Movie Review - Kiss the Ground

Director: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell  
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 84 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ray Archuleta, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette, Jason Mraz, Rosario Dawson, Ian Somerhalder

Description: A revolutionary group of activist, scientist, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of “Regenerative Agriculture” that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies and feed the world.

Review: “This is the story of a simple solution, a way to heal our planet”, says actor Woody Harrelson, narrator in the Netflix documentary “Kiss the Ground”. That sounds hopeful and it is, although the first 25 minutes are far from uplifting. Because before we get to the solution, we get an explanation in detail how we ended up here and where things went wrong. In short: pesticides, monoculture and industrialized agriculture.
Because we started ploughing and spraying with chemicals, we killed the microbes in the soil. No healthy soul without microbes. And without healthy soil the CO2, which is normally stored in the soil in large quantities, goes back into the atmosphere. Desertification occurs, driving 40 million people from their land every year. If we continue like this, y 2050 there will be about a billion people on the run as a result of desertification. So much for a brief summary of the first 25 minutes of misery.
No crisis is so great or there are always people out there who won’t give up says Woody Harrelson. For example, we see a regenerative farmer from North Dakota, who saw his harvest fail year after year to due extreme weather conditions. Until one day he ran out of money to buy fertilizer and pesticides and was forced to seek refuge in regenerative agriculture. Not only has he been doing well financially since then, but you can also see a clear difference between his lusg green land and the parched land of his neighbor.  
There is also the story of Loess Plateau in China. Once the most dehydrated and neglected piece of land on earth, until scientist started restoring the land. The images before and after show how a dusty void can turn into a true green paradise.
Besides Woody Harrelson narrating the documentary, lots of famous stars join him in the fight for a better planet. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen and her husband, American footbale player Tom Brady, singer Jason Mraz and actors Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, David Arquette and Rosario Dawson. All of them know how important our soil is and found a way to help our planet. As Patricia Arquette is committed to compost toilets.
Overall, “Kiss the Ground” is a very interesting documentary and an eye-opener.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Top 5 Thursday: Sexiest Men on TV of the Moment

If I had to do a list of TV actors of all-time it probably has to be a top 100, because a top 5 of 2013 was already hard enough. Here is my choice of sexiest men on TV 2013.

5. Andrew Lincoln (“The Walking Dead”)
He’s not my favourite character, but I think he’s slightly more attractive then Norman Reedus. I already loved this guy in “Love Actually”, where he melted my heart…

4. Ian Somerhalder (“The Vampire Diaries”)
Although I stopped watching this show, I remember why I started to watch it in the first place. Ian Somerhalder hypnotizes you with his handsomeness.

3. Theo Rossi (“Sons of Anarchy”)
What can I say, his character Juice isn’t the brightest star but he’s definitely great for the female eye. I can understand why his nickname on the show is Juice. I started to like him as a character as well, he’s my second favorite.

2. George Eads (“CSI")
Still staying strong after thirteen seasons of my favourite show “CSI” and about to kick of the 14th season! I love his Texas charm.

1. Jensen Ackles (“Supernatural")
Frequent readers of my blog probably predicted this. Jensen Ackles is still on TV and he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. He’s perfect in every way.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Alex O’Loughlin in “Hawaii Five-O”, Norman Reedus in “The Walking Dead”, Charlie Hunnam in “Sons of Anarchy”, Jesse Williams in “Grey’s Anatomy”

Top 5 Thursday: Hottest Movie/ TV Vampires (male)

Vampires are a real hype and I never got that. But I do like a good vampire story (not the "Twilight" smuck off course). And there are a lot of famous actors who portrayed vampires in movies or on TV. Here are the sexiest male TV/ movie vampires.

5. David Boreanaz as Angel in “Angel” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Most people loved the sight of Angel when he was just on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, so he got his own show. Although I never watched this show, Angel still deserves a place on this list.

4. Tom Cruise as Lestat in “Interview with the Vampire”
I normally prefer Brad Pitt over Tom Cruise. As an actor, as a person and because of the looks. But I think Tom is a better looking vampire than Brad. I think it’s because he’s so vicious and nasty.

3. Alex O’Loughlin as Mick St. John in “Moonlight”
What? “Moonlight”? Yeah, that other vampire show that was cancelled after just one season. Mick St. John, very memorable for me. Alex O’Loughlin is without a doubt one of the hottest men on TV right now, but “Moonlight” just didn’t get the succes it deserved.

2. Colin Farrell as Jerry Dandrige in “Fright Night” (2011)
I recently saw this remake in the cinema, in 3D. Not a big fan of Farrells acting, but together with “Phone Booth” and "In Bruges" this was one of the exceptions. And hell was Colin sexy in this one. He was simply irresitible and charming, although he was a very evil and brutal vampire.

1. Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore in “The Vampire Diaries
I stopped watching the show after one and a half season. Too much of the same and I just couldn’t understand Elena for chosing Stefan over Damon. I know, Damon is evil and a bit crazy, but that is so much more attractive than all the sweet vampires that don’t want to drink human blood. They are just sissies ; ) I like the evil ones, they have more character.

They almost made the top 5: Brad Pitt as Louis in “Interview with the Vampire” and Jason Patric as Michael Emerson in “The Lost Boys”.

Pic Spam: Ian Somerhalder

"The Vampire Diaries" is one of the best new TV shows of last season. And you know how I always like the bad boys. Dean from "Supernatural", Sawyer from "Lost" and now Damon from "The Vampire Diaries". Ian Somerhalder already caught my eye in "Lost" but we didn't get to enjoy Boone for a long time, for he died. So here are some pictures of Ian.

Love Sucks

I recently got hooked on a new TV show: "The Vampire Diaries". It just started here in The Netherlands and I loved it from the first episode on. There's always been something about vampires. I really get Elena, she's suffering from a great loss and then she falls in the arms of a handsome vampire Stefan (not knowing that he is one). Little does she know that Stefans brother Damon is even more handsome and charming, but slighty evil. Allthough Damon is the 'evil' brother, I feel more drawn to him then to Stefan. He did something to me, that's why he's my favorite character. It seems that I have a thing for the 'not- so- perfect- bad- ass' kinda guy (Like Dean from "Supernatural", Lincoln from "Prison Break" and Sawyer from "Lost").
I'm really curious about how this show is going to develope and how the love triangle between Stefan, Elena and Damon unfolds. Of all the vampire TV shows that are on (Like the stupid "True Blood" which has way too much sex and nudity in it and the very good but cancelled "Moonlight"), I like "The Vampire Diaries" the best.