Where does the time go? Well, for example, it might go on several trips, pick up and move across town, and lose its calculator and assorted small household items. Just, you know, guessing. In between, time has been spending itself at the movies, and here's a round up of what's been seen since our last visit: a chocolate factory, an imaginary island retreat, and some marching penguins. First, to Antarctica.
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is this year's must-see documentary. Yeah, I know, you're thinking 'penguins?' Marching? Like it's some kind of movie about an Alaskan high-school band. But it is so much better than that no matter how much you like Souza and a drum majorette. Instead, MARCH follows a flock of Emperor penguins as they leave the sea, trek across Antarctica to their mating grounds, find a mate, then share the duties of protecting the egg and feeding the chick before parting again to return to the sea. Did I mention this was Antarctica? In the winter? In his warm-voiced voiceover, Morgan Freeman exposits that interior Antarctica is the driest place on Earth (fun fact: did you know they use the Antarctic Dry Valleys as practice runs for the Mars rovers?), but you wouldn't know it around midwinter, when the wind is howling and snow is blowing and the sun doesn't peak above the horizon. Yet there those male penguins sit, balancing their one egg, their one hope for a new generation, on their little penguin feet all freaking winter, while the females return to the sea -- 70 or more flash-frozen miles away -- to replenish themselves and bring back food for the chicks. And then she sits with the chick on HER feet while the male goes back to feed, and then he returns and the bird family is reunited for a short while before both male and female head back to sea, leaving a new flock of chicks in the Antarctic summer, learning to swim and fish and make reservations on that passing Carnival cruise ship. It's some kind of miracle that there's an Emperor penguin left on Earth at all, and that's the wonder of this movie, the fragility and determination of life to survive and find its way, no matter the hardship involved.
Oh, and for those of you pushing this movie as an Antipodean animal-kingdom endorsement of monogamy and love (see articles here and here), try to remember two things: first, they ditch each other at the end of winter and for all we know, never cross paths again; and second, people, they're BIRDS. But we love them anyway.
On the sweet side, there was this summer's candy-themed movie, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (based on the classic book by Roald Dahl), which imposed the hardship of laughing oneself silly every time those Oompa-Loompas came out. The fact that they were all played by one man (Deep Roy), albeit one hysterically funny little man, made it even better. The fun begins when kind, poverty-stricken Charlie (Freddie Highmore) wins 1 of 5 Golden Tickets to tour Willie Wonka's (Johnny Depp) Chocolate Factory. The other children are various versions of BAD KIDS, too spoiled to appreciate the wonder of Wonka's wacky factory, but Charlie sees the charm and wins Willie's heart. This was a weird and funny movie, probably too dark and complex for very small children. But it is perfect for those a bit older and their parents and grown-up friends. And then there were the Oompa-Loompas, who appeared magically to sing an alliterative snarky song and do a synchronized dance each time a BAD KID got what he or she deserved. Johnny Depp adopts a look for Wonka that is both funny and creepy and not coincidentally reminiscent of one Mr. Michael Jackson. But he is so good, and the kid who plays Charlie is so perfect (he played opposite Depp in last year's FINDING NEVERLAND), that after a while you banish Jacko from your mind and join the fun in Wonka's world.
Here's a final question: Who wants to go to THE ISLAND? Apparently, no one did, as it was one of the summer's biggest box office bombs. Do you even remember that the movie was out? Admittedly, the pitch was difficult: picture a movie where the marketing and moral issues surrounding what is gingerly called 'therapeutic cloning' are explored in between car chases, explosions, and attractive actresses hanging far above the street on a giant letter D. The main characters, Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan MacGregor) and Jordan 2 Delta (Scarlett Johannson), live in a futuristic underground society in a sterile, winter-white environment that is decorated like the waiting room of some giant hospital (picture ferns, relaxing seascapes). Born, educated, and put to work in their world, the inhabitants are told that the Earth outside has been ravaged by some made-up environmental catastrophe like global warming and the only wild place left is the eponymous Island, where every so often a lucky inhabitant is sent to live after winning "the lottery." Apparently, none of them has ever read Shirley Jackson's short story by that name (full text of which is available here) or seen LOGAN'S RUN, because they are excited about the prospect of winning. But we know the Island, she don't exist. Eventually Lincoln and Jordan figure that out and escape to the outside, where they are shocked to learn the truth underlying their existence. Right about then, the movie starts on a long round of mayhem that detracts mightily from what intellectual momentum it had going for it, which is too bad. This is one of those so-so sci-fi movies about important sci-fact topics (you know cloning is just around the corner, or if you live in South Korea, next door, and all movies about it are so off the mark) that come along now and then. A good example is GATTACA, which took a look at what happens to human ambition when dinged genes are eliminated before birth. It was a timely and relevant topic, pretty well done, then undercut by the "going to space in Armani suits" ending. Similarly, THE ISLAND has too many brains to be pure summer action, but not enough heart to really make a difference.