Film review...Buck

This is a picture of Buck Brannaman doing what he does best...

Communicating with horses the only way he knows how.

With respect, dignity, understanding and compassion.

A friend of mine who had to go through a very sad time with her horse

lent me this film to watch...

It's a documentary of a man who suffered terrible abuse as a child

but who turned it around to do something profound and meaningful in his life.

Buck learned from the master horse whisperer Monty Roberts who Robert Redford

based the film of the same name on.

Robert Redford also directed this film for Sundance and it was

nominated for an Oscar in 2011.

If you love horses or any animals, this film will blow you away.

Buck shows us the lessons of teaching with love and understanding.

He denounces the idea of 'breaking' a horse to get him to do what you want.
Some people have called it voodoo.
Some people's lives have been saved by it and some people's
hearts have been broken by it.
This is a powerful and intense film not only about
fixing problems with your horse but about
picking up the pieces of a broken life to begin again.
It's about looking at yourself first.
Without a doubt, one of the best films I've ever seen.
(p.s have a few tissues handy!)
Here's the trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IShjmWYuHZ0

Movie review... Think.

Last night I watched a fascinating documentary by a young Vancouver couple called

"The Clean Bin Project".

They were tired of garbage and plastic packaging and disposable "stuff'"

and decided that for 1 year they wouldn't buy ANYTHING except food and neccessities

and use their own bags and containers if they needed them.

WOW! Where do I start?

This film will really get you thinking about the amount of garbage produced

by plastic and where it ends up.

Some of it in the bellies of birds...

No lie. This is an albatross from the island of Midway in the Pacific

Ocean where the adults are literally eating this stuff to bring back to feed

their chicks and the chicks are dying from it.

The artist Chris Jordan who is featured in the film, will give you some amazing images

and facts about plastic garbage.

Have a look at this...

Look familiar?

Based on the famous Japanese woodcut, it is Chris' rendition but made up

of thousands of bits of plastic found floating in the ocean.

How about this?

It's kinda like a tree landscape but if you looked close, it's 1.14 million paper bags.

The amount used every hour in the U.S!

His artwork gives you a sense of numbers.

People can tell you a number but when it's something so high as this,

it helps more to SHOW you what it may look like.

Her's the amount of cell phones retired every day in the U.S...

half a million...where do they end up?

Now I'm not picking on my fellow Americans, it's just that the artist is from Seattle

so he gets his 'inspiration' from his country.

Canadians have loads of their own garbage as well.

We all know that the world can't change overnight but we also

know that one small change can add up when millions of

like minded people start to do little things to help.

I hope you get a chance to watch the film.

It's inspiring and will definitley make you think twice when someone

offers you a bag that you probably don't need.

Just a little plug for Mother Earth.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFilb-VhAGE



movie review....

Seraphine Louis.

Not a very recognizable name in art.

But her paintings were truly inspired.

Born in France in 1864, she was a humble cleaning woman

who was driven to paint by the voices of angels.

I first heard of this movie through Lucinda's blog and after 2 years of waiting for it to

 come to my local library, I've finally had the chance to watch it.

This film tells the story of Seraphine's discovery by a German art collecter

who brought her name to fame for a brief time.

Her paintings depicted the flora of her countryside and came 

alive with the lines of featherlike strokes, almost

looking like birds and insects...

Beautifully filmed in the colours and architecture of the time, it's a moving film

of a woman's passion for two things: God and painting.

Well worth the wait if you can find it.

Movie review...

I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto and although it was a middle class

townhouse development, our neighbours had a maid from Jamaica.

Our area was about as white as they come and I found 'Edna' the most interesting person.

She would tell these amazing stories about her life back home.

She had a big scar on her hand from where her donkey had bit her

and she swam in the ocean everyday as a child.

I suppose because our neighbours both worked and had 4 girls they needed the extra help.

From what I remember she was treated kindly and we all loved her.

I never experienced racism of the type in this movie I watched last night.

Maybe I was too young and naive to recognize it but I don't think it was

like it was in the deep south in the '50s and '60s

"The Help"

Really worth a view for the subject matter, the costumes, the music

and superb acting.

movie review....

Yesterday we took my nephew to the movies for his 14th birthday.

What we saw was a movie full of magic, intriguing characters,

amazing scenery, beautiful costumes and colours,

and a fantastic storyline steeped in history and mystery.

Plus it was all in 3D!

If you want to escape for a few hours to the wonderful world 

of Martin Scorsese, I urge you to see this film...

