Tonight we went out to the movies at the Arclight Theatre, to see Winged Migration, a French documentary with amazing in-flight films of many kinds of birds.

Astounding photography for sure -- you definitely feel like you're right up there with them as they fly over land and sea. It's simply amazing that they can produce this kind of film with such close-ups shots of the birds in flight.

But there are many other kinds of birds too, including puffins, penguins, eagles, owls, and an English robin living in France. Background scenery for most parts is also breathtaking, as when they follow a flight up birds winging over a hilltop castle somewhere in France, or a flight of white geese over a dark background.

Overall I strongly recommend this movie, even though at times the editing seems disjointed. There isn't much plan to the film -- just a lot of great scenes pasted together. A lot of eye candy for sure, and most of the birds chosen are geese, swans, or cranes so they're easy to follow and fly along with.



Other movies we've watched on DVD over the past few weeks:

The Tuxedo, probably the worst Jackie Chan flick I've ever seen, not that I've seen all that many, but it just had no redeeming factors whatsoever. Most of his recent films have been fun, but this one is just plain dumb in more ways that one.

Dogma, really good for the first half, okay for the second. George Carlin playing a Roman Catholic cardinal is not to be missed. Recommended for all my Catholic pals.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, just okay. Hard to follow some of the dialogue, maybe have to be in more of a Shakespeare mood.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a classic that's actually not too bad, though slow-paced by today's standards.

Dude, Where's My Car?, liked quite a bit, which may seem odd for me, but it's not as dumb as it might seem at first glance. Well, maybe it is, but it has many amusing bits and actually tells a story.

Animals Are Beautiful People, not what I expected, which was a kind of funniest-videos but with only animals. Instead it was more of a nature documentary on part of Africa, with strongly anthropomorphized narration in terms of animal behaviour on the screen. Not sure whether it was meant as a mockumentary or not, but if so it wasn't successful.

World At War, vol. 1, just one that I watched during commute time on the train. A great series covering WW II made some time ago, but containing much wartime footage that I've not seen. Very good if you're interested in the subject matter. The whole series runs some 40 hours, so it'll take a while to get through in bits and pieces.