A Barbarian at the Gates

My dear friend and fellow pirate, therobbergirl, recently shared a meme listing a bunch of movies ("Mark the ones you've seen"; you know how these things go); we agreed that the list seemed pretty random. Here, by contrast is a more arbitrary list: Roger Ebert's List of Great Movies (last updated in 2005).

There are 334 movies on this list, and, since it's Ebert, the list presumably includes films you can't stand and excludes films you thought were the bestest thing ever; one of my favorites, The Princess Bride, for example, didn't make it. Bold the ones you've seen and post your numbers: I've seen 104 of these.

( Looong list of movies behind the cut. )

When I was ten or eleven, my friend got a bow and couple of arrows from a crazy uncle. It wasn't much of anything really; not much pull, no arrowheads. But my friend and I somehow got it into our heads to take turns shooting the arrows up in the air and towards each other. Again, we're not talking Bodkin points here, but still, these were arrows, they were flying up pretty high and then back down at us, and... well, hell, noone lost an eye, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Nine years later, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. It was so much fun, I did it again. And again.

Four years later, I dove headfirst off a platform elevated 150 feet over a lake. I had a bungie cord attached, of course, but this was in Thailand-- not the first place you think of when you think safety precautions. That's why I did it twice.

I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that I understand wanting to take controlled risks. I understand that with patience, prudence, and a hell of a lot of preparation, seemingly suicidal activities can be done with a minimum of actual danger.

And up to a certain point, that's what Tim Treadwell does in Werner Herzog's film Grizzly Man. And then he spirals out of control. And then he gets eaten by a bear. This is not a spoiler. This is revealed in the first few minutes of the film. You never see it happen, and you never hear it happen, but it weighs on the film like a ton of bricks.

It's a beautiful film, and the shots that Tim got of the wilderness and the bears are amazing.

The footage Herzog puts together to explain Tim's spiral is even more amazing.

Tim's ultimate end is simply mindboggling and pointless. Yeah, he died among the bears, like he said he wanted, but it wasn't the result of a natural process any more than getting hit by a train when you jump on the tracks is a natural process.

Or perhaps it was just as natural a process.

OH MY GOD!

Why are you still reading this entry? Go watch the movie now! NOW!