Adventure, old books, Paris, train stations, clocks, film history, magicians...it's all here...

Ancient art...modern technology...

Back in the '50's, some brilliant film maker invented the 3D movie experience.

Audiences donned special glasses and were brought into the film as if they were part of the action.

Last night, for the first time in our lives, Tom and I went to see one of these movies.

We were both surprised to find out this little known fact about each other after 12 years!

With our ticket we were given the updated version of the 'special' specks'...

I like how it says "real 3D"! (as opposed to fake 3D).

The film was in a word 

AMAZING!

"The Cave of Forgotten Dreams" is the latest by Werner Herzog.

You may know him from such films as "Grizzly Man" or my favorite "Fitzcarraldo".

He is an incredible film maker and has such an interesting way of telling a story.

"Cave of Forgotten Dreams" is a documentary about the cave paintings inside 

a lost place called Chauvet in Southern France.

32,000 years ago people went far into these limestone cliffs and began to tell

a story of great animals that once roamed these lands.

This cave is so fragile and an important archaeology and geological marvel 

that it is locked up and guarded form the public.

Werner Herzog and his film crew were granted permission to film in 

these caves for a very short time.

It is an exclusive look into a world of stories of which we will never

know the true meaning of.

The detailed artistic impression of the animals on the walls is stunning.

 

If you love art, history, exploration, or are just in the mood to be 'WOW'd'

you must make a point of seeing this film.

The music is just as haunting and beautiful.

 

Movie review...

Last night we watched a great movie that came out for HBO TV several years ago.

Bill Nighy plays a reserved cabinet minister with the British government.

He's about to attend the G8 summit in Iceland to address the issue of mortality due to world poverty.

On one of his tea breaks, he meets Kelly MacDonald in a crowded cafe and so begins a quiet

unassuming relationship.

He impulsively invites her to come to the conference with him, innocently enough.

She knows little about the issue at hand, but quickly learns and makes her opinions

well known in the circles of politicians.

Not to Bill Nighy's liking or his boss.

Anyway I won't give away the end because it's a fantastic film worth seeing.

Damien Rice adds his music to the soundtrack as well as Sigur Ros.

Here's a little taste of what Bill Nighy's character is fighting for...

Movie review...

We watched this movie the other night.

I love a good story and this is a deep, dark, mysterious story of love, redemption and forgiveness.

Beautifully filmed and one of the better acting jobs Robert Duvall and Bill Murray have done in a long time.

The music is fantastic with a bit of old '30's songs as well as some fabulous bluesy bluegrass.

The song at the end by Alison Krauss and Union Station is simply beautiful.

Unfortunately youtube won't allow me to paste it up here so you'll have to search for it yourself.

She has the voice of an angel.

The song is "Lay my burden down"

Anyway here's a taste from the trailer.

Movie review...piff, paff, puff!

Have you seen this film?

We are lucky to have a local library full of some excellent choices.

This is one of them.

A touching story about a woman and her love of family and photography in the early 1900's Sweden.

Intimate...elegant...powerful.

A film full of the most exquisite imagery and beautiful music.

Thoughts on foxes and a movie review...

There's something about foxes that I love.

Maybe it's those lovely black stockings they have...

perhaps it's the slyness of their character...

those little perky ears and gorgeous copper eyes...

The fact that we don't have them here may be of some appeal.

No need to worry about them in the hen house.

I suppose the image of a fluffy, black tipped fox tale, bouncing through the countryside can be part of the romance..although the only time I have seen one was, unfortunately, dead on an Irish motorway.

I've even needle felted them to get a closer feel..

Given them a friend to hang out with...

Loved the movie 'The Fantastic Mr Fox'.

I have just ordered this precious necklace from http://myselvagedlife.etsy.com on etsy...

It reminded me of the door knocker on my great grandmothers house...hmmm...maybe that's where it all began...? I loved walking up to her door and lifting the heavy fox head, letting it's dark patina weight knock down on the door, announcing our visit.

So when I saw this movie that my nieces had picked out for their sleepover, I was intrigued.

It's the most beautifully filmed movie about a young girl, who's backyard is the hills, woods, creeks and mountains. Her obsession?

Wild foxes.

Some parts of the film can be a bit difficult for the young and weak at heart, BUT it is rated for general audiences and has some valuable lessons.

The scenery is breath taking.

Like I said, it is rated general and a lovely tale for young and old.

So here's to those gorgeous red heads.