PLANET OF THE APES.

I was watching this real fascinating program on PBS over the weekend about gorillas in the Congo. These are some real amazing animals lemme tells ya, and I can see why Dian Fossey studied them as much as she did. The show was narrated by that old geezer Sir David Attenborough, who has been doing these types of nature programs for eons now, and the old coot is still out there researching and narrating about wildlife. Pretty impressive I'd say.

Gorillas are very social animals and are protected and watched over by the lead male gorilla which is known as the silverback, as you might already know. They are in charge of maintaining social order and peace in the group. They showed two females that were starting to fight and the male silverback came in and stopped it immediately by pouncing on one of them and subduing her until everything was calm again. When another silverback tries to come in and usurp the ruling male's authority, he will fight the challenger to defend his "crown"; very similar to a the male lion watching over his pride I suppose. They also proved (AS IF WE DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW!) that gorillas are very very intelligent and wash their food and use simple tools and stuff in their daily lives. They like to live in peace and harmony around other animals, and it was really quite insightful to see them in their natural habitat. It was quite beautiful really. I love animals, and think they deserve the Earth along with plants and insects of course.

On the other hand, that other most annoying species called humans, was most definitely the subject of a very thought-provoking motion picture I watched called Children of Men. Man, I gotta say, you betta have yourself some Prozac or do something real joyful after viewing this film, because it was very very dreary and depressing. The future is a real bleak place, where women can no longer reproduce, and the planet is caught up in tremendous social and political upheavals. Terrorism is rampant, and hope for humanity is all but lost.

The cinematography is gorgeous as are the remarkable long shots with non-interrupted action sequences. It was technically well done I must say, and actors Clive Owen, Michael Caine, and various others were pretty good--a film directed by the great Mexican-born Alfonso Cuarón. Yeah, it's kind of like Blade Runner meets Minority Report meets 28 Days or something like that.

If this is the future (and it could as well be at the rate we're going), I really hope the gorillas survive and make it out okay.