Fire Island (2022)

Jack and I liked this romantic comedy, loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, the first feature with gay Asian males in leading roles. Five men, of modest means, vacation in the "gay Disneyland" Long Island, NY resort town of Fire Island, encountering racism and classism as they look for love and a good time. In gay Disneyland homophobia might be minimized, but other prejudices definitely rear their ugly heads.

Joel Kim Booster stars as Noah and wrote the script (originally a Quibi short and, I think, soon to be a TV series?) for himself and Bowen Yang, who plays Howie. Their travel mates are Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, and Torian Miller. They meet James Scully, Conrad Ricamora, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips, and many more, while bunking at Margaret Cho's guesthouse. She stepped in to play the part after scheduling prevented someone (a man) from participating. 

Director Andrew Ahn, close friends with Booster and Yang, skillfully manages the pace between comedy, partying, and emotion.

Jay Wadley's jaunty score, streaming on Apple Music and elsewhere, is supplemented by many other tunes, listed here.

The movie is the only one to be granted an exception to the Bechdel Test (follow the link if you're not familiar with it). Alison Bechdel herself tweeted, “Okay, I just added a corollary: Two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass.”

Cho was last blogged for Good on Paper and Wadley for Swan Song. Booster, Korean-born and raised by white American adoptive parents, has done a lot of acting and this is his feature screenwriting debut. Besides his 59 SNL episodes, Yang was very funny in eleven of Nora from Queens and much more. Rogers is currently in I Love That for You, among dozens of acting credits, and wrote ten episodes of The Other Two (Booster wrote one). Ricamora is best known for 82 episodes of How to Get Away with Murder. Matos, Miller, Scully, Adams, and Phillips are new to me.

You won't miss the opening with the actors singing the Searchlight Pictures theme. Do stick around for a voiceover during the closing credits.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hot for this one, averaging 94%, while its audiences are cooler at 76. We watched it the first weekend of Pride Month, on June 3, on Hulu.

The Biggest Little Farm: The Return (2022)

We enjoyed this 29 minute sequel to The Biggest Little Farm in which director, writer, narrator, and cinematographer John Chester further documents the organic, biodiverse farm he founded with his wife Molly in Moorpark, California (in Ventura County, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles).

Noted composer Jeff Beal's score for this is not available so, as I type, I'm once again listening to his soundtrack from the earlier movie on Apple Music.

Some have complained that this short has too much repetition from the original, but Jack and I didn't mind. It's been three years since we saw the first, which was not, despite my prediction, honored by the Oscars with even a nomination, though it does have 15 wins and 27 other nominations, including the Critics Choice Award.

All of the aforementioned filmmakers were last blogged for The Biggest Little Farm. The sequel is not rated on Rotten Tomatoes.

The full length (1:31) original is now available on Hulu and we streamed this one on May 20 on Disney+.

Petite Maman (2021)

Just delightful! This story is about Nelly, an eight year old French girl whose parents are cleaning out Nelly's grandmother's house after her death. In the woods, Nelly meets Marion, a girl who looks just like her, and they are played to perfection by identical twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz, respectively. Many synopses give away an important plot point about the two girls, but I choose not to. If you are paying attention, you will come to it on your own.

Director/writer/costume designer Céline Sciamma captivates us with the sweet girls and the movie would be lovely for children to watch (if they understand the French language or can read subtitles–as of now, no dubbed version is available). Sciamma used some of her own clothing and props.

Three tracks from the movie by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, AKA Para One, are available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. The gorgeous cinematography is by Clare Mathon.

Sciamma was last blogged for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Mathon for Spencer. Apparently, Sciamma auditioned no one else after meeting the Sanz twins, who make their screen debuts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hugely in favor of this, averaging 97%, while its audiences are shrinking at 78. We watched it yesterday on iTunes/Apple TV and it can be rented or bought on other platforms.

Dolphin Reef (2018) and Diving with Dolphins (2020)

Breathtakingly gorgeous! Dolphin Reef is the official Disneynature documentary and Diving with Dolphins is a documentary about making Dolphin Reef. Both were released in time for Earth Day in April 2020. They would make an excellent double feature with the first running only one hour 18 minutes and the second 1:19.

Natalie Portman narrates Dolphin Reef, which focuses on, among others, a bottlenose dolphin calf named Echo and his mother, but there are other creatures, including humpback whales and a brilliantly colorful mantis shrimp in the brilliantly colorful coral reefs, which, as we all know, are endangered by climate change. The locations are worldwide.

Keith Scholey is credited as director and story writer, Alastair Fothergill as co-director, and David Fowler wrote Portman's narration.

Steven Price's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

Three cinematographers are listed for Dolphin Reef–Paul Atkins, Mark Gerasimenko, and Roger Horrocks–although many other photographers are shown in Diving with Dolphins. Martin Elsbury does the editing.

