Home Video Picks & Passes
- STEVEN GREYDANUS
Tired of mindless entertainment as usual? Two of the best antidotes imaginable are new on home video.
Paterson (2016) — PICK
Planet Earth II (2017) — PICK
He's happily married to Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), a restlessly creative soul who's as spontaneous as Paterson is routine-bound. The beauty of their relationship is how they enjoy one another and appreciate their differences. I enjoyed the time I spent with them more than maybe any movie couple ever.
My family and I love the groundbreaking 2006 BBC documentary series Planet Earth — but a decade later, Planet Earth II, again narrated by David Attenborough, is more astonishing, more awe-inspiring and more flat-out gorgeous than its predecessor.
Like the original series, Planet Earth II is divided into one-hour episodes (only seven rather than 11, alas), with themes like "Islands," "Mountains" and "Deserts" — though "Cities," which explores how wildlife coexist with major human populations, is a major departure for the brand.
I've seen a lot of nature documentaries, but few if any with such flagrantly beautiful cinematography — so many shots I would hang as prints on my wall. Recent technological advances have captured images the filmmakers could only dream of a decade ago. A treasure.
Caveat Spectator:
Paterson: Some innuendo; fleeting mild violence; some cursing. Teens and up.
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Acknowledgement
Steven Greydanus. "Home Video Picks & Passes." National Catholic Register (March 31, 2017).
This article is reprinted with permission from National Catholic Register. To subscribe to the National Catholic Register go here.
