Animal Instincts

Who doesn't love animals? Ok, there's the occasional future serial killer, but other than that... I mean, really, how can you not?

So here's my take on two movies I just saw that are good flicks in their own right, and especially if you love animals.

Last night I watched the documentary "Grizzly Man" on the Discovery Channel. The movie was released last year to much acclaim, but I don't go to the movies much (I don't know why, I always enjoy them!) so this was my first time to see it. You may recall the story of the man who lived among the grizzlies in Alaska every summer for 13 years. When not in Alaska, he would travel to schools to talk about the bears to kids - for free. He was not a scientist by any means, just a man who felt an extraordinary kinship and love for these animals. And in the end he was killed by one of them, which made headlines. The issues brought up in the film are fodder for great debate - he was there, he said over and over, to protect them from people who would do them harm. While his motives seemed quite noble and selfless, he also came across - in my opinion - at times more interested in what the bears could do for him rather than the other way around. He called them his friends and would get in very close proximity to them all the time. So his ultimate fate is really no wonder. Still, an engrossing movie, told with the Grizzly Man's own extensive video footage as well as additional interviews with officials and friends. It does an admirable job of capturing the enormous power, beauty, and brutality of Nature; and it tells a very human story.

BTW, if you decide to watch it on the Discovery Channel, be prepared for way too many commercial breaks. I recommend taping it, watching it later and forwarding through commercials, or renting it.

And today I finally got around to watching the much celebrated "March of the Penguins", a short but sweet documentary on the unbelievable lengths that emperor penguins in Antarctica must go to in order to mate, breed, and nurture their young. A really endearing effort. And I've never seen seals portrayed so menacingly!

Go check 'em out.