Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Cool takeaways from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom:

The story takes Global Heating seriously with the hopes of convincing nations around the world to do the same. It actually employs an even more destructive way to heat up the planet, in order to remind us that our current industrial endeavours lack sustainable foresight, the reckless burning of an ancient ore which is extremely toxic and highly volatile, it's actually burned to speed up Global Heating, and melt Antarctica to free an ancient king (it's Antarctica week!).

Cool to see action/adventure films taking environmental issues seriously. I think we can clean up contemporary industry. Not overnight but in the foreseeable future.

Interesting to see ye olde Antarctica feature heavily in another narrative. It would be so much fun to explore. The ancient secrets of an archaeological lifetime (I don't want the planet to heat to the point where it melts, but it will probably melt naturally someday, perhaps millions of years from now, and it would be cool to be there then).

The Sahara is also featured near the beginning when Aquaman has to break his brother out of prison, the jail residing beneath the enormous desert, a forbidding place for people of the sea.

Reminding us that it used to once be an imposing ocean, it collegially harmonizes with atemporal infinities, thereby highlighting the present's transitory nature, which makes it all the more enticing.

I've heard that in many countries around the world people like to eat bugs, and it's something I'd like to try, even though my initial reaction may be somewhat shocking, assuming they're healthy, hey, why not? Aquaman takes a comic look at the phenomenon perhaps to usher in new culinary trends. They do seem like a limitless food source. But how do they work with vegetarianism? 

Aquaman loves his family which I thought was cool to see, he isn't too busy running his kingdom to spend time with his newborn child. He wants to be there and genuinely cares which made me think of dad when I was growing up. Things don't always work out but it's no doubt cool when they effectively do.

At one point flares are shot into the air to light up the sombre surroundings, and they almost look like constellations when they explode. I thought it would have been cool if they had been Australasian constellations indeed to pyrotechnically salute Antarctica etc., that would be cool if artists could do that with actual fireworks as well.

I understand Aquaman's frustrations with just trying to quickly get 'er done. It's so much easier to work on your own and make your own decisions as they suit your circumstances. But councils and parliaments do provide lucid oversight that prevents tyrants from recklessly governing. One emperor may be wise and just like Augustus Caesar/Aquaman. But who knows when you'll wind up with Caligula/Orm?

And I was worried that dynamic whale-kind had been overlooked in the versatile script, since they didn't show up for freakin' ever and much of the story takes place underwater. Just wait for it, even if you don't like fantasy films, if you like whales I'm sure you'll love the scene. It actually relates to the ways in which the noise from human technology is disturbing marine life around the globe. Giving such life an opportunity to fight back!

Solid whale representation!

Plus, amazing octopus representation (ban octopus farming!).

A fun film to watch. 

Jason Momoa puts on a good show.

Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo)

An eccentric caretaker vigilantly monitors and looks after oceanic depths, consistently attempting to facilitate harmony beneath the temperamental seas.

He's rather tightly attuned to rhythmic supernatural submersion, and even cares for aquatic wonders too young to freely roam. 

But his most spirited daughter suddenly escapes one propitious morn, and eventually finds herself on land in the adoring company of a human.

The child is on his way to school when he accidentally cuts himself, his wound soon licked by the curious goldfish and instantly healed through nascent magic.

She's named "Ponyo" by little Sôsuke who becomes deeply enamoured with his friend, but her father remains distraught and soon reacquires her through immortal counsel. 

We learn that he is collecting unique transformative elixirs, which he hopes to use to change the world one epoch transfigurative day. 

But little Ponyo makes an escape during which she chaotically disrupts his plans.

The ocean erupting in imaginative fury.

Ponyo finding Sôsuke once more. 

Imagine the ocean 10,000 years ago, abounding with the practically uninterrupted fecundity of thousands upon thousands of transformative millennia!

Whales everywhere to be seen coral reefs extending far past fathomable limits, manatees and dugongs flourishing unabashed, crab and lobster expertly radiating. 

No wonder legendary tales consistently emerged with divine hyperbole, as a lack of knowledge inspired courageous deeds and habitual curiosity envisaged remonstration.

Ghibli suggests that even with our technology and the ways we've adapted to oceanic resilience, we've lost something by moving beyond legend into a much more practical repartee.

Too much of an emphasis on fact can tether daring adventurous spirits, to wayward predictable trajectories lacking variability and versatile imagination (we clearly still need to clean the oceans up). 

Not that a practical focus isn't particularly requisite in traditional commerce.

It's just at times it doesn't make recreational sense.

And for thousands of years there was nothing to do.

*Figures not precise estimates.

**That's the first time I've ballparked civilization's history.

Science is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painlevé

Long before David Attenborough started creating amazing nature documentaries, other visionary pioneering filmmakers set the cerebral stage, some not as fascinated by the more famous untamed beasties, like Jean Painlevé and Geneviève Hamon, who explored unheralded marine life for years.

They set their sights on the limitless sea and created a series of awe-inspiring films, creatively conjured and imaginatively nuanced in this chill and humorous compilation.

Instinctively driven by the unknown creatures whose otherworldly existence salutes biodiversity, they follow the lives of some of the most unique wild animals I've ever seen.

With instructive goals in mind and a desire to encourage aquatic acclimatization, to make one think of the billions of lives which exist beneath the waves while gazing outwards.

Indeed, parts of the ocean are rather similar to the sprawling concrete labyrinths we've come to know as cities, their complex interactive interconnected citizens having steadily evolved for resonant ages. 

I don't know what the turnover rate is for squirrel families on land in local forests, but the coolest thought is that the same squirrel fams have scamperingly existed in the same local woodland for thousands of generations (especially in areas with little to no human contact). 

