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Geez, I’m falling behind with the Netflix. I’m pretty sure we haven’t got our money’s worth the past couple of months. Hopefully we’ll start making up for that soon. At least we got a reduced monthly fee recently. When does that ever happen?

I finally got to see the Canadian production, Wilby Wonderful. This is a standby of the Due South fandom, since it features Paul Gross (formerly Benton Fraser, now Buddy) and Callum Keith Rennie (formerly Ray Kowalski, now Duck). Sandra Oh plays (Carol), Buddy’s over-achieving, A-type realtor wife. It’s set in Canada, on an island that does most of its business during tourist season. Buddy, Duke and Sandra, who owns a diner, are locals born and bred. The movie is a day-in-the-life look at the island. It’s a sleepy place, where the local scandal is that “those people” were caught down at the watch (shore area) doing “bad things.” Picture men hanging out at a public park. Yeah. Those things. Now, the weekly paper is getting ready to publish everyone’s names. Never mind that this activity has been occurring in this place for lo, these many years. Suddenly, it’s newsworthy. Why is that?

So, it turns out that Duck is maybe a regular at the watch who got caught, and Dan is maybe a newcomer, who also got caught. Duck’s not too torn up about it – he seems pretty comfortable with himself (yay, Duck, you pretty pretty man! I digress, but damn, CKR has a pretty smile. And as DH will tell you, I’m a sucker for a pretty smile). Dan on the other hand, is not so sanguine. He is actually mortified to the point of considering suicide. He has apparently been miserable for awhile, and this is the last straw. Fortunately for Dan, people keep interrupting him, giving him lots of time to think it over, and to try out different options for offing himself. It’s the running gag of the movie, although there are very few laugh-out-loud moments.

The whole film is quiet that way. It’s kind of dreamy, and gives you the sense of being somewhere that time runs differently, even when big important things are happening. It shows how everyone on the island is interconnected, and how islanders need to stick together. It’s about questioning the status quo, but still respecting family and tradition. It’s got teen angst and adult angst, family tensions and romance, good vs. evil, corrupt practices and justice. Its ending is just as quietly happy as its middle was quietly despairing. It’s a lovely film. I watched it twice. DH watched it with me the second time, and probably didn’t get as much out of it as I did. It’s definitely a chick flick.

I've actually started making an icon from this one, but I need to reload my graphic software to finish it, so I'll have to go with Paul and Callum, aka Benton and Ray instead.

The Snow Walker is another Canadian production which made its way onto our Netflix queue and I don’t even know how or when. After watching it, I suspect that someone I admire in the DS fandom recommended it. It doesn’t have any of the actors from that show, or Mounties, but it has Inuit and is set way far north in the Northwest Areas (“that’s Territories, Ray.” “Like I said, Fraser.” “Ah. Just so.”). Sometime in the mid-20^th century, a hot-shot bush pilot makes a deal to take a young Inuit woman with TB to the nearest medical facility (“that would be Yellowknife, Ray.”). Shortly after takeoff, they have engine trouble and crash land. He assumes the (western) male responsibility of rescuer/protector, reckoning that it’s about 200 miles to the nearest population. He sets off, leaving behind half the provisions. A few days later, worn down to a nub already, he’s attacked by a swarm of stinging insects and ends up face down in the mud. Awhile later, here comes his passenger. She nurses him back to health, shows him how to catch actual food, among other very cool survival skills, and they become partners. Winter arrives before they reach safety, but she is a very capable Inuit, and they survive in relative comfort. He learns a lot from her, including respect for the Inuit ways, and she improves her English. They become friends. Back home, his friends and family search for awhile, then give up on him and have a memorial service. Won’t they be surprised when he walks out of a snowstorm a few months later?!

The exceptionally cool part of this DVD is the bonus material. ‘The Making Of’ feature is fascinating. They talk about how challenging it was to film on location, in a place with no roads, and show all the neat vehicles and gadgets. Our female lead is actually a young bilingual Inuit who had been on a seal hunt the day before her audition. She actually had the skills she displayed in the film prior to getting the part! Many locals were used in the cast and crew of the film. The director is (Charles Martin Smith) and it was as weird to see him behind the scenes as the first time I saw Ron Howard directing. They were saying that no one really goes on location anymore, not with the entire crew, not for the majority of a film. This was a throwback, and everyone who worked on it was really excited about it. Even though they had to deal with wild bears during filming ::g:: I highly recommend watching the entire DVD.

Just recently, busman1994 let me borrow his Big Chill videotape. This movie has been one of my favorites since it debuted. I love the group dynamic in this. I love the love they have for each other. This feeling is something I’ve been trying to achieve my entire adult life. Unfortunately, a steady diet of DVDs has spoiled me for videotape. Gah! The quality of this was terrible! It wasn’t even homemade and it was terrible! But the movie and the message still play well. I snuggled into DH’s lap on a lazy Sunday afternoon to watch, and was just as amused and touched as ever. The funny thing is, earlier that day, bzdchris and busman1994 quoted this at me: “We’ve taken a vote. We’re never leaving here.” (Jeff Goldblum says it) That’s it – that’s the feeling I’m looking for. Where the people who’ve become my family want to be with me, in our home, feeling the love, forever. I think we’ve gotten really close to achieving that on an ongoing basis. It’s a great feeling. So that’s the secret to Goldy’s happiness. If you want me to have that happy rush, just tell me you wish you could stay when you’re leaving. Or stay a little longer. That works too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry about the quality of the BC tape. It's very old and probably deteriorated.

Seem to recall a favorite line from that movie was Jeff Goldblum's explanation of a lack of sex- 'you can go a long time without sex, trying going one day without rationalizing something'.
Good times!
Enjoy,
Steve R

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