quote: Sam Graham

---

Basically it's about penguins meeting up, breeding, then taking turns taking care of the egg/baby while each other makes food runs.

---

quote: Tracy Bellar

---

This was supposed to be limited release. Anyone know how many prints are out?

---

quote: Michael Schaffer

---

Isn't that basically what most people movies are about too?

---

quote: Sam Graham

---

Basically it's about penguins meeting up, breeding, then taking turns taking care of the egg/baby while each other makes food runs.

---

quote:

---

Isn't that what most people films are about?

---

quote: Sam Graham

---

Well...not the Quentin Tarantino ones...

---

The Quentin Taratino ones are about:
Basically it's about KILLERS meeting up, breeding, then taking turns taking care of the BABY/TARGET/BOSS while each other TALKS ABOUT food runs AND KILLS EVERYONE IN SITE.
 

---

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 07-23-2005, 11:18 PM:
 
I saw this one yesterday. While I admire the heck out of the cinematography, and the pluck that it took to film this, I would hasten to add that you shouldn't anthropomorphize animals.

50 cent word: an·thro·po·mor·phize Audio pronunciation of "anthropomorphize" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nthr-p-môrfz)
v. an·thro·po·mor·phized, an·thro·po·mor·phiz·ing, an·thro·po·mor·phiz·es
v. tr.

To ascribe human characteristics to.

v. intr.

To ascribe human characteristics to things not human.

Wait till you see Grizzly Man!
 

---

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-26-2005, 12:49 PM:
 
I agree. Animals don't do the things they do based on feelings or emotions, they're simply wired that way. They do what they do because it's been bred into them. That's it.

But yes, penguins can be cute. As long as you don't have to smell them.

This was fun to watch, but I felt like the film makers held back a bit in order to keep the G rating. And there were lots of families at the screening I attended. A pleasant way to get out of the miserable monsoon heat and humidity for a couple of hours.

* * * * *

Century Santa Fe 16
Sunday 7/24, 3:45pm
Screen #15 (slightly curved), $6.25 matinee
Approx 50 people

This is Century's newest 'plex in town, replacing their gang-banger ridden standalone one across the highway. There are advantages to having your 'plex inside a secure casino. And this one's located far enough away from the casino's food court that the per caps shouldn't suffer much. It's brand new, it's clean, and it looks great. Floor staff were all pleasant to deal with. I even filled out a film-related sweepstakes entry at the 'guest services' desk.

Presentation was pretty good. Print had a just a little bit of dirt here and there along with a couple of minor scratches. Lamp and picture focus looked good, aperture plate sized and filed very nicely. Framing was a tad high, just showing the bottom hard matte in the corners of the screen. Automation cues visible in black. Sound was fine.

A couple of minor room design quibbles: This screen uses the work lights to supplement the handful of regular down cans (it would be pretty dark in there without those works). The work lights aren't on dimmers so the transition into and out of the feature is rather abrupt.

The wall sconces look nice but radiate out into the house instead of just up and down the walls, creating a rather high light level even when dimmed for the show.

Whenever the door to the auditorium is opened one can see light patterns on the screen. They should baffle that somehow.

Overall, a pleasant trip to the movies. We'll see how the place ages. This location may replace the Century Suncoast as my new local default.
 

---

Posted by Jon Morgan (Member # 3059) on 07-31-2005, 02:49 PM:
 
This is the busiest film we've had since my theater's been open (since December of 2004). It's insane.
 

---

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 08-05-2005, 10:25 AM:
 
I'm not sure why I enjoyed this movie as much as I did. I don't particularly like or dislike penguins, although I guess they're ok. I don't particularly like or dislike Morgan Freeman, although I guess he's ok. Maybe it's just that a movie about birds that can't fly who live in Antarctica is a nice refreshing change from the usual crap we've been getting from Hollywood recently. But whatever it is, I liked this movie, a lot, and I will be seeing it again.
 

---

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 08-05-2005, 01:22 PM:
 
I hadn't known anything about this movie going into it so I was pleasently surprised that Morgran Freeman was narrating.
It's a good, National G movie but I think you've really got to be interested in some way to enjoy it.

