My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Grizzly Man"

Talking about the good life in the foodchain
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Werner Herzog was given a strange mission with the film, "Grizzly Man." How do you take 100's of hours of tape made by a delusional, self-centered and mentally imbalanced man who is ultimately killed (along with the poor woman he drags along after him) by his obsession with Alaskan Grizzlies and make him someone somewhat sympathetic? The documentary manages to do just that, with Herzog inserting himslef as a conscience/narrator into the tapes of naturalist and self-described "kind warrior" Timothy Treadwell. For over a decade of summers, Treadwell would haul himself to Alaska, embed himself in a State Park and try to become one with the grizzlies.

Yes, you're right...anyone with a lick of sense would see this as a fool's errand, and the movie doesn't even bother to hide that fact by mentioning at the beginning that Treadwell and lady friend Amie Huguenard become lunch for a "bear full of people and clothes." Treadwell fails to recognize what Herzog knows by instinct and a few millenniums of evolution; nature is "chaos, hostility, and murder." Treadwell looks at nature as some sort of Disney-fied harmony, where if you just dance with the animals, they'll be your friends and all will live in the big unity of the universe. This despite ample evidence to the contrary (adult males eating cubs to foster mating with females, the killing of one of his fox pup 'friends'); Treadwell rails on about the bear world versus the people world.

Herzog keeps Treadwell from looking like a blithering idiot by balancing some of the most intimate footage you'll probably ever see of bears in the wild and commentary from both the friends and enemies of Treadwell, and ultimately sacrificing an opportunity to exploit Treadwell and Amie's death. A narcissist to the very end, Treadwell had a camera running even as he and Amie were being attacked and killed, and Herzog makes the decision to not include the audio (the lens cap was still on the camera) or include the pictures from the coroner, going as far as to implore one of Treadwell's few friends to destroy the final tape and never look back. It's Herzog's sense of compassion for his subject (aided by a terrific score by guitarist Richard Thompson), even as he understands the madness, that makes "Grizzly Man" so compelling.

     

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Kink Crusaders"

"This is my family, this is my tribe"
5 Out of 5 Stars

For those unfamiliar with International Mr. Leather, it as an annual event where literally thousands of Leatherfolk gather every May in Chicago. The centerpiece of the weekend is the International Mister Leather contest, in which men from around the world compete for the chance to promote the Leather Lifestyle (among other activities).

But it wasn't always like this. In a DVD that is destined to take a place next to the book "25 Years Of Champions," "Kink Crusaders" chronicles the humble beginnings of IML in 1979 (12 contestants from 6 states) to the extravagant pageant that it is today. In 2008, documentarian Mike Skiff traveled to Chicago for the chance to capture the 30th year of IML as it unfolded. So as you would expect, this is the kind of film that is laden with imagery of Homomasculinity at its hottest, with pictures, interviews and event clips documenting every year of International Mr. Leather. (Including a brief but explanatory clip as a postlude from IML 2010.)

But once again, I have to repeat. "Kink Crusaders" is much more than a tableaux of hot men in leather. Perspective comes from a rare "Mr Gold Coast Leather" film clip to ongoing interviews with contestants and commentary from Guy Baldwin, founder Chuck Renslow and others (including the odd interlopers who found themselves inside the hotel as the contest was occurring). Mike Skiff and a host of contributors have created a grand history of this culture of leather in this magnificent 90 minute documentary. But if the thought of all those concepts and heavy thinking intimidates you, fear not. There are contest videos, and did I fail to mention that the pictures are hot? If you missed that earlier on, forgive me. I reiterate; the men are HOT. Get "Kink Crusaders" now. It's going to look great on your widescreen.

     

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Gasland"

Set your sinks on fire
4 Out of 5 Stars

You've probably seen all the America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) commercials of late, cheerfully consoling us that safe, clean, natural gas can be easily extracted from the ground while happy people live above, leading clean and healthier lives. The Oscar nominated GASLAND exposes the corporate lie of Natural Gas mining. From the start, where filmmaker Josh Fox receives a letter offering him something near $100,000 for the rights to drill gas from his mountain and creekside home in upstate Pennsylvania, to the end, where you watch New York City and State lawmakers fight to keep the watershed that provides millions of people from polluted drinking water, Fox explores how the Power Companies have managed to manipulate the system with the help of corrupt and gullible politicians the outright greed of the Bush/Cheney administration.

