Chasing Ice - A Beautiful Must See Film

Chasing Ice, directed by Jeff Orlowski, premiered at Sundance in 2012. It is a documentary that features James Balog’s photographs about the ice caps melting. Up until 2012, there seemed to be a denial for the cause of climate change. People did not want to accept that they were the reason for all these effects and changes in weather patterns that were causing the planet to react. However, all this talk on climate change took a turn when James Balog showed the world his photographs and time-lapse videos of ice melting over time.

The film uses the photographs and time-lapse videos taken by James Balog. The created film is not only beautiful, but also shocking. It achieves its goal by showing the public what is happening to the oceans and how warming up the planet is bad for the oceans. To take the breathtaking photographs, James Balog has to work in severe, risky environments. He has had several knee surgeries, but the fact that he keeps going and taking these breathtaking shots, goes to show that no matter what, we should never give up on something we believe is the right thing to do.

I would definitely recommend viewers watch this movie. Chasing Ice beautifully intertwines photographs and science to capture the attention of viewers. The film does not over exaggerate the science aspect of climate change, but using the photographs and time-lapse videos, it presents the viewers with a better way to think and talk about climate change. The phrase, “Seeing is believing,” applies here perfectly and in a way this is what James Balog does. He, himself was skeptic about climate change, but instead of forgetting about it, he decided to learn about what was happening and once he got convinced, his work changed the perspective of others. The movie Chasing Ice, shows us, that if you have a passion, there is nothing stopping you from finding arguments to convince others.

Movie Review: Safe; 1995

            The movie Safe is not only dramatic but also an exquisite film. The main character, Carol White, played by Julianne Moore, has come down with allergic reactions to her environment. Carol meets with her doctor regularly who states she is perfectly healthy, but still Carol seems to find ways to cause herself to become sick. Her husband, Greg White, played by Xander Berkeley, does his best to take care of Carol. The movie takes a turn when she ends up at a community center where people have similar conditions to hers.  Here, Carol takes baby steps on how to cope with her illness. 

            Safe, makes people think about their own health and how being too concerned, can cause problems. When you find something that sets you off, it seems as though the whole world is ending and your immune system cannot be stopped from attacking you. In this case, Carol White finds herself allergic to her environment and it seems as if no one can help her. The only place she feels safe is at the community center where Carol moves to a more confined place, and learns how to adjust her problems and how to love herself better.

            The music in this film creates a sense of tension, intensifying what has happened to Carol. As the music becomes more riveting, Carol’s reactions appear to get more intense. The music makes this film more heart pounding to watch as we wait for something breathtaking to occur. Overall, this film keeps you on edge and makes you wonder why people want to make themselves sick. The music is a key part to this film and I think it helps the viewer to better understand Carol. 

The movie concludes on a cliffhanger where we see Carol talking into a mirror. In a sense, this scene relates to today’s lifestyle, in that we see how people are consumed with self-hatred, which causes them to be sick. The world today, is filled with self-hatred and the only way to solve this problem is to exchange self-hatred for self-loving.