Deterioration (and Reclamation?):
It’s a Sick World After All
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet rated PG
(Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey)
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): As my nearby theaters remain closed (along with the concern of putting my almost-73-year-old body into such an interior environment, given I won’t have world-class-medical-treatment rushing to my aid [as with General Bonespurs/Agent Orange] if I should develop COVID-19) I’m still exploring streaming options, which proved to be rather limited this week in terms of my genuine interest in content rather than just cranking out reviews for the sake of seeing/writing about something, no matter how little it mattered to me; I did find one other movie that sounded intriguing, but I’m holding it in reserve for next week in case the choices continue to be slim. I have no complaints, though, about the one I did watch, a marvelous documentary exploring the environmental crisis facing our planet narrated by Sir David Attenborough (likely content-driven by him too, as no scriptwriters are credited), well-respected/awarded for a lifetime of work dealing with our troubled-planet and its even-more-troubled-inhabitants. There’s no attempt at “balanced arguments” here because this is a direct plea from an elder-statesman for our dominant species to stop digressing with all sorts of political/economic-excuses from the urgent need to reverse our Earth-altering-lifestyles to prevent what seems to be an imminent 6th major-mass-extinction of lifeforms on our planet, radically terminating existence as we know it in the process. There are no spoilers to hide from you this week: we all need to see/hear what Attenborough’s presenting, take heed of his warnings, embrace his offered-reversals of our self-inflicted-fate; however, you do have to be a Netflix streaming subscriber to access it because they seem to have terminated their 30-day-free-trial-offer (although the $12.99 you’d pay for a month of HD-quality-options would give you plenty of other interesting choices, but decide for yourself as Two Guys in the Dark get no kickback from Netflix if you sign up*). Also, in the Short Takes section I’ll offer suggestions for some options on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least for this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh wicked, tedious software!) along with my normal dollop of industry-related-trivia.
*Recent Two Guys reviews (see the Archive on the right of this page) of Netflix streamers which might intrigue you include The Social Dilemma (September 24, 2020 posting), The Devil All The Time (September 24, 2020 posting), I’m Thinking of Ending Things (September 10, 202 posting), All Together Now (September 3, 2020 posting), and Da Five Bloods (June 25, 2020 posting) if you’d like to get a further idea of what's contained in their collection to explore even for just a month’s sign-up; 3 of these got our 4 stars while All … got 3½ but I’m Thinking … earned our extremely-rare 4½ stars.
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
Sir David Attenborough’s outstanding career* of providing us with a wealth of documentaries about life on our planet has this film as a possible culmination of his previous work (at age 93 one can never tell what tomorrow will bring), a concise 83-minute “witness statement” about the changes in our environment he’s seen over his lifetime, predictions about what we’re in the process of doing to ourselves as we blindly work to destroy Earth’s ecosystem, and some specific recommendations of changes we need to make immediately to halt this seemingly-inevitable-path toward self-created-doom. It all begins with shots of deserted, damaged buildings from Chernobyl, Ukraine as a result of the horrible 1986 nuclear-reactor-disaster leaving the area essentially uninhabitable, which he offers as an example of what could become of our planet if we continue to diminish its biodiversity. Periodically we see graphics indicating the loss of global wilderness over our host’s lifetime: In 1937 it accounted for 66% of the planet’s surface, in 1954 64%, in 1962 62%, in 1978 52%, in 1997 46%, but now we’re down to only 20% as human dwellings, business centers, farms, etc. have take over the rest, eliminating astounding numbers of plant/animal species in the process. Scientists have explored evidence of 5 previous major-mass-extinctions (more details at this source and this one) in the roughly 4.5 billion years Earth’s been in existence, with some form of life here for at least 3.5 billion years of that time (I’ve added these figures for context; the film addresses only the mass-extinctions); however, the previous kill-offs occurred due to natural phenomena with the last one being about 66 million years ago when a huge asteroid slammed into Mexico’s Yucatán area kicking up massive-cloud-cover, totally changing the planet’s tropical environment, killing off the dinosaurs but allowing the emergence of mammals (such as ourselves) as Earth slowly rebuilt itself over eons.
If we do find ourselves in a 6th major-mass-extinction, though, it'll be the result of human-impact on the ecosystem happening within a mere couple of centuries rather than the thousands of years it took for most of the previous disasters to occur. Attenborough notes that in the process of compiling his various nature-based-docs over his own decades he became aware of the loss of habitat for animal species he’d observed before, the polar ice caps melting, and specific species disappearing.
*If you’d like specifics on him, you can consult this concise biography or this more-detailed-one.
