Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.

I love Werner Herzog more with each passing year.

I love that he’s become an on-camera presence for other people, like in Zak Penn’s very funny THE GRAND earlier this year.

I love that he dedicated this film to Roger Ebert, one of the most tireless champions of the work Herzog’s done over the years.

More than anything, though, I just love the way he views this world of ours, the way he doesn’t take any part of it or any person in it for granted. Herzog may come across like a jaded, heavy-lidded sardonic thug in interviews at times, but that’s just part of his Germanic charm. In reality, his filmmaking demonstrates to me a true sense of wonder. This is a guy who finds this entire planet unbelievable and worth exploring, a guy whose curiosity about people and what happens when they are placed under ungodly stress has led to some of the most fascinating moments of cinema in the last 35 years.

I’m not sure how he ended up involved with Discovery Films, or whose idea it was to send him to Antarctica, but hats off. It’s a great collision of filmmaker and location, and the end result is hypnotic and powerful, playful and strange, and it’s wholly unlike anything else you might see in a theater this summer.

And did I mention that it’s rated G? How cool is that?

In some ways, this film feels more like an Errol Morris film than a typical Herzog documentary. Morris has always been intrigued by the eccentrics in any field, and a big part of this film is an investigation into what sort of person chooses to go work in Antarctica. You have to be wired a certain way to head to the bottom of the world to do a job where you’re going to be cut off from regular society for months or even years, and Herzog’s interviews manage to reveal the inner lives of these very private people.

He’s equally smitten with the continent itself, though, and the scenes of natural beauty that Herzog presents are unusual and unique. Because he’s not a guy who shoots nature films normally, there’s nothing standard or regular about the way he approaches the expansive vistas or the haunting beauty of the secret world under the ice. Large segments of the film are presented without any dialogue, allowing us to get lost in whatever thoughts are stirred up by the sights Herzog presents.

This isn’t a film you need to write fifty pages about, or that you need to analyze deeply in order to appreciate its merits. It’s a visceral experience, pure cinema in places, and a reminder that Herzog is unafraid to push himself or to go anywhere on the planet in pursuit of new images, new faces, and new stories. He’s an example for all of us who believe in the enduring power of cinema, and ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD is an example of just why he continues to matter.

The film's rolling out in limited release now, so check your local listings.

Sorry I had to head for the airport before I finished my reviews this morning. That’s what happens when you’re juggling the kids, the deadlines, and the travel. Something’s gotta give. So tonight’s when I’ll have to catch up, and I should have that HANCOCK and WANTED piece up sometime this morning.

Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles