Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day Jamboree

Tuesday Top Ten: For the list maker in me and the list lover in you

Happy Earth Day !
Leonardo DiCaprio loves you and so do I.


Ten Reasons To Love Planet Earth


10. Scandinavia, Thai cuisine, the Great Lakes, French actresses, Brazilians, Asian actors, New York New York ... I couldn't make up my mind on number ten so insert anything you like here. That way you won't be offended that I left it off.

09. It's not Venus. Totally liveable temperatures (for now). Spontaneous combustion is rare and when it happens in the movies its performed by stuntmen (they live) or Chris Evans (smoking) and either way --exciting.

08. I've lost my train of thought. Please listen to Kate Bush's "Hello Earth" while I collect myself.

07. While it's true that Earth has lots of terrible creatures living on it: warmongers, theocrats, bigots, Ann Coulter, homophobes, talentless celebrities, Karl Rove... it is also home to people like George Clooney, Pedro Almodóvar, Viggo Mortenson, Natalie Portman, Al Gore, Susan Sarandon and Gael Garcia Bernal (among others). So, ya know: worth saving.

06. Oscar's Foreign Language Film Category... It doesn't quite cover the whole wide world, but at least it keeps awards junkies abreast of the existence of other countries outside their own. Anything that helps us to be citizens of the world rather than myopically aware of only our tiny part of it. I include this one because I'm obsessed with Google Maps at the moment and I've made one that I think you'll like: still in progress but take a look. Thoughts?

05. People look sexy when they're wet and Earth is 70% water (give or take). Dive in!


04. Mountains, rivers, deserts, Australia and New Zealand as seen in the movies (I've never been *sniffle*), fjords, seashells, waterfalls, hot springs, cacti, forests, coastlines. So many things worth looking at with awe. I'm not a big outdoors type but I do occassionally notice my non-celluloid surroundings and when that happens I usually feel a bit like George Emerson in A Room With a View, spinning around with uninhibited joy shouting "Beeeaaauuttty" (not really but...in my heart!)

03. Dinosaurs once lived here. Wheeee

02. It's where those 40,000+ survivors on Battlestar Galactica are trying to get to and every last single one of them is fascinating. If that many awesome characters are longing for Earth than it's worth gloating about since we already got it. (sigh) Easily the best show on television. Why aren't you watching?

01. It's the birthplace of the movies.
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What do you love most on Planet Earth?

previously on tuesday top ten: Weirdos, Oscar predictions, hookers, Jude Law, movie posters, etcetera...
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19 comments:

Michael Parsons said...

I love those moments when you pop in a BBC nature documentary and you are so in awe at what you see, the joy has no where else to come out from other than your tear ducks.
Or that moment when you notice a tiny detail in a common flower or a plant, and you realize the beauty in it, and how you are surrounded by this beauty but never really look.

And David Beckham covered in leaves, dirt or water...just not Posh...I don't like plastic things.

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Anonymous said...

So would you say your TV scale is comprable to your movie scale. I mean, you've not given an A to a movie in like three years, right? but the first episode of BSG from this season gets one? I mean, it was pretty decent, but still, I can't imagine it beating every movie the last two years, right?

J.D. said...

Hooray for optimism! :)

NATHANIEL R said...

bryan --i don't really know how to compare TV and MOVIES. they operate differently, tv being longform snippets in their very nature and movies being the whole meal.

i may change my grading scale. it's so weird that i never give A's ;)

adam k. said...

Aw man... when I saw your #2 reason, I thought it was the #1 reason, and that made me love it even more. But it's still great.

Who needs Earth Day when you have BATTLESTAR?

Thank you for always shilling for that awesome show.

Anonymous said...

Why aren't you watching? Because the stupid broadcaster here stopped airing it after one season! Grr. But I loved what I had seen enough to buy the inevitable "complete series" DVD release once it's out. (I wouldn't say it's my favourite current show just yet, but it's, at worst, firm second place after Lost.)

