Reviews

Are you fearless? It may be impossible not to be at the opening aerial view of the thrilling documentary "Race to the Summit." It is a wintery eagle's eyes view of a gigantic rocky face belonging to a mountain summit. Sighted on the intolerant rigged wall is a moving orange-bluish speck. At initial thought, it may resemble a clover mite. At closer zoom, he is a world-renowned alpine climber in protective overalls. Seeing below him might be beyond 1,000 meters.

A sense likened to witnessing a daredevil accent to the top of the Empire State Building with their bare hands. Champion mountaineer Ueli Steck pushes it further than a thrill-seeker; he paces toward the summit. One commentator in the movie conveyed that Ueli's fingers are part of his life insurance policy. It's a setting for one of the year's most action-packed non-fiction films. It is Director Götz Werner's first feature; he has a background in producing extreme sports media.

Indeed, it is a nail-biting, frightening watch. A fall of 3 meters can break bones and reported death resulted from between several and 10 feet. Mr. Warner soon helps audiences comprehend why he gets our nerves piping, and concerns increase for the two principal characters, both Swiss natives.

The central story is introduced early: a years-trekking competition between two prime alpine climbers to speed climb on the Swiss Alps's mighty north faces in record time. The playing field is the mountaineers' vastly challenging trio, a vertical steep skyline surfaces: the Grandes Jorasses, Matterhorn, and Eiger Schweiz.

The film chronicles the intense preparation, training, lives, and accomplishments of Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold. Interviews with Arnold, Steck, their sporting partners, and close associates are included. The filmmakers tried. Some emotional input may be handled like the mountain's frigid air. The competitors are often unconcerned about their welfare despite severe risks: fame, commercialism, and mass media coat the documentary's portions as a snowstorm.

Excerpts are incorporated about the men's marriages and extended families. I noticed scenes cut quickly for viewers' heartstrings to be strummed. One includes Dani's teary-eyed spouse's reflection on her husband's continued alpine career after their daughter's birth. The film repays her visit near the conclusion, but the critical effect needs to be added.

Much adventurous attention is provided to the rivalry. Ueli began by claiming his first solo, rope-less climb at Eiger's summit in two hours and 47 minutes. He resumed to the Matterhorn and Grandes in record markings. Then Dani figures he could beat Ueli's Eiger time, and he does in two hours and 28 minutes. Later, Mr. Steck returns to reclaim his Eiger record from Dani. Yet Arnold resumes to seize numerous alpine speed achievements. At the end of it, what are their worthy prize and human contributions? Undue sacrifice, self-blood guilt, and lineage abandonment constantly lie at the mountain edge.

The men vary in multiple modes, particularly in training for these events. The filmmakers ably contrast and display their personalities. The scenic cinematography is captivating, and the original music scored by Sheridan Tongue vibrates with impetus. The film's producer is Nicholas de Taranto.

The movie's honesty is a highlight. Individuals who worked closely with Arnold and Steck praise them but acknowledge their disagreements, criticize the athletes, and relate to the menaces of alpine climbing. The movie contains perilous mountain-climbing scenes, several curses, and thematic and tragic notices of accidental deaths. A photograph of male bareback nudity is held in view. Note: Since the first submission, editorial corrections have been made.

"Do you see what your gods have done, Bansabiri?" The question was issued to the high priestess from one of her victims after their Greek island Thera was brutally assaulted by a violent volcano, which viciously wreaked their prosperous Minoan society. The controlling priestess ruler believed 'Shaker' is punishing her people, prompting her to become a blood-thirsty seeker of sacrifices to appease the angry deity. In truth, Bansabiri (Isadora Verwey) leads a blood-guilty party misleading her citizens in false worship resulting in a significant loss of life. In a time of great peril and natural havoc, the wrong information may place you in grave danger. The UK producers of this successfully dramatic documentary gambled on an ancient, mysterious legend of a lost, advanced civilization of Atlantis mixing factual knowledge with myth and physiological evidence. From my viewpoint, they won their bet, even if all the facts don't tie in with a 4th-century tale coined by the Philosopher Plato. The film effectively linked the myth generated by surviving accounts of a super, ash-spitting volcano with a terrific fictional story about a young couple Yishhua and Pinaruti (Stephanie Leonidas and Reece Ritchie) experiencing the disaster. The characters are well developed and expertly performed by capable actors, aided by excellent scriptwriting (by Rhidian Brook with others, historians), direction (Tony Mitchell), and production standards. The CGI effects realistically applied in appropriate measures, some of it appear unrealistically animated. However, considering this is a documentary, not a Hollywood big-budget epic. It is easy to note that the BBC motion picture is better than many cheesy disaster flicks. The film contains disaster-rated deaths, injuries, and peril, mild violence. An individual catches on fire resulting in acute burnt wounds. There is a quick kiss, flirtatious expressions, suspicion of adultery but sensuality is non-existing, except for a bare-chested young man and cleavage-revealing attire worn by Minoan women.

