Liquid Rhythm Kayaking's Journal

The following links take you to our discoveries of popular and independent films.  These movies have help us enjoy the water even when there is no water to play in.

Films – Comedy

Lithium Springs (2004)  The independent Florida film Lithium Springs entertains and shows off the best of Florida. Lithium Springs is a remarkable folksy film that highlights the enchanted water and land of this great state.  This screwball comedy utilizes old folklore myths, funny Florida stereo types, local history, current event environmental issues, and the natural character of Florida.

The writer and director blends these elements into a film that is becoming a kayak cult classic to all of us who occasionally have to sit on the couch craving to be outside.

Without a Paddle (2004)

Three friends, whose lives have been drifting apart, reunite for the funeral of a fourth childhood friend. When looking through their childhood belongings, they discover a trunk which contained details on a quest their friend was attempting. It revealed that he was hot on the trail of the $200,000 that went missing with airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper in 1971. They decide to continue his journey, but do not understand the dangers they will soon encounter.

.

Films – for Halloween

Black Water (2008)

The movie is an Australian crocodile film about a rogue crocodile that attacks some tourists in their boat. As they drift into a mangrove swamp, their boat suddenly capsizes and Jim disappears. Becoming stranded in the swamp the group realizes that a crocodile has attacked them. Stranded they must somehow elude a man-eating crocodile and get out alive.

.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

“A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discover a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.”

.

.

Deliverance (1972)

“On a weekend canoing trip down a river in the Georgia back country, four urban businessmen enter a nightmare in which both nature and mankind conspire to send them through a crucible of danger and degradation in which their lives and perhaps even their souls are put at horrendous risk.”

.

The Descent (2005)

Six girlfriends meet in a remote part of the Appalachians for their annual extreme outdoor adventure, in this case the exploration of a cave hidden deep in the woods. Far below the surface of the earth, disaster strikes, and there’s no way out. (Directed by Neil Marshall, English, 100 min., 2005, Rated R for strong violence/gore and language).

The version with the European ending is more intense.

.

.

The Host (2006)

U.S. military scientist orders deadly chemicals to be dumped in a Korean sewer, inadvertently giving birth to a mutant monster. This film, which has won rave reviews from critics and audiences around the world, does for the age of chemical weapons and bioterroism what Godzilla did for the era of the atomic bomb. The director has been compared with Steven Spielberg for his ability to combine relentless thrills with poignant characterizations.

Directed by Joon-ho Bong, Korean w/ English subtitles, Rated R

I saw “The Host” at Eckerd College during an Environmental Film Festival.  And I have to say you need to watch it in Korean with English subtitles.

Island of Lost Souls (1933)

“The original version of H.G. Wells’ novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Charles Laughton makes a very creepy Dr. Moreau, and Bela Lugosi is equally creepy as The Sayer of the Law. If you’ve seen later versions, particularly the recent Brando remake, be sure to catch this one if you can.”

.

.

Jaws (1975)

“Not to be outdone by Hitchcock, Spielberg managed to make people afraid of a fish. ”

.

.

.

.

Lake Placid (1999)

“Its placid waters complement the pristine Maine wilderness it borders. This tranquil setting is probably the last place you’d expect a gruesome fatality. But then it’s also the last place you’d expect to find a 30-foot, narrow-snouted, multi-toothed, reptilian of the species Crocodylus. An eating machine more commonly known as a crocodile.”

.

.

Films – Environmental awareness

127 Hours (2010)

This movie is based on the actual experiences of Aron Ralston who became trapped under a boulder while boldering (canyoneering) alone near Moab, Utah and how his survival instincts force him to  resort to desperate measures to survive.

.

.

.

“End of the Line“ (2009) Directed by Rupert Murray.  Scientists predict that if we continue fishing at the current rate, the planet will run out of seafood by 2048, with catastrophic consequences. The End of the Line explores the devastating effect that overfishing is having on fish stocks and the health of our oceans.  English, 85m

.

.

.

Exploring the Mother Waters (2006)  “An adventure and environmental awareness film like no other.  Through the experiences of adventurer Mick O’Shea, viewers become part of an exciting, visually stunning and educational adventure journey to and through one of the world’s most amazing regions. From extreme life and death drama to experiences of friendship, fascination and compassion ‘Exploring the Mother of Waters’ is a documentary film that carefully balances cutting edge adventure exploration with an effective educational and at times touching awareness building agenda.”

