Constant Gardener, The (2005)

→ See review under Corporate Governance & Responsibility

Emperor Zehnder (2004)

Go Further (2003)

Hempsters: Plant the Seed (2003)

Hoot (2006)

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, Cody Linley, David Arquette

REVIEW: Hoot is a light teen comedy that aims to deliver the message that people who care about other species, especially endangered ones, should act to prevent their corrupt destruction. In this case, the under-attack critters are a family of burrowing owls that happen to be nesting on the site of a new pancake house. It would have been nice if Hoot had given a little more background on these particular owls—what their function in the ecosystem is, etc. And the bad guys, cops, and subplots here are pretty cartoonish, with much of the action being overly familiar fare. Still, it all works reasonably well, eventually getting us to an ending in which they owl live happily ever after. (And who can argue with a movie that has music and appearances by Jimmy Buffett?)

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

Lithium Springs (2006)

Starring: Carter Lord, Fred the dachshund

DESCRIPTION: Lithium Springs is a comedy-adventure that tells the story of an off-beat adventurer and his dog Fred, who stumble across an old map pinpointing the Fountain of Youth and a treasure buried in the swamp by Ponce de Leon. In their quest for the treasure, they discover the natural majesty of the area—and something that threatens to ruin it. This is a good, entertaining story that can be enjoyed by everyone, from kids to parents to grandparents.

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Or visit the film's web site

Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without a Pause (2003) (TV movie)

Project, The (2002) (TV movie)

Shooting Vegetarians (2000)

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Banana Split (2002) (47-min. documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Award-winning film about the most popular fruit in Canada; examines the historical, social, economic, scientific and environmental aspects of banana production. Banana Split begins in a grocery store in Canada and takes viewers on a journey to Honduras to see where the fruit comes from.

→ Get more info/purchase at the film's web site

Broken Limbs (2004) (Documentary)
Apples, Agriculture, and the New American Farmer

REVIEW: This is a very good one-hour film about the effects of globalization on US agriculture and its small farmers. Apple farmers and marketers in the US northwest are the specific characters here that illuminate the broader agriculture scene, showing how in a single generation globalized free trade moved most US apple farmers from profitability to penury. The last quarter of the film shows that there is hope for small farmers—if they can convert to innovative sustainable agriculture practices, unplug from the globalized system, and deal directly with consumers.

→ Get more info/purchase at the film's web site

Man Who Had Everything, The (1998) (TV movie)

Milagro Beanfield War, The (1988)

My Father's Garden (1996)

Sustainable Table  What's On Your Plate?   (2007) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Our standard methods of producing food do not take environmental or human health costs into consideration. What are the alternatives to the current agricultural system? This documentary takes a look at the food you eat, how it's produced, and how it might be produced better in the future.

→ See trailer / learn more / purchase ... at film's web site

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A Breath of Air  (2002) (short video)
What Pollution is Doing to Our Children

DESCRIPTION: A 28-minute documentary that describes results of the "Children's Health Study" being conducted by investigators at the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center and USC's Children's Environmental Health Center.

→ Get more info or purchase info at mapcruzin.com

Wonderful Days (2003)

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Dealing Dogs (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Each year, 42,000 dogs are sold to veterinary schools and research labs by Class B dealers, who are required by federal law to buy the animals from pounds, shelters, and small breeders—and to treat them humanely. However, many Class B dealers violate the law. Dealing Dogs documents the undercover investigation that exposed the abuses that took place at one of America's most notorious Class B dealers, Martin Creek Kennel in Arkansas.

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ See a trailer or learn more at the film's web site

Earthlings (2005) (Documentary)

REVIEW: If you can watch the entire hour and a half of this movie and not have to turn your head away once, you either have nerves of steel, a heart of stone, or a complete lack of eyeballs. This is a tour de force of heart-wrenching, sometimes gruesome clips showing how humans use and abuse animals in many prime areas of our lives—from food and clothing to medical research to entertainment. But it's not just a stream of disturbing visuals—the material is all woven together with an excellent narration (spoken by actor Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, et al)) that provides context and offers logical objections. The film could have been slightly strengthened by noting that animals usually die in pain and terror in the wild, too. (Not that this should excuse human torture of animals, but it at would have at least provided some context and would have preemptively defeated one obvious argument from animal-abuse apologists.) And perhaps Earthlings might have recognizing that people hunting for food is less objectionable to most of us than ego-driven trophy hunting. But these are quibbles. Earthlings is masterful in its comprehensive, clear-headed presentation of man's domination and mistreatment of animals. We would never let anyone treat our pets this way; why do we tolerate such treatment of other animals?

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ See free at Google Video  or visit the film's web site

Grey Owl (1999)

Game Warden (1955)

King Kong (2005)

Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody

REVIEW: Whether it's the original 1933 movie classic or this spiffy 2005 update from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, King Kong remains a great movie. Any potential animal-rights undertone to the plot gets lost in the excitement, but it's there if you care to perceive it—that is to say, man seems predisposed to use animals for ill-purpose (and, as the opening scenes with Kong show, sometimes vice versa). But there is no lecturing to be found in this classy, special-effects-laden epic, only a great, action-packed thrill ride, with Naomi Watts looking luminously vulnerable as Ann Darrow, and with appropriately poignant scenes between Kong, the blonde, and fate.

