Must-sees: Taking Chance & Burning Coal

I saw two movies this weekend while convalescing from some sort of nasty virus, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

The best and by far the most powerful movie I've seen in a long time is Taking Chance, a movie by HBO Films. The film plots the journey of the body of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps - from the battlefield all the way home to his final resting place in Dubois, Wyoming, following his death in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

I found the movie to be an incredible inspiration, and educational, too. I had no idea that there was any such thing as uniformed military escorts, and that soldiers' bodies were never without an escort, from their death on the battlefield to the grave.

This film should be required viewing for every American; I know that won't happen, but it's that powerful. These days, now that deaths aren't piling up in Iraq and Afghanistan as they were a few years ago, and with the economy in the tank, both of the conflicts that our country is now fighting, all in our names, doesn't get the media coverage it deserves. What's more, Americans aren't exposed to the powerful images that this film offers - our soldiers being carried home - the real cost of war.

In the film, Kevin Bacon portrays Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, a Desert Storm veteran, who came across Chance's name on a casualty list; they both came from the same hometown, and Strobl volunteered to escort him home. While Strobl accompanies Chance's body across the country from Dover Air Force Base to Wyoming, he is visibly touched and moved by the outpouring of support he receives from the many people he runs across during the journey. I found it impossible to not be moved by this story - the film is impeccably directed and produced, sans the Hollywood razzle-dazzle, which this story doesn't need.

Bacon's performance is masterful, which I've come to expect from such a fine actor - one of the best of his generation. He cuts a pretty impressive, believable figure in a Marine uniform, too, just as he did in A Few Good Men nearly 20 years ago.

You must see this movie, regardless if you have any interest in the military. Every American should see it to better understand the impact that the death of ONE soldier can have on a community, much less the impact that 4,247* can have - the current American death toll in Iraq - or 657*, the number of American dead from the War in Afghanistan.

* - as of this afternoon

The second movie, Burning the Future: Coal in America, rips the scab off of coal production in West Virginia, and, needless to say, it uncovers a lot of pus.

I find it startling and amazing that the coal companies in America continue to have the power they do - both over our supply of electricity and our political system and politicians. We can and we must end our reliance on coal if we are to clean up the air we breathe. It doesn't take a scientist to deduce that burning coal has had horrible consequences for the planet, but I never knew the extent of the environmental ramifications that strip mining has on the communities surrounding these mines.

Burning the Future takes a pretty startling look at what those consequences are, including polluted ground water, increased flooding, polluted rivers and streams and tens of thousands of dead fish and wildlife.

I don't know if it's outrageous or hilarious when these coal companies trot out their PR flaks to try and defend the coal industry during this film - it almost sounds like stand-up comedy. It reminded me of the GM executives who lamely tried to explain away the company's inexplicable decision to kill the GM EV-1 electric car during the movie Who Killed the Electric Car. Hey, someone has to lie for the cameras, right? When I hear people simply lie for a company or an industry, it makes me both relieved and delighted that I'm no longer teaching public relations.

So far, and it's obviously very young in his presidency, but President Obama is no exception to Big Coal's death grip on both our politics and our energy supply. I heard Obama on numerous occasions during the '08 campaign extol the virtues of "clean coal technologies," which is a misnomer if there ever was one. There currently isn't any such viable thing as a way to burn coal "cleanly" that's cost effective, and even if there was, there doesn't seem to be a willingness on the part of coal companies to extract it from the ground in an environmentally friendly way.

The only viable answer, and it's not exactly viable yet, is to come up with other means of electricity production.

I understand why Obama said what he said about coal during the campaign- after all, he needed votes in Ohio and Pennsylvania to win the presidency. Being anti-coal would have cost him the presidency, period. I prefer to view the glass as half full - that Obama said what he said knowing that once he won the presidency, he could affect some change in our energy policy. Sof far, his intentions regarding energy make me very hopeful that his presidency will be the beginning of the end of coal; I realize it's going to be a long time until we are kicked of this filthy habit, but we've got to start sometime, and that time is now.

Burning the Future: Coal in America is now airing on the Sundance Channel - it's a very enlightening look at one of America's best-kept dirty secrets - our powerful coal industry. Take a look and educate yourself about coal, and then write your elected representatives and senators - our health depends on it.

For a much more in-depth look at the power of Big Coal, I strongly recommend the book Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future, by Jeff Goodell. I read this book last year, and I'll never forget it.

Either you're with Chevrolet, or you're with the terrorists?

And I present to you, my most hated commercial thus far in 2006. This has got to be one of the stupidest commercial campaigns ever. Why? Hmmm, where to start?

Before I begin, Stephen Colbert must have really pissed off whoever posted this clip on YouTube, but I can't find a Colbert clip to back that up, because Comedy Central just had all of their footage pulled off of YouTube. (More on media conglomeration later in the weekend.) But anyway, good job, Stephen.

The images used in this commercial are sickening. Using Rosa Parks, 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina to sell trucks? Yea, that's a good idea, GM.

I haven't seen an ill-advised commercial this idiotic since the NFL thought it would be a good idea to use the Eminem song My Name Is to promote the family friendly league.

