Archive for the ‘Films and Documentaries’ Category
Friday, September 18th, 2009
When was the last time any moviegoer hard heard words lysine and high fructose corn syrup in the same movie? I’m not talking about a documentary but rather a major motion picture with real celebrities and budgets and that sort of thing. Those hungry for a “corn- based” movie will be excited to check out the new film “The Informant!” which opens later this week.
While some film fans may be psyched to see the Matt Damon’s newest role as Mark Whitacre, and others queue up too see director Steven Soderbergh do something other than an “Ocean’s” film, my friend and I liked the whole corn based aspect of the film. What other film maybe except for documentary flicks like King Corn, or Food Inc. open with such info about how corn exists in a ridiculous amount of food and even non food items. The Informant! delves right into the world of the corn based lysine and even high fructose corn syrup (the photo depicts a scene where one of the FBI agents spies yet another product containing high fructose corn syrup). (more…)
Tags: ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, Corn, Food Inc., high fructose corn cyrup, King Corn, Mark Whitacre, Matt Damon, Steven Soderburgh, The Informant
Posted in Business, Films and Documentaries, Food, money | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
A seemingly paranoid, ex-dolphin trainer slowly drives through a foreign land while being pursued by police and other locals may appear to be the start of a riveting spy thriller and in some cases that’s exactly what this film is but instead of drawing from the mind of Robert Ludlum, this situation comes from a real life deep dark cover up. Four years in the making, The Cove, surrounds the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Taiji, Japan instantly thrusts viewers into a sort of Flipper espionage that not only rivets the audience but sends them on an emotional and educational rollercoaster.
The Cove refers to a sea inlet of the coast of Taiji where on the surface the town seems to embrace dolphins but in reality some of the local politicos as well as a handful of fisherman keep the dolphin slaughter a secret to not only most locals but the rest of Japan as well.
(more…)
Tags: documentary, dolphins, Film, Flipper, International Whaling Commission, Japan, Richard O'Barry, Taiji, The Cove
Posted in Films and Documentaries | No Comments »
Friday, July 17th, 2009
The new flick 500 Days of Summer, which generated much buzz as the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, rolls out in limited release today. Lot’s of people are talking about it as a romantic comedy meets Momento which in film terms means that those with ADD or short attention spans might be confused by this rambunctious romantic romp. But for us, the buzz doesn’t just lie in the zigzagging sex talk but rather in the architecture talk. Even more specifically in the Green architecture talk. (more…)
Tags: 500 days of summer, film festival, green architecture, howard roark, los angeles, pershing square, popcorn, sundance
Posted in Films and Documentaries | No Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
For those in America who have yet to read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Fast Food Nation or even The Jungle, the new docu pic Food, Inc. smoothly stirs the boiling pot of food production controversy while allowing those not familiar with the dark secrets of the food production industry to enjoy a film in bite size nuggets.
With Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser a co-producers and Omnivore’s Dilemma writer Michael Pollen one of the consultants (in addition to being on-screen participants) the film offers a solid, well presented structure that offers not only scary, gut wrenching even stomach turning scenes in meatpacking plants, chicken coops and but offers a silver lining into the future of food. (more…)
Tags: American Meat Institute, Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, Food Inc., Gary Hirschberg, Joe Salatin, Michael Pollen, Monsanto, Polyface Farms, Robert Kenner, Stonyfield Farms, The Jungle, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Posted in Films and Documentaries | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Things must be getting serious. At least for the planet and the environment. What else would explain the plethora of eco documentaries hitting the film festival circuit or that will hit mainstream theaters in the near future? Many of these green docu films cast a waving finger along with charts and graphs about what will happen to the planet in the future if we don’t act now. The Age of Stupid works a bit in reverse.
The Age of Stupid takes place in the year 2055 with a man called the Archivist (Pete Postlethwaite) sitting in a Noah’s Ark type storage tower with a collection of famous art, pairs of animals, and enough computer servers to make Google envious. The tower exists because the world has turned into a fiery, and flood ridden disaster area. The Archivist searches through archived video footage to see where man went wrong after having the opportunity to change things. The film takes futuristic standpoint of looking at the present (like right now). (more…)
Tags: age_of_stupid, cheap_fares, disaster_area, duvernay, environmental_aspect, google, hurricane_katrina, indian_airline, natural_disaster, noah_s_ark, pete_postlethwaite, san_francisco_international_film_festival, san_francisco_international_film_festival_circuit, striking_visuals
Posted in Films and Documentaries, San Francisco | No Comments »
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Photo by David Gilbert, http://www.uncontacted.com/
A documentary or any feature film, like a good dessert, needs good texture. Some docs offer light delicate flavors, while others serve up crisp tawdry offerings but Crude, the latest feature documentary from director Joe Berlinger (Brother’s Keeper, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) brings a feel so viscous its some wonder that the film and the emotions within it don’t just ooze into the theater.
