p e n g u i n d e v i l

Though you wouldn’t think it from my lack of posting, I have actually managed to get some movies into this rather strange feeling week.

First of, we watched The Last Winter. An intriguing supernatural/crazypeople story played out in a desolate arctic landscape, brought to you by the folks behind Wendigo… It’s one of those where they are isolated and they aren’t sure if someone is going insane, is possessed or if there is something else out there in the dark. As such, it’s hard to not compare it to The Thing. But they really aren’t that similar. Ron Perlman heads up a crew of oil exploration folks who are slowed down by the weather and hoping to get a green light from their environmental guy to go ahead with their work. But James LeGros is the environmental impact guy and he is intent that something is wrong out there… And not just the temperature. Maybe there are reasons to keep the permafrost frozen… Or is it just bigeye? Soon one of them starts acting strange and seeing things, and then people start dying and then there’s more seeing things. Are people hallucinating ghostly beasts out there in the dark? Are they going crazy? Then more people die. There is even some “end pollution” message stuff in there, played out against the continual strife between Perlman and LeGros. All in all, I thought it was entertaining and worth watching for a sort-of subtle horror-type movie. I liked it quite well. I love the environment of the ant/arctic and it’s got some nice corpse and gruesome effects.

what’s under that box out there?

clothes are strongly recommended

We also watched Doctor Zhivago. Something that I vaguely remembered from watching on tv as a kid. It is quite the classic! Epic in scope and surrounded by historical events. The story of a young man from a good background who becomes a doctor and falls in love with a woman. The trouble is that, though he is Russian and is from a wealthy family, the revolution begins he becomes a bit persecuted. Oh, and the other trouble is that the woman he loves is not his intended bride. Of course, he marries his intended, but he and this other woman seem to conveniently turn up in the same places. So it’s bascially the story of a love that won’t die played out in the background of an upper-class doctor becoming a comrade doctor, but he doesn’t seem to mind at all. Doctor Zhivago himself seems a bit dulled to all of the political struggle going on around him. He just happily continues on, through poverty and persecution, carrying on this affair whenever it works out. At times he seems almost simple minded. But it is Omar Sharif, and with his good looks and the easy going charm and goodnaturedness he shows in this, you just can’t help but like him, even though it’s really an adultery story.

There is some wonderful cinematography, great sets and a top-notch cast, including Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson and, yes, Klaus Kinski!