George - 15 October 2007 02:31 PM

It’s also very sad that they don’t rent documentaries at the video stores anymore. They used to. Now you have to buy them. Is it the same in the States?

I think they had very low viewership ... which to an inveterate documentary-watcher is VERY disappointing. At any rate it’s been years since I was in a video store. They never had many documentaries. In the states you can often find them in public libraries, which is a good thing.

dougsmith - 15 October 2007 02:46 PM

In the states you can often find them in public libraries, which is a good thing.

I once rented all the Cosmos episodes at a library and kept them for about a month longer than I was supposed to. The fine came to be around $300. 

You might as well have kept them!

Yeah, well, I found how much I owed after I returned the cassettes.

netflix has a lot of documentaries, many you can watch on line if you have a fast connection. but it only works with IE and that bothers me, hopefully they will allow it work with FF soon.

George - 15 October 2007 03:02 PM

Yeah, well, I found how much I owed after I returned the cassettes.

Ouch!  I did the same thing at my library but they waived the fine when I returned it.  Sorry, man!

And, it is amazing what you can find on Google video

George - 15 October 2007 03:02 PM

Yeah, well, I found how much I owed after I returned the cassettes.

Well, think of it as an involuntary donation to a good cause. Public libraries do need support.

dougsmith - 15 October 2007 03:34 PM

George - 15 October 2007 03:02 PM

Yeah, well, I found how much I owed after I returned the cassettes.

Well, think of it as an involuntary donation to a good cause. Public libraries do need support.

That’s what I love about being an atheist. Even involuntary good deeds count!  :grin:

Have you seen this on Dawkins’s site?

A movie adaptation from Philip Pullman’s children’s book, “The Golden Compass,” is drawing controversy for strong anti-Catholic and anti-religion themes. Is the movie an example of ‘atheist evangelism’?

Here is the movie’s official site with the trailer.

A movie adaptation from Philip Pullman’s children’s book, “The Golden Compass,” is drawing controversy for strong anti-Catholic and anti-religion themes. Is the movie an example of ‘atheist evangelism’?

I look forward to seeing what all the fuss is about, and to assessing the genuinity of the film’s heathen elements.

I saw the new Beowulf film the other day.  I was actually a bit disappointed in the overuse of CGI.  For all of its attempts at being edgy and cool, the graphics made me feel like I was watching a gory version of Shrek.  But, there were a couple of little zingers thrown in that were critical of christianity so I thought it would be worthwhile to bring up here on this forum.

dougsmith - 13 October 2007 11:33 AM

Re. Life of Mammals, I would nominate ALL of David Attenborough’s documentaries as best-in-category. He also has Blue Planet about the ocean, Birds, Life in the Undergrowth about insects, and several others. Attenborough is the greatest, and the BBC camerawork is incredible.

advocatus - 03 December 2007 07:40 AM

“Life on Earth” is another good one.  I’ve checked it out of my public library a couple of times.

Just this past week I was looking for Attenborough’s Life on Earth at our library. Unfortunately they only had a VHS version. Is it worth buying it?

I just looked for “Life on Earth” on Netflix.  Is it the one set in Mali that you are referring to or the Attenborough “Planet Earth” series or something else?

erasmusinfinity - 03 December 2007 09:13 AM

I just looked for “Life on Earth” on Netflix.  Is it the one set in Mali that you are referring to or the Attenborough “Planet Earth” series or something else?

Yes, of course. “Planet Earth” is the one I was referring to. Thanks.