over the weekend i saw two movies, “march of the penguins” and “me and you and everyone we know.” both were great.
“march of the penguins” follows a group of emperor pengins for a year of their life. it focuses on their extraordinary mating habits and child-rearing. it’s beautifully shot and if you don’t think penguins, particularly baby pengins, are adorable, then there must be something wrong with the cute-center of your brain.
“me and you and everyone we know” is the new film by performance artist miranda july. it stars july and one of my favorite actors, john hawkes. it’s a very different kind of movie – one that unflinchingly depicts some very real-feeling situations and emotions. there are some incredibly funny scenes – i can’t remember the last time i laughed so hard – and a lot of those little details that make characters feel real and make you think – ‘hey! i know someone who does that!’ or ‘i do that!’ or ‘that is just like so-and-so!’
most importantly, both of these movies will actually leave you feeling good – not just satisfied or excited – but a warm fuzzy feeling of goodness in the world. okay, maybe i’m overstating it a bit, but i think feel-goodness in a movie is important and is something that is becoming rare. “march of the penguins” is in wide-release throughout chicago and “me and you and everyone we know” are playing at the centure theatre in evanston, the landmark and the esquire.
first rule of comedy: people/things falling down are funny
first rule of filmmaking: animals are cute.
march of the penguins was awesome – i just caught it in dc with clayton brown, so sincere thanks for the recommendation. the photography, specifically the opening sequence and horizontal sunrise/set, is breathtaking. the dialogue is slightly romanticized for my tastes, but this is a small complaint. also, suprised that the seemingly-requisite global warming mention wasn’t, but this was actually, again surprisingly, refreshing, as the narrative focused on the penguins’ direct experience in one year.
i especially liked this bit from roger ebert’s review: “For Jacquet and his crew, the experience was more bearable. They had transport, warmth, food and communication with the greater world. Still, it could not have been pleasant, sticking it out and making this documentary, when others were filming a month spent eating at McDonald’s.”
looking forward to the sequel!