Nutty about chipmunks and food
“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that’s been hidden from the American consumer…. Food, Inc. reveals surprising — and often shocking truths — about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.”
From Food Inc. online >
I just came home from the Vancouver screening of Food Inc. at Tinseltown.
It’s really scary how animals are “manufactured” and “processed” in the US…
I guess Canadians can be thankful for a stricter Food and Drug administrator, even though there are so many products advertised on US TV, there has to be other reasons besides patents and trademarks on why they are not available in Canada at the same time….
This film focuses on how food in the US, but Canadians will also have reasons to worry about soon.
Although Canada is pretty self-sufficient, especially BC, in producing more than enough food abundant across the nation… the way the climate is changing and impacting our environment… who knows what food we’ll have available in ten years.
One of the biggest points I had taken away from the movie tonight was the overall price of cheap.
I admit, I am frugal the majority of the times I go grocery shopping.
Coupons are constantly busting out of my wallet, and I keep an eye out on what’s on sale in the weekly flyers.
Sometimes I skip over the fruit and vegetables and head straight to the frozen aisle because I’m too lazy to cook, or head over to McD’s and have a burger for $1.39.
I don’t eat like that everyday, but there is a lot of sugar in my diet from snacking constantly.
Why is pop, candy, chips, and fast-food so cheap?
The majority of the ingredients in derived from corn.
High fructose corn syrup (sugar) in pop and candy which is also known as “Glucose-fructose” in Canada…. corn is fed to cows when they should be eating straight up grass, but the corn helps them get fatter faster, and there are so many other things derived from corn.
I can’t believe my favorite vegetable/fruit (technically anything that “produces” its own seeds is a fruit…) is the culprit of mass industry, which negatively effects many aspects of our lives such as health (too much sugar can lead to diabetes, obesity…) and the environment (all the equipment and factories running to mass produce…). The big bag of chips for $1 compared to one apple for the same price may seem like a bargain, but one end of saving might not be good for the long run for the future.
This is a definite watch.
And another reason why to get yourself out there to either
a) Learn to garden.. or else join a community garden
b) Buy fruits and vegetables seasonally as much as possible, and go for local products to support our local farmers.
The trailer can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0
On a lighter note, I thought this would brighten your mood.
(Especially you Star Wars fans.)
Livin’ it up in 3D for a day
I didn’t want to miss the final week of the “Wild Ocean 3D” IMAX performance, so I dragged Travis to downtown Vancouver for an afternoon viewing at Canada Place.
The only way I am able to drag Travis to a movie theatre is if there is a movie playing currently that he cannot replicate the sheer quality in high definition or surround sound with his home theatre system.
I agree in some aspects of being “anti-movie” theatre:
- Can’t choose your seats (unless you’re willing to come early)
- No pausing in movie (risk missing a crucial part of a movie for a “potty break”)
- Can’t laugh out loud (unless you laugh on cue with everyone else, or else you’ll be that weirdo who laughs too early or too late.)
Hm, I guess there are not many good reasons to leave the comfortable setup of your own living room.
However, after our home 3D-movie-viewing fiasco a few months ago (we didn’t get quite the same effect by buying the 3D version of Polar Express with the included glasses), we return to the outside world to watch three, 3D movies on a slow Monday.
Wild Ocean 3D movie site screenshot
First up: Wild Ocean 3D
This was the main reason for going to the IMAX theatre in Canada place, because the last showing was on April 9th, 2009.
I think there were about less than a dozen people at this 3PM showing of Wild Ocean 3D.
I loved how they told the story of Man VS Nature.
Well, the focus seemed to be more on the sardines off the coast of Southern Africa.
So I guess it was Sardines VS Every-other-animal-in-the-food-chain VS Man.
It was so cool to see the crazy sardine run, with people running from the shore with crates and crates of sardines, and under water with all the creatures hunting to eat the sardines.
The ugliest creature I have ever seen move under water- Cape Gannets. The most ungraceful creature underwater, yet when they’re diving from the air, it’s such an astonishing site and such a strange sound experience. It felt like I was watching a war movie, with water animals.
IMAX Under the Sea 3D movie poster
Next: IMAX Under the Sea 3D
Do you think Walt Disney has brainwashed me completely?
Every time I hear the words “Under the Sea”, I picture that crab orchestrating sea creatures playing “Under the sea, under the sea…”
Anyways, quick break and we went back into IMAX to watch another 3D flick, this time narrated by Jim Carrey. (Sorry ladies, this edition was not narrated by heart-throb Johnny Depp.)
