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Summary: If your interest is very much Julia Roberts and a little bit Orangutans, this is for you.
Comment: If you are interested in learning about orangutans, there are a LOT better choices out there. The film is about Julia Roberts's month-long experience with orangutans, as seen by Julia Roberts, who left the comfortable surroundings normally enjoyed by Julia Roberts. Do we really need the montage of Julia leaving NYC, with multiple art-school close-ups/silhouettes? Or so much focus on her Hepburnesque boat making its way up the river?
Still, orangutans being what they are, there is footage to commend this effort. Seeing the orangutan empty a flooded canoe to make its way across the river and help scrub clothes is genuinely touching. The closing scene is a piece of real life that is understandably upsetting to Ms. Roberts, who manages a short debriefing of the moment, but is clearly, as she puts it, "freaked out". Then the piece stops--no montage of Julia's boat returning, no more pseudo-spiritual paens from Julia to the orangutans, no shots back in the 'jungle' of NYC.
It would have been very helpful to have someone who knows about orangutans put the experience into context. As it is, given the abrupt ending, you get left with the impression that following this experience, Ms. Roberts's cooperation with the show ended.
If your attraction to this video is Julia Roberts, you should definitely watch. If it's more the orangs, look elsewhere.
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Summary: Cleese in top form
Comment: In this "In the Wild" episode, John Cleese ventures to Madagascar to check up on five captive-raised lemurs that were released back into the forest. Along the way, he peppers his explanations and commentary with typical one-liners, just what you'd expect from the Monty Python alum. Anyone who likes Mr. Cleese's style will not be disappointed. Besides the entertainment value, you will learn a thing or two about lemurs, too!
Four stars. Highly enjoyable!
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Summary: In the Lion's Den with Anthony Hopkins
Comment: This is a Wonderful movie about the behavior and myths about Lions.
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Summary: In the Wild: Lemurs With John Cleese
Comment: If you like lemurs, but this now. Now, now, now. Go on, I'll wait. Got it? Good.
I wish all nature programs could be this funny, entertaining and informative. Cleese's self-deprecating humor and his obvious love for lemurs shine through and make this a wonderful documentary. Plus, his honesty is a breath of fresh air -- after the tremendously long plane trip to Madagascar, an incredibly bumpy ride over what could only charitably be called "roads," and slogging (mostly uphill) through the rainforest only to catch a slight glimpse of the tail of one lemur, almost a football field away, he says, "Was it worth it?" NO, IT WASN'T WORTH IT!" and I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
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Summary: A portrait of that magnificent creature... a movie star
Comment: This would be indistinguishable from any random episode of "Nova" or "Nature" without the stardust sprinkled over the proceedings by the elfin Academy Award [registered trademark!] winner who - as it happened - was the only reason I sought this out in the first place. Consequently, I think I may have learned more about "actress hollywoodus" than "felidae acinonyx". Ms. Hunter shamelessly twinkles, dramatizes, flirts, and broods - effortlessly capturing the center of attention, whatever the situation. In a word: she's a star - even in the incongruous setting of Africa, whose film associations provide her with one wisecrack that made me burst out laughing. Having spent the night sleeping on open ground in pursuit of the documentary crew's fleet quarry, she sighs over the dishevelled state of her hair and laments in voice-over, "How come this never happened to Meryl Streep?"
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