Tuesday, May 23, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth

I saw a poster for An Inconvenient Truth the other day and for the first time noticed its clever tagline: “An Inconvenient Truth: A GLOBAL WARNING.” Yes, Al Gore’s global warming documentary, which is set for limited release in Los Angeles and New York on Wednesday, is first and foremost a warning; it’s a warning to us all to heed the signs that have been steadily accumulating for years: glaciers melting, polar bears drowning for lack of ice floes, hurricanes increasing in strength, natural habitats and hatching/feeding cycles being disrupted…all due to a steady perilous rise in global temperatures. In this remarkable film, Al Gore makes the case, with a startling clarity, for something the scientific community has known for years: that the only way to reverse global warming is to change our behavior.

Yes, we are complicit, Gore scolds us, with a gentle fatherly authority we’re not used to from him. Through his use of jaw dropping photos, charts, graphs and props, Gore educates us, he shows us how the cars we drive, the electricity we use and the trees we burn all contribute to an unprecedented level of human-related greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 most prominent among them) into the atmosphere, which leads to the thickening of the outer layer thus trapping heat from the sun inside our atmosphere that otherwise would escape. It’s an education that Gore says it’s a travesty we haven’t gotten sooner. The media has failed us, the current administration has failed us, and, on a personal level, Al Gore feels he has failed us. This film is his way of righting that wrong.

As much as An Inconvenient Truth offers a planetary SOS, it also succeeds, most improbably, as a very personal tale of a man on a journey of self-discovery; it’s the tale of a man whose life experiences, education and work have all led him to the large screen before us, his voice booming from the speakers, adding movie star to his already impressive resume. As directed, elegantly, by Davis Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth cuts agilely between Gore’s global warming presentation and biographical snippets of his life, with his own voiceover telling the tale. From his growing up on a farm and only realizing later in life the difference between fun and work to the influential teacher he had in college who inspired his passion for the subject of global warming; from the near loss of his son in a car accident to the aftermath of the 2000 election, An Inconvenient Truth juxtaposes Gore’s joys and tragedies with his urgent global warming message. The effect is an emotional journey that a slide show alone could never achieve.

When Al Gore talks about his son’s accident, he speaks of something dear to him almost slipping through his fingers, much as he fears the earth may. When he speaks of his loss in 2000, he tells of responding to the inevitable question “what do I do next?” with a clearer focus on his mission to spread the word about this imminent climate crisis. And when he speaks of his sister’s death from lung cancer when his father was a tobacco farmer, he speaks of unfathomable regret and of warnings left unheeded, all of which motivate him every day to make sure the same fate does not befall us. Guggenheim fashions an emotionally satisfying dramatic arc for our hero, one that takes him from quiet uncertainty to fierce focus culminating in a hypnotic final credit sequence that takes the extra step and tells us what we can do, actively in our lives, to help reverse the effects of global warming. The film both diagnoses and prescribes, even as it moves and inspires.

Finally, never fear, political partisans, on top of all of this, An Inconvenient Truth is a fiercely political film. Gore gets a few well-deserved jabs in at the Bush administration, including their refusal to ratify the Kyoto Accord, the oil industry hacks they put in charge of energy policy and, of course, Bush’s tragic response (or rather, the lack thereof) to Hurricane Katrina. And while it may come off at times as petty partisan sniping or, perhaps to some, sour grapes, the primary message we’re left with at the end of the film is not anti-Bush, rather it’s quite a positive one. Gore manages throughout the film to make the case for the U.S. as a force of progress in the world. He tells of a nation that has encountered great challenges and has risen to them with strength and moral clarity. He cites freeing the slaves, fighting fascism in Europe, granting women the right to vote, and the civil rights movement and sees the fight against global warming as our next great moral challenge. It is a fight that will be won, he tells us, by the forces of progress that have defined our history, and, by extension, that define our progressive movement whose values he sees as ascendant. It is “unethical,” he says, not to do something now about this crisis. “All it takes,” Gore says, “is political will. And luckily, political will is a renewable resource.”

This, of course, begs the question, is Gore’s political will to run for president renewable as well? Whether or not he will run in 2008 is the unspoken question that hangs over each frame of the film, but you’ll certainly get no clues as to its answer. Gore has other more pressing things on his mind here, namely, saving the world one presentation, and now screening, at a time.

An Inconvenient Truth premieres in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 24, at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood and the Laemmle Monica Four-Plex in Santa Monica

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The National Organization for Women Political Action Committee is pleased to announce its endorsement of Democratic candidate Ned Lamont for the United States Senate. The purpose of NOW PAC is to advance women's rights through electoral activity. NOW PAC is the only political action committee that bases its endorsements on a candidate's support of the full range of feminist issues, including (but not limited to):

Support for reproductive rights without restriction
Economic equality for women
Civil rights for all
Constitutional equality for women
Affirmative action
Elimination of violence against women

Our endorsements go to the strongest feminist candidates. We listen to our membership and respond to their requests for action in races in their states. Therefore, pursuant to the request of Connecticut NOW, NOW PAC is endorsing Ned Lamont for the U.S. Senate.

Ned Lamont ardently supports a full range of reproductive choices for women. He certainly understands that reproductive justice includes full access for rape victims to emergency contraception. Ned Lamont recognizes that "civil rights for all" encompasses the right of everyone to marry the person they choose regardless of gender. He acknowledges that support of the continuing war in Iraq continues to decimate our economy and our standing in the world. Finally, Ned Lamont knows that allowing Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation vote to proceed in the Senate has put Roe v. Wade in extreme jeopardy.

