EA Challenge #4

Well now that I've finished regaling you all with my own most recent adventure, it's time I got back to pursuing the original purpose of this blog, which is to discuss ways that we can incorporate adventure into our daily lives. And what better way to do that than to issue another challenge, especially since it's been (gulp!) almost a full year since the last one!

The idea for this particular challenge actually originated during my trip to Antarctica. If you remember, I mentioned that on the long flight between L.A. and Santiago, we each had our own video consoles, so we could choose our own entertainment. One of the films I picked was The Bourne Ultimatum. Normally, this wouldn't be my type of movie—I hadn't seen either of the first two in the series—but I really enjoyed it. That is, until I was about 15 minutes from the end and the pilot announced that we were beginning our descent and so the video screens would be turned off!

Unfortunately, I was on a different type of plane for the trip home, so I never got a chance to see the end of the movie. And since I was now going to have to rent it after I got home (I was dying to know how it ended!), I decided I might as well rent the first two as well. And then I finally got to see how it all wrapped up this weekend.

Turns out, they were all good! Although the last one was (surprisingly) the best of the three—I think Matt Damon had really grown into the role by then.

So what does all this have to do with today's challenge? Well, as I said before, normally I never would have seen the films because “I don't like action adventure movies.” I put that in quotation marks because, in fact, there have been a few action films I've loved over the years: Die Hard, Speed, and one of my all-time favourite movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

And it's not just action-adventure flicks that I have this not-always-accurate preconception about. I remember going to see Wayne's World, only because that was the one my friends wanted to see, but totally expecting to find it completely moronic. But I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life!

So it's those type of experiences that have inspired me.

Current Challenge

Go to (or rent) a movie from a genre you normally avoid.

As my experiences have shown, in every genre there are some examples that rise to the top, but if you don't normally watch films in those genres, how do you know which they are? So I'm going to suggest a few options below to help inspire you. The links for each film will take you to the IMDb Web site so you can learn more about them.

• Think romances are too sappy? Hotel de Love and Sabrina (the original, NOT the remake) aren't your typical heart-tuggers.
• Thrillers too predictable? The Usual Suspects and Memento will keep you guessing to the very end.
• Foreign films too dull? You won't be sleeping through France's Le Diner de cons (The Dinner Game) or Germany's Lola rennt (Run Lola Run).
• Slapstick comedies too formulaic? Young Frankenstein and The Gods Must Be Crazy created their own formulas to keep the audience in stitches.

Well, you get the idea. The suggestions above are just a small sampling of films that transcend their genres. You still may not like them, but at least you'll have given them a chance, and you never know what will come from that. For example, Knocked Up was pretty much as mediocre as I was expecting it to be, but I thought Kristen Wiig, who played Katherine Heigl's character's passive-agressive co-worker, was hilarious. So I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for more movies that she's in.

Note: I'm not suggesting that you watch something you're virtually guaranteed to hate. That would just be a waste of time. After all, I can't imagine any scenario in which I could end up being pleasantly surprised by Jackass. :)

Once you've watched your chosen film, I hope you'll come back and tell us about it. Let us know what made you pick that particular movie and, of course, what you thought of it.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear about any surprises you've had in the past, whether it's a movie you thought would suck but turned out to be fantastic, or vice-versa. God knows I've seen my share of movies that I was really looking forward to but ended up being spectacularly disappointed by! (American Beauty, anyone?)

Okay, time for me to start wading through Netflix...

Comments

[benine du Toit]

wow...I am so impressed with your whole report and photographs of your antarctic trip. I am sooo jealous of your photographs.....well done. I live in Durban, South Africa, and a group of us are leaving for the antarctic at the end of November 2008. We will be on the same ship that you were on, but are doing the 20 day trip, including South Georgia. As a surprise for my husband, I have booked the kayaks...he still does not know...and seeing your stunning photographs, I am so thrilled to have done so. I am also very keen on photography, and will take along two
SLR bodies, with a wide angle lens on one, and a long lens on the other. Could you please give me some advice about the waterproof camera you had. I am wondering if I can buy a waterproof housing for the one with the wide angle lens, or should I look to purchase a whole new camera !!!! money money.....and our money down here is sooooo bad in value !!!!!!!!!!!!!
What part of Canada are you from? I have just been on a wonderful photo workshop in a part of South Africa with a Canadian lecturer, Maurice Henri. It was stunning. I have also been on a few workshops with the famous Canadian Freeman Patterson.... wow..what a great guy !!! do you know him?
Thanks again for sharing your amazing Antarctic trip.

[Elizabeth]

Hi Benine.

Thanks for your nice comment.

You were so right to book the kayak portion -- it was absolutely the highlight of the entire trip.

I wasn't thrilled with the waterproof camera I bought, which is the Olympus Stylus. The good thing was that it really is waterproof, so I could have it sit in the little puddle on top of my spray skirt and grab it quickly for a snapshot. But the quality of the shots aren't very good. And the bigger problem was that there's no optical viewfinder and I could barely see anything in the LCD screen because it was so bright out. So I would have to simply point the camera in the general direction and take my chances.

If I were to go again, and I could afford it, I would instead buy a waterproof housing for my digital SLR. (But they are very expensive.)

I'm originally from Ottawa, Canada.

By the way, I spent a month in South Africa several years ago and that was another one of my favourite locations to visit. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. And I just loved my three-day safari at Kruger! I would love to do a photo workshop there...

Thanks again for commenting and if you have any specific questions about Antarctica, feel free to e-mail me at missadventure@embraceadventure.com. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip!