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Newsgroups: rec.backcountry From: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) Subject: [l/m 1/21/93] Film/Cinema Distilled wisdom (27/28) XYZ Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 12:20:13 GMT Message-ID: <1993Jan27.122013.2204@nas.nasa.gov> Lines: 340

Panel 27

GOOD CIMEMA (available for VCR) Documentary

%A Mike Hoover %T Solo %I Pyramid Films %C Santa Monica %X Winner Academy award, short documentary 1975-6?. %T The Making of Solo

Doug Robinson's new climbing film El Capitan by Fred Padua Grade VI on Skis

%A Glen Denny %T Nyala %X preceded Solo with the same themes.

Numerous films on El Cap, climbing, etc. Numerous ski films by Warren Miller or Dick Barrymore. Five Summer Stories -- MacGillivary-Freeman Films (best surfing film)

Lawrence of Arabia by David Lean starring Peter O'Toole a real story "Tell me why Mr. Lawrence, do you like the desert?" --Lowell Thomas "It's clean." Perhaps one of the greatest films ever made. Influential, a tiny bit stereotypical. Even Ed Abbey liked it. Sweeping music and vistas.

Fiction

%T The Mountain %X Spenser Tracy and Robert Wagner Interesting

%T The White Tower %X Glenn Ford, too political (anti-German for the times)

From the ever popular Edward Abbey is book The Brave Cowboy, the film Lonely are the Brave -- with K. Douglas, sleeper written by E. Abbey Downhill Racer -- R. Redford Numerous Disney films. Jereimah Johnson -- R. Redford, 70s back to nature story of mountain man John "Liver-Eating" Johnson, whose cabin is now a museum in Red Lodge, Montana. The Electric Horseman -- R. Redford, J. Fonda Comes A Horseman -- J. Fonda [Numerous Cowboy/Western/Country films] Night of the Grizzley -- C. Walker, popular is not as realistic K2 -- Michael Biehn, Patricia Charbonney (sp)

Out of Africa - not a sleeper but you'll sleep through it The Mission - lots of south american jungle, religious/political wars

From the March 1990 issue of Sierra by D.C. (10 films) (recent bias): Never Cry Wolf -- Charles Martin Smith, Dir. C. Ballard, who directed The Black Stallion Dersu Uzala by Kurosawa The Bear Koyaanisquasi The Emerald Forest [Violent, Dir. John Boorman] The Last Wave [Dir. Peter Weir] The Gods Must be Crazy [D. Conner must have been crazy to suggest this] Bambi [See last comment] Aguirre, The Wrath of God [Dir. W. Herzog] Star Trek IV [This is pushing it.]

Medicine Man

At Play in the Fields of God

%T Alive %X Note: two versions (both good).

What makes good outdoor cinema? (discussed twice) -------------------------------

1) A good plot. It is not sufficient to have nice photography/cinematography. 2) Good acting. 3) Good photography/cinematography. 4) Good direction. Timing, pace, continuity, sound, etc.

Deliverance -- John Boorman, director with B. Reynolds, J. Voight, N. Beatty and J. Dickey himself. Violent. Dickey is perhaps one of the premiere writers alive in the US, certainly the poet laureate of the American SE.

The Deer Hunter -- Cimino with DeNiro and Streep. Violent powerful allegory. [not favorable to Vietnamese] Much artistic license: Mt. Baker as mountains in Penn.

Too violent a list? See the G rated Black Stallion noted above. A fine film. Ballard went on to direct Never Cry Wolf, another fine film.

POOR CIMENA The White Tower -- Nazis versus the Americans before WWII.

%T The Eiger Sanction %X Clint Eastwood %X Spectaular climbing, BAD spy plot.

Red Dawn -- Cold war premise, limited realism: white man fire. Five Days One Summer -- S. Connery, bad plot, climbing. High Mountain Rangers -- Robert Conrad, silly high/tech drama Sierra (renamed Park Rangers) -- Perhaps a must see, the film which had a TV series follow it. Noted for painting rocks in Yosemite to make them look more real. Films produced by a small Park City Company like the Mountain Family Robinson with weak plot lines and simplistic problems. Various "snow bunny" films.

Numerous climbing films available from a slew of sources. Some available thru the GPIW.

