EL SEGUNDO HERALD December 30, 2021 Page 11
Featured Pets of the Week
Sabrina Summer Wedge
All our kitties are spayed/neutered, microchipped,
tested for FeLV and FIV, dewormed
and current on their vaccinations. For additional
information and to see these or
our other kittens and cats, please check our
website www.kittenrescue.org.
Saving one animal won’t change the
world, but the world will surely change for
that animal. •
Travel from page 2
lonely life in the Parisian fast lane to farm goats
and make tasty cheese in the French Alps. Along
the way, she charms the crusty, old farmer with
a reluctant skill not seen since Heidi.
Cinema Paradiso (Sicily).
Possibly the most beautiful movie (and
most eloquent ending) ever filmed. Guilt and
nostalgia feed a film-maker’s memories of a
childhood in impoverished, post-war Sicily.
Barcelona (Catalonia).
Earnest young Americans puzzle over Spanish
Salzburg, Austria—Maria Augusta Kutschera came as a governess Stromboli, Italy—Ingrid Bergman tested the morals clause in her contract here and lost.
and left with the von Trapp Family Singers.
girls and politics. America and Spain clash
and blend in a surprisingly well-meaning tale
of two cultures. Mira Sorvino in one of her
many eccentric roles.
The Darjeeling Limited (India).
This is a tough one. The gentle chaos of
India is in there, but the resolution of the
western family drama feels like it could have
happened on a train to Chicago. Still, there’s
no more beautiful place than India to lose your
metaphorical baggage and get on with life.
Love Actually (London).
Christmas in London with a thoroughly human
and attractive ensemble cast. Bookended
by the most evocative opening and closing of
any film ever.
Roman Holiday (Rome).
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck nearly
steal their own show—except this is Rome, after
all. Even in black and white, the city sparkles.
Out of Africa (Kenya).
The way it used to be. Or might have been.
Or should have been. Not much insight into
modern Kikuyu life, but the colonial vestiges
and artifacts you see are still maintained in
these parts for the tourist trade. Take the film
for what it is, an astonishing panorama of one
of the world’s exquisite beauty spots.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (India).
English pensioners at loose ends fall in love
with the city of Jaipur in northern India. Who
wouldn’t? Life becomes a kaleidoscopic picture
book where there’s always another chapter, as
long as you find the energy to turn the page.
French Kiss (France).
Kevin Kline as a crooked Frenchman? Meg
Ryan as a beautiful, self-absorbed misfit? The
action takes you from one of our favorite Parisian
hotels, Le Prince de Galles, to a vineyard
estate we’d buy in a heartbeat with our future
lottery winnings.
From Russia With Love (Istanbul).
Any Bond movie could double as a travelogue,
but this one inspired our own version
of the Orient Express. The older the Bond
movie, the less slick and buttoned-up the
clichés and scenery.
Seven Years in Tibet (Tibet).
Brad Pitt becomes the German mountaineer
Heinrich Harrer and escapes from a British WW
II internment camp to climb the mountains
of Tibet. When he befriends the next Dalai
Lama, he lands in the middle of the post-war
Tibetan-Chinese crisis. Mao Zedong delivers
one of the nastiest lines of dialogue ever heard.
The Bourne Identity (Europe).
Fantasy spies, absurd gymnastics, and slick,
celluloid paranoia in sensational European locations.
Corsica, Switzerland, France, Germany,
and Ibiza. Another French farm we intend to
buy with that inheritance we’ll never see.
Doctor Zhivago (Russia).
Russia at its over-sized and sumptuous best
and worst—and how hard it can sometimes be
to tell the difference.
Lillehammer (Norway).
The inimitable Steve van Zandt spends three
TV seasons teaching the Norwegians to play
Mafia. The Norwegians turn the tables by
teaching Frank to play human being. If you
crave snow, this will qualify as an overdose.
If you don’t, it’s a lot of snow.
The Truth about Charlie (France).
We don’t know why more people don’t love
this movie. A wildly attractive cast in a wildly
attractive Paris. No palaces, but an elegant
bonus chanson from Charles Aznavour.