I know the Google Map is work-in-progress, but I already love it. I would challenge your claim in Belgium's description, though - the one that European countries are "often represented by their most acclaimed talent". For some reason, it only seems to hold for the most nominated countries: Italy, France, Spain, but not necessarily further down the list. Examples: Germany's Herzog, Denmark's von Trier, Poland's Kieslowski, Russia's Tarkovsky are, arguably, THE auteurs to know from their respective countries - and none of them was nominated.

Happy Earth Day. :)

Anonymous said...

The temperature here at Rio de Janeiro is totally unliveable.

But I'm brazilian, so I guess a have extra points around here. :)

And yes, Earth once was the home of dinosaurs and I think this is really really cool.

Anonymous said...

I know Scandinavia isn't all that great, but surely we deserve to be higher on the list than Al Gore and Natalie Portman? Sheesh.

Apart from that I'd like to second michael parsons' comment. I recently got the Planet Earth series on blu-ray and some of that stuff is so beautiful it almost breaks my heart.

NATHANIEL R said...

hey i love scandinavia whatchoo talking about?

anyway... i tried to put philanthropic celebrities in that list. i left of Oprah cuz i have issues with 'The Big Give.' ;)

Slayton said...

I lived in New Zealand from age 2 until about three months ago. It's pretty pretty.

Anonymous said...

I'm certainly watching BSG. Two years ago I declared BSG the Best Show of the Year. Last year I gave that honor to Lost. This year is Lost keeps up its insane pace of awesome and BSG lives up to its epic end I may just call it a tie.

Oh, and uh... go Earth!

Anonymous said...

I second "Brazilians" for that list of top 10's. Beautiful country with absolutely beautiful people. I lived there for a little while - I want to go back to stay. :)

The earth is also home to James McAvoy, which definitely makes it a place worth saving. And he's part of the green movement as well.

Happy Earth Day!

Unknown said...

Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan :)... kidding! :D

No, really. The fact that it's where ANYONE has a chance to be famous :)

Anonymous said...

1. Ditto the Planet Earth comments. I saw it on a big screen television, and there were moments where I was in tears from sheer beauty overload.

2. I've fallen behind on my Battlestar viewing. Blame the third season, where I stopped believing it. I'm hoping to rekindle the love, and I've bought the third season to start again. Best show on television? Don't know yet, but I'm loving the loony Doctor Who, the wonderfully subversive Torchwood, and the always awesome Lost.

3. Yeah, I've noticed a lack of A's given to movies. There was the History of Violence/Brokeback tandem in 2005, and Eternal Sunshine/Spider-man 2/Vera Drake in 2004 but still, I need some more. Then again, I had four in 2007 (and counting).

Anonymous said...

Hey, include me with the bunch looking for Starbuck to lead the ragtag fugitive fleet to the local zip code. But where will we put them all? And can the Galactica double-park next to the I.S.S.?

DBrooks17 said...

I love that someone can list a bloated, pompous ass like Al Gore as a reason the planet is great, and it doesn't stop me from thinking his film site is terrific. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I can't abide the misguided adoration of that nitwit.

NATHANIEL R said...

um, thanks (?)
no really thank you! we'll agree to disagree and am glad you still love the site.

as for "A"s... I don't know what's wrong with me. I really don't. I HATE grading. I curse the day I started doing it. Now the bar is probably too high to give anything an A ever again :(

just pretend all A- are pure "A"s and everyone will be happier including me ;)

Brian Darr said...

I like the fact that you're a harsh grader, Nat. Critics like you give the filmmakers something to really shoot for...

Anonymous said...

//I like the fact that you're a harsh grader, Nat. Critics like you give the filmmakers something to really shoot for...//

Amen to that Brian. I'm tired of critics who give out A's (or 4 stars) as if they were Halloween candy (a little discernment folks, please!)

So I'd say the existence of this site is one of the things that makes me grateful to be here. And, the way the light on the CT shoreline warms the sky and everything with a soft golden glow and can even make Electric Boat or the local nuclear plant look purty.

RedSatinDoll