La Marche de L'Empereur

Stunning!

I watched the English version of this French documentary this evening. The cinematography was absolutely amazing, and the penguins, although slow and cumbersome, were spellbinding. It's impossible to get tired of watching these sometimes awkward, sometimes graceful and sometimes remarkable human creatures as they face incredible odds to ensure the continuation of their species.

The icy landscape became a second charcter in the drama, and the segments showing the glaciers and ice flats were awesome. I'd love to visit Antarctica, but I don't think I'd quite survive the -40 deg C cold.

I would like to have followed the original French commentary, but Morgan Freeman did a reasonable jo with the English version. Overall a very interesting and beautiful documentary.

Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Although I enjoyed the few that I read, CS Lewis's classic tales of Narnia, were never among my favourite books as a child. I only really became interested in the stories after watching the movie Shadowlands and finding out a little about Lewis's personal life and interests. Speculating about the author's intended message and motivation often makes literature far more interesting.

The film version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was in general very faithful to the original book. I found that it was similar to how I imagined it (although the monsters in my childish mind were much less horrific), despite the fact that when I reread the book, I found that Lewis did not really go into a lot of detail about many things. Watching the film, I felt that the director captured the spirit of the book well, and the characters' motivations were well explained by the screenplay.

The special effects and creatures were very believable, and the actors were perfectly suited to their characters. I really enjoyed the film, and would definitely recommend it.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Awesome!!

If you've read the book and were hoping for an exact replica, you might be slightly disappointed, as the storyline is dramatically reduced and even some of the best action scenes have been left out. However, the young actors are getting better at capturing their characters, and the director definitely captured the feel of the book. The sets and costumes were great, and the CGI was really well done.

In all the movies (except perhaps the 1st) I have been a little disappointed with the one sided nature of Ron. I don't blame the actor Rupert Grint, but I think the directors have been focussing too much on Ron's nervous sidekick side, instead of showing that he is also very brave, a loyal friend, and always up for a bit of adventure!

In Good Company

While ultimately I found this movie a little disappointing - I guess I'm a sucker for traditional romantic happily-ever-after endings, the acting and script of "In Good Company" were truely brilliant. The charcters had believable human flaws, and the comedy was subtle but hilarious. I felt so much for the characters that some of the funny moments were made unbearable by the struggle of whether to laugh or cry with them in humiliating or painful situations.

Topher Grace has come a long way from "That 70's Show".... I have never really watched that show much, but I will definitely be going to see more of Grace's exploits in film.... :)

Bridges of Madison County

Whoever would think that an old grey-haired Clint Eastwood standing in the rain could be attractive?

I watched this old movie again on tv a week or so ago and it was just as good as I remember. It's great because it makes you think and question values such as loyalty and commitment and ponder the existence of "true love"...

It makes my mind boggle that while I have always thought that extra-marital affairs were terrible, I was quite happy to condone and even wish that this one had worked out.