Nature

It’s worth an afternoon at the IMAX theater to take in the sights on ‘Everest,’ but don’t expect any new insight into this harrowing tragedy.

Watching 1981’s notorious nature thriller, Roar, is like subjecting yourself to a psychological experiment. Unbelievable images evoke reactions ranging from horror to hilarity, sometimes within the same scene. Director Noel Marshall infuses his disastrous passion project with so much sincerity, however, that this weird little morsel must be savored like the cinematic singularity that it is. There will never be another film like Roar. Really, it’s much safer that way… for everyone.

Wild is a mildly-satisfying travelogue through one woman’s troubled life that never quite delivers the catharsis it promises. Reese Witherspoon gives a brave, physically-demanding performance, despite her character’s unconvincing psychological transformation. Director Jean-Marc Vallée deftly intertwines our hero’s tragic past with her epic hike along the Pacific coast, but neither informs one another on an emotional level. The result is a beautiful looking film that feels lonelier than a desolate mountain pass.

Grunt grunt grunt! Grunt–*cough, cough*–excuse me, I had a piece of hacky old shtick in my throat. Now, where was I? Ah yes, it’s time for a new Mousterpiece Cinema! This week, Josh and Michael go to the jungles of Africa with the new DisneyNature documentary Chimpanzee, which is replete with beautiful imagery, a compelling …

Chimpanzee Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield Written by Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield, and Don Hahn Narrated by Tim Allen If you’ve been listening to Mousterpiece Cinema long enough, you probably know that I’m a cat person. I’ve mentioned, offhandedly, on the show how the Disney animated canon manages to often make cats into …