where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
show: 4:45 p.m.
costs: $8.00 Ticket + $4.75 small ( 30 oz ) Cherry Coke + $9.40 lunch @ Tin Tin Chinese Buffet in Vacaville, CA, before the show ( + $1.60 Tip ) = $23.75
auditorium: 8
seat: 4th row, 5th column
synopsis/overview: Cold War Thawed On Ice
In October of 1988, three California Gray Whales got trapped in North Alaska. And an unlikely team of Eskimo whalers, oil companies, Russian merchant mariners, and the US military joined together to try and save the whales. Based on a true story.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) News; 2.) Breathing hole; 3.) Bid; 4.) Five miles; 5.) Three California Gray Whales; 6.) "Holy crap"; 7.) 'Phone tip; 8.) Press release; 9.) Frostbite; 10.) "What makes a story matter"; 11.) Governor; 12.) "P. R. thing"; 13.) Airport; 14.) "You may need them more than you think"; 15.) Town meeting; 16.) Enterprising natives; 17.) Ten thousand calories; 18.) "The ratings are what's gonna keep the rescue going"; 19.) Fred, Wilma and Bam-bam; 20.) Wall of ice; 21.) "Stereophonic explosion"; 22.) "It's forty now"; 23.) Make-up; 24.) Whale fluke; 25.) Publicity stunt; 26.) Headphones; 27.) Superman; 28.) Progress report; 29.) "Sounds like pneumonia"; 30.) Hootkin De-Icer; 31.) "Not sucking-up, too"; 32.) "Are you Mexican"; 33.) Power generator; 34.) Pilot's eye; 35.) "Bubbling jacuzzi"; 36.) Seventh report on the whales; 37.) Bad news; 38.) Breathing holes; 39.) Glasnost; 40.) Bubble gum; 41.) "Let's get back to the whales"; 42.) Pep talk; 43.) "He's gone"; 44.) "You're not as easy to hate as I thought"; 45.) Town effort; 46.) Flags; 47.) Thirty knots; 48.) "I'm gonna miss them"; 49.) "After" stories; and 50.) Bonus scenes and pictures during the Ending Credits.
audience reaction: The audience liked this movie. But it didn't get a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: I liked this movie, too. It is a good Family movie to take your little brats to.
spoiler alert! The breathing hole for the whales kept switching from free-of-ice to frosting-over-with-ice. In the true story, one of the whales was named, Bone. Did they really have to keep the helicopter doors wide open? They could just have kept the doors slightly ajar. And even if they turned-off the generator to keep the helicopter doors closed, there were enough people in the helicopter to keep the generator relatively warm. And, besides, when a generator is turned-off, it's not gonna turn icy-cold in an instant: It will just gradually cool down--and the rescue site was just a few minutes away via helicopter! When her cameraman left her, why didn't she just pick-up the camera and film the unfolding drama herself? How in heck did the Russians get access to an American flag?
fyi: I really don't know why this escaped my attention back in '88.
There were elements about the true story that were kept away from the Big Screen. For example, there were two Russian icebreaker merchant ships involved in the rescue: The Vladimir Arsenev and the Admiral Makarov. Two search-and-rescue helicopters ferried people between Barrow, Alaska, and the trapped whales; and the helicopters also landed on the deck of the Admiral Makarov a number of times. Those Eskimo whalers were paid by the state to cut holes in the ice, it wasn't an all-volunteer effort. The Alaska National Guard CH54 Skycrane was put out of commission for several days when its rotor blade got split in the bitter cold. After their escape, the whales actually went back into their icy trap a day later. My guess is that they went looking for the third one before they finally gave up, turned around and left for good.
The rescue operation cost at least a million dollars.
word of advice: Find a good "Common Ground" with those that you are at odds with and work towards an amicable resolution.
tidbits: So, at Tin Tin Chinese Buffet, I was at the trough--I mean, buffet island--just piling heaps of food on my plate when I noticed something odd about the instrumental music playing through the speakers. It was a Christmas instrumental: Silver Bells! Yeah, like, "soon it will be Christmas Day" in about 321 days. Hah!
And I pigged-out at that place for about an hour just waiting for Silver Bells to cycle-over once again. But I guess someone got wise to it and switched the CDs on me. Darn ....
This movie is telling me to move to Barrow, Alaska, where I can pig-out once a day at Chinese Buffets and still lose weight! Because, even though I pig-out at buffets three times a week on average, I don't think that I even get anywhere close to eating 10,000 calories a day! And, who knows, I just might end-up having Sarah Palin as an occasional dinner date! We could both look at Russia through the window. That would be nice .... Ahem!
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Year of 1989, month of October: A pod of California Gray Whales are in North Alaska.
Whale 1: Yup, me and the missus were here last year. And we met a bunch of really kind, caring and friendly Alaskan natives. That's why we're here this year: To say, Hi, and to thank them for---Ouch! What's that thing on my back?!?!?!
Whale 2: Dude, I think that they just harpooned you.
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