Okay, all right; you’ve heard everything there is to hear about Gravity, watched the trailer and read the mountain of glowing reviews for Alfonso Cuaron’s latest offering. It’s special. It’ll win… ninety Oscars and probably become… the 45th President of The United States.

George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in GravityGeorge Clooney and Sandra Bullock have impressed in Gravity

But how about some other films?

The Wind Rises
Studio Ghibly’s impenetrable reputation stems from their consistency: consistency in brilliance and originality. They’ve even branched out into video games and taken that by storm. The Wind Rises - a film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki ('My Neighbour Totoro', 'Howl’s Moving Castle', 'Spirited Away') – follows a young boy during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. It’s showing on September 1st.

Parkland
Another high-profile movie dwarfed by Gravity’s presence at the Venice Film Festival is Parkland, Peter Landesman’s movie about the events that unfolded on the day J.F.K was shot. It focuses primarily on Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti) – the man who inadvertently caught the whole thing on camera – and Jim Carrico (Zac Efron) – the doctor who saw the President rushed into his hospital with a gunshot wound. Also showing September 1st.

Paul GiamattiPaul Giamatti in Parkland

Under The Skin
This film was attracting all the attention before it was announced that Gravity would open the festival, having endured months of technical difficulties and delays. It sees Scarlett Johansson star as an alien being bearing humanoid aesthetics. She is sent to earth by a rich corporation on her planet, with specific instructions to pick up hitchhikers, drug and deliver them; human flesh is a delicacy for her species. Sounds creepy. September 3rd.

Stray Dogs
At last we have something from Tsai Ming-Liang, the Malaysian-Chinese filmmaker who brought us ‘Goodbye, Dragon Inn’ and‘I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone'. Stray Dogs follows a homeless family in Taipei, who are joined by a mystery woman when they set out on a sailing trip. Hitting Venice on September 4th.

Tom à La Ferme
Tipping the ratio in favour of foreign language films, Tom à La Ferme – quite literally: ‘Tom at the farm’ – is a psychological thriller centred around Tom, a young copywriter living in the city, who travels to a remote farm for a funeral. No one knows who he is or what his relationship to the deceased is, leading to a maze of intrigue and dark family secrets. Directed by Xavier Dolan ('Laurence Anyways') it is being screened on September 2nd.

George ClooneyAn Oscar for Clooney?

While Gravity is generating Oscar buzz by the second, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock confidently sip champagne while people compliment them from the other side of the function hall, Venice’s slate looks to be just as promising as it’s ever been. If Gravity does win all the awards, the efforts above will push it far.

Just for a laugh, and because it does look amazing, here's the Gravity trailer