Munch of the Penguin
I recently rented March of the Penguins, that big cuddly sleeper of 2005, to understand what all the fuss was about, but I still don’t understand what all the fuss was about. It was good, but it didn’t move me like Winged Migration, which was exceptional. (Man, those French have totally cornered the market on quality bird flicks!) Perhaps it’s unfair to pit the waddlers against the flyers. Perhaps it was more beautiful on the big screen. Perhaps if it had emerged when I was ten and in the mental throes of a penguin obsession…
Anyhoo, to drum up some penguin mania in advance of this documentary screening (since we’re almost three years behind the curve here), we staged a stuffed penguin death match with the dogs, or as Scott has dubbed it, Munch of the Penguin. Enjoy!
February 14th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Well, since you said it first, I’ll come clean- I wasn’t that impressed with March of the Penguins. I think it was too hyped. Or maybe it was partly due to the fact that I had to watch the first 50 minutes 6 times in a row (substituting for Sue Keenan) that did it for me….we’ll never know. Anyways, I’m loving the Munch of the Penguins! Those two would certainly get along great with the Cookie Monster, who recently left a sea of stuffing strewn across the kitchen floor from her disemboweled hedgehog. I restuffed and sewed it up again, which lasted about 2 days.
February 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
As the Zookeeper of the original Penguin Lover Child, I enjoyed the movie, except for the brutal parts. I have always wondered what attracts children to an obsession with some animals and indifference to others. I supposed the KT attraction to penguins was the, um, empathy with height. Or lack of. My sister was obsessed with all baby animals. Was? Jury’s out on just how much that child’s devotion to plush has faded…
March 6th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I loved your comment on the “Mike Gilbert on Cinema” movie. Thanks!
I also loved your “Balls of Fury” review, which I had to watch at work. I was underwhelmed. That film makes a better trailer than a movie. The trailer was hilarious. The Def Leppard was a plus for me.
You should make your mini-reviews actual posts since it’s fun to reply to them. Otherwise I just have to reply on your latest unrelated post like this.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
The original French March of the Penguins is entirely different than the American version. Once acquired, it was completely rewritten (by Jordan Roberts) and slightly edited.
The French version instead has voices given to all the penguins, like in a supercute family movie type of way. The French filmmakers were very mad at what the Americans did to their movie, but then took the Oscar (I think it won, right?) and didn’t thank the writer.
I still haven’t seen either version. I want to see the French version first, but I’m not sure that’s available. Seems to have been swept under the carpet stateside.
“Munch of the Penguins”, however, seems like compelling performance art.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Oh, the brutality!