The central point of GASLAND is that, in 2005, the EPA made changes in environmental policy that are called "The Halliburton Loophole." That rule, snuck through by Cheney and his secretive energy board buddies (including then CEO of Enron, Ken Lay), exempted the Halliburton developed technology of hydraulic fracturing (now widely known as 'fracking') from regulations of the old Clean Water Act. The end result? Drilling for natural gas and the unbelievable amount of water and chemicals pumped into the ground required to create a well are all but completely exempt from regulations regarding the toxins that are needed to extract the gas.

Of course, all the companies involved say that they have nothing to do with hundreds of drinking wells across the country suddenly turning unsafe withing weeks of fracking. Or animals getting sick and losing their hair. Or the methane explosions of people's homes. Or the mass die-offs of animals and fish when chemicals leak into a stream. But Fox, who tried to contact companies and individuals in mining throughout the course of his investigation gets the same treatment as the folks in states across the country; either "no comment" or massive run-arounds. When a State Environmental Agency head in Pennsylvania tells Fox that he'd help Fox and other PA citizens of Dimok (the first town Fox visits), only to note when the meeting ends that the state slashed the office's budget and basically dismantled it.

But more revealing than anything else in the movie is the notorious flaming sink footage. When fracking shatters the aquifer of a peace of land, the gases seep into the water table. The chemicals used to pump the gas out also get into the water, and before you know it, you have flammable tapwater. It's not just that water that is getting mixed up, the air outside the well is loading up with toxins to the point where a rural area of Colorado where the population is approximately one person per square mile is as dangerous or more so than a bad day in Los Angeles. GASLAND serves as a warning and reminder; the same smiling advertisers trying to convince you that clean, accessible natural gas is not threat to you at all are the same folks that told you off-shore drilling was both safe and existing regulations guaranteed that even if the miniscule chance accident were to ever take place, they could stop it from becoming disastrous.

When you watch GASLAND, there will probably be a detractor ready to tell you that the film is just lefty propaganda. Just remember the last sentence of the previous paragraph, and make sure to remind your companion of two little words. Deepwater Horizon.

 

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "House of Numbers"

Utter Bunk  
One Out of Five Stars

"House of Numbers" is a horrible, angering mess. That is the kindest thing to say about it. Basically a rundown of every anti-AIDS conspiracy theory since the crisis began, it repeatedly asks the question over and over; Why Have We not Found The Cure For AIDS? Simple question, sure. But the answers are more complex that this movie wants to address.

For starters, AIDS is a relatively young disease. The main outbreak and plague broke thorough in the late 70's and swelled through the 80's and 90's. While research suggests that there may have been cases far earlier, it wasn't until this period that the Scientific and Medical communities began taking serious research into the illness. In the USA, that research was near nil, thanks to the likes of Jesse Helms and the despicable policies of Ronald Reagan. So asking why we have not found a cure is foolish. Cancer and even the common cold are far older and more researched diseases, yet we still have nothing to cure either. Health Research is not a toaster; things do not just pop out after four minutes.

Then they try and look at the disease itself. They roll out the same tired tropes, like poppers gave you AIDS, the drugs were what caused AIDS deaths (partially true, the misunderstanding of the EARLY drugs - like AZT - harmed people), and the usual crap that gay men having sex were doing it to themselves. The modern 'drug cocktail' has been refined over the course of near 20 years to have balanced the side effects since then, but there's still plenty of conspiracy theorists who will try and convince you that "Big Pharma" is just trying to get your money.

Then they find the Doctors who are happy to tell you their theories why HIV and AIDS are right and the rest are bogus. However, the overwhelming preponderance of the Medical/Scientific have no doubts that HIV and AIDS exist and can kill you if not properly treated. The question raised in "House of Numbers" that HIV may not even be communicable is not just ignorant, it is dangerous. People are exposed to different infections every day (and I'll jump back to that common cold analogy again), but you don't have an illness every day. Illnesses break through in a variety of ways, and sometimes the factors involves vary from moment to moment, even in the same person.

"House of Numbers" raises question and offers no answers. It throws theories out but offers few facts. It questions the deaths of hundreds of thousands, but offers little insight into what killed them. It's easy to cast aspersions on things you do not want to believe. "House of Numbers" drags out stupidity and wild-eyed fear, then tries to offer it as controversy. Like Climate Change or Intelligent Design deniers, there can always be found a small group of true believers willing to argue that there is dissent over 'the facts.' But opinions are not facts and "House Of Numbers" does not offer much of factual info, and that makes it dangerous.

