List: Five Movies for Earth Day
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Celebrate Earth Day with some of these great films about our planet, its beauties and its challenges:
1. An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary makes a powerful case for the dire effects of climate change — and an even more powerful case for our ability to prevent more damage before it is too late.
2. Planet Earth
3. The Eleventh Hour Leonardo DiCaprio produced a thoughtful, important film about the devastating impact of industrial development on the fragile environment. He has assembled an impressive collection of scholars and world leaders to emphasize the precariousness of the situation and the urgency of action to reverse the effects of human opportunism and greed, to change our idea of “progress” from growth and acquisition to sustainability and respect for the fragility of the environment that sustains us.
4. Silent Running
Douglas Trumbull, who created the special effects for “Star Wars,” “Blade Runner,” and many other movies, directed this outer-space story about a botanist caring for the last remnants of plant life from Earth. It features three of the most adorable robots in movie history, named after Donald Duck’s nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
5. Dora the Explorer – Save the Mermaids
RE: Global warming/Earth Day — It leaves me conflicted. I think we all should adjust our lifestyles to improve the environment (swap out light bulbs, re-use supermarket tote bags, drive fuel efficient cars). And I find it hard to grasp the truth behind man-made global warming — too much noise on both sides of the equation.
But what can’t be denied is the Hollywood hypocrisy on this issue. Does Leonardo really live the green life? No private planes which guzzle gas far more than a fleet of SUVs?
Gore recently said it wasn’t his place to lecture his carbon stomping friends (like the Beckhams) about their lifestyle choices. Then whose place is it? If Gore can lecture us, why can’t he lecture them? And why was Gore’s house consuming mucho electricity until some conservative group blew the whistle on him?
It’s hard not to be conflicted …
The only problem with listing appropriate-for-Earth-Day videos is that it’s TV Turnoff Week! We’ll have to wait until next week to watch Al Gore’s movie again. My 12-year-old son, who was compelled to watch it with us the first time, admitted that although he expected to be bored, he was “riveted.” I had not heard of the other films, but I’ll make sure to seek them out… next week.
Movie mom there is a fun, more kid friendly earth day hence to it. Man of the House 1995, Chevy Chase, Farrah Faucett and Jonathan Taylor Thomas…….They make a wall picture out of the junk/trash found on the beach on their morning walk, and then they recycle their trash and is an issue in the movie to highlight the importance.
Good points, all of you! I like “Man of the House.” And I love “TV Turn-Off Week.” It’s like detox. Don’t you find you are surprised by all the extra time you have?
Christian, I hear you. But if we let the hypocrisy of celebrities and politicians stop us, we’d never do anything!
Regarding Al Gore’s home energy use…What that “conservative” grpup didn’t tell us is that Mr. Gore paid far more than average for electricity for several legitimate reasons. These include the fact that the Gore’s participate in a green energy purchasing program through their electric company which costs considerably more per kilowatt hour. As well, Al and Tipper have offices in their home. In terms of efficiency, the Gore home is very efficienct in it’s energy usage, even though the Gore’s choose to pay more for green energy.
And Leo did recently buy an apartment in a green building and does drive a hybrid. Jet travel is, by it’s very nature, not energy efficient but Richard Branson is working on making Virgin Airways an environmentally friendly airline.
I tend to take the view that it’s better to do what I can, even if global warming is not as severe a threat as some believe. Rather than doing nothing or doing little because a few choose to disbelieve. If the global warming “alarmists” are wrong, I’ve lost nothng really. If the global warming “skeptics” are wrong, we could all lose.
For those of you interested in films with Earth Day themes, I recommend checking out HEART & SOIL. It’s a 45 minute, family friendly documentary that bounds forward with barefoot children and frolicking livestock, inspiring people to grow more of their own food or support those who do. It’s great to know folks around the country are finding ways to help the planet and it ‘s inhabitants sustain it’s wonder, beauty and abundance, through good stewardship and conscientiousness. I can be contacted through http://www.heartandsoilfilm.com