Bella Martha (Germany, Italy).
We’ll watch anything starring Martina Gedeck,
but the cooking steals the show. Don’t start
this one when you’re hungry, unless you keep
a certified Italian chef handy.
La Vie en Rose (France).
Paris and the Sparrow, Edith Piaf, from the
gutter to the presidential suite. Marion Cotillard
pivots from giddy to despondent to regretful
like no one before or since.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
(Madrid).
Beautiful women navigate love and the
bounds of reality in Madrid at its zaniest and
most flamboyant. Almodóvar’s best movie—and
that’s saying something—with the amazing
Carmen Maura and a young Antonio Banderas
in his baffled debut.
Sholay (India).
We include this odd and extremely long
movie because of what it says about the audience.
Think of The Magnificent Seven, with
weird and irrelevant musical numbers thrown
in whenever the mood strikes the star-studded
Bollywood cast. Just keep in mind as you watch,
that this is the most popular movie in history,
and by a fair margin. What does that tell you?
Next up: The Thing About Wyoming.
Ben & Glinda Shipley, published writers
and photographers, share their expertise and
experience of their many world travels. If you
have any questions or interest in a particular
subject, please email them at web@heraldpublications.
com. •
suitcases out of the closet.
In the end, the only valid measure we could
manage was: Does the movie make you want
to pack your bags and head for the airport?
And the following otherwise random choices
easily met that standard.
Outsourced (India).
An American adapts to Bangalore without
all the pretension and pseudo-mysticism of
some eastern-themed movies. The Indians are
thoughtful and lovely, if profit-minded, human
beings from the modern hi-tech economy. So
are the Americans.
L’Auberge Espagnole (Catalonia).
French and English youth invade Catalonia
and are conquered by the local scenery and
culture. All the chaos of international students
coming of age in the dazzling melting pot of
Barcelona.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Iceland).
We love Iceland, and so does this movie.
Some of the best location shooting ever in
Iceland and Greenland, with a minor sidetrip
to Nepal. We recommend warm clothing
while watching.
Amélie (France).
An exquisitely beautiful film from start to
finish. The true meaning of happiness can be
found anywhere, but it doesn’t hurt to start
looking for it in a Parisian café. We love the
original title, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie
Poulain.
Under the Tuscan Sun (Italy).
Annoying, narcissistic Hollywood hash-up
of the superb, best-selling travel memoire
from Frances Mayes. Why do they always do
that? The spectacular Italian scenery nearly
saves the day.
The Girl from Paris (France).
The gentle Mathilde Seigner casts aside her
Lumphanan, Scotland—the real King Macbeth met his grisly,
headless fate on yonder stone.
with her!
Summer has come a long way from the
fearful kitten of her past. She is now one of
the sweetest and spunkiest of her siblings.
Summer loves taking naps on your lap and
playing with her siblings. This beauty likes
to stay away from the limelight to spend all
the time in the world loving her family. She
is looking for parents who will spoil and love
her unconditionally.
Wedge is the sweetest black cat. He is
good with cats, kids, and adults. Wedge
might be shy at the beginning and hide in a
closet or under the bed for the couple days.
Then he will warm up and get close for a
nice warm petting. He likes to play with
toys and other cats and snuggles in the bed
some nights. Wedge rarely mews and when
he does, he is seeking for your love and
attention.
These cats and kittens are available for adoption
through Kitten Rescue, one of the largest
cat rescue groups in Southern California.
Ring in the New Year with the purr-fect
partner for 2022. When you adopt, you save
a life… and in turn enrich your own.
Sabrina is a beautiful fun-loving spirit
who is sweet and cuddly as well. Sabrina
is great with other kittens and is especially
good with her sister Buffy. She is a smart
girl who will watch before she leaps. She
is a constant companion to her people and
will follow you around to see what you are
doing. Sabrina is very social and will not
hide when company comes. She is also quite
social with other cats and does need to have
another cat or kitten in her forever home. She
lives at the Kitten Rescue Adoption Center
with her sister and several of her friends. If
you do not have a cat already to be Sabrina’s
buddy, you can adopt one of her friends