GasLand
If you haven't seen this documentary, throw it on your Netflix now. I think I had been carrying around this DVD since July and had added it last January in hopes of watching it before the Oscars. Whoops. I should have watched it sooner!
The documentarian lives in northeastern Pennsylvania, where his land, inherited from his parents who also built the house themselves, is slated to be leased out to natural gas companies. These companies will build gas pads on his land, which he can lease to them for a good price. Curious, he set out to see what had become of other communities who had sold out to the gas companies. What he found was scary, frightening, mind-blowing, and sick.
He found water, coming out of spigots, that could be lit on fire. He found dead animals, sick people, and animals losing their fur. Every state and town he visited had the same symptoms. And in every town the people complained to the natural gas companies who, in turn, denied any wrong-doing. Some had even signed non-disclosure reports and could not complain or bring media attention to their problems at all.
The natural gas companies use hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to break up the rock and dirt below the ground, in turn releasing the natural gas. They do this with a fracking fluid that has upwards of 600 deadly chemicals in it. Where does this fluid, transported through pressurized water, end up? In the streams, groundwater, and wells.
The gas companies say that we should desecrate our own land so that we're less dependent upon foreign oil. Really? At what cost? Thousands of people and animals are residing less than 1000 feet away from these caustic gas pads. They are becoming sick and they are dying of cancers. All so Halliburton can make millions of dollars.
Yeah, that's right - Halliburton. When tricky Dick Cheney was the vice president, he helped pass a law that exempted these gas companies from EPA regulations such as the clean water act. Right now the government is trying to repeal that exemption. Watch the documentary. It's amazing what the rich bastards will do to make even more money.
Shame
Wow. Don't see this one with your mother, or on a first date. If you're not familiar with the film's description, I'll let IMDB fill you in:
In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.
That puts things mildly. The reason I decided to see this NC-17-rated movie is because Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre, 300, A Dangerous Method) was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of best actor for his performance in this film (and bc he has a cute smile!). Meh, he can be nominated, but I don't think he'll win an Oscar (the Golden Globe for best actor-drama went to George Clooney in The Descendants and best actor-comedy/musical went to Jean Dujardin in The Artist). I actually thought that Carey Mulligan (An Education), who plays his sister, did a better job in the supporting actress category. I'd like to see her get the nod.
So if you're feeling randy, go see it. Or better yet, wait for it to come out on DVD. But if you don't get around to seeing it, you're not really missing all that much.
Carnage
I was a little afraid that I wouldn't like this film. It is adapted from a play and those adaptations don't always carry over.
The premise is two couples who meet to discuss one son's "attacking" of the others' son with a stick in a park. The cast is fantastic - Jodie Foster plays a terrifically pious, manic wife to John C. Reilly's "dressed up as a liberal" husband. And Kate Winslet's character can barely hide the fact that she loathes her lawyer husband (Christoph Walz) and his incessant cell phone calls.
There were lots of laughs in this comedy and I highly suggest seeing it. It all takes place in a New York apartment and the writing is smart, funny, and witty. The alliances between the adults change on a dime and show everyone's true colors and how this becomes the "worst day of their lives". Go see it!
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