The reason I'm finally visiting Yellowstone National Park

The National Parks: America's Best Idea (Loved It)--This is a documentary by Ken Burns. I love both Ric & Ken Burns documentaries. Their styles appeal to me. but this documentary is now one of my all time favorites. It is beautiful and should be watched. Rent it, Nexflix it, DVR it, do what you have to do to see this. It's GREAT. I didn't know there were 58 parks in the National Park System. I've been to two (Zion's & Arches) and after seeing this, added Yellowstone to my travel itinerary. I'm going in June with my mom, my stepfather, and my sister.

It's wonderful how Ken Burns combines the history of the parks and their development with the stories of "ordinary" people. These or4dinary experiences are the truly extraordinary part of this series. And I'm not going to lie that I teared up (as I often do) when listening to the stories about John Muir and the Gerkes who toured the parks in the 20's in a series of Buicks. The real tears came when I listened to my favorite story of Tuan Luong who has visited and photographed all 58 parks and has the stamps to prove it. He's a French/Viet Namese man who fell in love with the parks, set a goal to see each one, and did so. I have a goal to visit all 50 states before I die (I've been to 30 and to Washington D.C., but none of the 5 U.S. territories), so I understand his motivation and that's probably why I loved his story so much.

A man at work asked me to find one government program that has worked and my answer was the National Parks. The United States invented this idea and we are the benchmark for the other nations that have followed this pattern. It is a system that provides universal democracy. It allows all men to "own" a piece of the most beautiful and important land this country has to offer. So plan on watching this and then visiting a National Park. There are 5 in Utah, so if you live near me or not so near--GO!!!

Netflix Streaming is Awesome

The Snow Walker (Loved It)--So occasionally I stream movies on Netflix. It's another way for me to get my movie fix. I just watch them on my computer and I love it. If I don't like a movie, I can instantly stop it and move on to another movies ASAP. It's perfect for me. But yesterday, I started a movie that captured my attention from minute one and I didn't need to find something else to watch until the movie was over. The movie was The Snow Walker. It's directed by Charles Martin Smith. He is the actor that starred in Never Cry Wolf a couple of decades ago, and I loved that movie. It also stars Barry Pepper, who I really like as an actor and I think he's under utilized. He's starred in a couple of my all time favorite movies, so when this popped up on my Netflix recommendations I wanted to give it a try. The movie is based on a short story by Farley Mowat (who also wrote Never Cry Wolf). It's a simple story about a pilot in 1950's Canada, who is taking a native to the hospital to treat TB when the plane hes' flying crashes into the Canadian Wilderness. The pilot, Charlie (Pepper) and the native Kanaalaq, played brilliantly by a non-actor named Annabella Piugattuk, have to survive together in a cold, brutal, and vast countryside. The pilot is cocky and thinks he can traipse out to civilization on his own. He soon finds out this isn't the case and learns to depend on Kanaalaq to survive in such a harsh environment. Anabella is wonderful. They auditioned hundreds of girls and I really think they picked the perfect person for this role. She is a natural and the interplay between herself and Barry Pepper was great. Their scenes together have a natural chemistry and the arc that Charlie has is completely believable. The story is much weaker when civilization and the search party stuff is brought in, but to see how the survival happens and how the pilot learns, is worth the two hours. The ending (which I don't want to give away) was a little weak, but overall, I could watch this again. And, I probably will. It had the elements in a movie that I love. It took me to a situation which I will never be in, but was thrilled to view.

I have a confession. . .

Inglorious Basterds (Loved It)--I have a confession. I will watch just about anything that has to do with World War II. I am especially interested in any story concerning the European Front and the Holocaust. I had a co-worker mention one day that I was a Holocaust fan and I told him that you can't really say that because it makes you sound like you can't wait for the next one. That is not the case for me. I just find the war and the stories that feed from that dark period of history interesting because I do not think I am brave enough to go through what so many millions had to deal with in one of the darkest periods of human history. I watch many documentaries, I've read countless books, and I have viewed so many movies about these topics. So, although I don't see a lot of Tarantino film, I wanted to watch this one. His films are very violent and this film is NO exception. The language and violence are R rated (and for good reason). But, I wanted to see Tarantino's take on how he thought World War II should have gone. Plus, this film had Brad Pitt in it and that never hurts. He was perfect as the good ole' boy that wants to "hunt some Nazi's". This movie is NOT for the faint of heart. I found it entertaining but I admit I had to fast forward some of the Nazi killing. It was bloody but satisfying. I also loved that the film cast Germans playing Germans, French playing French, and Americans playing Americans, with Mike Meyers doing a great cameo as an Englishman. I had a friend who thought I wouldn't like this movie because it was NOT historically accurate, but I knew that going in, so I enjoyed the revisionist story. It's not a film for a World War II history lesson, but oh, if only. . .

