Movies

Let me start off by saying if you haven't enabled yourself to see just about any movie in existence then you most probably only have a small window to do so. Our self proclaimed masters are just about to shut it down soon to protect corporate profits. Go get DivX software and install it. It's an established 20 year old piece of software that enables Windows whatever to recognize AVI video which is the format that 99% of movies online are stored in. It's unobtrusive, doesn't steal data, and when it's installed it enables you to see anything you want automatically.

And I've mentioned that this time of the year is a goldmine for film aficionados because studios send evaluation discs out to academy members. They want to make sure the voting members see their efforts before the Oscars. Sure as shootin' some of them upload DVD quality movies and we can joyfully reap the benefits. The Mrs and I are currently working our way through the nominees, and let me assure you every one of them is online for your perusal, academy member or not. Tonight we'll watch Clooney's The Descendants.

What we saw last night just blew me away.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams is simply one of the most astonishing documentaries I've ever seen. Werner Herzog brings you into an intimate exploration of a cave in France with the oldest known pictographs yet discovered. Yeah sure, a lot of video of the ancient drawings is presented, but the doc is so much more. Apparently the cave was pretty much wide open tens of thousands of years ago but a cliffside collapsed and sealed the interior, keeping it in pristine condition. Only extremely limited access was granted to Herzog and his film crew. They made the most of their time.

I'm positively haunted by that film. My wife and I talked about it for hours afterward. What it does is present the viewer with enigmas and tantalizing glimpses of an ancient worldview that engages your imagination in endless ways. Who were these people and why would they ever have crawled into a mountainside and done this? Their exquisite artistry is stunning beyond belief; they had to have had an intimacy with the drawn animals we can only guess about. Scientists determined that thousands of years went by after the first cave paintings and then others came in, with torches, to do more artwork on the walls.
If you're interested at all with this, do yourself a favor and download the software mentioned above, then go here and type in Cave of Forgotten Dreams. It's up to you to find the hosting site that's best - I use Sockshare, Videoweed and Gorillavid. If you find your selection on Stagevu it's easily downloaded to a hard drive. Most of the others are paid subscription.
While you're at it watch The Artist and The Help, fantastic movies that more than made up for a previously dismal lineup of 2011 comic book offerings.