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silentnocturnalnight
Reviews
No Boundaries (2002)
Not Your Usual Reality Show
Compared to newer, glitzier, and albeit crazier reality shows of today, 2002's unsuccessful nature-themed 'No Boundaries' is refreshingly different, even if there is some questions of authenticity with the cast choices (at least for me).
While I am aware I am watching this show in 2012, it was something I did out of complete boredom, and the year difference in when this show was produced shows many of the differences of a newer reality show compared to what they were, a freshly budding genre that had its ups-and-downs.
The music is surprisingly mellow, even GOOD. It's soft, well-composed, and peaceful, reflecting off of the sprawling Canadian landscape with its towering, emerald pines, cloud-capped mountains and shimmering expanses of cold, slate-gray lakes and rivers. This is such a welcome relief, since most reality show music is about the most annoying you can ever imagine - loud and exuberantly boisterous; it's like those phony laugh tracks meant to illicit laughter out of you but only end up becoming senseless, repetitive noise.
I question the authenticity on this solely based upon the general appearances of the contestants - they are all a bit TOO nice-looking. Maybe I am so accustomed to those funky little caricatures other shows pull up out of the cabbage patch (you know, those people with the one lopsided eye, the crooked, humped nose and the need to swirl their water three times before drinking?), seeing more natural human beings is confusing me. I want to believe they are real, but having never seen anyone anywhere close to being 'real', I can't tell the difference between the real and the fake. Whether or not they're paid 'actors' or actual human beings who volunteered to be on this show...it's such a nice change all around.
This is not really like any typical, mainstream nature-show, and I think that may be why it failed to create and keep an audience in the U.S. (it was moderately successful in Canada). You don't have all the fighting, the crazies, the caricatures, and the insanely unrealistic challenges that leave you both baffled and scared. The challenges are a bit more realistic - there's no dodging flying fire monkeys while running over cages of hungry raptors, you don't have to ride a triple-tusked elephant through a jungle over a precariously weather-damaged bridge that's hanging by one little rope fiber to the edge of a sharp cliff. They're actually doing things any normal person would do, like canoeing and rock-climbing.
If you enjoy something calmer, a bit more intelligent, and stunning, heartbreakingly beautiful scenery, you'll have a lot of fun watching this show. It isn't groundbreaking different, but it's unique because it doesn't have all the silly, laughable antics other reality shows have. Great for a quiet day alone.
Restaurant: Impossible (2011)
The Milder Version of 'Kitchen Nightmares'
Restaurant: Impossible is the much milder version of Gordon Ramsey's 'Kitchen Nightmares' television series, and while Robert Irvine tries to flex his gargantum muscles and blast his icy-blue eyes hidden behind his shimmering spectacles on wary and generally confused restaurant owners, there is a gentleness and generosity to this show which gives it a much needed breath of freshness from many 'makeover' shows airing today.
We all remember Irvine from his Dinner: Impossible days, and it seems that the Food Network has forgiven any of the lies or exaggerated claims he has made about his credentials (because of course, this is show business, and no one is quite honest about what they have done or are doing now, have they?) and given him this new baby to feed, and it seems to be doing pretty well. In fact, it's one of the more interesting series on the Food Network right now.
Here, there is a little mixture of extreme grossness (cockroaches, rats, ten years worth of molded grease and other forms of nastiness galore), enough sob stories to to keep you mildly endeared to the situations of these mainly clueless, hapless people who think that owning and running a restaurant is just shoveling out plates of food and taking in the dough, but not enough that this become Psychosis: Impossible. Irvine marches into these failing institutions, and proceeds to rip, tear, and shred them down to the very naked bone, but not in a mean, nasty, or condescending way. There is no sense of him pimping the emotional weaknesses and general ignorance of these people just for the kicks, and in the end the results are good, and sometimes quite lovely, even though there is a question of how many of these people will keep up the suggestions and listen to Irvine's critiques and improve their business upon them.
Here, the focus is more or less on the owners and their jaded misconceptions about one of the most-likely-to-fail businesses on the planet than on established restaurants which are crumbling beneath bad management, so on and so forth. Whereas Ramsey will curse, defile, and break down restaurants and their owners, Irvine uses some of the brashness without the snarls, and there have only been a few times when he seems genuinely irritated or upset with these people, which shows quite a bit of patience and sympathy on his part. He knows, better than even the viewers can, that most of these people have generally no idea what they are getting into and have, not surprisingly, gotten themselves into a situation which they cannot escape from. Some are angry, others seems numb, others are stuck in disbelief that their food tastes terrible or that their décor looks like something out of a bad horror movie.
Eventually, after all the tears have dried or facial tissues have proceeded to return to their original shades, the work begins. Over the three seasons, a retinue of different designers have appeared on this show with differing degrees of attractiveness to their work, and the most consistent designers will be seen over-and-over again. The rest of the show is spent reworking the menu and flavors, cleaning up the normally disgusting kitchens, and putting all the feathers back into place. In the end, the results are normally quite attractive, and the reactions of the people can seem a little cheesy at times, but Irvine seems genuinely happy to bring happiness into the lives of these depressed, on-the-edge of the precipice people and their families.
It's a much gentler, family-friendly version of Kitchen Nightmares and much more watchable if you're looking for a decent show to pass time with, not the bitterness-and-bile boot camp where people are degraded and insulted everyone two seconds. As time progresses, I feel this show will get even better, and there is a great chance we can enjoy Irvine and his restaurant escapades for many seasons to come.
The Black Stallion (1979)
A True Masterpiece
'The Black Stallion' is one of the finest movies available on equines to date, if not the seminal version that should be seen by all equestrians before viewing any other so-called 'horse' movie.
'The Black Stallion' is a masterpiece, but I wouldn't go as far to say it is for everyone. There is very little to no dialogue (thank God), a very quiet non-Wagnerian score (or some cheesy 'Western' theme), and basically a simple, quiet story. This is most certainly not a Romantic viewing of the horse as presented in mainstream cinema today. There is a beautiful savagery to the Black, coupled with a magnificent, intelligent gentleness. Certainly, this image is not what the average person might have in mind when thinking of a horse.
However, I wouldn't let my review stop you from viewing the movie. As I said, the lack of dialogue might bore some, but if you don't mind sitting still for an hour or more, you'll enjoy this movie beyond belief. Not only is it beautifully-shot, but beautifully directed with the gorgeous Arabian stallion, Cass-Ole, playing the lead role of the Black (besides the body doubles in the running and jumping scenes). Kelly Reno does an excellent job, impressing with his wide, crystalline-blue eyes and riding skills (Reno was raised on a horse ranch in New Mexico, so it's actually HIM riding the horse, falling, etc.), not to mention an interesting screen presence. While he doesn't speak much, he still manages to win your heart and keep you interested as he gains the trust of the Black.
The final scene of the movie - that is, the racing scene - was so well-done it is probably one of the best and most natural racing shots I have seen to date. While movies like 'Seabiscuit' (and most recently, 'Secretariat') focus primarily on a racehorse, the difference between the racing scene in 'The Black Stallion' and those two films is, quite simply, the lack of music, dialogue, or frivolous shots. 'The Black Stallion' truly captures the heart-racing tension of a horse race by using silence and the thunder of the horses' hooves with their labored breathing to have you riveted to the screen. Probably the highlight of the film, I couldn't help but tense and feel my heart leap with each stride.
Give this film a shot. More than likely, you won't be able to watch another horse film if you do.