Animal family values

March of the Penguins started showing at the Alamo Drafthouse, so that was a good excuse to go and see it, even if we can't usually eat their special themed feasts they offer. Vegetarians just don't eat penguin food, or fried catfish, or whatever meaty delights were offered. It's still the best place to see a movie. This is a good one to see, what these birds go through to remain alive and keep their species going is almost unimaginable for us modern humans with our nice warm houses and supermarkets. Plus, is there anything cuter than this little penguin? The movie reminded me of this Demotivational poster, one of my favorites:

despair.com

Another National Geographic documentary that I highly recommend is The Story of the Weeping Camel. I knew I loved camels, but really didn't know the depth of their capacity for emotion. This one is not only about the animals but also the humans who share their lives.

The last one I want to recommend in the animal category is called Antarctica (Nankyoku monogatari), this is a Japanese film made in 1983 and I don't even know if you can find it on DVD. It's very obscure, but worth looking for. I found my VHS copy on eBay. It's not a documentary exactly, but has the feeling of one because the main "actors" are dogs. The human parts are small and relatively unimportant except for setting up the premise and rounding out the ending. The rest is just an incredible survival story of dogs trying to endure conditions that even penguins might not make it through. It's visually beautiful and has got a fantastic musical score by Vangelis too.