|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Pass the popcorn
An American Carol, failing to make it to a theater near you |
David Roberts |
15 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
|
|
| Topics: movies, politics, video (all these topics) |
|
|
Mel Gibson talkin' to De Niro about eco-thriller
Stars align for Edge of Darkness |
Sarah van Schagen |
05 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Mel Gibson: Hey, De Niro, you wanna star in an eco-thriller with me? Robert De Niro: You talkin' to me?Gibson: Yes, I'm talkin' to you. It's called Edge of Darkness; it's based on that BBC miniseries. Are you familiar with it? De Niro: You talkin' to me?Gibson: Yeah, it's about this homicide detective (that'd be me) who uncovers government and corporate cover-ups when his environmental activist daughter is murdered.De Niro: You talkin' to me?Gibson: Yes, Bobby, ... |
|
| Topics: celebrity, green living, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Gossip whirl
Gossip Girl, <em |
Holly Richmond |
31 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Spotted: B and S mugging for the camera. The cast of the CW's Gossip Girl are forgoing bottled water in favor of bringing their own mugs to the set. And stars Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and Penn Badgley appear in three short eco-ads, below: In other celeb news you can reuse, Alexis Bledel of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is promoting the travel of your old pants (specifically jeans) to New Orleans for recycling into insulation. I won't say green i ... |
|
| Topics: celebrity, green living, movies, recycling, TV, video (all these topics) |
|
|
The new film Wall-E gets it right
The link between obesity and the environment |
Maywa Montenegro |
11 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Slate's Dan Engber has attempted to take down Wall-E in classic Green Room style with a piece slamming the film's connection between obesity and environmental destruction. Engber's critique is flawed in so many ways that it's hard to know where to begin ... For instance, he doesn't seem to believe that obesity really has much to do with being too sedentary or eating too much. To support this, he cites research saying that 80 percent of the variation in body weight ... |
|
| Topics: climate, food, green living, health, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Reel Funny
An interview with climate mockumentary filmmaker Randy Olson |
Erik Hoffner |
10 Jul 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Randy Olson became a filmmaker after fifteen years as a marine biologist, so the perspective he brings to the craft is rooted in science -- but blended with his own irreverent humor. His hilarious new film on global warming is a perfect example. Randy Olson. After quitting his university job in 1993, Olson went to film school and teamed up with one of his heroes, renowned marine ecologist Jeremy J ... |
|
| Topics: climate, funnies, green living, interview, media, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Salzburg Global Seminar: prelude
Dave heads to where the hills are alive |
David Roberts |
08 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Wednesday, I leave for Salzburg, Austria, where -- thanks to the generosity of a Knight Foundation Fellowship -- I will be attending a session of the Salzburg Global Seminar on "Combating Climate Change at Local and Regional Levels: Sustainable Strategies, Renewable Energy." I am of course excited about the substance of the event, ... |
|
| Topics: Austria, climate, climate change mitigation, movies, music, video (all these topics) |
|
|
Wall*E
|
David Roberts |
07 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I saw WallE the other day with my kids and I found it absolutely rapturous, particularly the first half-hour or so. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up nominated for Best Picture. Not only is it a creative triumph, but it manages to convey 'lessons' (ugh) about 'environmental stewardship' (ugh) in a way that isn't didactic or overbearing. It's really something. I was going to try to write a profound post about it, but luckily Frank Rich takes on that task today, so ... |
|
| Topics: brilliance, education, green living, movies, video (all these topics) |
|
|
Tale of obsession
A review of Fields of Fuel |
biodiversivist |
01 Jul 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Fields of Fuel, directed by Josh Tickell, is visually compelling and technically polished, which unfortunately bestows a veneer of legitimacy the film does not deserve. Promotional films are stereotypically one-sided, ignoring or glossing over negatives while exaggerating and or fabricating positives. That is to be expected, but what set this film apart from your generic promotional film is Tickell's success at manipulating viewers' emotions. The screening I att ... |
|
| Topics: biofuels, cars, energy, movies, video (all these topics) |
|
|
A new way of thinking
Manufactured Landscapes is as good as they say |
JMG |
28 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Obviously I need to watch movies faster. Almost a year ago today I posted about wanting to watch Manufactured Landscapes, featuring the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, mainly shot in China. I finally got around to it.Not only is the movie visually arresting, but it is very, very disturbing.Surprisingly to me, the sparse narration includes a pretty good description of peak oil. The filmmaker, Jennifer Baichwal, shows some incredible aerial shots of a ginormous highway octo ... |
|
| Topics: green living, movies, oil (all these topics) |
|
|
Lights, camera, eco-action!