Based on what we know now about the abuses we humans are creating for our cosmic home, Attenborough says that in another 100 years or so (using the example of his lifetime) if our current actions continue we’d likely lose the crucial planetary-carbon dioxide-containment-phenomenon of the Amazon rainforest as it transforms into a grassland savanna, all Arctic ice would melt during the summer endangering most northern-dwelling-animals as well as impact human coastal habitation from rising seas, coral reefs would die killing off undersea life, overuse of soil could seriously hinder the global food supply, unpredictable weather will further damage population centers as our stable Holocene period, in place since the last major Ice Age, would be irrevocably-damaged. Instead, he pleads, we need to “rebuild the world” by such tactics as protecting species diversity/symbiotic relationships, using renewable energy sources, limiting coastal-area-fishing, switching from meat-based to plant-based eating to reduce ranching land, providing universal healthcare along with increased living standards and better education for women to reduce total population, but (I ask, trying to fight my pessimism about our ability to act in our own best interest) do we as a species have the will, the acceptance of immediate sacrifice to achieve long-term-gain to undertake these massive changes to challenge how we’ve assumed life must endure or will we continue to enhance planetary destruction, as so many of us seem intent on doing these days for the advantages of financial gain?
If you’re a climate-change-denier, an anti-vaccine-resister, a “herd-immunity”-pandemic-advocate you’ll likely not be swayed by Attenborough’s arguments or proposed countermeasures, but, then, if you’re of those types of persuasions you’d likely not have read even this far into the review of his film, so for those of us who take climate change very seriously, who see the need to support sociopolitical programs like those he advocates, we'll find this concise, precise doc to contain useful information/encouragement toward necessary rebuilding of our planet. Whether enough of these proposed solutions to what cannot reasonably be denied as an awful, self-determined fate for Earth will be enacted by countries trying to work together for mutual preservation is something I can only hope will occur; if not, I have serious doubts about the survival of the next generation or two beyond me. Attenborough’s trying to get us to listen before it’s too late; it’s certainly not his fault if we continue to blithely ignore the danger growing around us on a daily basis, especially in the U.S. as we reject the Paris Climate Agreement, de-regulate our needed environmental protections, heap profits into the coffers of the rich at the expense of the vast majority of our population. Need I remind Americans our crucial elections are in progress already with a deadline to act, no later than Nov. 3?
You’ll find strong (but extremely limited at this point) CCAL support for David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, with Rotten Tomatoes offering solid vindication through their 94% positive reviews, although the usually-more-restrained folks at Metacritic produce only a 72% average score—where the limits come in is for the former there are only 17 reviews, the latter’s based on a mere 5 (despite, I’m sure, critics’ access to this film prior to its October 4, 2020 debut, so you might want to check their sites again later in my Related Links section farther below for possible updates) which concerns me that such a crucial exploration of the immediate need for preservation of our planet gets such limited critical attention (although I am pleased most of the RT people who saw it liked it), but that brings me to another concern: Unless someone’s able to pull together a significant study of this upcoming U.S.A. election along with its aftermath (whatever that may be, I hesitate to even speculate at this point as previously-inconceivable-events keep popping up every day) by year’s end I think just these 2 of 2020’s most important films (content crucial for the ongoing functioning of our society)—… Life On Our Planet and The Social Dilemma (about manipulation/addiction-dangers of social media)—aren’t likely to find the vast audiences who need to see them while a mild diversion like The War with Grandpa (Tim Hill) finds its way to 2,250 domestic (U.S.-Canada) theaters, pulling in $3.6 million in its debut weekend ($5.5 worldwide, weak in the pre-COVID-19-era but impressive in our our limited-screen-availability-times) even though it was made 2 years ago, has been critiqued as a low-key Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1990), with OCCU numbers of 28% positive RT reviews, a 35% average score at MC—possibly its only attractions being a cast of Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, Uma Thurman, Jane Seymour, along with content mindless enough to offer relief from a pandemic and a brutal political-campaign-season—while no source I’m aware of even gives us a hint about audience sizes for these docs I’m set on actively recommending.
So, I urge you to see both of these timely films (and, if you live in the U.S.A., VOTE! please), with my concluding nod to David Attenborough … being my usual-review-closer-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, this time the combo-piece called “To The Last Whale …” (A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water) from David Crosby and Graham Nash (on their 1975 Wind on the Water album) at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qTE-YL61dw (a live 2011 performance with lights out during the first segment, then the rather shaky video picks up [not a great recording as far as camera work/some audio quality’s concerned, but I wanted to give you a live performance of this duo*—this being the only one I could find that didn’t also include Steven Stills who wasn’t part of their original project, thus I didn't want to complicate it no matter what he might have added—so if you want to hear it better here’s the original recording]). It carries one of the most poignant lines you’ll ever hear about our ongoing environmental crisis by saying “Maybe we’ll go Maybe we’ll disappear It’s not that we don’t know It’s just that we don’t want to care.” Ironically, though, since the time of this song’s first release international agreements have led to a resurgence in global whale populations at least where humpbacks are concerned (despite violations still requiring vigilance), an example of the kind of rejuvenation Attenborough’s advocating. However, even if you choose to watch … A Life On Our Planet only for its magnificent cinematography (hopefully getting its “save the Earth” message, even if subliminally), I still think you will find seeing this film to be a worthwhile experience.
