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Plane1985
Reviews
Alpha and Omega (2010)
Got very bad reviews... I dunno why, I loved it!
I've been waiting for this movie for years, mainly because I am a wolf-lover and a cartoon lover.
First off, let's get into what the movie is about. Kate is an Alpha wolf of a pack, Alpha's are the pack-leaders. Humphrey is an Omega wolf, who's job is to play as peacemaker and retain calmness in the pack, so the story-writers got their jobs fairly accurate. There are two rival packs who want to fight for each others land... why? Small amount of caribou, good reason, so it make the rival pack more like anti-heroes rather than villains who want to hurt others for the sake of it.
To keep the peace, Tony (Kate's father) arranges Kate to marry the rival pack's Alpha son, Garth. At first, I was going to expect Garth to be some snobby rich-like stuck-up who doesn't care about Kate... I was taken off-guard when Garth actually was handsome AND had a heart of gold. So the movie wasn't TOO predictable! In the scene where Humphrey and Kate were tranquilized, it just... happened! No build-up of the park rangers coming, Humphrey and Kate were just talking, suddenly SNAP! I was taken off-guard by that! I mean, I KNEW it was coming due to the trailers, but didn't know WHEN. I also liked the conversation Humphrey and Kate had between the crates, you can't see their faces, allowing the viewer to use their imagination on what's going on.
Some people can't wrap their minds around a golfing goose. Right, WHY was a goose golfing? ... my answer, WHO CARES?! Just WATCH it and ACCEPT it... a GOOSE is playing GOLF... it's FUNNY! Who cares if it doesn't make sense (except for nit-picky perfectionists who are incapable of finding/keeping jobs that require creativity)? Some people complained about the potty-humor. I personally LIKE potty-humor, and to those that don't, there's only like one or two of those scenes. To those that like that kind of humor, there are only a few scenes of it, but they're WORTH it LOL Humphrey and Kate combine what they have learned as Alphas and Omegas to overcome obstacles, such as the bear-slide. Over time, Kate learned how to have fun like an Omega, giving her some character development. At first, she was annoyed by Humphrey's "rain dance" but then she laughed and enjoyed the log ride at the end.
Meanwhile, back at the packs, Kate's sister Lilly offered to show Garth around. She even taught him how to howl, whom Garth was a BAD howler, birds falling out of the sky twitching. As the movie progressed, the pile of birds kept getting bigger (to me, THAT'S funny!). However, over time, Garth and Lilly started to fall for each other, and it was coming SLOWLY, so it wasn't rushed, you know. To me, that's "I'm marrying you because I love you" instead of "I'm only arranged to marry you." Eventually, Kate and Humphrey return and, even though Kate admits to herself she's in love with Humphrey, she uses her responsible personality to go on with the marriage with Garth. During the wedding, both Kate and Garth are unsure of each other, Lilly looks sad... but in the end, they both agree that they couldn't do it because she said "I've fallen in love with an Omega" ... everyone was shocked to hear that (can you BLAME them if you were them?!) But Garth understood, because "I've fallen in love with an Omega too" and Garth and Lilly embrace, but the rest of the pack fights! ... which provokes a caribou stampede! During the stampede, Kate's father and Garth's father, leaders of the rival packs, get caught in the stampede! Soon, Kate and Humphrey use what they've learned in their journey to rescue them! But Kate is hurt. This was a sad scene. I knew it was going to have Kate come back, but it still felt like an eternity... kind of like in "Toy Story 3" where the toys were in the incinerator ready to be burned alive... but saved at the last minute. Finally, the packs are united, Kate is with Humphrey, and Garth is with Lilly, and everybody's happy. Some people don't like happy endings... WHY?!
My only complaint was I wish Humphrey and Kate's journey would have been longer, like in "Bolt." But "Bolt" was all about the journey whereas "Alpha and Omega" were about feelings. I guess they overdid it with having the wolves stand on their hind legs, but it was still most on all fours. Some people complained about how the wolves LOOKED... well, play this game called WolfQuest (it's free to download at the WolfQuest website) and look at the 3D models of the wolves in that game. Are they realistic? VERY! Would they make for believable faces, express lots of emotion, and could we relate to them? I know I wouldn't. A real wolf's face, up-close you can see emotion, but a normal view it's hard to tell, that's why the animators make them look the way they did.
Surviving Disaster (2009)
Incredible and accurate!
I wont lie and say I'm a survival expert, but I have friends in the military who are and they taught me quite a bit about military techniques, including survival. From what I've learned from them, this show is very accurate in it's techniques in teaching how to survive, and taught in a way that the average person would learn.
Cade Courtley, as we all know is a Navy SEAL we saw on the reality series "Combat Missions", does a good job at narrating to us a disaster talking directly to us, and telling us various possibilities, scenarios, and why. What I liked is that the show makes it feel like you're there and teaching you everything on how to handle a situation, all the way down to the worst-case scenario.
Granted, some of these disasters might never happen to us... but, hey, I'm trained in CPR and fight/self-defense, but I've never actually used them... and hopefully never have to, BUT it's good to know how to do these in the event it happens. You might never be in a disaster, BUT it's good to know in the event it happens.