlike the series’ other directors, and crafts a dark and darkly humorous fantasy adventure.
Children of Men
In the not-so-distant future, humans are infertile. But one woman, miraculously, gets pregnant, and a former activist agrees to shepherd her to safety.
RATING:
(2006, 5+ viewings)
There’s too much to say about this film to fit into a bite-size paragraph like this. It was one of my favorite movies of 2006 and the last decade. I’d even go so far as to say it’s one of the five or so most important films of my life, insofar as it helped shape and expand my love for cinema a tremendous amount.
Gravity
An accident causes two astronauts to drift through space.
(2013, 0 viewings)
It’s my most-anticipated fall 2013 movie. On paper, it’s a movie seemingly made for me. My favorite working actor, one of my favorite working directors, set in space, emotional story, tension, incredible effects/cinematography, 90 F’ING MINUTES LONG!!! So close…so damn close…
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