Reliably liberal New York Times movie critic Manohla Dargis lauded activist-actor Leonardo DiCaprio's "The 11th Hour," the latest documentary of environmental apocalypse.
"To judge from all the gas-guzzlers still fouling the air and the plastic bottles clogging the dumps, it appears that the news that we are killing ourselves and the world with our greed and garbage hasn't sunk in. That's one reason 'The 11th Hour,' an unnerving, surprisingly affecting documentary about our environmental calamity, is such essential viewing. It may not change your life, but it may inspire you to recycle that old slogan-button your folks pinned on their dashikis back in the day: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
No word on when Dargis will quit her job as a New York Times movie critic to go save the world. Perhaps because Dargis seems to think she and the rest of us are living in a grim futuristic-movie version of dystopia already.
"If your head isn't lodged in the sand, much of what's said in the movie will be agonizing and familiar. Gasping children, disappearing animals, gushing oil, billowing smoke, dying lakes, emptying forests, warming weather -- the list of ills is numbingly familiar. In the movie's eye-catching opener, the directors riffle through a veritable catalog of timely snapshots, some obvious (a smoggy skyline), others less so (a human fetus)."
Incidentally, Dargis's same-page review of the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" remake starring Nicole Kidman noted right at the top that the movie "might have been an accidental camp classic if its politics weren't so abhorrent…."
Dargis' political views are so obvious and so reliable that "abhorrent" may just qualify as a thumbs-up for conservative science fiction fans (although at this writing, Rotten Tomatoes' reviewer consensus on "The Invasion" stands at a very poor 20% approval).
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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Manohla Dargis
August 17, 2007 - 13:19 ET by allanfDoes anyone want to follow Manohla Dargis around Manhattan with a camera? Plastic bottles of Poland Spring water are quite the rage with young women in New York City. On a hot day the bottles are as de-rigeur as a girls flip-flops Plastic cups are used to dispense water in offices. If you buy a take out sandwich in a deli it is packed in a plastic bag
It takes a truly committed young woman to avoid something so prevalent.
Manohla
August 17, 2007 - 13:23 ET by HelenSManohla Dargis...hmmm....? Sounds like a shoe.
"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" - Shakespeare
Didn’t OJ have a pair
August 18, 2007 - 04:14 ET by USA4freedomDidn’t OJ have a pair of those.. lol.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
}}---> Confused Helen?
August 18, 2007 - 05:44 ET by Cool ArrowYou must be thinking of Slim Whitman's "Una Manolo Blahnik"
Or the more popular Bruno Magli which comes with Nicole Brown Simpson PEZ dispenser.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Thats Evian you bourgouis swine
August 17, 2007 - 14:18 ET by smitty031Elitists do NOT swill POLAND SPRING...Thats so...Bangorish.
Hmmm Bangorish...I like the way that sounds...
As A Child Of Early Sci-Fi Flicks
August 17, 2007 - 14:31 ET by drillanwr"Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" stands as one of my all time favorites (it's anti Communist message lost on me until my early adulthood). Since seeing the original many, many times since childhood (not understanding the underlying message, but still feeling the terror within) I have also tried to see all the remakes over the years (the one with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and "Spock" actually very good also ... But the others stunk.) I am curious about how, in this slimy political climate and Hollywood's addiction to contorting things to reflect their sick insanity regarding anything to do with this president or the country in general, I'm wondering how the writers and producers have twisted this story away from its original intention ... However, I may just wait until it comes out on DVD rental.
On the topic of movies and Hollywood's mutating the original messages:
Liberal Hollywood fights over patriotic war book
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/08/17/liberal-hollywood-fights-over-patriotic-war-book/
PS
August 17, 2007 - 14:40 ET by drillanwrGiven the alien virus comes to Earth via the US Space Shuttle exploding/crashing upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere (a la Columbia) ... AND given our current orbiting Space Shuttle has a slight degree of exterior damage that shouldn't (but NEVER say never) cause any problems returning home (See: Columbia) I would hope the producers and studio distributors of this movie "The Invasion" would, out of just a slight concern for the current Shuttle's problem, hold back on the movie's release until the Shuttle is safely back on Earth ...
Hey, I'm just sayin' ...
Hey Manohola....I decided to
August 17, 2007 - 14:34 ET by Fred911Hey Manohola....I decided to become part of the solution....I don't by the Times anymore. If we all ignore the Times, maybe you will lose your job which will free you up to do something useful....like collecting plastic water bottles.
Can any one of these
August 17, 2007 - 15:55 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltCan any one of these sky-is-falling global warming twerps explain exactly WHY the perfect climate exists now? I mean, if the globe does warm up by a degree or two (I'm not conceding the point of anthropogenic global warming), why is that automatically worse than what we have now? Has anyone asked the question of what may be the benefits of a warmer globe (that we can't stop anyway)?
And why is the present mix of critters on the planet the perfect mix? Creatures have gone extinct ever since the first critters appeared. That's the nature of well, nature. It changes.
A Fetus
August 17, 2007 - 17:42 ET by exLibSo it's OK to show a fetus when the goal is to scare people into Anti-GW activism.
But if you show a fetus that has been aborted, well, we can't have that. That's Sick, you know and of course, out-of-bounds, un-fair, etc....
exlib... Excellent
August 17, 2007 - 17:53 ET by bigtimerexlib...
Excellent point.
