Review: Gasland

Last night I went to the movies with friends to see Gasland, a documentary about natural gas extraction in the USA. I was keen to see it because the Queensland government is trying to get a similar type of drilling started on farmland there, and I wanted to know more about it.

The documentary started as one guy, Josh Fox, investigated the hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) process after a gas company offers him $100,000 to drill on his land. His journey takes him to 24 states in the USA, to a congressional hearing, and to the Environmental Protection Authority there.

Natural gas is often put forward as a transitional energy source, to wean us off coal. But it’s still a finite substance, and we’ve used quite a lot of the easy-to-reach amounts already. As our energy demands grow, the pressure to use more marginal (i.e. difficult to extract) sources will become intense. As you see in the movie, fracking is a dangerous way of getting to marginal sources, but if you can remove regulations to protect the safety of workers, citizens and the environment, it can be pretty profitable.

A lot of the footage is from Fox’s home video camera, which as you can guess is pretty shaky. But it includes some of the most beautiful landscapes in the US, and honest interviews with the sick and heartbroken people affected by this corporate greed, so it’s worth putting up with the occasional blurry shots.

The bleak humour shown by these people under such difficult circumstances is endearing, and I really warmed to them. They had no idea things would get so bad, that they’d be forced to prove their water didn’t have toxic sludge in it before the fracking started. Now they’re just dealing with it as best they can.

Fox has a low-key style – he’s no Michael Moore. He just explains what he found out, in the same way that he discovered it, and lets the evidence speak for itself. Hydraulic fracturing is a dirty, poisonous process, and the lack of regulation in the USA just makes it worse. If our governments spend their time making things easy for corporations instead of protecting citizens, then what can be done about it? Fox doesn’t have all the answers, but he’s shining a light on the issue so at least we can see clearly what is going on.

Recommended?
If you are living in an area under consideration for fracking (see the trailer below to see the red zones on the map of Australia, at 2:55 minutes), or you have friends or family in those areas, you must see Gasland before our governments get too involved in it*. Everyone else should see it too, because it’s the best summary you’ll get of what’s going on, in a just-the-facts-ma’am presentation. It’s showing in independent cinemas right now, but I’m sure that either the ABC or SBS will pick it up as soon as it’s available for tv.

* I’d also suggest that people in affected areas get their water (and soil?) tested before any drilling starts!

5-star review at Empire Magazine

Gasland Trailer

Review: Avatar

Like so many people, I went to see Avatar over the Christmas break. The plot was (overly?) simple, but it was a very pretty movie and kept me entertained for 3 hours. It could have done with being maybe 2 hours, but I guess that since James Cameron had worked so hard to make it look good, he didn’t want to miss any opportunity to show us the world he’d created!

In case you haven’t already heard, the idea is that humans have found a planet rich in a useful resource, and have sent the military to get it. Scientists have also come along to study the biology of the new planet. However, where the military uses mechanical ‘bodies’ to stomp around and shoot things in the unbreathable-by-humans atmosphere, the scientists have worked out how to transfer the mind of a human over to a body made from DNA belonging to the original inhabitants of the planet, the Na’Vi. This allows them to have an up-close-and-personal experience of the planet.

Naturally, there is conflict between what the scientists and the military want, and no-one seems to ask the Na’Vi what they want. At the centre of all this is Jake Scully, an arrogant and ignorant military guy sidelined by an injury in a previous war. He gets put on science duty in one of the ‘avatar’ bodies, heads out to learn what he can about the Na’Vi, and to see if he can find a resolution to the conflict.

The planet and it’s wildlife and it’s people are beautiful, well worth the price of admission alone if you like fantasy art. On the other hand, the plot and characterisation are a bit dumb. However, the very simple environmental message in the middle section of the movie really grabbed me. In one part, the main Na’Vi character explains “All energy is borrowed, and some day it must be returned”. The Na’Vi do not control their environment, they are part of it, acknowledging their place within the eco-system instead of trying to dominate it.

Experienced greenies will find that the message is a bit simple, and there’s room for more nuance that’s given over to big battle scenes instead. But it’s a big blockbuster movie with explosions, and so I’m happy it’s got any eco-message at all. And really, we’ve been lucky over the last few years to have so many movies touching on the subject. I think it shows that environmental concerns have gone mainstream when so many artists and creators are paying attention to the topic.

Recommended?
If you haven’t seen it already, and you like beautiful movies enough to deal with a very basic plot and script, then definitely go see it on the biggest screen you can with the 3D glasses, or IMAX. It’s not too scary for most kids who are old enough to sit through such a long movie. If plot holes bug you during the movie (instead of waiting until afterwards to go “hang on a minute… why did he…?”), and you’re not a visual person, then maybe wait until it’s on DVD or skip it.

Movie review: Capitalism: A Love Story

Movie poster for Capitalism: A Love Story

Last weekend I saw Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, with a few people from our local GetUp group. It was a really interesting picture, with some indirect implications for environmentalists.

Moore investigates the global financial crisis that came to a head last year. He looks at how corporate dominance of American politics has an impact on the little people, like you and me, while the CEOs seem to be getting richer and richer even when they’ve completely stuffed things up.

It’s been 20 years since Moore’s first movie, Roger and Me, and in some ways this film is a return to his roots. He goes out to interview ordinary people who’ve been screwed over by corporations, who seem to have no recourse. These interviews will nearly break your heart – people who had no idea just how bad things could get, through no fault of their own. He then pops around to Wall Street to annoy bankers with silly jokes. Then he talks to a few people in Washington about the biggest and most daring robbery of the American people: the Wall Street bailout.

Finally, he shows us a few cases where the little guy wins: home-owners taking back a house after an unfair eviction; factory workers refusing to leave without their pay after the banks shut them down, especially since the banks had the money to pay CEO bonuses 10 times the value of what these people had earned with actual productive work. I really felt for these people, their determination and strength were inspiring.

Obviously, some of this isn’t really relevant for us in Australia. I sincerely hope that the appalling ‘dead peasant insurance’ scam is illegal here. But we’ve had people burned by the mortgage crisis, for the same reasons it happened in the USA. We’ve got corporations lobbying our government too, and we’ve got coal lobbyists in key beaureaucratic positions. Australia isn’t so “yay, free market! boo, regulation!” as the US, but we do need to keep an eye on our politicians in case they decide that the American method would suit them better. And as environmentalists, it’s an eye-opening account of what exactly we can expect from the US on the issue of climate change negotiations.

Moore is worried that the reason we put up with this abuse of power by corporations over our democratic systems is because we think that one day, we too will be part of the rich and powerful group. Or that we think we couldn’t possibly put a stop to it, because what can an individual do? His movie explains why both ideas are wrong, and that we need to take action soon.

Recommended?
If you don’t like Michael Moore films, this isn’t going to be the one that changes your mind. He’s still the rumpled shit-stirrer he’s always been. But if you haven’t seen one of his docos before, or haven’t seen one in a while, I reckon this is worth your time. It’s a great movie about the importance of the little guy taking a stand, no matter the cost or how daunting it may seem.

You can see a trailer and snippets from the movie at the Capitalism: A Love Story website. Strangely, these don’t show the most moving parts of the documentary, so you’ll have to take my word for it on those parts.