Halloween is approaching, and while there are more than enough slasher films and boogeyman movies to watch this weekend, here are two films that should scare the stuffing out of any viewer.
Free Solo
Mountain climber Alex Honnold goes about his sport without a helmet, without spiked books, without ropes, and without other climbers. He free climbs using just some chalk on his fingers and a pair of sneakers on his feet. In this 2018 documentary, Honnold attempts to climb the sheer rock wall of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park.
The Alpinist
Marc-Andre Leclerc also likes to climb alone. While he does bring equipment with him, his special thrill is climbing in winter on the ice that forms on mountains. This 2021 documentary follows him as he travels looking for greater challenges.
Both of these films have photography that is unbelievable – beautiful, breathtaking – and action to make palms sweat. So chalk up and check them out.
The Academy Award for Best Picture of the year should go to a movie that is not on the best picture list.
It is, however, on the best documentary feature list.
The film is “My Octopus Teacher.”
This 85-minute movie is a terrific piece of filmmaking.
A man named Craig Foster, a filmmaker taking time off from work, began diving in a rough area along the shore of South Africa. His underwater swims were called “free dives” meaning he went down without oxygen tanks or a lot of other equipment.
While checking out the undersea life, Foster came upon an octopus. The creature fascinated him. Again and again he dove down to watch, study and film the octopus. Over time the creature came to trust him, figuring the man was not a predator and would not hurt it.
Day after day, for about a year, Foster continued to dive and visit the octopus. The footage he got following the octopus is amazing. At times, Foster was in the water near the octopus when sharks came hunting for food. He watched and filmed as the octopus worked to elude the hungry killers.
This was the most stunning documentary I have seen since watching “Free Solo,” the mountain climbing film.
My family and I watched “My Octopus Teacher” together, streaming it on Netflix, and we loved it. But there are some rough and scary moments in the picture that could give small children nightmares.
Foster narrates his own story and Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed directed the film with additional cinematography by Roger Horrocks.
The Oscars are scheduled to be given out on Sunday, April 25.