Eugene, I think you should include those films which the climbers may be tempted to see, but actually have nothing to do with climbing. This will spare them expense and disappointment. Some suggestions:

Exposed Death Wish -- Bronson Sudden Impact -- Oh, yeah Dirty Harry Aliens Nuts El Topo Picnic at Hanging Rock >Hanging Rock is a popular beginner's rock-climbing area, about 45km north of >Melbourne, Victoria. The film was shot on location and it is possible to spot >some of the routes in it. So perhaps there is some interest for rock-climbers >:-). > >Rohan. Valley Girl Beyond Therapy They Call Me Royal?

John Morton University of California jmorton@euler.berkeley.edu Mechanical Engineering {decvax,cbosgd}!ucbvax!euler!jmorton Machine Shop

I think over again my small adventures My fears Those small ones that seemed so big For all the vital things I had to get and to reach And yet there is only one great thing The great thing To live and to see the great day that dawns And the light that fills the world. -- Old Innuit song

TABLE OF CONTENTS of this chain:

27/ Films/cinema references <* THIS PANEL *> 28/ References (written) 1/ DISCLAIMER 2/ Ethics 3/ Learning I 4/ learning II (lists, "Ten Essentials," Chouinard comments) 5/ Summary of past topics 6/ Non-wisdom: fire-arms topic circular discussion 7/ Phone / address lists 8/ Fletcher's Law of Inverse Appreciation and advice 9/ Water Filter wisdom 10/ Words from Rachel Carson 11/ Snake bite 12/ Netiquette 13/ Questions on conditions and travel 14/ Dedication to Aldo Leopold 15/ Leopold's lot. 16/ Morbid backcountry/memorial 17/ Information about bears 18/ Poison ivy, frequently ask, under question 19/ Lyme disease, frequently ask, under question 20/ "Telling questions" backcountry Turing test (under construction) 21/ AMS 22/ Words from Foreman and Hayduke 23/ A bit of song (like camp songs) 24/ What is natural? 25/ A romantic notion of high-tech employment 26/ Other news groups of related interest, networking

Article 26252 of rec.backcountry: Newsgroups: rec.backcountry Path: data.nas.nasa.gov!wilbur.nas.nasa.gov!eugene From: eugene@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) Subject: BC in Movies Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov (News Administrator) Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 03:34:25 GMT Message-ID: <1992Nov3.033425.2748@nas.nasa.gov> Lines: 98

Ah another previous topic.

One can chose numerous G and PG-13 rated films. The D film has been covered. I chose Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter as another "flawed masterpiece."* [*flawed masterpiece is not my term, but it describes the quality of the film]. The film is rated R for a small amount of sex and a considerable bit of violence (perhaps some of the most realistic violence ever shown on screen: Total Recall doesn't have anything on this film). Stop reading now if you think you will get sick.

The film is an allegoric anti-war film produced in 1978/9 and was overshadowed by Hal Ashby's Coming Home [w/ Jane Fonda and Jon Viogt] and Frances Coppola's Apocolypse Now. The Deer Hunter is the film which pushed Robert DeNiro into his great status (as the Deer Hunter: Michael) and gave real name recognition to Meryl Streep (who plays the girlfriend of Nick). It also typecast Christopher Walken (as Nick, an up and coming outdoors man) and John Savage (Steve, the third of the best buddies) but made them notable stars if crazy roles. The film is a long film by most standards and it gave Cimino enough money and recognition that his next film Heaven's Gate was a flop.

Spoilers:

The story revolved around three very close friends and a small number of lesser friends who grew up in a working class Russian-American steel mill in Penn. It details their ethnic and social lives before and after their experience in Vietnam, and the fundamental changes which took place in all of them. As a Vietnam film, it has no immediate base in reality, so it can only be taken at an allegorical level. In fact Cimino has taken so many liberties, you wonder about the value of the film.

Some of the most beautiful (well filmed) outdoor scenes ever to appear on the silver screen which were supposed to have taken place in the Allegheny Mountains were filmed near to Mt. Baker in Washington (no volcanos with glaciers in Penn.). But it's not hard to suspend your beliefs. The jungle is also a hauntingly beautiful backcountry for the few seconds before a fire mission. The film seems to drag in some places, but it moves at its own pace. The contrast of the steel mills to the mountains provides a good range of human experience.

Another criticism of the film is that it has too many characters. But I think that one or two of them really shine. John Gaz.* plays Stanley the short frail gun freak who always carries around some gun (reminds me of some people I know): no hope for him. Axel is a favorite straight-man characters. And the bartender is a fully sympathetic character.

