Oscar campaign for 'Gravity' boosted by reviews at Venice

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Oscar campaign for 'Gravity' boosted by reviews at Venice

Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," which stars two-time Oscar winner George Clooney and 2009 Best Actress champ Sandra Bullock as astronauts stranded in space, was the hit of the Venice filmfest on Wednesday.

Cuaron and Clooney are both favorites of this festival with the former feted for "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (2001) and "Children of Men" (2006) while the latter was lauded for "Good Night, and Good Luck" (2005) and "The Ides of March" (2011).

While "Gravity" screened out of competition here as the opening night film, it looks to be a major player at the Oscars. Cuaron, who lost his writing and editing Oscar bids for "Children of Men" to "The Departed," is in fifth place on our Best Director chart, right behind Clooney for "The Monuments Men."

With reviews like the following, will Cuaron move up the ranks? Vote at the bottom of this post using our easy drag-and-drop menu.

Justin Chang, Variety: "The director’s long-overdue follow-up to 'Children of Men' is at once a nervy experiment in blockbuster minimalism and a film of robust movie-movie thrills, restoring a sense of wonder, terror and possibility to the bigscreen that should inspire awe among critics and audiences worldwide.

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter: "At once the most realistic and beautifully choreographed film ever set in space, 'Gravity' is a thrillingly realized survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and startling surprise."