The stacking of the courts has emboldened those who wish to turn back all progress in the area of civil rights, privacy rights, and of course reproductive rights. The attack on Roe in South Dakota was predictable and a direct consequence of the confirmation of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The strategy to pack the courts with right-wing judges who are committed to overturning Roe is no secret. Yet, Senator Lieberman is one of seven Democrats who have promised not to filibuster any of President Bush's judicial nominees, except under "extraordinary circumstances." Well if packing the Supreme Court with abortion opponents like John Roberts and Samuel Alito is not an extraordinary circumstance, then we don't know what is.

These are precarious times for women. We cannot be satisfied with a senator who votes for women much of the time, or even most of the time. We need courageous leaders who will protect and advance all of our rights all of the time. The winner of this election will have profound influence on national policy which directly affects women and girls in Connecticut, in the nation and throughout the world. We are confident that we have found principled leadership in Ned Lamont and are proud to endorse his candidacy for U.S. Senate.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

An Inconvenient Truth Release

May 24:

Los Angeles

Hollywood
Arclight

Santa Monica
Monica Fourplex

New York City

Manhattan
Lincoln Square Cinemas
Sunshine Cinema

June 2:

CA

Berkeley
CAL

Irvine
University

Los Angeles
Century City

Mill Valley
Sequoia

Palo Alto
Century Cinearts

Pasadena
Playhouse

San Francisco
Embarcadero

San Jose
Santana Row

Sherman Oaks
Pacific Galleria 16

DC

Washington D.C.
E Street

Georgetown
Georgetown

IL

Chicago
Century Centre

Evanston
CineArts 6

Highland Park
Renaissance Place

MA

Boston
Embassy

Brookline
Coolidge Corner

Cambridge
Harvard Square

MD

Bethesda
Bethesda Row

NJ

Voorhees
Ritz

NY

Brooklyn
BAM Rose

Huntington
Cinema Arts

Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens

Malverne
Malverne

Pleasantville
Jacob Burns

ON

Toronto
Cumberland

PA

Philadelphia
Ritz 5

TX

Dallas
Magnolia

Plano
Angelika Film Center

WA

Seattle
Guild
Pacific Place

June 9:

BC

Vancouver
Tinseltown

AZ

Scottsdale
Camelview 5

Campbell
Camera 7

CA

Laguna Niguel
Rancho Niguel

Oakland
Piedmount

Pleasant Hill
Cinearts Plesnt Hill

Sacramento
Tower Angelika

San Diego
Hillcrest

San Francisco
UA Stonestown

Santa Barbara
Fiesta Five

Santa Cruz
Del Mar

CO

Denver
Esquire

FL

Boca Raton
Mizner

Delray Beach
Delray 18

Ft. Lauderdale
Gateway

Miami
South Beach

North Miami
Intra Costal

South Miami
Sunset

IL

Chicago
Esquire

MD

Baltimore
Charles

MI

Royal Oak
Main Art

MN

Minneapolis
Uptown

MO

Frontenac
Plaza Frontenac

ON

Ottawa
Bytowne

OR

Portland
Fox Tower

QB

Montreal
AMC Forum

TX

Houston
River Oaks

VA

Arlington
Shirlington

Fairfax
Cinema Arts Fairfax

June 16:

CA

Camarillo
Paseo Camarillo

Del Mar
Flower Hill 4

Huntington Beach
Huntington 20

La Jolla
Village

Orange
Stadium 20

Rancho Mirage
The River

San Louis Obispo
Palm

Ventura
Century Downtown

Westlake
Westlake Village

CT

Hartford
Crown City Cinema

FL

Tampa
Sunrise Cinemas

HI

Honolulu
Varsity

IN

Indianapolis
Keystone Art

MB

Edmonton
Princess

MI

Ann Arbor
Michigan

MO

Kansas City
Tivoli Manor Square

NC

Chapel Hill
Chelsea

Durham
Carolina 3

Raleigh
Colony 2

NM

Albuquerque
Century 14

NY

Albany
Spectrum 7

Clarence
Eastern Hills

OH

Cleveland
Cedar Lee

Columbus
Drexel Gateway

Mariemont
Mariemont

PA

Pittsburgh
Manor

TX
Austin
Arbor

UT

Salt Lake City
Broadway 6

WA

Bellevue
Lincoln Sqr

WI

Madison
Westgate

Milwaukee
Oriental

June 23:

AZ

Tucson
Catalina

Tucson
El Con

CO

Boulder
Village 4

KY

Lexington
Kentucky 2

LA

New Orleans
Canal Place

MA

Dennis
Cape Cinema

N. Falmouth
Nickelodeon

Oak Bluffs
Island

W. Boylston
W. Boylston

ME

Waterville
Railroad Square

NV

Las Vegas
Suncoast 16

Reno
Riverside

OH

Holland
Super Cinema

RI

Providence
Avon Cinema

TN

Memphis
Ridgeway

VA

Richmond
Westhampton 2

VT

Burlington
Roxy

June 30:

AR

Little Rock
Market St

CO

Colorado Springs
Twin Peak

MA

Great Barrington
Triplex Mahawie

NC

Asheville
Fine Arts

NY

Ithaca
Fall Creek

SC

Charleston
Terrace

VA

Norfolk
Naro

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