Another thing that sucks about this commercial - that John Mellencamp agreed to be a part of it. I'm sure he's being paid handsomely to do it, but generally I hate it when artists agree to perform or have their music used in commercials. At least he didn't use one of his classic songs in the commercial. I've said it many times - if The Dave Matthews Band ever agrees to have its music used in a commercial, I'll be livid and will lose an immeasurable amount of respect for the band. These people make enough money to more than get by.

Anyway, I hate this commercial and would love to know the thought process behind it. GM is not on my favorite corporation list anyway, but more on that next week. (Much of that dislike stems from their cancelled electric car project, the EV-1, the subject of a wonderful movie, Who Killed the Electric Car. I know I've promised a review of that movie forever, but politics has gotten in the way, but I'll be bringin' it to you sometime next week or next weekend. I can assure you, my passion hasn't dimmed for this movie one bit.

So, predictably, this ad is just begging for a parody. A quick search of YouTube turned up this gem.



Pretty good, eh? If GM makes decisions like this ad, perhaps the company is doomed, and deserves what it gets. Hey, they aren't always wrong, though. At least they're finally bringin' back the Camaro, and the early mock-ups look awesome. Let's hope when it's rolled out, we'll get a better ad campaign than the piece of garbage ad above.

But for now, GM stands for "Get Mojo," because this company sure needs some.

This Film is Not Yet Rated: See it!

When we went to see Who Killed the Electric Car? the other night, we saw a number of good movie trailers, and this one stood out. The movie's called This Film is Not Yet Rated, and it deals with the Motion Picture Association of America, and how this somewhat mysterious organization rates movies across America with its controversial ratings system.

More accurately, it deals with how a few select people are imposing their morality on the rest of the country. And that just about always fucking pisses me off. And here, I separate from my traditionally Democratic Party roots - the MPAA was headed for years by Jack Valenti, a special assistant to President Johnson. When Valenti resigned in 2004, he was replaced by Dan Glickman, agriculture secretary under President Clinton.

Anyway, the movie should be an interesting one. As usual, I'll bring you a review after I see it.

Who Killed the Electric Car interview, Part I

My review of Who Killed the Electric Car? will be posted either late tonight or tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a pretty good primer - an interview with the director of the movie, brought to you by a really cool Website, YouTube. The interview is rather long, so I had to do this in three parts. It's worth a watch, even if you've seen the movie, because this story affects us all.

Who Killed the Electric Car interview, Part 2

Here is Part II of the interview of the movie's director.

Who Killed the Electric Car interview, Part 3

And the final part. Let me know your thoughts.

Three noteworthy films premiering soon...

When I went to see An Inconvient Truth this past weekend, the trailers were very interesting. Three stuck out in my mind:

Who Killed the Electric Car?,

Sir No Sir and

The Road to Guantanamo. I'm definitely seeing all three. (Scroll down the right side of this page to see all three trailers.)



Who Killed the Electric Car looks excellent. It's a behind-the-scenes account of why the electric car is effectively dead in the American market. Of course, this is all the more interesting since gas is topping $3 a gallon. An American public should want answers, and I'm hoping this film provides many. I had no idea before seeing this trailer that the electric car was dead; I was under the impression it was still around and selling. I guess not, save a few hybrids. Let's hope it makes a comeback, and that this film kickstarts such a movement.



Sir No Sir is definitely going to kick up plenty of dust. Just look at the trailer and come back. ... I'll wait. Okay, see what I mean? Just the presence of "Hanoi Jane" is bound to piss off plenty of veterans, and with good reason. As a child of this generation, I can honestly see both sides of the debate. Having said that, there never has been and never will be any excuse for what Fonda did, so she can shove her apology straight up her ass. But, the government also fucked with her for having an opinion. Ahh, Richard Nixon - the good old days. He made abuse of power chic. But, I also feel (with the benefit of hindsight) that the protestors had a point. Vietnam was a tragic mistake - 58,000+ lives, and for what? A country that did not want us there.

It's also personal to me - when I think of returning Vietnam Vets, I think of my uncle, who has told me stories of being spit on when he got home. Any protestor who did that was and is a grade A motherfucker. Regardless of whether a war is just or not, our soldiers will always be heroes in my book - many/most didn't ask to go, but they are doing their duty. Got a problem with the war? Take it out on the politicans who made the decision to fight it. (Much like I feel now toward our president and the ill-conceived war in Iraq.)

I'll get into this a whole lot more in the coming days, and definitely in my review of this film after I see it. A great deal of this debate is apropos today with our fighting in the Middle East.

This is a good segue into the next film...



The Road to Guantanamo - a movie about the Tipton Three, who wree detained at Guantanamo Bay without being charged, and were later released. This movie poster above was banned by the Motion Picture Association of America. God, I just love censorship. This has got to easily the most sanitized and censored war in history. What's that? You've never heard of the Tipton Three, either? Well, most of you probably haven't - I hadn't before reading a few articles long after it happened. It's lack of media coverage is hardly an accident. Want to know what's really going on? Go to Google News and read some overseas papers. We get only one side of the story, and an incomplete one at that. This leads me into the whole Haditha and Abu Ghraib scandals by members of our military. But, that's a discussion for another time, and I will blog on it soon. So much to blog about, so little time!

Anyway, these look like three very thought provoking movies coming out this summer. Screw Tom Cruise and the blockbuster - I'd rather see films that mean something. These three, along with An Inconvenient Truth, are a good place to start.