THE CREEPING GARDEN is a documentary that successfully challenges everything we thought we knew about life on earth. The result is both fascinating and discomfiting, not unlike its subject, the slime mold, a life form that confounds all attempts to classify it as animal, vegetable, or fungal. It moves from place to place on its… Read More »
THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE
I am never going to have an aesthetic appreciation of the bird-eating spider. It’s about the size of a Bosc pear, hairy, and packing fangs that spout venom. Steve Irwin, cable television’s Crocodile Hunter, on the other hand, has a starry-eyed, ebullient adoration for it that makes the creature seem a little less loathsome. And… Read More »
Jacques Perrin Follows A WINGED MIGRATION
Few have had as varied and rich a career as Jacques Perrin, whose resume includes appearing in and co-producing the classic political thriller Z for Costa-Gavras, making an extended cameo in the French potboiler THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, and making fascinating films in homage to the natural world. His MICROCOSMOS took the world by storm… Read More »
Luc Jacquet Follows the MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
There is something completely irresistible about penguins, and I can’t think of any filmmaker who has done a better job of capturing that than Luc Jacquet. His documentary about their breeding season at the bottom of the world is engaging, enlightening, and unexpectedly moving. The man himself is just as engaging when I interviewed him on… Read More »
Steve and Terri Irwin Talk THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE
If there is a difference between the personnas that the Irwins project on their television show and film and how they are in person, I can’t fathom what it is. They’re engaging, fun, and passionate about educating kids (and maybe their parents, too) about the beauty and fragility of nature. They’re also fearless, it seems, about dealing… Read More »
Leila Conners Peterson on THE 11TH HOUR
When I talked with Leila Conners Petersen on August 8, 2007, the thing I most wanted to discuss was how her film, THE 11TH HOUR, >wasn’t< a rehashing of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Both deal with humankind’s effect on the environment, but Petersen and her filmmaking partners, Nadia Conners and Leonardo DiCaprio, wanted to do more… Read More »