"Capitalism: A Love Affair" - the latest Michael Moore documentary looks at the financial crisis and at how it affects our country. Moore makes some compelling arguments against the American capitalist system, but as usual, I disagreed with the way he presented a lot of his information. He tends to show statistics and act like they're all correlated because they happened at the same time, when the truth is obviously more complicated than that. Furthermore, I'm not a fan of how he takes one or two examples of people who have been affected by an issue, and then says that all people who are affected are as "innocent" as his examples. Having said all this, I think it's difficult to come away from the film not wondering if we, as a nation, shouldn't be more focused on people as a priority rather than profit and financial prosperity. I'll give this one a B-.
"It Might Get Loud" - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs) are filmed discussing how they started playing guitar, their first guitars, their sound, how they compose, etc. Sometimes they're filmed together, and sometimes apart. The parts where they're in the room together are pure magic. The Edge and Jack White have the same reverence for Jimmy Page that many guitarists would, and I couldn't help but smile at those moments. If you're a fan of any of these bands, or of the guitar in general, then this documentary is a must-see. I'll give it a solid A. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
"No Impact Man" - A liberal/environmentalist/tree hugger-type guy decides to put his money where his mouth is. Rather than just talk about the environment all the time, he and his family attempt to live an environmentally impact-free life for a whole year. This includes the following:
- No eating out
- No eating food produced more than 250 miles away (including no coffee)
- No eating meat (carbon impact from livestock is very high, so they cut it out)
- No using cars or public transportation
- No using elevators or escalators
- No electricity at home (they started this in month 6)
- No buying anything other than food at the farmers market
In general, the family experiences a number of benefits from living their life this way. The wife, in particular becomes healthier, overcoming a pre-diabetic condition and coffee addiction. They spend more quality time together because they no longer watch TV. They get more in touch with people in the community, particularly the people that produce the food they purchase at the farmers market. I enjoyed this documentary and didn't find it at all preachy. It really just encourages you to think about what you really need and what you can live without. Afterward, I decided I hadn't been to the farmer's market for a while myself, so I went and picked up some locally produced vegetables and fruits, as well as some organic chips and salsa. Anyway, I'll give this film an A-.
Last night, we went to dinner and a movie. I can't remember the last time we did this, especially during the week. Our movie selection was "The Invention of Lying", and I found it thoroughly disappointing. The premise of the movie is that the main character (Ricky Gervais) lives in a world where nobody lies. One day, in a moment of desperation, he tells a lie. Quickly realizing the power of lying in a world where people believe everything that's said, he uses his new ability to win fame and fortune. There were some funny moments, but the whole nobody lies and everyone tells the truth thing got old after about ten minutes. It's too bad, really--I like Ricky Gervais quite a bit and think he's done a lot of really funny movies and shows. I'll give this one a C+.
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