Travis and I were glad to have seen Wild Ocean 3D first, Under the Sea was so much more bright and colourful. For the promo, he yelled “Holy F*ck” when one of featured creatures snapped out and grabbed lunch. Just remember, there are likely going to be children with their families around, especially with summer break coming really soon….
For some odd reason, we thought perhaps they “layered” and retouched Under the Sea for 3D viewing differently. A lot of elements seemed to pop out at us more.
Before the movie, I viewed sea turtles to be such gentle and slow creatures…
I was such in shock to see one eat a jelly fish ever so slowly.
Ow, that poor jelly fish.
Monsters vs Aliens
Last: Monsters VS Aliens
(warning: make sure your system sound is down low when you visit the site)
Yay!
We squeezed three 3D movies in one day.
Technically, two viewings in the afternoon, a walk around downtown, and raced to Richmond to view the last showing of Monsters VS Aliens in 3D around 10PM.
We watched the “behind the scenes” promo on TV about a couple weeks ago, so I was so stoked to go see Monsters VS Aliens.
Okay, maybe it was also because of the star power behind it.
Who doesn’t want to go see a movie featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon (tooooo many movies to mention… sadly Legally Blonde is the first that comes to mind), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up and others), Hugh Laurie (House), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Kiefer Sutherland (24), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), and Paul Rudd (I Love you, Man).
Could you tell I liked it?
I broke the rule of not giggling out loud… too hard.
Travis rolled his eyes when we left the movie.
Gee- I’m just THAT INTO puns.
: )
Luckily there were just a few people, like around ten of us in the theatre.
We thought there would be more people, who knows whether there were more people in the other “viewing” areas: regular, digital, IMAX, and Digital projection 3D.
For those wondering what were the differences between the types of viewings:
Regular viewing: costs regular ($11.95), looks regular. Sometimes I’d rather wait to see movies on DVDs so I can see extra behind the scenes stuff.
Digital viewing: costs a little more… depending. Again, I’d rather wait.
IMAX VS Digital Projection for 3D: Apparently, IMAX is a much larger screen in height so you would feel like you’re IN the movie, and Digital projection offers the viewer a much more crisper experience. It’s about a couple dollars difference (IMAX was around $14, where Digital 3d).
I like watching all three of the movies.
The way the promo hyped up the Monsters VS Aliens movie made us expect the 3D viewing to be such a mind blowing experience.
Travis summed up what we both thought about Monsters VS Aliens:
“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to watch the real-life showings of animals in 3D first.
MVA was good, but I couldn’t really buy into the whole experience because this is an animated flick.”
Until consumers have the ability to install and setup their own quality 3D home theatre experiences, in the meanwhile it’s fun to go out once in awhile to check out the latest in the theatres.
Steve Carell vs Mike Myers
Miss 604 is giving away double passes to see the preview of The Love Guru and Get Smart.
More details here >
I’m trying to figure out which production I would like to see first
Signs pointing to Steve Carell:
-On my way to Las Vegas via US Airways, I flipped open the June edition of US Airways magazine and read an interview with Steve Carell.
- At the Flamingo Casino, Travis and I were waiting in line to see X-Burlesque at the Second City Theatre . Outside on the walls featured past performers, and there was Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.
- Keeping up-to-date on the latest Apple Store events through e-mails from Apple.
In Soho (New York), Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway will be promoting “Get Smart” on Wednesday 9PM.
Steve Carell: 3 points.
Signs pointing to Mike Myers:
-Travis and I were channel surfing and came across the Sundance Channel.
We were so intrigued about an episode with Mike Myers AND Deepak Chopra.
We were surprised how spiritually-in tune Mike Myers is.
- I just finished reading Chopra’s “Buddha- A Story of Enlightenment”
I admire the great narrative of Deepak Chopra describing the ups and downs of Siddharta’s journey to becoming Buddha
-Compared to Get Smart, The Love Guru is an original production, where Get Smart is a movie revival
Mike Myers: 3 points.
Steve Carell and Mike Myers at a tie: 3-3
Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake are going to break the tie.
In addition to ultra-celebrity precense: Love Guru is my choice at 5-3.
It’s likely that I’m going to see both of these movies later in the summer, but it would be sweet to get Love Guru advance passes from Miss 604.