New flicks feature green themes |
Sarah van Schagen |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo: rpb1001 The oppressive heat of global warming got you headed to your local air-conditioned movie theater? No? It's just the popcorn? Well, either way, you may end up seeing a blockbuster with an environmental theme. Lately there's been a bumper crop of eco-stuff hitting the big screen or making its way there soon.For starters, you've probably heard the not-so-friendly reviews of The Happening, M. Night Shyamalan's latest showing. But rotten (organic ... |
|
| Topics: celebrity, green living, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
A radiant documentary
Radiant City is a mesmerizing documentary on sprawl |
JMG |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Radiant City is as described in the trailer -- oddly disturbing, strangely amusing, and sadly illuminating: A terrific movie. It features planning guru/God Andres Duany and dyspeptic sprawlhater James Howard Kunstler (in a strange and hilarious tie that looks like he slept in it for a couple days) intoning, in a reasonable tone, some of their most on-target slams on sprawl and the suburban paradigm. It includes lots of "fun facts" about the suburbs, including on ... |
|
| Topics: green living, movies, placemaking, sprawl (all these topics) |
|
|
Sizzle this summer
New mockumentary on climate science, dialogue, and societal change is opening soon |
Erik Hoffner |
09 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Filmmaker Randy Olson has just completed Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy, a hilarious new mockumentary thickly peopled with real life climate scientists, activists, skeptics, and a rollicking plot-line that could bring a lot more people into the global warming tent. I found it refreshing and a good follow-up to the Gore movie, because it's not so much about the scientists or the celebrities telling us why we should care. Instead, it's fun, watchable, and about real peop ... |
|
| Topics: climate, funnies, green living, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Avoiding Weekend at Bernie's 2
Post-post mortem on Boxer-Lieberman-Warner debate |
Joseph Romm |
06 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| OK, so the long-dead B-L-W bill got propped up and dragged around for a few days. (Tagline: B-L-W may be dead, but it's the life of the party!) But I think the debate was quite useful for two reasons: The opponents of (even modest) action played and overplayed their cards. Now we know that the health and well-being of future generations is of no interest in them. Now we know what their primary arguments will be. This is the opportunity for progressives and mode ... |
|
| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, movies, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Neve gonna get it
Neve Campbell's eco-flick won't air in the U.S. |
Sarah van Schagen |
06 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Neve Campbell. Burn Up is the (totally and completely fictional) story about a clash between Big Oil and Big Green. The Canadian/British miniseries features Party of Five star Neve Campbell as an environmentalist hired to work for an oil company (as a greenwash decoy, of course, though she doesn't realize it until too late ... mwahahaha).Unfortunately for us Yanks, though, Burn Up will not be airing stateside. (At least not yet.) But if you're one of our lu ... |
|
| Topics: Big Oil, celebrity, green living, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Recount
|
David Roberts |
28 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I watched Recount last night, and my god, it is a gut punch. |
|
| Topics: green living, movies, politics, shenanigans (all these topics) |
|
|
The Iceman melteth
Val Kilmer to star in Arctic horror flick |
Sarah van Schagen |
16 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo: © Val Kilmer This summer, the Iceman cometh ... to a horror flick about global warming. The Thaw, which begins shooting mid-June with star Val Kilmer, is based on the premise that melting ice caps reveal a woolly mammoth hosting a deadly prehistoric parasite that comes back to life to infect the world ... mwa-ha-ha. Ahem.From director Mark A. Lewis:"I think ultimately where this story comes from is the idea or, more accurately, the feeling of vulnerab ... |
|
| Topics: green living, celebrity, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Escape from Suburbia
New peak oil documentary fluffs the faithful |
David Roberts |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A while back I wrote a short review of 2004's End of Suburbia, and after watching the sequel, Escape from Suburbia, I guess I'd say roughly the same things. I want a movie like this to convince Average Joes. And when it comes to the Romantic agrarian peak oil evangelism this movie traffics in, the Average Joe needs lots of convincing. You'd think the way to go would be to play against stereotype, but to my eye, Escape from Suburbia plays right to it, again and ag ... |
|
| Topics: movies, oil, placemaking, sprawl (all these topics) |
|
|
650 million years in 94 minutes
A History Channel production on climate is worthwhile |
JMG |
