The Grey (the movie): This film manages to upset both conservatives and lefty environmentalists!

(language warning on the trailer)
Wolves eating people--oh my!  Yes this will drive some environmentalists crazy.  Allegedly the crew actually ate wolf meat for the movie (at least they did not put a wolf in a car carrier, because that would be really bad)!  Yes the premise of this movie is mostly nonsense.  Alaskans say it may be one of the worst Alaska movies for falsely depicting Alaska (but it can't be worse than the nonsense from Steven Seagal and Alec Baldwin).  And The Grey actually got some decent reviews.  In North America there are two documented attacks by wild wolves on human beings over the last 100 years (zero in the United States, two in Canada).


But don't worry, they saved some outrage to those on the right.  Apparently the oil company as depicted in The Grey is also evil.  An evil oil company abandoning a plane load of oil workers lost in the wilderness so they don't have to pay them?!  That is trial lawyer porn!  If you get off on the carnage of a pack of wolves devouring something, imagine that lawsuit.  A film with a heavy dose of hypocrisy?   We know Hollywood mogols hate oil companies, provided they have enough fuel for their private jets to go to Sundance and Aspen.  Don't get me started on those Muppets.


It does have witty dialog:  “I thought that Duran Duran song ‘Hungry like the Wolf’ was just an expression,” said one member of Liam’s crew as he was being scarfed up by one of our hungry four-footed friends.  “Wry to the end,” lamented Liam.


There also has to be a debate about big ideas!  "The fiercest invective comes from the two Catholic characters, interestingly enough. At one point, leader Liam Neeson even demands the Almighty come down and save him. He does not. This is seen as an important theological point, although it may merely mean that the Almighty is watching a better movie."


It is just a movie.  Your little kids who might get brainwashed by this nonsense are probably not going to see this one anyway (Ol' Yeller this isn't--even in Ol' Yeller they note only a rabid wolf will jump a fire).  Lighten up and take it with a grain of salt or don't go see it for that reason alone.  It will end up on Netflix soon enough anyway.    As snow thrillers go, The Grey looks like it might have higher production values and acting than Frozen and not be quite as good as Dead Snow (Liam Neeson is a fine actor, but it is hard to compete with evil zombie snow Nazis for quality entertainment value).


 I am neither a insane gaia nutjob on the topic nor do I hate wolves.   I am not a big supporter of using wolves as some trick to trigger the endangered species act to restrict people from developing or using private property.   If you want to save wolf habitat, put your money where your mouth is and save some habitat.  That is part of the reason why we have national parks and forests.


I support shooting individual wolves on private property if they harm livestock (look at my photo!) or threaten people.  I also support allowing private individuals to do so (without penalty) provided they timely report it.  Ironically there would be less opposition to wolves repopulating their range if that were the policy (so there would be more wolves).   As noted in The Beast In The Garden, while some lefty communities do not seem to get it, most people want action if their toddlers are threatened by wild life.  Cougars and bears pose far more of a risk than wolves and we managed to deal with them.  And domestic dogs (at least in North America) are far more dangerous than probably all large wild animals combined in terms of numbers of attacks.  That is of course because there are millions of dogs and they are in close proximity with people--but you deal with this by getting rid of problem dogs (not banning dogs).  And usually a problem dog is the result of a problem owner.