I feel the same way about this important issue...
The leftists always are the hypocrites....always.
Beat me to it
August 17, 2007 - 19:25 ET by saw the lightI picked that out right away and scrolled through the posts to see if anyone else did. Oh well.
"There is a tendency for the world to say to America, 'the big problems of the world are yours, you go and sort them out,' and then to worry when America wants to sort them out." - Tony Blair
"It may not change your
August 17, 2007 - 19:28 ET by saw the light"It may not change your life, but it may inspire you to recycle that old slogan-button your folks pinned on their dashikis back in the day: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
OK, I am going to start producing lapel pins that say, "I'm part of the problem!" I figure this is my big break, but I need some people to help me market them by buying and wearing them. How 'bout it, NBers? Wanna help make me rich?
Nobody is paying attention to Leo because nobody cares and he is an authority on NOTHING!
"There is a tendency for the world to say to America, 'the big problems of the world are yours, you go and sort them out,' and then to worry when America wants to sort them out." - Tony Blair
Sign me
August 18, 2007 - 04:16 ET by USA4freedomSign me up..lol
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
If you edit the button to
August 18, 2007 - 10:48 ET by MikeBIf you edit the button to read "I'm part of the problem...and D*mn proud of it", I might be in for a dozen. (But only if the buttons are manufactured in an enviro-friendly manner with zero carbon output and no animals or trees are harmed in the manufacturing process. ;-) )
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Who Listens to High School Dropouts?
August 17, 2007 - 20:37 ET by PopularTechAlanis Morissette, High School Diploma
Alicia Keys, College Dropout
Alicia Silverstone, High School Dropout
Art Bell, College Dropout
Ben Affleck, College Dropout
Ben Stiller, College Dropout
Bill Maher, B.A. English (no science degree)
Bono (Paul Hewson), High School Diploma
Brad Pitt, College Dropout
Cameron Diaz, High School Dropout
Dana Elaine Owens (Queen Latifah), College Dropout
Daryl Hanna, B.F.A. Theater (no science degree)
Diane Keaton, College Dropout
Drew Barrymore, High School Dropout
Ed Begley Jr., High School Diploma
George Clooney, College Dropout
Gwyneth Paltrow, College Dropout
Jackson Browne, High School Diploma
Jason Biggs, College Dropout
John Travolta, High School Dropout
Jon Bon Jovi (John Bongiovi), High School Diploma
Joshua Jackson, High School Dropout
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, College Dropout
Julia Roberts, College Dropout
Keanu Reeves, High School Dropout
Kevin Bacon, High School Dropout
Kiefer Sutherland, High School Dropout
Leonardo DiCaprio, High School Dropout
Madonna (Madonna Ciccone), College Dropout
Matt Damon, College Dropout
Michael Moore, College Dropout
Nicole Richie, College Dropout
Olivia Newton-John, High School Dropout
Oprah Winfrey, B.A. Speech and Drama (no science degree)
Orlando Bloom, High School Dropout, B.A. Drama (no science degree)
Paris Hilton, High School Dropout
Pierce Brosnan. High School Dropout
Richard Branson, High School Dropout
Robert Redford, College Dropout
Sarah Silverman, College Dropout
Sean Penn, College Dropout
Sheryl Crow, B.A. Music Education (no science degree)
Sienna Miller, High School Diploma
Willie Nelson, High School Dropout + College Dropout
The Anti "Man-Made" Global Warming Resource
So why are WE patronizing
August 17, 2007 - 21:41 ET by Senior ChiefSo why are WE patronizing some of these dropouts' moronic "work"?
SC... I'm not...that's
August 17, 2007 - 21:52 ET by bigtimerSC...
I'm not...that's for sure.
I despise the little twit.
Leonardo who? The name
August 17, 2007 - 21:38 ET by Senior ChiefLeonardo who? The name sounded like a mutant ninja turtle, one my 6YO is watching...
Looking at different "stars"
August 18, 2007 - 01:26 ET by krismcsherryWith all the money I'm saving by not going to see Leo's flicks, Orlando Bloom's flicks, Kiefer's flicks and Edward Norton's, I am going to buy myself a new astronomical telescope.
I just can't stand a guy who's dumb.
I almost completely have
August 18, 2007 - 04:40 ET by USA4freedomI almost completely have stopped going to the movies. I went
to the latest Bruce Willis movie, I liked it. Other than that I have not gone
to a move in years.
They keep slapping our great country around. They are
talking to dictators of other countries. They fly around in private jets and
then telling us we need to walk..
If you feel sooooo strongly about it:
SELL YOUR BIG HOUSE (WITH THE AC)
GET RID OF YOUR PRIVATE JETS.
STOP SPENDING MILLIONS ON JEWLERY
STOP SPENDING MILLIONS ON CARS/YACHTS
GIVE YOUR MILLIONS TO CHARITY AND BECOME A MONK.
Look we don’t care what ________ (fill in the blank of an
idiot in Hollywood) “said”,
We don’t care what __________ , “thinks” (with that 12th grade
education).
We don’t care that ___________. Is coming out of rehab for
the 12th time.
We don’t care that _________, is adopting a child from Africa.
Some how because Hollywood is famous they some how think, instantly:
A) they are brilliant, B) We are idiots.
We don’t by your garbage because: A) you truly are idiots,
B) while not always brilliant, still smarter then you.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day