Guava is a well-known fruit, sweet, highly nutritious, and serving as the name for a fictional island in this musical-comedy vehicle for a rising star, Danny Glover. In this film, he taps into his talents of acting and music band experience. Glover's performance as this spirited, dreaming artist bursts with his vast artistry Glover plays a struggling, aspirating part-time radio performer who is obligated to maintain his dock shift at a blue silk producing industry. Deni wants to share his tunes with tropical residents on an island heavy handily controlled by the blue silk, significant mafia employer, Red Cargo.

Deni hosts a free festival which the boss won't approve. Deni faces a dilemma. Will he play it safe and keep peace with the seriously threatening Red Cargo. Or would our hero avert disheartening his fans and beautiful girlfriend, Sofi for this much anticipating event? Let me stop; this is technically a short film, it's less than an hour.

It's too easy to explain it all here because the story thins out like perhaps, the tread of the blue silk. With it, Sofi's character is somewhat of a letdown, not fully developed, although nicely performed by another professional musician, Rihanna. She begins the movie with her narration yet the shortness of Guava Island does not allow her to sing. The outcome may be a disappointment for some audiences, signaling how another actress could have performed the role.

Guava Island is entertaining, underlining the freedom of creative expression and the social elements suppressing it. It's an ambitious project for co-producer Glover and his associates. Hiro Murai takes advantage of this opportunity well infusing his art of film direction. Another ten or so production minutes could have added a little beef to this sweetness including the relationship between Sofi and Deni.

In most of the movie, Deni is open-shirted, bare-chested, the dancing may be suggestive to viewers, there's a shooting death, a pregancy is noted, and the s-word is singing a few times.

Leave it to Stevie, he can get the job done. He's a first-year dad sharing with his lovely spouse the challenging responsibility of raising two, growing youngsters. To get to that junction, Steve had to build a foundation to cultivate his household. He has to travel to the right location, build and protect his home, and wait to meet his possibly life-long partner. You might imagine I'm talking about young suburbans in America or elsewhere in global communities. They are penguins, this is their story with Steve taking the lead as narrator Ed Helms guides along in the icy frontier. With a general title, Penguins is a whimsical and clever take on a well-known delightful film animal. You might recall the 2005 documentary, March of the Penguins which provided a more realistic perspective of these birds' lives. They have been the subject of some fictional live action and animation movies. This here is familiar penguin material, the filmmakers' awareness prompt them to keep it entertaining. With a fish-full of life lessons without preaching, Penguins relates to young and older ones the struggles of raising a family with less intensity of the March of Penguins, and with more fun. There are many humorous moments, some a bit strained but not irritating. Steve and his wife, Adélie face hardships feeding their children, from hungry predators, and harsh weather. It is a choice family film and a rare full length G-rated movie. I viewed it with a small audience of children with their guardians and elderly persons. The photography is spacious and exceptional. The storyline might push it limits a bit, Penguins was a pleasure to watch and wonder about these tuxedo fur characters.

Leave it to Stevie, he can get the job done. He's a first-year dad sharing with his lovely spouse the challenging responsibility of raising two, growing youngsters. To get to that junction, Steve had to build a foundation to cultivate his household. He has to travel to the right location, build and protect his home, and wait to meet his possibly life-long partner. You might imagine I'm talking about young suburbans in America or elsewhere in global communities. They are penguins, this is their story with Steve taking the lead as narrator Ed Helms guides along in the icy frontier. With a general title, Penguins is a whimsical and clever take on a well-known delightful film animal. You might recall the 2005 documentary, March of the Penguins which provided a more realistic perspective of these birds life. They have been the subject of some fictional live action and animation movies. This here is familiar penguin material, the filmmakers' awareness prompt them to keep it entertaining. With a fish-full of life lessons without preaching, Penguins relates to young and older ones the struggles of raising a family with less intensity of the March of Penguins, and with more fun. There are many humorous moments, some a bit strained but not irritating. Steve and his wife, Adelene face hardships feeding their children, from hungry predators, and harsh weather. It is a choice family film and a rare full length G-rated movie. I viewed it with a small audience of children with their guardians and elderly persons. The photography is spacious and exceptional. The storyline might push its limits a bit, Penguins was a pleasure to watch and wonder about these tuxedo fur characters.