01 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A coworker lent me an amazing piece of work called A Global Warning? It does an excellent job illustrating the chaotic nature of terrestrial climate and explaining the theories behind some of the most dramatic climate transitions. It's not a perfect movie, but if you won't read With Speed and Violence, it's probably the best thing there is. It gets into both ocean clathrates (methane hydrate crystals) and the melting permafrost (more methane). Best of all, not a single d ... |
|
| Topics: climate, climate science, green living, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
Notable quotable
|
David Roberts |
28 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'So I hope that this film will help others to connect the dots the way it helped Tipper and me to connect the dots on the relationship between mountaintop removal -- which is a crime and ought to be treated as a crime -- and the results of burning it without regard to the future, which also ought to be treated as just an unacceptable practice.' -- Al Gore, presenting the 'Reel Current Award' to director Michael O' Connell for his latest film, Mountain Top Removal |
|
| Topics: Al Gore, energy, mining, movies, quotables (all these topics) |
|
|
Bambi Would Be Proud
Walt Disney Co. gets into nature |
|
22 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:40 PM on 22 Apr 2008 The Walt Disney Company has announced a new film division that will focus on nature documentaries. The creatively named Disneynature will aim to produce two films every year starting in 2009, hoping to catch the interest of some of the viewers who flocked to Warner Bros.' March of the Penguins and the Discovery Channel/BBC series "Planet Earth." Keep your eyes out for the Disney-produced Earth in 20 ... |
|
| Topics: business, green living, movies, news (all these topics) |
|
|
Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars
New Sundance doc tells the story of the TXU coal fight in Texas |
David Roberts |
22 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I finally got around to watching my preview copy of Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, the new short documentary from Robert Redford's Sundance outfit. It's about the battle over the 12 coal plants proposed for Texas by TXU in 2007. A couple things that I thought were quite well done: Environmentalists play virtually no role -- they're scarcely seen, except on the edge of the action. The main players are small-town Texans and Texas mayors. It's very clear that th ... |
|
| Topics: coal, energy, grassroots activism, movies, state politics, Texas (all these topics) |
|
|
Delta Sigh
American filmmakers arrested in Niger Delta |
|
15 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:58 PM on 15 Apr 2008 Four Americans working on the documentary Sweet Crude, about the impact of the petroleum industry on the economy and environment of the Niger Delta, were arrested in Nigeria this weekend and are still being detained. A Nigerian man accompanying them was also seized. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil exporter and the fourth-largest exporter to the United States, and its petroleum industry is infamous for pollut ... |
|
| Topics: energy, insanity, movies, news, Nigeria, oil (all these topics) |
|
|
The spy who greened me
Bond film to feature greenwashing eco-villain |
Sarah van Schagen |
08 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Everyone's favorite secret agent is at it again -- and this time he hopes to live and let Greene die. That's right, Craig (Daniel Craig) is filming the next Bond flick as we speak type. Quantum of Solace continues the storyline that began with Casino Royale and finds Bond shaken (not stirred) by the death and betrayal of a loved one. He wants revenge, and he points a (Gold)finger at "eco-entrepreneur" Dominic Greene (the man with the green gun?). Play ... |
|
| Topics: business, celebrity, green living, greenwashing, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
DiCaprio's new digs
Leo's new condo full of green amenities, paparazzi |
Sarah van Schagen |
08 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Attention, paparazzi: It's Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour in his current New York abode. He's Departed (or will soon) for a new LEED-certified condo in Manhattan's Battery Park City neighborhood.DiCaprio's new digs are quite the eco-residence, featuring solar panels, a green roof, and units "decked out with locally obtained renewable materials and low- or nonpollutant paints, sealants, and adhesives." Of course, the place also features a 50-foot lap pool, ... |
|
| Topics: celebrity, energy, green building, green living, movies, New York, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
|
|
Heston on global warming
|
David Roberts |
08 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Apparently actor Charlton Heston has escaped this mortal coil. I have no particular insight on his film career, but here, for your edification, are his wingnuterrific wise thoughts on climate change: (thanks, LL!) |
|
| Topics: celebrity, extinction, funnies, movies (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.