Cape Hatteras

Black Eagle
Imperial
Psalm 2:8
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."
8postula a me et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae
проси у Меня, и дам народы в наследие Тебе и пределы земли во владение Тебе;

Bryce Canyon

Chess: "Black Eagle" Imperial" "Bryce Canyon" "Cape Hatteras" "Black Forest" "Schwarzwald"

Bryce Canyon National Park (pronounced /ˈbraɪs/) is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon. Despite its name, this is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to its geological structures, called hoodoos, formed from wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lakebed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views to visitors. Bryce is at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m), whereas the south rim of the Grand Canyon sits at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea level.
The Bryce area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874.^[1] The area around Bryce Canyon became a U.S. National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a national park the next year. The park covers 56 square miles (145 km²) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion Canyon and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location. The town of Kanab, Utah, is situated at a central point between these three parks.

Nights in Rodanthe's leads shine through thin plot

darthmary's Full Review: Nights in Rodanthe I’m not all that keen on romance flicks, but I do love movies which feature weather as one of the main characters whether it’s a hurricane, tornado, blizzard or even a swarm of locusts. And Nights in Rodanthe provides a strong dose of both. Though predictatable and somewhat cheesy in spots, the chemistry of its two leading actors and a stunning backdrop produced an ultimately enjoyable film. Not one that will resonate by the time you return to the parking lot to find your car but it's a pleasant enough viewing experience.

The story begins with both Adrienne and Paul running away from the stormy weather and turbulence in their own lives only to wind up on a seaside bed and breakfast hotel that literally sits in high tide with a major hurricane on the way. First, Adrienne (Diane Lane, in another strong performance) has to deal with a cheating husband (played by Law and Order: SVU’s Christopher Meroni who's too likable to be a cad) who wants to come crawling back and two kids who want their mother to take him back. Then she takes off for North Carolina to look after her best friend’s hotel and its one guest, who naturally is a great looking but troubled plastic surgeon named Paul.

Paul, played by the still absolutely delicious Richard Gere is running from the death of a patient that occurred at his hands to seek redemption from her grieving family who is suing him for malpractice. When he’s got those loose ends tidily wrapped up, he’s set to hop on a plane to Ecuador to retrieve his estranged physician son who’s set up a clinic down there. Or so he thinks.

As the film makes clear early on, things never work out the way they’re planned, but the more arduous and untidy road that’s less taken is ultimately much more redemptive and certainly more rewarding for the viewing audience. Gere and Lane of course put that undeniable chemistry that they had in their last film together, Unfaithful and get it on whether it’s through clinging to each other as the hurricane wreaks its fury, or dancing at the clam baking hoedown.

After a memorable weekend together, the kind that literally changes couple’s lives in cinema speak, they go their separate ways but keep in touch until fate sends them a heart-breaking curve ball. The film doesn’t flow quite as smoothly after the characters return to their lives which ultimately become shaped by their weekend together in ways neither anticipated until at movie’s end, there’s a reunion of sorts.

Lane shines in this film, as she does in nearly all of her films. Even without makeup and dressed down, she just glows and her performances including of stock characters have always injected them with a good dose of three-dimensional realism. She plays women that you can relate them even as she walks into plotlines like in this film that most women will never face.


Lane's scene late in the film with her rebellious teenage daughter (played smartly by Mae Whitman) deftly avoids the clichés that often shape movies about divorcing mothers and the daughters who view that act as a betrayal and is very moving. That's because she and Whitman understand what they're playing and hit that scene which closes the gap between them a little bit out of the ballpark.


Gere starts out the film a bit stiffly but that’s in character and relaxes as the movie goes on. His best roles involve playing morally ambiguous characters and Paul doesn’t quite fall into that category but he taps into the vulnerability of a man who’s at a cross-roads in the life he had clearly mapped out years ago.

The movie’s is a pretty honest adaptation of the novel written by the current king of romance (though he’s loathed to call himself a romance writer) Nicholas Sparks. Having read the book, the only major difference is that the movie’s follows a linear storyline not relying on splitting the story between two time frames.

And the house is simply beautiful (book me a room there, just not during hurricane season) and eclectic at the same time, surviving the hurricane and other forces of nature like a life-changing romance between two strangers who become soul mates just fine.

Recommended:
Yes

Movie Mood: Date Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
Source : Epinion
From wikipedia:
Nights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American/Australian film adaptation of the novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after 2002's Unfaithful and The Cotton Club. The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some sensuality" and was released on September 26, 2008. It was filmed in the small seaside village of Rodanthe, the northernmost village of the inhabited areas of Hatteras Island as well as Carolina Beach, North Carolina. The film's soundtrack features "Love Remains the Same", a song written by Gavin Rossdale for his 2008 debut solo album.

Plot

While picking up his son and daughter for a weekend visit, Jack (Christopher Meloni) tells his estranged wife Adrienne (Diane Lane) that he wants to move back home. Adrienne says she needs time and space to think. It is made clear that Jack left his family for another woman.
Adrienne drives to Rodanthe, North Carolina to a friend's bed and breakfast for the weekend. The house is rustic, romantic and right on the beach.
There is only one guest for the weekend, Paul (Richard Gere), a surgeon who arrives at the inn with his own emotional baggage. He has flashbacks of a surgery which ended tragically. The family of the patient is suing him.
A storm moves in and the two team up to protect the inn. They dine together, share stories and eventually turn to each other for emotional comfort. A tender romance starts. With Adrienne’s help, Paul faces the patient’s family and in doing so faces his own pain. The affection and love she shares with Paul renews Adrienne’s self-worth and confidence.
Paul leaves Rodanthe to fly to South America, where his estranged son Mark (James Franco) lives and practices medicine. Paul carries guilt for passing up a relationship with his son in favor of his career.
During their separation, Adrienne and Paul exchange letters, longing to be with each other. Unfortunately, Paul is killed in a mudslide before he is able to return to Adrienne, who meets Mark when he comes to deliver the news to her and to thank her for "giving me back my father."