Granted, I like penguins. It comes from being a Linux user but to be honest it bored me.
I can tell a good film even when I don't like it so I'll definitely say it's good.
Penguins are crazy! I'm sorry but walking 70 miles and not eating for 4 months? That's craziness I tell ya! Craziness!
 

---

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 08-10-2005, 09:10 AM:
 
This is a great picture. It shows the true power of the motion picture...the ability to see environments and situations one could never experience in any other way.

I'm sure the Academy will find a way for this NOT to be nominated for best Documentary.

The entire deserves credit for surviving that awful cold. The writing of the narration was terrific.

This is not a picture for young children. Some people with 3-4 year olds left the screening I attended. This is NOT a Disney picture.

After reading some of the other reviews about this picture, and the comments about Quentin Tarrentino, the thought of him doing a nature documentary is pretty funny. Penguin-noir could be a new genre.
 

---

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-09-2005, 03:08 AM:
 
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. I have an incredible amount of respect for those filmmakers and what they had to do to get 9 months worth of footage in that climate.

All other comments of mine have already been covered above.

4 out of 5 stars
 

---

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-11-2005, 10:31 PM:
 
I agree with Brad's review. Outstanding movie, and major kudos to the film crew for putting up with horrendous conditions to shoot this. I liked the music too, and Morgan Freeman was spot-on.

We (my wife and I) ran this for ourselves this afternoon to avoid being annoyed by the tiny kids brought in by idiot adults to the regular shows.

The only bad thing I can say about it is, the CRAP code really screwed it up in spots.

[ 09-15-2005, 02:45 AM: Message edited by: Mike Blakesley ]
 

---

Posted by John Pommon (Member # 648) on 09-18-2005, 04:01 PM:
 
"This is a terrific film that the whole family would enjoy"

This film did not keep the interest of little kids as they went stir crazy and annoyed the adults around them.

I felt like it was more a Wild World of Animals with romantic feature film music. It was blurry & gave me a slight headache.

Hats off to those that merchandised a nature film documentary onto the big silver screen.
 

---

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-18-2005, 09:00 PM:
 
I agree with John that it's not a kids movie. But smart kids were entertained by it.
 

---

Posted by Carey Barber (Member # 1586) on 09-26-2005, 07:51 AM:
 
Excellent film. One of the best documentaries I have seen. That pretty much sums it up.

Also, I really, really, want a penguin.
 

---

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 09-28-2005, 06:02 AM:
 
I just have to add my kudos for the cinematography.
 

---

Posted by Paul Gordon (Member # 3320) on 10-03-2005, 07:09 AM:
 
Great film, and nice and short for change over theatres ( 4 reels) but whats with the Penguin swimming and diving shots? I've only watched it while projecting but it sure looked like they were digital penguins swimming around at points. Anyway we played this movie with Charlie and the Chocolate factory and we were packed (400+)
 

---

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 10-05-2005, 03:16 PM:
 
Those underwater shots must have been shot on some type of digital video. I noticed a diamond pattern visible in the dark water. Strange....

Anyway for the movie........

This would have been a GREAT IMAX film. It would also make an excellent National Geographic Channel show.

As it was shot and released (16mm blowup to 35mm) it was a watchable, entertaining film. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. Don't get me wrong, it was very well done and narrated but the somewhat grainy picture took away from the beauty of the scenery. Had this been done in IMAX, it would have been the best 2D nature documentary that's been done.

3 out of 5 stars
 

---

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-31-2006, 05:26 PM:
 
I have never been a huge fan of nature documentaries.
I have channel surfed to the Discovery Channel in the past and have seen some things that looked cool, but nothing that really held my interest.
Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen them from the beginning so I really didn’t know what was happening.

Morgan Freeman is the narrator for the American version of this French documentary, which follows the mating habits of penguins.
Each year, the penguins travel 70 miles from the edge of Antarctica to a more stable surface so they can court, mate, and raise baby penguins.
They spend months on end without food and standing out in the cold.
From keeping each other warm, dodging prey, protecting their eggs safe from the cold and in some cases each other, you get to see the trials and dangers they face throughout their journey.

Even if you are not a penguin lover, I will recommend this one.
Although it didn’t blow me away, I thought this was a good, well-made documentary that I could see myself watching again.

I’ll give it a 4 out of 5.
 

---