Materpiece Classic

The 39 Steps (Liked It)--So I have recently started watching Masterpiece Classic. This movie is one of those shown on this season of Masterpiece. It was fun. I really like Rupert Penry-Jones, who some of you will know as Captain Wentworth in the latest version of Persuasion. He's equally as charming in this story. The 39 Steps is based on a novel by John Buchnan. There's actually 5 novels in the series about Richard Hannay and involves espionage, war, excitement, etc. This movie was fun to watch and the acting was great. I also enjoyed the interplay between Rupert and Lydia Leonard who plays Victoria. She's a suffragette and a good match for Mr. Hannay. The plot involves the Germans trying to steal the British Naval plans on the eve of World War I and it kept my interest for the entire movie. Being Masterpiece Classic means it's well made and there are many of actors from the British front that many will recognize even if they aren't necessarily household names over here. If you're looking for something to watch one evening, give this movie a run in your DVD player or see if it's going to be rebroadcast on PBS. It's worth the 90 minutes.

So, I'm reviewing DVD's I own, when I can't get to a new movie

Cast Away (Loved it Enough to Buy It)--So, I'm rewatching some of the DVD's I own. I haven't had the time lately to sit down and watch a new movie or actually to make it to the movie theater to see a new movie. But, I have had time to put on a DVD of a movie that I loved enough to buy. Usually when I do this, I am doing something else that should be done and the DVD is in the background, but I can multi-task and since I have a pretty good memory, I can remember why I liked the movie enough to buy it in the first place.

So here is Cast Away: I thought this movie was fascinating. It was an interesting story and although not original (I'd have to be reviewing Robinson Crusoe for that to be true), it was an idea that Hollywood hadn't visited in awhile when this was made in 1999. Tom Hanks is a good actor and although I won't see just anything he's in, I usually like his acting choices as well as movies he decides to produce (From Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, etc.). This movie had a story that interested me from moment one. It's a modern day shipwreck story on a deserted tropical island. Many people often think being stranded on a tropical island would be paradise, but the situation the main character is put into in this story is hardly ideal. The time that Chuck Noland spends on the island is amazing. I don't know how I would do in that situation, but I have a pretty good guess that I would not survive it. I thought the movie did a great job of showing the mental and physical anguish that would happen with such an ordeal and when Chuck triumphs in the end, it makes the previous time of watching the difficulty worth it. I also like how much of the movie is free of dialog. Chuck does have a companion he creates (Wilson, the volleyball) and it helps him maintain a bit of sanity. It was interesting how I thought of this inanimate object as real during the course of the movie.

Now this is not a movie I watch often because it's a difficult situation to watch, but I think it's a fascinating premise and I love watching movies because I can experience situations that I will NEVER deal with in real life. That is why I LOVE to watch movies and so this movie is a good one for me. Plus the special features are informative and interesting. The survival specialists they used as advisors on the film are an eclectic group of men and it was great to listen to them give the advice on how to survive in an extreme situation and the tidbits about how the roller blades had to be changed to ice skates were fun.

So if you Netflix, consider this DVD as a possibility.

I haven't quit blogging.

I just wanted to publish a post saying my blogging has NOT quit. I just honestly have had no time to watch movies lately. Between work and other activities my movie watching time has been cut down significantly as of late. But, I am beginning again today and should have a couple of posts on actual movies beginning this week.

I've been away & it's Olympic time

I realize it's been awhile since I posted. Truth is I've been busy. I went to Singapore on business and between the preparation and the travel, almost a month has FLOWN by. In addition, I haven't been watching many movies. I HAVE been watching the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I LOVE the Olympics and I really can't overstate that. I am an Olympic junkie and since I'm watching it on my TV screen, I decided to blog about that. The first Olympics I remember is the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. I remember Scott Hamilton carrying in the U.S. flag, the lambskin coats the team wore, Eric Heiden and his 5 gold medals and of course, the Miracle On Ice. I also remember that the Soviet game was not the gold medal game and that my family skipped church to watch the gold medal game because it was on a Sunday. These were the days remember before DVR, DVD and even VCR. So, I am basically a couch potato when the Olympics are being broadcast. For half of these games, I was in Singapore and completely maxed out my DVR with the telecast, so I have spent the last few days trying to catch up.
Now, why I love the athletics and seeing sports that we in the U.S. only watch every four years, what I really enjoy is all the sentimental stuff. I love the stories of comebacks, the sacrifices made to get to the Olympics, and the cultural things they share about the host nation and the nations of the many athletes. I enjoy the stories of athletes that KNOW they aren't going to medal, but just want to be there, like the Turkish skater, Tugba Karademir, whose parents literally gave up everything they had so their daughter could compete. They emigrated to Canada so she could train and worked menial jobs for the money. They couldn't afford to see her in Torino and thought the same thing about Vancouver, but then someone paid their expenses and they were able to see their daughter skate as an Olympian. I bawled like a baby watching that story and I'm tearing up while I write this. Those are the stories that make it worth watching. Then there are the stories like Bode Miller, in essence, redeeming his poor performance in Torino. He was a changed man. I also love the stories that Tom Brokaw and Mary Carillo share. They all just touch my heart.
So, I've still got a few days of the Olympics to catch up on and then I'll be back to my normal movie reviews. Until then, if you have a computer, go to NBCOlympics.com and check out some of the highlight clips and touching stories that make the Olympics so awesome.