That's why threats to endangered species acts are so shockingly foolish and cruel, the ways in which they ignore the millions of years these creatures have matured and developed alongside us.

They deserve to be left some space to roam as they freely have since they took formal shape, who are we to mess with the existence of outstanding miracles and flourishing distinction?

Painlevé and Hamon capture such life in its multivariable enriching abundance, and like poets unconcerned with fads they tenderly present the enticing unexpected.

I find with the plethora of contemporary nature documentaries illustriously abounding with fluent synergies, many of them don't lose sight of this focus and still present newfound insects etc.

Thus, in a program at times fiercely focused on lions and cheetahs, there's a pause in the imposing narrative to examine a bug or a bird or a rodent.

Like science-fiction and fantasy nature documentaries have changed remarkably since I was a wee lad.

With thanks to filmmakers like Painlevé and Hamon.

Who thought no doubt this is cool?

Ban octopus farms! 

🐙

Merveilles des mers (Wonders of the Sea)

Merveilles des mers (Wonders of the Sea) takes an alternative approach to combing oceanic depths, one which primarily explores coral and species living within, as opposed to more flashy larger creatures such as dolphins, seals, or whales.

Fascinated by lifeforms that have perhaps never been the focus of a nature documentary, Jean-Michel Cousteau and his family patiently showcase stunning submerged ecosystems overflowing with incredible diversity.

If you're looking for a nature documentary that doesn't concentrate on traditional forms of aquatic character, Merveilles des mers surpasses expectations, its delicate caring enthusiastic cinematography nimbly capturing vital enriching expanses, in miniature, in select underwater habitats around the Aquarian globe.

From octopi to giant clams to shrimp to barnacles, Cousteau revels in seabed scintillation, his 3-D film beautifully exhibiting his discoveries, with inspiring interest in curious exotic life.

However, the narration is somewhat puzzling, perhaps due to its English translation.

It's certainly written for children aged 5 to 8 but still includes jokes that assume its audience is familiar with The Terminator.

It presents miraculous examples of life in various unheralded forms but rather oddly emphasizes its cold predatory nature.

Especially the coral, the coral is definitely not presented as if it's aesthetically appealing resplendent ambient decoration, no no no, the fact that it's a living breathing famished deadly carnivoresque entity is emphasized several times, as Cousteau, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (does he speak French in the French version?), exchange provocative comments with absorbed adolescent abandon, as if they're mischievously trying to frighten children, or perhaps had had a bit too much champagne on the old buoyant yachtski.

The dialogue and narration likely sounds more authentic in French, but when it was translated into English it appears that a Native English speaker (or Xavier Dolan) wasn't consulted to edit the final draft, and the result is rather clunky, a bit too general, even for young children (conversation's completely different, it's okay to make mistakes in conversation unless you're a spy, but this is a film that's trying to find an English audience, I suggest using subtitles if you're not confident with your translation, it's okay if subtitles sound cheesy).

David Suzuki clearly wasn't consulted.

I imagine Mr. Schwarzenegger could have rewritten many of his lines.

Nevertheless, the 3-D imagery is astounding and I applaud the film's focus on unsung mysteries of the depths.

Merveilles des mers celebrates life in its most remarkable unfamiliar forms throughout, and captures invaluable scenes that will undoubtably foster future investigations of what furtively lies beneath.

Hopefully, as we clean up the seas.

Shocking images of polluted waters around the globe as presented in Merveilles des mers are posted online every day.

It's not that hard to dispose of your waste in the proper receptacle.

It only takes an extra 2 to 3 seconds to recycle and it is not complicated.

The reward is a world that isn't covered in garbage.

It's that simple.

It really truly is.

Aquaman

Unbeknownst to surface dwellers who recklessly pollute its august fathoms, deep within the ocean reside 7 ancient civilizations.

Swathed in utmost secrecy, they flourish in blissful dissimulation.

Yet one king (Patrick Wilson as King Orm) has grown weary of land lubbing largesse, and madly seeks to start a war with the peoples above.

He requires the loyalty of 3 free realms to bellicosely embark, however, realms which have little interest in non-aquatic regal affairs.

But not all of his subjects believe his plan is conceptually sound, two of them hoping to challenge his legitimacy within reasonable lawful bounds (Amber Heard as Princess Mera and Willem Dafoe as Vulko), for a brother has he who was raised on land yet still commands creatures of the deep, and even though Aquaman (Jason Momoa) has never embraced his submerged heritage, they feel that he may, if he learns of its dire ambitions.

And that only he can thwart them.

His lighthouse keeping father (Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry) still awaits the return of his beloved Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), each and every evening, and has since the day she was taken from him, and forced to marry against her will.

Aquaman can't remember her.

Although he's heard of her brilliant legend.

But his customs are not those of the aristocracy, in fact Aquaman playfully intertwines old and new world pretensions as it supernaturally decodes the throne.

With wild self-sacrificing purpose.

The seven realms could have each represented different philosophies more astutely had their lore been given more detailed narrativizations.

But Aquaman resists the urge to become overly complicated like Dune, even if it's still quite complex, its protagonist like a Paul Atreides who was raised amongst the Fremen, his charming rough adventurous spirit boldly holding the film together.

You don't have to suspend your disbelief to love Aquaman, you simply have to imagine you've never believed in anything before.

And let yourself be immersed in a chaotic world overflowing with innocence and curiosity.

The underwater worlds are incredible and it was soothing to imagine myself within them.

Swimming away.

Aspects of Aquaman may be so improbable that a degree of cynicism may surface.

But it's also saturated with ingenuous goodwill, reluctance and cheek diversifying its depths, uncertain outcomes delineating its contrariety, with objectives as lofty as they are foretold.

A choral cascade.

A mirthful maelstrom.