Is there anything more frighteningly frustrating than tumbling head-over-heels into the vast emptiness of space with nothing to grab onto, no way to stop and no end in sight? And this scene occurs within the first 15 minutes or so of Gravity -- just imagine what happens the rest of the way. Beautiful to behold and painful to watch, this space-set stunner is perhaps the only film to combine the concepts of loneliness and suffocation successfully into one cosmic package.
Sandra Bullock will receive the Desert Palm Award, Actress at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, it was announced Friday.
The 49-year-old, who starred this year in the hit drama Gravity — and the hit comedy The Heat — will be honored on Jan. 4 at the Palm Springs Convention Center as part of the festival’s 25th edition, which runs from Jan. 3-13.
“Sandra Bullock is the epitome of cinematic talent and versatility,” PSIFF chairman Harold Matzner said in a statement. “In her latest and arguably most demanding role as first-time astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone in Gravity, Bullock faces the primal nightmare of being stranded in space with no apparent way of returning. Throughout the entire film, her determination to survive is masterfully portrayed To this consummate performer who continues to captivate audiences with her artistry, it is our honor to present the 2014 Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress, to Sandra Bullock.”
PHOTOS: ‘Gravity’ and 10 More Films About Isolation
Past recipients of the award include Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts and Michelle Williams.
The fest previously announced that it will honor Dallas Buyers Club star Matthew McConaughey with this year’s Desert Palm Award, Actor. Additional announcements are expected shortly.
Bullock has starred in numerous films — across genres — that were highly critically acclaimed and/or commercially successful. These include Jan de Bont‘s Speed (1994), Jon Turteltaub‘s While You Were Sleeping (1995), Joel Schumacher‘s A Time to Kill (1996), Forest Whitaker‘s Hope Floats (1998), Griffin Dunne‘s Practical Magic (1998), Betty Thomas‘ 28 Days (2000), Donald Petrie‘s Miss Congeniality (2000), Callie Khouri‘s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Barbet Schroeder‘s Murder by Numbers (2002), Marc Lawrence‘s Two Weeks Notice (2002), Douglas McGrath‘s Infamous (2006), Alejandro Agresti‘s The Lake House (2006), Anne Fletcher‘s The Proposal (2009) and three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar: Paul Haggis‘ Crash (2005), John Lee Hancock‘s The Blind Side (2009) and Stephen Daldry‘s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011). Crash took home that prize, and Bullock won the best actress Oscar for The Blind Side.
Twitter: @ScottFeinberg
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