Diving with Dolphins is narrated by Céline Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau–one of the world's underwater diving pioneers–and herself an environmentalist and filmmaker.

As above, Scholey directs and wrote the story with Fowler providing the rest of the script.

The music by Barnaby Taylor does not seem to be available online, but as I write I'm listening to Price's delightful soundtrack to Dolphin Reef.

The cinematographers listed for the second movie are Atkins, Horrocks, Doug Anderson, Jamie McPherson, Didier Noirot, and Helen Sampson. It was edited by Elsbury and Sampson.

Portman was last blogged for Annihilation, Scholey for African Cats (though I neglected to cite him as director of Bears), Fothergill and Fowler for Polar Bear (below), Price for Baby Driver, Horrocks for My Octopus Teacher, and Taylor for Born in China. Atkins has dozens of credits, many but not all of which are nature docs. Gerasimenko has been aerial director of photography on over 100 titles and most likely did those honors here. Elsbury's long resume, dating back to 1981, includes Earth and African Cats but I left him out of those posts. Anderson and Noirot worked on Earth and many others, McPherson on lots of nature docs, including many TV series, and Sampson graduated from field assistant on Bears to assistant producer on Dolphin Reef to one of eight producers on Diving with Dolphins.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have floated Dolphin Reef up to 100% with its audiences' average just below the surface at 89. Diving with Dolphins isn't on that site but is definitely worth watching. Jack and I think you should see it second.

We saw them both this week, streaming on Disney+. You can also rent them on iTunes/Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video.

Now this is going on my Disneynature documentary list, updated right this minute. Note to my email subscribers: the Disneynature documentary list you get in your inbox will not have live links to today's posts but the list will be updated on the web version.

And milestone alert: I've just passed the 1400 mark–number of movies about which I have written on the blog since September 3, 2008, listed in my alphabetized index.

Polar Bear (2022)

Another magnificent Disneynature documentary, this one follows two cubs and their mother in their Norwegian habitat just 650 miles from the North Pole. It's miraculous how these film crews manage to get so close to wild animals and track specific ones as they migrate. And then the editor, as always, boils down so much footage into, in this case, an hour and 24 minutes of pure delight.

Narrated by Catherine Keener, co-directed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, and written by David Fowler, it did not disappoint Jack and me, despite chilly reviews. More on that in a moment. Climate change and its effect on the creatures is not given short shrift.

Harry Gregson-Williams' music can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

The gorgeous cinematography is thanks to James Ewen and Rolf Steinmann and edited by Andy Netley.

Keener was last blogged for Nostalgia; Fothergill for Chimpanzee (Disneynature); Wilson, Steinmann, and Netley for Penguins (ditto); Fowler for Born in China (yep); and Gregson-Williams for House of Gucci. Ewen has shot a number of nature docs before this one, and I've just learned that there is a making-of documentary about this documentary, called Bear Witness (2022). Love the punny title!

As I mentioned, Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are giving it the cold shoulder, averaging 74 and 70%, respectively. They're just wrong.

Jack and I streamed it on May 20 with our subscription to Disney+. I think it's also available for rent on iTunes/Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video. I will now add it to my brand new Disneynature documentary list. 

Disneynature documentary list

Here's the incomplete list with links to my blog posts, of the Disneynature documentaries. I will update as I discover, watch, and write about more in the series. Jack and I have loved every one that we have seen  and they're all suitable for the whole family, with the caveat for sensitive humans that some pictured animals are hunters and others are hunted.

All are, as I recall, under an hour and a half and are available to stream with a subscription to Disney+ or can be rented on iTunes/Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

Tiger (2024) (released in the US for Earth Day 2024)

Polar Bear (2022) (released in the US for Earth Day 2022)

Dolphin Reef (2018) (released in the US for Earth Day 2020)
Diving with Dolphins (2020) (making of Dolphin Reef)
Elephant (2020) (released in the US for Earth Day 2020)
Penguins (2019) (released in the US for Earth Day 2019)
Born in China (2017) (released in the US for Earth Day 2017)

Growing Up Wild Dec 2016 
Monkey Kingdom (2015) (released in the US for Earth Day 2015)
Bears (2014) (released in the US for Earth Day 2014)
Chimpanzee (2012) (released in the US for Earth Day 2012)
Disneynature: Wings of Life (2011) (released in the US for Earth Day 2011)
African Cats (2011) (released in the US for Earth Day 2011)

Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008) (released in the US October 2010)

Oceans (2010) (released in the US for Earth Day 2010)
Earth (2007) (released in the US for Earth Day 2009)

March of the Penguins (2005) (added to the Disneynature collection after the fact) (I saw and loved it pre-blog)