 

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Inside Job"

It will take decades to undo this damage  
5 Out Of 5 Stars

A few years ago, I watched the documentary "The Smartest Guys In The Room," about how Enron systematically duped the system, employees and the public into believing their fraudulent practices were a legitimate business. In 2005, they went from the USA's seventh largest company to bankruptcy, leaving a trail of death, debt and broke employees while the principles scooted away with the bulk of their fortunes. It was revealing to watch how they cozied up to presidents, regulators, and essentially eliminated anyone that caught on to the giant ponzi scheme the company was. I watched and wondered, how did they get away with this, and could we stop it from ever happening again. The Oscar Winning "Inside Job" answers that creeps like Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were only the tip of the iceberg.

"Inside Job" takes an in-depth look at how, starting with Reagan and continuing with President Obama, the financial pirates of Wall Street bought their way into massive paper fortunes, played the markets like parlor games and then got the world to buy them free passes when the house of cards came down. Narrated by Matt Damon, featuring plenty of interviews by several key government players, including Elliott Spitzer and Barney Frank (who, the film does NOT mention, voted for the "Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000", which is a key bill in the slippery slope). Several of the key Government types get sudden convenient cases of memory loss when pressed for certain details that they were intricately involved in (see the financial lobbyist who gives his Wall Street masters a 'B' grade for their handling of the collapse), and how major ratings firms suddenly turn their respected viewpoints of Triple A commodities ratings for companies on the verge of collapse into "it's just an opinion."

Nobody, left or right, gets out unscathed. Reagan gets first whacks for elimination of regulatory agencies, put in Alan Greenspan as his ideological watch-dog, and opened the world up to Savings and Loans. It took about nine years for them to collapse (under Bush One), so Wall Street had to come up with something new. That became derivatives, which Clinton legalized despite strong strong objections (and the person objecting is told firmly to keep her mouth shut) under Graham/Leach in '99 and effectively repealing the Glass-Steagall act from The Depression. With all the regulatory firewalls removed, banks could now effectively make a poorly advised loan, bundle it to a whole bunch of risky loans, sell this to someone else, then that group could sell it up the chain, with the complicity of the bonding agencies that gave these ticking time bombs triple A ratings.

When it comes to deregulating, though, nobody did it better than Bush the second. In 2004, he got the Securities and Exchange Commission to drop regulations against predatory lending, unleashing a new wave of sub-prime lending to the poor even if it was obvious that the loans wouldn't be repayable. Just bundle it into securities/assets, sell it and the risk belonged to someone else. By 2004, banks could leverage funds beyond their wildest dreams, so they did; some up to 33 times their available cash. Then came the biggest hit of all, the watchdog arm of the SEC was cut to a single employee. In an industry that has 5 lobbyists for each elected official, there was only one person left to investigate wrongdoing.

"Inside Job" also tackles the thorny issue of morality; when is too much not enough? Banks began to figure out that these bundled securities weren't going to be able to withstand the market much longer, they insured themselves against their failure then sold them even harder to drive the profits up before the explosion. They could profit now, success or failure, and things began to resemble a competition. Who has the most jets? Who has the most houses? Who has a private elevator that no-one else can use? So when the explosion came, starting with Bear Stearns in Spring 2007, the bankers had already covered their own behinds. And again, thanks to Bush Two, when the bankers realized the house of cards was about to enter meltdown, when they came crying to the government with their hands out, AIG and Goldman Sachs got 100 cents on the dollar. No risk, all reward.

President Obama fairs little better. He is criticized for putting the same old robber-barons in place (Tim Geithner, Larry Summers) and not pushing for tougher regulations post-crash. Even scarier is how these old hands are now advisers to business schools AND financial groups, which means the same flawed rules they played by to create this septic situation are being bought and paid for by financial institutions and taught and sold for by educational institutions. That is what is so maddening and ultimately depressing bout "Inside Job." While Enron (and folks like Bernie Madoff, Bernard Ebbers (MCI), Allen Stanford and his ilk) give you a convenient and singular target, "Inside Job" shows just how spread the dominoes are, and just how eager most of the players are to reset the table just as it was before.