In this follow-up to the 2006 award-winning documentary, former vice-president Al Gore engages a relentless global campaign to slow the earthly havoc of climate change. In this film, he is the hero confronting the villains, the opposition of those criticizing his agenda and naysayers rejecting environmental disasters contributed by global warming. Where, might you guess are the battlegrounds of these confrontations? In so much of An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, these are the governmental administrations; the weapons have politics as their ammunition under the guise of diplomacy. That is the movie's story here in my viewpoint, where the real-life drama lies having political leaders, officials, and Gore's associates as supporting characters. Al Gore has admirable qualities; he is an exceptional speaker and capable dealmaker, holding the attention of his listeners. His presentations alerting about climate change are compelling, boiling with evidence, well-researched and prepared. Kudos for the film's producers and directors gathering stunning footage from across the globe revealing how severe and life-threatening the continual damage of our spherical residence. Here's the problem with the movie; it depends too much on politics as the ultimate solution, the happy ending. Can our world leaders save this earth by regulating their nations' carbon footprints, by enacting the policies Al Gore recommends? Mr. Gore quotes Bible scriptures including an indirect recitation of Moses' words (Deuteronomy). He indicates other Biblical references such as a statement from the book of Revelation. Oddly he seems to credit 'Mother Nature' above God. Perhaps, the most suitable scriptures Mr. Gore may quote are Psalms 146: 3, 4. You may read them; the bleak reality of those ancient verses radiates in the documentary, especially after Gore, his endorsers confront stunning setbacks and disappointments. A lot of what else is Mr. Gore's show, we hear some but not enough from environmental experts and scientists' expressions, hardy any shown at his capacity-filled presentations to support Gore's arguments. In the film, the camera follows Gore close enough to leave out personal involvement outside the political theater. You and I have a stake in this matter. Isn't it true other than us urging and voting for local administrators to implant renewable energy options? (I am neutral to politics, the film isn't.) Example, Mr. Gore noted the high number of cell phones used globally, more than the earth's population. How often have you seen discarded, used, broken cell phones on streets and in the garbage? It is not unbelievable that the chemical leakage from the phones and other electronic devices affect the ground and water supply. Why didn't the film share this little fact, in addition to how many plastic items and other materials are poorly discarding by the tons? In the feature film we see Mr. Gore engages a passionate endeavor counseling an Asian country to divert their plans to build coal power distributers in exchange for an alternative energy solver. That solution names a single option for renewable energy and one, commericial provider of the power source, none others for either. Strangely, Gore never appears to prompt his listeners and supporters to consider these energy answers for their residences and commutes. Instead, they are urged to inform their communities in hope of motivating their leaders to tree hug their nations. Did I miss something important; what is our personal accountability in the issue of these grave enviromential ills? The movie provides truth to power poof of climate change excluding much the audience's indivividual impact. If you are not rooting for the Gore team, the film might either disinvolve or bore you into disinterest. Please do not be discouraged, there is real hope for our future; it is advisable to keep searching for it outside of this film.

Four accomplished science professionals are summoned for a secret session in a room. They become entrapped inside this small space without a bathroom, obligated in calculating together a solution to save themselves and possibly, two parallel universes. Although, it feels like it, its better than a well-performed Twilight Zone episode. Writer-Director-Photographer Björn Engström involves the viewers, closely acquainting us with the characters, following their progress as the clock ticks away towards a cosmic disaster they must prevent. The playing fields are the mathematical configurations scribbling on notebooks. Engström fascinates and dramatize a modern science fiction tale exceptionally with favorable performances from unknown actors. The film is a little over an hour length, so I'll hold back giving away spoilers. There are a few words of strong profanity which may be uncomfortable for individuals to hear.