Frozen (2010) when you cannot go kayaking because the water is frozen go skiing.  Frozen “is [ an environmental ] horror film that, thankfully, does not conform to the recent trends of low budget horror films.  It is a small-scale story that explores a commonplace fear that could literally happen to just about anyone.  There is no ‘Well I would have done things differently and made it out OK.’  The list of possible outcomes for this scenario is extremely short, no matter how you tackle it.  When one is hoping that the characters of this film make it out alright, what they’re really hoping is that it never happens to them.”

Hand Cut (—-) “From the hand-fired railroad days in Revelstoke to the miners of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, Hand Cut blends old-timer wisdom with self-propelled, big mountain lines from Alaska, British Columbia, and Colorado.

The Hand Cut release includes endless pillow lines in the BC interior; exposed descents in the Coast Range with ski mountaineering legend John Chilton; brilliantly shot inverts over the old wood mines on Red Mountain Pass, Colorado; and the original deep-country blues of John-Alex Mason. Hand Cut: self-propelled stories brought to life in High Definition and brilliant 16mm film.”

The Island -  Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct. Those who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. However, he considers himself unworthy because of a sin he committed in his youth. The film is a parable, combining the realities of Russian everyday life with monastic ritual and routine.  Directed by Pavel Lounguine.  Russian with English Subtitles

Lithium Springs (2004)  The independent Florida film Lithium Springs entertains and shows off the best of Florida. Lithium Springs is a remarkable folksy film that highlights the enchanted water and land of this great state.  This screwball comedy utilizes old folklore myths, funny Florida stereo types, local history, current event environmental issues, and the natural character of Florida. The writer and director blends these elements into a film that is becoming a kayak cult classic to all of us who occasionally have to sit on the couch craving to be outside.

North Face Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation’s Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif — the Eiger — two reluctant German climbers begin their daring ascent.

Directed by Philipp Stölzl

.

Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2004)  Once known as the California Riviera, the Salton Sea is now called one of America’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, coughing up dead fish and birds by the thousands. Yet a few hardy eccentrics hang on to hope, including a roadside nudist waving at passing European tourists, a man building a religious mountain out of mud and paint, beer-loving Hungarian Revolutionary Hunky Daddy, and the real-estate “Ronald McDonald” known simply as The Landman. Through their perceptions and misperceptions, the strange history and unexpected beauty of the Salton Sea is revealed.

Sanctum (2011)  A team of cave divers attempt an expedition to one of the most beautiful, largest, and least accessible cave system on earth.  The expedition turns into a dive for survival when a tropical storm blocks their exit and forces them to find another way out of the cave.  Sanctum was inspired by the film’s co-writer Andrew Wight’s near-death experience of leading a diving expedition miles into a system of underwater caves, then having to find a way out after a freak storm collapsed the entrance.  This movie will amaze you with the beauty of nature even while you are gasping for air.

“Under the Sea – A View from Below” (2008)   “Homemade” and “submarine” are two words that don’t go together, but Karl Stanley has proven that convention wrong twice over. He designed and built two groundbreaking deep-sea submersibles with the creativity and resourcefulness of some of history’s greatest inventors. His inventions have given him access to a world previously reserved for scientists and research grants, and he’s not shy to gloat about it. He offers the general public a once in a lifetime experience to go face to face with an environment largely unexplored. A View From Below follows Karl Stanley in his unprecedented, controversial, quest to “Go Deeper.” His determination and creativity will amaze and inspire you from the very beginning. Karl Stanley started building his first submarine when he was still in high school, and completed it during his time as an American Studies major at Eckerd College.  English 74 min.  Directed, Produced and Edited by: Matt O’Connor and Paul DiNatale

“Up the Creek“  (1984) Directed by Robert Butler

Up the Yangtze (2007)  In China, the mighty Yangtze is known simply as “The River.” It is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history, the Three Gorges Project. At the river’s edge, a girl named Yu Shui says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead. She is leaving to work on a cruise line that takes tourists on a “Farewell to the Three Gorges Tour”, where visitors get to wave goodbye to 5000 years of civilization. It’s “The Love Boat” meets “Apocalypse Now”. The Three Gorges Dam – contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle – provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside modern China. Named one of Canada’s Top Ten Films, winner of best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver Film Festival. At the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this was the first film to be picked up for theater distribution, which was  not scheduled until April 2008.

Books

‘In the Naga’s Wake’, By Mick O’Shea. The first man to kayak the Mekong, from Tibet to the South China Sea