And why wouldn’t the film be viscous with center of the film swirling around a legal case about the black gold being pumped out of the jungles of Ecuador. Some have called the case the “Amazon Chernobyl” but whatever the name, Berlinger delves head first into this the David versus Goliath story that circles around one of the longest and most controversial legal (not to mention environmental and human rights) cases ever.
(more…)
Tags: Amazon, amazon_chernobyl, black_gold, chernobyl, chevron, crude, director_joe_berlinger, ecuador, feature_documentary, goliath_story, justice_media, legal_case, legal_motions, media_frenzies, metallica_some_kind_of_monster, oil_giant, rain_forest, sting, three_decades, trudie_styler
Posted in Energy & Fuel, Environment, Films and Documentaries | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
While most people continue to look upward (into the air) as far as CO2 emissions, many people have overlooked looking down (into the oceans) but they won’t make that mistake after seeing the interesting, informative yet personal enviro-doc Sea Change. Unlike so many other “green” films and documentaries that hit people over the head with stats and charts not to mention fire and brimstone, director Barbara Ettinger (”Independent Lens” – Two Square Miles) takes a more personal approach (aided by having her on-screen husband Sven Huseby) to explore the causes behind the rapid rate of ocean acidification. And rapid it is.
As a former college professor and current grandfather, Sven serves as a genteel informant/host/interviewer willing to learn and listen rather than comment and direct. He offers the natural ability to teach and engage in conversation. Even non-greenies can admire his feelings and interest as a grandfather intested in educating himself and others about the dangerous status of the ocean life for the sake of his grandson.
(more…)
Tags: co2_emissions, college_professor, enviro, Exxon, exxon_valdez, fire_and_brimstone, greenies, independent_lens, natural_ability, nuclear_war, ocean_acidification, ocean_life, rapid_rate, san_francisco_international_film_festival_2009, sea_change
Posted in Environment, Films and Documentaries, Water | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Although the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival didn’t set out to program Green films, it may be no coincidence that several environment related or themed features and docs snuck their way into the diverse programming.
One of those films, first time director Aristomenis Tsirbas’s lushly animated Battle for Terra spotlights the peaceful planet of Terra where these wide-eyed tadpole looking denizens live. The Terrareans share the landscape (and skyscape) with sucking plants (a la Fantastic Planet) and flying whales in a healthy, peaceful environment – until the aliens attack. Only this time, humans represent the invaders complete with a jingoistic and aggressive mentality. The thing is that the humans used up all their resources back on Earth so then they decided to try their luck next door – Mars and Venus. Soon after colonizing the virgin neighbors, the three planets got into a battle royal and blew each other up so now the humans (in the form of Earth Force) need to take over the unspoiled Terra.
(more…)
Tags: battle_for_terra, battle_royal, earth_force, environmental_films, fantastic_planet, first_time_director, mars_and_venus, moral_dilemmas, peaceful_environment, peaceful_planet, planet_of_the_apes, san_francisco_international_film_festival, starship_troopers
Posted in Films and Documentaries, San Francisco | No Comments »
Thursday, September 7th, 2006
Who cares about the
environment (besides Gore)?Even if you haven’t seen
Al Gore’s docu pic “
An Inconvenient Truth” it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or in this case a
meteorologist to know that something’s screwy with the environment and the weather. Anyone who spent any time in
San Francisco this past summer can tell you why. We actually had warm (sometimes in the 90s), sunny days during July and August. This isn’t
LA or
NYC. Normally the only ones wearing shorts during the summer are tourists. And you feel bad watching them shiver as they wait for the
cable cars. Even the
Sunset District, known for anything but sun, had less than its normal share of fog. We just can’t have this much heat and sun in San Fran. It just ain’t right.
What would we do with the wonderfully droll quote wrongly attributed to Mark Twain, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”?
Anyone out there care that Homes account for about 18% of the greenhouse gases emitted here in the USA? It’s going to get worse unless we make it better. Or as Sarah Connor put it in Terminator 2: Judgment Day: “Anyone not wearing two million SPF sunblock is gonna have a really bad day!”
Tags: Environment, Greenhouse Gases, los angeles, Movies, New York City, San Francisco
Posted in Films and Documentaries, San Francisco | No Comments »
