… well Emperor Penguins anyway… in the thoroughly enjoyable French documentary March of the Penguins which Sheryl, Madeleine and I saw last night with my nephew Isaac, who is stopping in LA on his way from New York to Alaska, Korea, China and Japan. Hey, we have a peripatetic family, but not half so peripatetic as these penguins who must march seventy miles from their breeding grounds to the ocean several times in the course of the year to ensure the survival of their young. Males and females alternate in this forced march, hence the Women’s Lib allusion. The film also features stunning Antarctic scenery. I stayed through the credits, riveted by the outtakes of the filmmakers braving the elements. I could say this was the best film of the summer for me, but that wouldn’t be saying much. I haven’t seen many. I wait for my Academy DVDs and frantically play catch-up.
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10 Comments
1. Terrye:I have a client who is a quad and he said the documentary oout on quad rugby or “murder ball” as it is known is very good.
I might watch the penguin film. I love stuff like that, as long as nothing dies.
Jul 25, 2005 - 7:02 pm 2. Stace:Yeahp, gorgeous animals with incredible adaptations. And the males of most, if not all, of the 17 penguin species have amazing paternal instincts. Their drive to incubate and brood is sometimes even stronger than that of the females.
Jul 25, 2005 - 7:30 pm 3. richard mcenroe:You get Academy screeners of summer films? Ya wouldn’t have Malibu Beach, wouldja?
Jul 25, 2005 - 8:12 pm 4. Robert Schwartz:Just came back from watching it. highly enjoyable, Highly recomended.
It put me in mind of the terrific features Disney used to make like this. Robert Iger, take a note.
Jul 25, 2005 - 9:08 pm 5. Robert Schwartz:P.S. Roger, you need to read this:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2123286/
Hollywood’s Death Spiral
The secret numbers tell the story.
By Edward Jay Epstein
Posted Monday, July 25, 2005, at 11:48 AM PT
Jul 25, 2005 - 9:10 pm 6. Barry Dauphin:Nightline (tonight with boy Cuomo-who has a better gig than boy Assad) had a segment on Hollywood’s dreadful summer. In the teasers they promised to tell us why Hollywood was having such a slump. Apparently, the Nightline crew thinks it’s because of the short window between the release of the movie and the release of the DVD, since Blockbusters depend upon repeat business. Add in a little bit of high ticket prices and home theatres and voila, problem analyzed.
I hope to be able to sell some of these folks some scenic land in Antarctica. There was no mention of video games, nor of how many movies suck, nor any of the other reasons mentioned in the comments on Roger’s blog recently. Geez, Roger, you need to start your own media company or something.
Jul 25, 2005 - 9:27 pm 7. Jim Rockford:Except the Hollywood Death Spiral isn’t. At least for the studios as a whole. Revenue at Box Office is up slightly, though attendance is down. The missing moviegoers are from documentaries, independent films, and foreign films, supposedly according to the Epstein link above.
What is interesting is that the balance of power has moved from Theatrical Release to DVD. Theatrical is just a promotion for the DVD release which is where the real money is, that is still growing. Eventually declining theatrical revenue Epstein is predicting will bankrupt a lot of movie theaters.
Jul 25, 2005 - 11:06 pm 8. Bruce Wechsler:So, Roger, will I enjoy these Penguins more than the Madagascar squad?
Jul 26, 2005 - 6:14 am 9. Paul Snively:Terrye, regretably, as excellent as “The March of the Penguins” is, you’ll have to miss it: it’s the true story of the entire mating season in what the film accurately calls “the harshest place on Earth.” There are several deaths, and while the filmmakers are extremely sensitive to the viewer (the film is rated G), there’s simply no avoiding some of the images, and one scene in particular, which is deliberately long-ish in order to show the mother penguin’s reaction, is essentially a guaranteed tear-jerker.
On the other hand, you may wish to steel yourself and go anyway; the tragic moments are counterbalanced by some scenes of pure joy: a growing chick breaking free of a crowd of other babies, then throwing up his vestigal wings as if to say “I made it!” The chicks as they balance on their parents’ feet and learn to walk. The moment the mothers dive back into the ocean in search of food, and we see the glorious underwater shots that so vividly reveal that these birds belong in the water, not on the ground. And much, much more.
Sheesh, I’m going to start cying again just typing this! Maybe I should see it again.
Jul 26, 2005 - 9:04 am 10. meander:I LOVED this movie! As supposed hollywood blockbusters came and went (all with hype and hullabaloo), I thought “Naw, that’s not worth stirring my bones to go to”. Then I read a snippet somewhere about the Penguin movie and I felt a tingle of excitement…” Oooh, I want to see that! Hope it comes to a theater near me.” So, within 2 days of it opening, there I was (with many others as it turned out) happy to plunk down my money to watch a Nat’l Geographic documentary. Go figure! It was delightful, entertaining, made you laugh, made you cry…hey, isn’t that what movies are all about?
Jul 26, 2005 - 10:22 am