das loft

Fantastic new documentary: What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire, directed by Tim Bennett and produced by Sally Erickson. I know I seem to say this every time there's a new movie about the collapse of civilization, but this time I mean it more than ever: This film is imperative viewing for everyone. If there's only one movie recommendation you will take away from my blog, please let it be this one. I'd even go as far as saying, don't bother reading Ishmael or the Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight – just see this film.

If you can't afford to pay for the DVD but you still want to see it, let me know and I'll lend you one of the DVDs I've ordered.

Sally and Tim's blogs are also very much worth following. Here is an excerpt from Sally's latest posting:

For now I will just share one woman’s experience, and my response:

[...]

I have a small story of my own to tell. Over the past few years, I have grown increasingly frustrated with what seems are my own paltry and insignificant efforts to contribute to the saving of the planet. I have tried many ways (prayer, consulting the trees, consulting ancestors, therapy, begging, pleading to anyone and/or anything) to discern what my role should be.

But all I have heard is silence…

[...]

….that is until I saw your movie. The night after watching it, I tossed and turned until finally at about 4:00a.m. Then an idea emerged. I am going to send 50 copies to people I know and ask that they, if inspired and so inclined, will “pay it forward” and send it to 3 other people and request the same of their receivers. I hope they will purchase an additional 2 copies to keep it circulating at a fast pace. I know this is still a very small step, but I have a lot of energy around it so I am going to assume that it is my inner voice telling me to act.

[...]

Your film is so powerful. I don’t see how anyone could view it and not break out of denial and be moved to act.

Well, believe it or not, people do view it and manage to stay in denial. The wounds of Empire are deep and people are understandably numb, cynical and afraid to feel. But there are also lots of people who view it, and view it again, and again, because they don’t want to be in denial. They want to be awake and in action. They want to step into a larger, more meaningful story than that of Empire. Sometimes these are people who one might not expect. Sometimes people we would expect to feel supported and empowered by our film are instead threatened and angry, because we are not selling easy, hopeful, or only slightly inconvenient answers. It is heartening, though, how many people we hear from who are deeply appreciative. Like you, having seen the movie, they feel supported, empowered and affirmed in the midst of the mainstream culture that says they must be crazy to be so concerned.

Labels: civilization collapse, eye-opening, global warming, ishmael, movies, peak oil, sustainability

I finally got around to watching An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary about global warming. It's another crucial eye-opener, as I expected it to be. I learned even more startling things about the consequences of global warming that I never knew. In general I found it showed our current predicament as pretty bleak, but then I have a tendency to see the future in a pretty dreary light anyway. So it didn't exactly lift my spirits, despite the positive action items mentioned at the end. But if there's to be any hope at all, then everyone should watch this film!

Labels: al gore, an inconvenient truth, climate change, global warming, movies

I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night. It's a Spanish film that takes place in 1944 fascist Spain, involving a girl's quest to save the ones she loves from the her sadistic army general stepfather, and the metaphorical fantasy world that guides her along. Meta seems to be able to pick up immediately on all the symbolism, but then she has a lot of practice (for her, everything in life is symbolic). I thought it was a captivating film - scary and beautiful. Thumbs up.

Happy Valentine's Day, all you sweethearts out there. You know who you are. ♥☃♥

Labels: movies, pan's labyrinth

This this a killer thriller: Children of Men. It's a really well directed, realistic (and thus scary) sci-fi thriller that takes place 20 years from now, after women have become infertile. You might have bad dreams after you see it. I did (but then my dreams are usually apocalyptic anyway).

Labels: apocalypse, children of men, movies