Michael has been grooming Nick (and Steve) as apprentice hunters. Unfortunately he is only able to "save" one of them. He assumes that Nick is capable enough of surviving but is wrong. Michael's solution to their captivity is seemingly "unique." It's a real game. The other three (Stanley, Axel, and the Bartender) are along for the ride. They aren't "real" hunters and yet they are. They are capable (excepting Stanley, the butt of all jokes) of having a good time.

The music is simple and down to earth.

Michael's relation with women (in particular Streep) is an interesting one. He plays the "strong silent type" who comes with weakness with women (to the point of his friends calling him gay). The women in the film (excepting Streep) have a minor role.

The role of nature is the standard idea that the natural world is pure and unadulterated. The height of this comes on the second hunting trip where in the space of seconds Michael no longer has the heart to shoot the deer and yet doesn't hesistate to deal with Stanley is his pipsqueak pistol.

The closest bit of the reality and one basis of the film was the summary execution of a suspected Vietcong sympathizer during the Tet Offense where the man's brains were blown away (most people remember this incident as a still, but Cimino was clearly a person who also saw the film footage [a still appears as wall paper in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories]). Cimino uses the game of Russian Roulette (remember, these guys were Russian-Americans, also a cold war element here) as the symbol for war. Since there were no reported cases of thise actually happening, this aspect of the film drew lots of criticism.

Some things appear too obvious: e.g., the spilling of wine and the appearance of the Special Forces sargent at the wedding (Michael goes into the SF while the other two guys go into 1st Cav.). The film drew considerable flak for its unflattering portaryal of the Vietnamese. But I believe that to be more a point of view decision (They are R-A again).

The climax might seem predictable now, but when the film was first released, it had a far greater emotional impact. First time viewers might still get that, but the the world is a more grim place since the filming.

The ending has been heavily criticized as well, but it was Cimino's intent to make it ambiguous and loving as possible. If you are "into" war movies with a hero, victory, clear cut battles and an enemy, you will not like this film.

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov Associate Editor, Software and Publication Reviews Scientific Programming {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene Seeking Books to buy: Bongard, Pattern Recognition 3 down 1 to go.

From damouth@wrc.xerox.com Mon Jan 25 09:24:36 1993 Received: from alpha.xerox.com by amelia.nas.nasa.gov (5.61/1.34) id AA20691; Mon, 25 Jan 93 09:24:36 -0800 Received: from djin.wrc.xerox.com ([13.0.33.207]) by alpha.xerox.com with SMTP id <11589>; Mon, 25 Jan 1993 09:24:11 PST Received: by djin.wrc.xerox.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA26591; Mon, 25 Jan 93 12:23:53 EST Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 09:23:53 PST From: damouth@wrc.xerox.com (David E. Damouth) Message-Id: <9301251723.AA26591@djin.wrc.xerox.com> To: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov Subject: Re: (27/28) [l/m 5/5/92] Film/Cinema Distilled wisdom XYZ Status: R

If you are still collecting input: "A River Runs Through It" should be on anyone's list of backcountry films to see.

"Homeward Bound" is just being released by Disney. It's yet another "Lassie Come Home" takeoff, but based on the preview, the nature photography is spectacular and the stars (two dogs and a cat) are loveable enough to attract all but confirmed pet-haters.

"Alive" is now in the theaters. I don't intend to go, since I own the book. But the setting (winter in the high Andes) certainly should provide material for good photography. The book is a documentary of an actual plane crash. The survivors stayed alive for by eating their dead comrades. Rescue was slow (months? - I haven't read it for years), and the lessons about survival in harsh conditions with minimal equipment are interesting for anyone who things about such things. For this purpose, the book should be far better than the movie.

"Last of the MOhicans" should have been a vehicle for keeping us eastern backcountry scenery buffs happy - it is set in the Adirondacks. But so many liberties are taken by photographers and editors more interested in cuteness than authenticity, that I was annoyed. Many of the woods scenes had lush rhododendrons growing around the camp site. They are pretty bushes, but I've never seen one growing wild within 200 miles of the claimed location (well north of Albany). The mountain vistas also seemed a little faked and hokey. The producer's penchant for dark moods didn't help - nearly every scene was in the rain or fog. Some people feel that such weather is typical of the Adirondacks, but a little sun would have been nice occasionally. The plot didn't help much either - long on battles and short on plot, character development, and depth.

/DAve