Page 25 - Boca ViewPointe - December '23

December 2023 Viewpointe, Page 25
Film Review

Life On Our Planet: A Nature by Steven Spielberg has Life on Our Planet is a sweeping saga covering the 500

Documentary Series impressed me more than million years of Earth’s history, beginning with the very first
this documentary series,
life forms, and over the course of this series making clear the
nor have I enjoyed any constant adaptations needed for survival.
By Nils A. Shapiro more than this – and I As the history unfolds, a timeline across the bottom of
have been a big fan of the screen keeps the viewer informed of the period in which
This is the first time in his for years. the action is taking place. Guided by the mellifluous voice
more than 200 film review Perhaps it is my of narrator Morgan Freeman, we watch as a combination of
columns that I have decided ongoing insatiable thirst, computer graphics (for past events) and current videography
to bring to your attention in my retirement years, to depict a panorama of life: lichen breaks down rock to make
not a single feature film but, learn as much as possible the first soil; plants; insects; reptiles; amphibians; dinosaurs;
instead, a documentary series about the natural world birds, mammals hunt and are hunted. We learn that the rules of
– in this case eight one-hour and the creatures with adaptation take place because of the need for survival against
episodes executive produced whom we share it, that such events as: the asteroid that struck our planet causing the
by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin has affected my view of first of five mass extinctions and destroying almost all life
Entertainment and introduced this series – readers of on Earth; the waves of massive volcanic eruptions, ice ages,
in late October on Netflix. my book review column know that this carries over to my global warmings, and worldwide flooding that broke up the
It is not an exaggeration on my part when I state that reading tastes – but if so I welcome that pleasure and invite planet’s single Pangaea land mass into the oceans-separated
none of the enormously successful motion pictures created you to share it with me. continents we live in today.
Not only are we introduced to much that will be new to
the readers of this column, but the visual impact is nothing
short of breathtaking. I noted later that one reviewer referred
to the “cinematography and special effects” as being “nearly
BOCA RATON FINANCIAL PLANNERS indistinguishable.” It is true that the scenes taking place 500
BOCA RATON FINANCIAL PLANNERS
million years ago look as though they are being photographed
BOCA RATON FINANCIAL PLANNERS … which is what took my breath away when I began to watch
the first episode.
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Providing Customized Services for Discerning Clients
That is what attracted me instantly to this series. I had
Providing Customized Services for Discerning Clients already watched a feature film with my wife after dinner in my
usual search for one deserving of a review in this column. (I
usually have to watch a dozen or so before finding one worth
writing about every month.)
But at 10 p.m., before turning off our TV I happened
Helping you manage your financial success to notice the Life on Our Planet documentary. I never get
Helping you manage your financial success involved with series because, with my busy schedule, reading
with expertise, commitment & resources
Helping you manage your financial success
with expertise, commitment & resources a book every month for my book review column, watching
to help reach your goals
a film most nights to find one deserving of my Film Review
with expertise, commitment & resources
to help reach your goals column, devoting time to my wife as a (hopefully) good
husband, etc. – I have no time to get hooked on a TV series.
LIFE WELL PLANNED.
to help reach your goals
However, the subject of this one appealed to me, so I
LIFE WELL PLANNED. figured I would spend a few minutes with it. Three hours
and three episodes later, at 1 a.m., I finally managed to get to
sleep – and even then I could not get this series off my mind.
LIFE WELL PLANNED. I watched episode four the following night.
Each of the eight episodes covers both the planet’s early

history and remarkable photography showing present examples
of the points being made in that episode. For example, in the
first episode, The Rules of Life, a discussion of adaptation for
survival depicts, among other action, a Tyrannosaurus and her
offspring hunting a Triceratops. Later, videos include plants as
predators today competing for space in a crowded forest, and
then as prey forced to defend themselves against caterpillars
Come in for a complimentary cup that feed on it.
Come in for a complimentary cup This series is so packed with information that it is not until
of coffee while we review your
of coffee while we review your Episode 5, In the Shadow of Giants, that we enter the Jurassic
portfolio to see how we can help
Age made so popular by the hit Jurassic Park motion pictures.
By the time today’s viewers have experienced the final three
portfolio to see how we can help episodes – Out of the Ashes, Inheriting the Earth and Age of
you maximize your wealth.
you maximize your wealth. Ice and Fire – one thing will be clear. While it is impossible to
remember the encyclopedic range of facts presented about the
many creatures and other life forms we meet on our 500-million-
Come in for a complimentary cup year journey, the stunning creative imagery of Steven Spielberg’s
production will burn in your memory long afterward.

Most important is the lesson of this series for all of us:
of coffee while we review your that those who forget, or ignore, history are doomed to repeat
it. We live on a planet that has undergone wave after wave of
portfolio to see how we can help cataclysmic environmental cycles already resulting five times
in the extinction of almost all life on Earth. Now that we have
you maximize your wealth. reached a significant level of knowledge and science that
www.BocaRatonFinancialPlanner.com
enables us to at least mitigate the dangers of climate change,
www.BocaRatonFinancialPlanner.com our individual reaction to the hard reality of our planet’s
current crisis answers the question about whether each of us
has learned that lesson. 
DiamonD limousine of

ARTHUR ROTTENSTEIN the palm beaches
ARTHUR ROTTENSTEIN Airport & SeAport trAnSportAtion
ARTHUR ROTTENSTEIN
Branch Manager
Branch Manager RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. in luxury infiniti qx60 Suv
Branch Manager
RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
301 Yamato Road, Suite 3160, Boca Raton, FL 33431
RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
301 Yamato Road, Suite 3160, Boca Raton, FL 33431
T 561.241.6616 • F 561.241.6418
301 Yamato Road, Suite 3160, Boca Raton, FL 33431
T 561.241.6616 • F 561.241.6418
T 561.241.6616 • F 561.241.6418
M. ALI ANSARI
Boca Raton Financial Planners is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James
www.BocaRatonFinancialPlanner.com servicing all of south floriDa
Financial Services, Inc. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FIN-
561-696-5554
Financial Advisor
Boca Raton Financial Planners is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James
RA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.
Financial Services, Inc. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FIN-
RA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.
Boca Raton Financial Planners is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Securities reASonAbly priced,
offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/ SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James 30+ years reliAble & prompt
Financial Services Advisors, Inc. experience
ARTHUR ROTTENSTEIN

Branch Manager

RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
301 Yamato Road, Suite 3160, Boca Raton, FL 33431

T 561.241.6616 • F 561.241.6418

Boca Raton Financial Planners is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James
Financial Services, Inc. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FIN-
RA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.