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As the person next to me so aptly put it after the film was
over and the credits began to roll, "Well, that was perfectly pleasant."
And it is. I have to admit I was kind of expecting something more but
I'm not exactly sure what. Maybe I wanted it to be more of a straight
documentary and less of an almost children's book narration. Maybe I
wanted it to be more terse and to the point, rather than rambling. Maybe
I wanted it to be more adorable than serious. Maybe I wanted it to be
more spectacular. It just wasn't quite as impressive and grand as I
expected it to be. It was, in a nutshell, perfectly pleasant.
What this
film presents is the astonishing and remarkable process by which the
Emperor Penquin procreates. It is a testament to the amazing abilities
of nature and the incredible persistance of life, even under the most
inhospitable of circumstances. These amazing birds at the age of 5 years
and up leave their watery home and hit the shoreline of the South Pole
in March, which is the beginning of winter. They then make a 70 mile
trek through the most brutal and deadly of landscapes, where nothing
lives. It is 50 degrees below freezing, with no food or water or
anything - just snow and ice.
No one knows how they know where to go, as
the ice and landscape changes every year, so there is no obvious trail
for them to follow. And when they march along, they do so in a
practically two-by-two line. They do this to reach an area where the ice
is so thick that it is the only place that won't break apart, and
therefore the only place where it is safe for them to raise their young.
Once there they carefully choose a mate. Once mated they wait until the
egg is laid and once the egg is laid, the female passes it to the male
to take care of and the she leaves to get food. At this point it's been
about 2+ months with neither parent having any food. The females at this
point have lost 1/3 their body weight and will starve if they don't
leave. They must then walk 70+ miles searching for where the new edge of
the South Pole is.
In the meanwhile the males stay behind, keeping the
eggs balanced on top of their feet and covered by a flap of skin. They
huddle together for warmth as the sun disappears completely and the
weather and winds become unbearably cold and vicious. By the time the
females have returned, the eggs have hatched and the males are now near
starvation, now over 4 months without any food. Once again the young are
passed off, this time from father to mother, and then males then must
begin their 70 mile journey to water and food. As the weather begins to
warm the distance between water/food and the breeding ground shortens
till the parents are swapping off with more regularity and often with
both parents being around to raise their young.
What they go through is
remarkable and the penquins are both beautiful and silly looking at the
same time. The baby penquins are completely adorable. I was totally
charmed and utterly amazed at what these animals are capable of.
Astonishing.
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Though one of Flynn's later films, this peculiar swashbuckler won a
place in my heart. Though aging fast, Flynn still looks ruggedly
handsome in this tale of Jaime Durrideer, a Laird in Scotland who
decides to side with Bonnie Prince Charles against the English. In order
to save the family estate, it is agreed that his younger brother Henry
will remain true to the British, so that no matter which side is
triumphant, they will survive as a family. Alas through deception and
subterfuge of a jealous woman, Jamie becomes convinced that his own
brother sold him out to the English so he could be Laird of the castle
and steal Jaime's title and fiancée. A duel between them ends badly,
with Henry convinced that he has slain his brother and Jaime, rescued
by his fighting companion Burke, convinced that Henry betrayed him.
They turn to the high seas and when their ship is captured by pirates
Jaime manages to prove his worth, joining the buccaneer crew rather
refusing and getting himself and Burke tossed into the sea. He cleverly
figures out a way to make steal from the pirate captain, with plans of
returning to Scotland wealthy, to win back his woman and exact revenge
against his brother.
It is not the most even of
plots, and the action waxes and wanes, but there is something infectious
about the jovial humor of Burke and his bantering relationship with
Jamie, and of course anything with pirates is good.
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Exquisitely beautiful, strange, charmed, and magical - but
none of this comes as any surprise with Dave McKean driving the creative
visuals of this film. There is a well-balanced mix of his illustration
style along with fanciful costuming and CGI settings that take his ideas
and give them greater substance and form as they wrap and enshroud the
actors. The big surprise was the story, which seemed rather simple and
unadorned by the layers, wit, and mythos that I've come to associate
with Neil Gaiman. Oddly this felt less like a film and more like a TV
movie, even though it certainly had enough visual power for a film once
we are transported out of the real world. I am grateful that it was made
for the big screen, because in order to really enjoy it, that is where
it should be seen to truly enjoy the visual splendor. (Although it would
also be wonderful on a very small computer screen - the jewelbox effect)
But even that by turns was a bit washed out and pale, not as rich and
glorious as I had expected, though certainly in tune with the tale.
A young girl, daughter to circus owners/performers, makes a wish that
she comes to regret and dread. For reasons of no particular clarity or
point she finds herself drawn into a world that she herself has drawn
and takes on the role of heroine in the local drama that she encounters.
The Queen of Light has fallen into a mysterious slumber and Darkness is
spreading throughout the City of Light, its inhabitants fleeing. The key
to waking the Queen is to find the Charm, but no one knows what it looks
like or where it might be, only that a strange girl from the City of
Dark came, claiming to be a princess, and both she and the Charm have
mysteriously vanished. Helena takes on the quest to find the Charm and a
companion and searches her way through this familiar and yet unknown
landscape, looking for clues and answers.
The film is made up of wonderful moments strung together by mysterious
and curious visual wonders, but in the end it doesn't feel very complete
or finished. It almost feels like it wants to be a series of shorter
adventures, even though the story and action seems woefully inadequate
for a full-length feature. While the film is enjoyable, and at moments
fantastic and delightful, it just doesn't hold its own or reach the
heights that I was expecting out of such a combination of talent as Dave
McKean and Neil Gaiman. Indeed, there is one moment and one moment only
that is brilliantly funny and even as I laughed and clapped I felt a
little sad that the film wasn't a deeper stream of such humor mixed in
with clever plot twists, heavy mythology, and other trademarks of Mr.
Gaiman. If you like eye candy and don't mind a simple fairytale, a
matinee would definitely be in order.
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Hands down this is one of the best romantic comedies ever, because it
eschews the annoying and predictable story lines, it follows the love
lives of both the beautiful and the not so beautiful, and because it is
brimming over with sardonic, witty, and oh so New York characters and
humor!
Cher plays a woman whose first marriage ended tragically due to bad
luck. Determined to change her luck, she agrees to marry a man she likes
okay, so long as they do it properly. He asks of her only one favor - to
go invite his brother to the wedding and end the bad blood between the
two siblings. But his brother is not what she was expecting, and despite
her better judgment she finds herself falling for his determined passion
for her. If that weren't bad enough, her fiancée is in Italy to see his
dying mother, there's something fishy going on with her father, and her
mother has been seen with a strange younger man. Love abounds, as do
wisecracks, in this wonderfully written, acted, and executed film. If
you don't think this film is for you, then all I have to say is, "Snap
out of it!"
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This is one seriously intense flick! Gladiator looks like a bunch
of guys in skirts having a tea party in comparison. A group of Korean
diplomats, hoping to offer goodwill and establish diplomatic relations
in China, are met with suspicion and hostility and branded as spies.
Arrested and banished, they are unexpectedly freed from their captors by
a group of roving Mongols. The diplomatic entourage becomes divided.
Some wish only to return home to Korea, but when the general in command
learns of that one of the Emperor's daughters has been taken by Mongols,
he desires only to rescue the princess in the hope it will gain them
the trust of the Emperor, allow them to complete their mission, and
thus restore their honor. This film is ferociously tragic, drenchingly
bloody, piercingly poignant, fiercely violent, blindingly honorable,
and viciously action packed.
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It wasn't amazing or wonderful, but there were
interesting characters, interesting scenes, and interesting moments. I
only gave it a three because the director made some choices that I
wished he hadn't and it wasn't really all that compelling, just
perfectly pleasant. One of the things I found rather annoying is this is
one of those films where two girls, each rather fucked up in their own
ways, come together and have a love affair, and then it turns out badly,
with lies and psycho-drama that always seems like such a cliche'. Like
just because they suddenly became lesbians, they're all crazy and they
do crazy bad things. Fortunately the ending, which looked like it was
going to be really bad and violent and so awfully predictable, doesn't
actually pan out the way you think it will. I was both relieved and
annoyed. Relieved that it didn't end in the typical violence, aka
Beautiful Creatures, but annoyed that it went far enough down
that path
when I don't think it needed to. That vexed me.
That said, the film definitely has some wonderful, tender,
charming moments as well as some wicked naughty funny ones. And the two
starring actresses are both so beautiful in their own ways. It's one of
those films where I have to kind of wonder why all women aren't
lesbians, because it seems so natural and perfect for women to be so
intimately close. Ah well, too bad there isn't some Christian group that
tries to help people get over their straightness. That would get me to
church.
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Oh My God. This film is intense,
based on a novel by the same name. Two boys from the same town grow up.
One lost 5 hours of his life when he was 10 and believes that he was
abducted by aliens. The other was sexually molested and has grown up
selling his body. The two of them, through a series of events and over
time, eventually meet as teenagers to learn the truth about what
happened to them as children.
The film is dealing with some seriously
intense and controversial issues - pedophiles, child molestation,
prostitution - and yet manages to do so in a way that is astonishingly
poetic and even beautiful in a way. It's hard to explain - the film
doesn't pretty anything up. Quite the contrary. But you connect with all
the characters, are drawn into their lives and their stories. It's well
edited, flickering back and forth from one boy to the other, progressing
forward through time and occasionally flashing back as well.
I was
prepared for many things coming into this movie. I was prepared to hate
it. I was prepared to leave it. I was prepared to be shocked and
appalled. I was prepared to be disgusted. I was not prepared to
captivated by it and find it one of the most unique and intriguing films
that I've seen in a long time. I think many might find it harder to
watch than I did. I often find that I have a fairly flexible mind about
many different issues and don't easily take offense at what many would
find shocking or judge harshly. The actors in the film were amazing.
Very compelling performances. There were a few weak moments here and
there, but I didn't mind so much. I was expecting there to be many more
than just a few.
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