Twixt Heaven and Earth

Crocodiles and alligators... gaping, saw-toothed jaws, muscular, bone-crushing tails, a Jurassic vision of armoured, flesh-eating horror. Lurking beneath the murky surface, eyes and nostrils are barely visible as the oblivious victim ventures one step too near. A sudden explosion of lunging, scaled fury, a hopeless, panicked struggle... a silent, watery death. Crocodiles and alligators reign as the supreme predators in rivers and coastal areas around the globe. With a carnivorous heritage extending back to the age of dinosaurs, these primordial relics are worthy successors to the "terrible lizards" they so closely resemble.

A variety of unusual and frightening snakes are featured in this program. These unpredictable reptiles have appeared in both nature and recorded history for thousands of years. The huge appetite of the monstrous python and the toxicity of the Gaboon Viper are examined. Experts also comment on the spitting cobra's ability to hit its distant targets. The eating and mating habits of tropical sea snakes are compared to other snakes that exist exclusively on land. There's additional information about how snakes birth their young and how likely a particular snake is to attack when provoked.

Cheetah and Leopard... no animal can match the intensity of their power and grace. On the horizon, the next victim draws near, crouched in the grass, senses honed, an explosive rush, claws extend and then the final clamp of fangs in a jugular embrace. Discover what separates these predators from all others. The cheetah, the ultimate tactician, single minded in its abandon for the lightning-fast gazelle. And the leopard, an invincible opportunist lying in wait for the unwary. Both driven by pure instinct and the constant pressure to kill.

Fascinating footage of swooping bats, their remarkable habits and habitats, and close-up looks at their interesting yet eerie faces are featured in this documentary, volume seven of the Predators of the Wild series. Most bats eat insects, which may not always come to mind when one thinks of predators and prey -- although the fact that a swarm of bats can eat 30,000 pounds of insects in one night is staggering. Bats make up almost one-fourth of all of the mammals in the world, but only three species of bats are "true vampires" who rely on the blood of other animals for sustenance.

Shot in Africa, this video is a documentation of the behavioral patterns and territories of an assortment of carnivores and their prey. The program is part of a multi-volume Time Warner series that markets the ferocious, killing aspects of various wild animals.

African survival... on the ancient killing grounds of the African savanna, life belongs to the strong, the swift, the cunning. For creatures who are none of the above, death is as close as the nearest shadow, as swift as the beat of a heart. Become an intimate observer of the astonishing drama played out around the African water hole. On the sun-baked outskirts: parched herd animals desperate for the liquid shimmering before them. Between them and the water of life: leopard, lion, hyena and python lie in wait. The climax: a breathtaking display of predatory skill and sheer killing power unmatched anywhere in nature!

Shows the killer instinct in action in an African honey badger, a savage, relentless predator which will attack any animal, seemingly for pure sport.

From the Discovery Channel comes the animal series Predators of the Wild. Shot on location, footage provides viewers an up-close look at some of the planet's most notorious beasts. The episode Sharks transports viewers to the undersea domain of these fearsome carnivorous creatures. See great whites, makos, and hammerheads and learn why they do what they do. Informative as well as entertaining, this video also addresses serious conservation and animal preservation issues.

This video examines the grizzly bear, one of nature's greatest predators. It is part of a multi-volume Time Warner series that markets the ferocious, killing aspects of various wild animals.

Out of love for Huskies, nature and cold winters Dave and Kristen Olesen moved from Minnesota to the North West Territories in Canada 25 years ago to create their own little universe on the magnificent East arm of Great Slave Lake. With their two daughters Annika 15 and Liv 12 and their 37 dogs, the Olesens enjoy a unique lifestyle in the wide open wilderness far away from civilization. One winter they all leave their self-built homestead with ten dogs on a two and a half thousand mile family expedition allowing Annika to run the Junior Iditarod in Alaska. As unexpected obstacles all along the trip culminate in three heavily injured dogs the whole endeavor is at risk. Optimism, love and loyalty prevail on this exciting epic family voyage.

This black-and-white film is a loving portrait of Santiago de Cuba and its people. It provides a view of Cuba as a picturesque country, the product of an earthy mix of black and criollo cultures. The film uses historical images which portray the end of the eighteenth century when Haitian slave owners fled with their slaves to Cuba after the Haitian Revolution.

The secrets of the maligned and misunderstood tarantula are brought to light in the Discovery Channel's Predators of the Wild series portrait of the Giant Tarantula. The film presents an intimate look at the largest and most venomous spider species in the world. Shot on location, viewers observe the tarantula close-up as it waits in its 3-foot burrow until its prey of insects, frogs, snakes, birds and rodents come along. Footage also captures the tarantula's deadly mating ritual.

Polar bear… immensely powerful, ferociously cunning, lethally equipped for devastating exploitation of its frozen realm. Legendary for its endurance, hunting prowess and awesome strength, it is the largest and most formidable land predator of the planet’s most brutally unforgiving environment. Venture into the trackless Arctic wastes to witness the uncanny survival strategies developed by this magnificent creature – tactics honed to a killing edge during 250,000 years of adaptation to its icy kingdom. See why the largest of these fearsome bears, weighing more than two full-grown lions, stands as the undisputed predatory monarch of a pristine, unconquered land where man still ventures at his peril.

Wolf... archetypal symbol of untamed ferocity and elemental, almost supernatural cunning. Drawn to the chase by the eerie howls of their killing song, the pack forms a single, bloodthirsty entity, bent on relentless pursuit, inevitable capture and swift, certain death. Journey to the spectacular, isolated mountain realms of northern Spain, where the last remaining Iberian wolf pack wages a mortal battle for survival. The wolves' legendary intelligence, their lethally effective social hunting skills and awesome powers of endurance are all put to the ultimate test in a life and death struggle against man's most modern weapons... and most primitive fears.

This documentary tells two stories simultaneously: it's a profile of Bernard Tapie, a wealthy man who rises and falls spectacularly in French society and may be on the rise again; and, it's a look at Marina Zenovich's fascination with Tapie, behaving oddly in spite of her awareness that she's being irrational. Politicians, athletes, friends, companions, and journalists comment on Bernard's charm, his rise to prominence in sports and politics, and his subsequent trouble with the law. Zenovich becomes fixated on her need to interview Tapie, becoming virtually a stalker in her quest.

Right alongside Jerusalem, in a Russian Orthodox Convent in the Mount of Olives, in the middle of the Arab quarter, lives the 82-year-old Estonian nun Mother Ksenya.