Three documentaries tied with Earth Day open this weekend. The best one, Born in China, which also happens to be the most commercial among the three, follows different animals that brave the elements in the forests and mountains of China: snow leopards, pandas, golden monkeys, and a chiru antelope. The breathtaking sights of nature provide plenty of awe-inspiring moments with the help of the terrific cinematography. Beyond the visuals, though, director Lu Chuan connects the film emotionally to the audience by anthropomorphizing the animals. The narration by John Krazinski adds some narrative elements and information which will educate audiences without boring or disturbing the younger audience members. A mother panda watches as her daughter learns how to become autonomous by climbing a tree on her own, an important skill that pandas need to survive on their own. A young golden monkey ostracized from the group by his father struggles to survive away from his family. A snow leopard desperately tries to kill its prey to feed its young cubs. Such is the way of nature---there's no good or evil, just animals doing what's in their nature. Lu Chuan avoids complicating the doc with darker, complex themes like how global warming or deforestation might be affecting the animals. Last year's nature doc Seasons tackled that issue. Instead, he celebrates the beauty and nature whiling showing you how the animals live so that you'll care about them as much as you care about human beings. At an ideal running time of 1 hour and 19 minutes, Born in China is a mesmerizing documentary that will enlighten and captivate audiences of all ages. It opens nationwide via Disneynature. Every year, there's always at least one documentary that combines a variety of interconnected topics related to human rights and the environment in hopes of making the world a better place. Last year, there was Love Thy Nature and Rooted in Peace, and the year before that there was Where to Invade Next. So, along comes Tomorrow, co-directed by Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent, which travels around the world while tackling the issues of food sustainability, economic stability, energy, education and politics. From the get-go the film makes it clear that their intentions aren't to merely scare you about all the problems that mankind faces today; they want to provide you with practical solutions. That sense of hope and optimism makes Tomorrow a kindred spirit with Michael Moore's Where to Invade Next. The filmmakers include a lot of talking-head interviews with experts who enrich the doc with their insight. You'll find a lot of food for thought from countries such as India and Finland which would it have felt too dry and academic if it were not for the stylish editing, brisk pacing and lively narration along with the well-chosen musical score. The last thing an informative documentary should ever make you want to ask at the very end is "When is the exam???", so kudos to the filmmakers for not bombarding audiences with too many statistics. The only topic that seems somewhat out of place even though it's important is the one regarding economic stability which is very complex an deserves an entirely separate doc. Were particular topic been omitted, the doc wouldn't have slightly overstayed its welcome by roughly 20 minutes given its running time of 2 hours. So, while Tomorrow doesn't quite find the perfect balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually, it comes close enough. Under the Milky Way opens Tomorrow at Village East Cinema.

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Free Fire
Directed by Ben Wheatley