shobill

In this SciFi Channel original, an accident in a nuclear lab in St. Louis causes not only the creation of a black hole, but unleashes an alien creature that feeds on energy. A scientist and his female partner team up with a maverick general to solve the growing menace while the military embarks on a typical blow-it-up solution that could wreak disaster for the world.

I found the idea of a small black hole created on Earth intriguing, and it was interesting watching it eat up everything around it. (So it "can't" happen, but hey, it is science fiction!) Unfortunately, screenwriter David Goodin, who is responsible for "Larva," another TV movie that flopped, again shows himself adept at giving us a general plot and characters who are tired and clichéd. You know, the implausible story of the world-threatening event that is handled by the lone scientist (instead of every intelligent professional in the world) and simplistic government officials who make FEMA look good! Even if we accept this script as a mediocre formula tale, we would hope for at least semi-intelligent dialogue and a director who had some slight ability for pacing. (Tibor Tacaks has, according to IMDb, directed some 28 films, and I don't think any of them rated over 5). Perhaps with such a weak structure, we can forgive the wooden, lackluster acting from a cast who must have figured at least it was a way to make a quick buck.

I'm pretty tolerant of formula sci fi, even when the premise is implausible, but this one is bad even for a TV movie.

Every time our annual international film fest hits town, I scan all the offerings, with special attention to Iranian productions. I have seen so many fascinating films from a country that, in recent years, has banned Hollywood and other films foreign to them, and yet their filmmakers, despite having to follow strict guidelines and risking censorship at every turn, produce some of the finest films in world cinema.

This documentary features interviews with several Iranian filmmakers, plus clips from a number of their best films. Among various aspects of Iranian film-making, they talk about how their reflective films differ from the Hollywood action variety, although there is such a role for Iranian film as well. What perhaps is really remarkable is how freely these producer/directors talk in a critical way about the censorship exercised in their country. The clever ways they get around it actually appear to challenge and enhance their creativity (as Duke Ellington once said, in describing how he had to compose his music to fit the talents and limitations of his band members, "It can be good to have limits"). Unusual scenarios between husbands and wives get around the rule that men and women, even when married, can't touch. Children are sometimes used to state in an allegorical or analogous fashion what could not be presented by adult characters. And the role of women is wondrously portrayed in these productions from a country that severely limits women's roles.

This film takes concentration to appreciate, but is every bit worth the effort.

My woman friend and I were entranced by this excellent little documentary. The unique complexity of the mating and breeding of these Emperor penguins is amazing and moving. At the end I did have questions and longed for more information about these fascinating creatures. A friend commented to me that you could see much the same thing in a TV documentary special (and in fact, National Geographic produced this film). True enough, but this one is worth seeing on the big screen in the theater with an audience. The photography is stunning; I am rarely cold in a movie theater, but the portrait of ice and cold winds made me shiver. Stay for the closing credits and the inset of the photographers with the penguins.