An excellent day

[ironymaiden]

Land of the Bears 3D
this nature doc shows a year in the life of bears living in Kamchatka. the place feels like a mashup of Olympic National Park and Yellowstone. it was filmed in 3D rather than post-processed, which makes for stunning underwater sequences, birch forests, and floating clouds of steam. the size and robustness of the bear population and salmon run is beautiful and inspiring. (i admit to being a bit sleepy in the latter part, but that was due to sleep deprivation.)

In Order of Disappearance
this is showing again this week. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. it is darkly funny, reminiscent of both the Coen Brothers and early Tarantino, but still thoroughly Scandinavian. a snow plow driver systematically avenges his son's death. it's a cracking story once it gets rolling.

DamNation
dams aren't always awesome, and bureaucracy destroys lives, with bonus Monkey Wrench action. what we have destroyed is horrific, but there's also hope as the salmon return after dams are demolished. solid production values and storytelling. particularly interesting for Wasingtonians.

In Search of General Tso
ostensibly this is about the origin of the Chinese American dish, but it's more about the Chinese diaspora in the US. the second and third generation restauranteurs in the South are priceless, as are the folks in mainland China and Taiwan looking at pictures of General Tso's. fun. at the q&a afterward they had takeout for the first eight people to ask questions :)