Push the Envelope Please

Best on Belay: First Ascent

With virgin climbs from Thailand to the high-rises of Hollywood, the latest from Return2Sender director Peter Mortimer includes rock porn and a storyline. The film follows Switzerland’s Didier Berthod on his quest to send a long-standing project, British Columbia’s Cobra Crack, considered one of the hardest crack climbsin the world. In the end, will rock beat man, leaving us to taste the failure? $30; senderfilms.com

Best Buddy Flick: Old Joy


When Kurt (Will Oldham) and Mark (Daniel London), former high school pals who haven’t seen each other in years, spend a weekend camping in Oregon’s Cascade Range, their connection grows as thick as the old-growth forest around them. A critics’ favorite since it premiered at Sundance in 2006, this one’s part Seinfeld (funny, but nothing really happens), part A River Runs Through It (thanks to stellar cinematography and fraternal bonding). Coming soon on DVD; kino.com/oldjoy

Best Movie About Figs: The Queen of Trees


British filmmakers Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone spent two years camped in the Kenyan outback, using custom-made cameras to film life in and around a giant sycamore fig tree. Sounds sleepy, but it’s not, thanks to close-ups of the nearly microscopic fig wasps, which live, mate, and die inside the grape-size fruit, and on which the tree—and nearly the entire ecosystem—depends. $20; shopthirteen.org

Best Supporting Agronomist: The Real Dirt on Farmer John


Documentary filmmaker Taggart Siegel explores the life of John Peterson, a flamboyant farmer who saves his Illinois fields from financial ruin by going organic—and then convincing nearby Chicagoans to invest and enjoy the harvest. It’s a quirky tale of man vs. the locals (who at first think Peterson’s a crackpot) and the beauty of community-supported agriculture, with a happy, pesticide-free ending. For DVD release information, visit angelicorganics.com

Best Reason to Free Your Heels: PW06


With a $15,000 budget—roughly what a slicker ski-porn outfit would spend for one morning’s helicopter rental—Utah-based Powderwhore shot a telemark movie that stands out for its simplicity: human-powered ascents and frighteningly steep descents on couloirs in Alaska and Colorado. These skiers prove there’s more to dropping a knee than killer quads. $22; powderwhore.com

Best Motivation to Buy a Hybrid: An Inconvenient Truth


Al Gore’s global-warming doc grossed more than $23 million—proof that millions of Americans are willing to sit through a slide show to learn, for better or worse, about the state of the planet. That alone gives us hope for the future. $20; climatecrisis.net