*It’s quite ethereal when you see Crosby and Nash sing it live (even though they're sadly not speaking to each other now), as I did in Dallas, probably late 1977 (just them as a duo for this song, although the full concert included Stills; I know I saw the 2 of them 1 of the nights of August 14-17, 1975 at L.A.’s Universal Studios Amphitheater and have seen Crosby, Still, Nash & Young a few times since then so I’ve likely been treated to another live rendition of this tune but I can’t verify).
SHORT TAKES
Suggestions for TCM cablecasts
At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees. While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week. All times are U.S. Pacific Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed. These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click on the down arrow at the right of each listing to get additional, useful info.
I’ll bet if you checked that entire schedule link just above you’d find other options of interest, but these are the only ones grabbing my attention at present. Please dig in further for other possibilities.
Friday October 16, 2020
3:00 AM The Diary of Anne Frank (George Stevens, 1959) Based on a play of the same name and what amounts to an autobiography, young Anne’s (Mille Perkins) diary, during her family’s harsh confinement in an Amsterdam attic, a Jewish family hiding from the Nazis, simultaneously uplifting and heartbreaking (I once toured those living quarters, now a museum, a chilling experience). Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Shelly Winters), B&W Cinematography, B&W Art Direction.
Saturday October 17, 2020
8:00 PM Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, 1952) Beloved-musical (a standard for achievement in its genre) starring Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen, and Cyd Charisse about Hollywood’s clumsy transition into sound movies, plus romance between a male star and a female newcomer with great potential; features the fabulous “Broadway Melody” sequence, one of the grandest of all MGM spectaculars, along with many songs from previous MGM musicals.
Sunday October 18, 2020
8:15 AM His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) Adapted from Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play, The Front Page, this turns a sensationalistic-journalism-story into something with those aspects but also becomes a screwball comedy where now-divorced newspaper editor Walter Burns (Gary Grant) conspires to get ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) back (and on the payroll to cover a big story) despite her upcoming marriage to mild-mannered Ralph Bellamy. Famous rapid-fire dialogue.
Monday October 19, 2020
9:15 AM Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) After Citizen Kane (1941), I consider this Welles’ best work; he plays a corrupt U.S. sheriff on the porous USA/Mexico border, making trouble for a Mexican detective (Charlton Heston!) and his new bride (Janet Leigh) as Heston’s determined to hold Hank Quinlan responsible for his crimes, ultimately with the aid of a long-time associate (Joseph Calleia). Marlene Dietrich has a small role but delivers a zinger final line. It seems TCM has the 1998 re-edit (111 min.) based on Welles’ notes, not the atrocious studio cut (95 min.) with credits mucking up a magnificent 3-min. opening traveling shot; the re-edited version is how I define a 5 stars-rated-film.
1:45 PM North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) One of Hitchcock’s top achievements (that’s saying a lot) about a case of mistaken-identity gone terribly wrong as ad executive Roger Thornhill (Gary Grant) is thought to be a U.S. spy, hunted by thugs working for a foreign agent (James Mason). A marvelous collage of great scenes including the crop-duster-in-the-cornfield; also stars Eve Marie Saint, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau providing a great combination of tension and laughs.
Wednesday October 21, 2020
10:00 AM Children of a Lesser God (Patrick Palmer, 1986) New teacher (William Hurt) at a school for the deaf has run-ins with a troublesome former student (Marlee Matlin), trying to encourage her to talk; she also has conflicts with Mom (Piper Laurie), but the tension with the teacher subsides until they attempt living together. Matlin won the Oscar for Best Actress, the film was nominated for 4 more: Best Picture, Actor (Hurt), Supporting Actress (Laurie), Adapted Screenplay (Hesper Anderson, Mark Medoff).
If you’d like your own PDF of the rating/summary of this week's review, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guy info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: In quick fashion, here are some additional items which you might also be interested in: (1) 2021 Oscar nominations will allow films shown at drive-ins; (2) Predictions about the future of movie theaters; (3) Predictions on theatrical releases that have a shot at 2021 Oscar nominations; (4) AMC Theaters could run out of cash by late 2020/early 2021; however, (5) Universal/AMC deal for early video release of movies may help struggling theaters. As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—plus a reminder you can search for streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
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Here’s more information about David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet:
https://www.netflix.com/title/80216393 (typical limited Netflix official site)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlKkqQHCCCs (8:43 talk by David Attenborough at the premiere of his Netflix 2019 8-part Our Planet series about Darwin’s theory of evolution, species interconnection, mass die-offs, 96% of mammals today are humans and livestock, 70% of birds
are poultry, then he offers an example of a reversal of these trends with protection of whales)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/david_attenborough_a_life_on_our_planet
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/david-attenborough-a-life-on-our-planet
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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)
If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.
By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact). Ken
P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker. But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"
—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.
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