Reay Jespersen

Earth follows Disney’s decades-long tradition of shooting footage of nature and letting the visuals tell their own stories, though in this case the narration by James Earl Jones guides us along the way. Following myriad animals as the seasons change all around the world, the film focuses on three animal familes in particular over the course of a year: polar bears, whales, and elephants. We share some of their first steps in the open, their trials of having to travel for hundreds or thousands of miles to find food and survive, and the triumphs of making it there alive, though as we’re shown, the circle of life can often be cruel on the journey.

The film is simply stunning in its cinematography and close-up detail of nature, to the point where I often wondered how a cameraman could possibly have gotten close enough to get some of the shots, along with the realization that cameras - including satellites - must have been placed for weeks or months at a time to get the fast-motion growth, flows of colour across fields of trees, and ice forming at the ends of the world. All the while, the accompanying narration by Jones is ideally minimalist, informative, and at times, playful.

If there’s one negative to the film, it would be the unexpected time spent on the struggle for life. Yes, it’s a nature movie and so it should fairly have both life and death portrayed, but as the prime example, the three slow-motion shots of a great white jumping from the water to snap a seal in its jaws seemed excessive (although, as ever, very well shot). Particularly with the polar bear family, the film edged a bit closer to the “climate change is causing these animals to have to adjust, and in adjusting, they’re suffering and dying” than I’d been expecting, particularly for a Disney film. Having said that, the point certainly did come across effectively, if perhaps a bit heavy-handedly. That was the only issue I had with an overall amazing film.

In short, simply a must-see for nature lovers, animal lovers, and those who can appreciate gorgeous, stunning film making. Young and old alike should definitely check it out when it hits theatres this Wednesday, Earth Day, April 22nd.

By sheer luck, I came across an article about a new website dedicated to new and emerging Canadian writers. I checked it out briefly and saw they had a contest for short childrens’ stories. It deadlines in a couple of weeks, so I’ve got to get cracking. Happily, I seem to work much better when deadlines are imposed on me for writing. Happier still, I got an idea out of the blue a couple of nights ago that I think could work really well as a short story for kids.

Already working on it.

More updates on contests as they come up…

I find myself in a new, and pleasant, headspace this morning.

While I continue to bat a thousand on the 100 words a day challenge, I confess that I generally still have to make myself do the words, or at least remember to do them, and the nighttime alarm on my watch - set to go off as a reminder to do my words if I hadn’t done them previously from one day to the next - has saved my bacon an embarrassing number of times. Point being, the daily writing isn’t yet a habit, which is frankly a bit disappointing.

There are causes for it not being a daily routine, of course. Some of which are genuine reasons, but some of which, were I to take a bit of time and consider them at all seriously, are more likely excuses. There’s all too often stuff I’d rather be doing with my time, and when it comes to free time, I find writing is one of many things that appeal. A lot of that time, the other things win out.

What I’m rather happy about, however, is that this morning I find myself in a new headspace about writing. Not that I felt (at least, often) that daily writing was a chore, but it was all too rare that I was actively looking forward to doing it. Today, I find that’s rather drastically changed. Even though I’m in the midst of a page 1 re-write on what will work out to be a kids’ novel - perhaps a couple of dozen pages in on the first crack at it, I didn’t like the way it was developing, and figured starting from scratch would be a better approach than patching up what I’d done - there’s something now new and appealing about it. Perhaps it’s the result of the re-write itself; being happier with the way it’s working out. But it feels like it’s more than that… as though I want to write (vs. the all-too often desire to complete writing projects; a notable difference).

Hopefully it’s a new, and long-lasting, outlook talking, and is inspired by the work I’ve set ahead of myself instead of by the Excedrin I took an hour ago for the headache I woke up with. Should know by tomorrow. Hell, should know within a few hours, after the Excedrin has run its course and if I still have the itch - which I haven’t had in far too long, and have dearly missed - to get back to writing.

Here’s hoping it’s the latter.