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

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Beavers (1988)

Being Caribou (2005) (Documentary)

REVIEW: Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison spent five months keeping pace—on foot—with the "Porcupine" Caribou herd of North America's northwestern region. They documented their epic journey and the surrounding wild places as a way of bringing attention to the inadvisability of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which serves as the calving grounds for the herd. As it turns out, Heuer and Allison also made an awe-inspiring, very watchable film. There's a short bit about how native peoples still hunt and use caribou at the beginning of the movie that would have been better placed as an insert in the middle of the long on-the-trail section. But that's a minor criticism of a generally impressive film, which won more than a dozen film-festival awards.

→ Get purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Learn more at the film's web site

Born Free (1966)

Born to Be Wild (1995)

Cane Toads - An Unnatural History (1987) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: A fat, ugly creature whose sole purpose in life is the pursuit of sexual gratificationis rapidly taking over Australia! The cane toads were imported by the sackload from Hawaii to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the Greyback beetle, which was rapidly destroying their sugarcane crop. The cane coads adapted beautifully to their new surroundings. Problem was, the beetle could fly and the cane toad couldn't. What the cane toad is unusually good at, however, is making more cane toads--thousands upon thousands more. If Monty Python produced a National Geographic Special, it would be Cane Toads !

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Deeds Not Words (1998) (TV movie)

Fierce Creatures (1997)

Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin

REVIEW: Could feathered, furry, and fierce creatures be the marketing idea that will save a local zoo that has become the latest acquisition of a huge, heartless, and decidedly non-furry corporation? John Cleese reunites with the rest of the pack from A Fish Called Wanda  to show us a hilarious time as they figure out the answer.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Free Willie (1993)

Gentle Ben (1967)

Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988)

Hoot (2006)

→ See listing under Activism

March of the Penguins (2005) (Documentary)

REVIEW: March of the Penguins opens with stunning distance shots of seemingly impossible icescape formations in the Antarctic wilderness. No creature could live in such a beautiful but utterly barren place. Or so one would think....  Read full review of March of the Penguins

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Never Cry Wolf (1983)

Night of the Wolf (2002) (TV movie)

Orangutans: Grasping the Last Branch (1989)

Say No to Bushmeat (2003)

Sharkwater (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Driven by a lifelong fascination with sharks, filmmaker Rob Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. Sharkwater takes you into the most shark-rich waters of the world, exposing the corruption and violence of shark exploiters and showing how sharks could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

→ Learn more at the film's web site

Song of the Land (1953)

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

Whale Mission: Keepers of Memory (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Almost wiped out in the 19th and 20th centuries, the northern right whale is the planet's most endangered large-whale species. Today there are fewer than 350 left. However, tantalizing evidence from genetic studies suggests there are more whales out there. This 52-minute film documents the exploits of the Sedna IV and her science team as they sail to the remote Cape Farewell whaling grounds in the treacherous North Atlantic Ocean. Could this area be the key to the future of right whales?

→ Get more info or purchase at the film's web site  NOTE: page is slow to load

Whale Rider (2002)

REVIEW: A young Maori would be in line to become the next chief—if it weren't for the fact that she's a female. This movie is much more about humans than whales, as it shows cultural tradition struggling to survive modern times. But whales are indeed at the center of the subplot, and there are some great shots of the leviathans. The movie is a nice change of pace from the typically overwrought fare from Hollywood.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Winged Migration (2001)

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Acceptable Risks (1986) (TV movie)

Blue Vinyl (2002) (Documentary)

REVIEW: After watching Blue Vinyl, you may find yourself far less satisfied with the siding on your house and our vinyl-filled world in general, but you'll be glad your eyeballs made the trip trough this blue world....  Read full review of Blue Vinyl

Civil Action, A (1998)

Starring: John Travolta, Robert Duvall

REVIEW: Is contaminated water responsible for deaths and sickness in a suburban New England town? Can it be proved in court? Based on a true story, this movie dramatically relates the efforts of a dogged attorney to bring an industrial polluter to justice. It's great to watch Travolta's character dance on the edge of ruin, his brain knowing that the case is a likely loser but his heart wanting to see justice done.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Starring: Julia Roberts

REVIEW: A barely qualified clerk in a law office uncovers evidence that a large electric utility has poisoned the water supply of Hinkley, California, with toxic chromium, causing disease and death among many locals. Erin Brockovich's efforts to find facts and push through a major lawsuit were central to the ultimate $333M award. Roberts' brassy, convincing performance brings the drama home. Based on a true story.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Incredible Shrinking Woman, The (1981)

Monster (1979)

Safe (1995)

Taking Back Our Town (2001) (TV movie)

Tess of the Storm Country (1960)

Texas Gold (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: When Diane Wilson—a mother of five and a fourth-generation fisherwoman—discovered that her home, Calhoun County, Texas, had been named one of the most toxic places in America, she decided to take on the giants of the petro-chemical industry that were poisoning her community and knowingly devastating its once thriving fishing industry. Texas Gold profiles Wilson's decade and a half of brave actions—actions that have earned her the title of "unreasonable woman."

→ Learn more at the film's web site

Toxic (2000)

Unnatural Causes (1986) (TV movie)

Up Close and Toxic () (Documentary)

REVIEW: A well produced 45-minute exposé on the toxic soup of chemicals we are exposed to constantly inside our homes, cars, and workplaces.

→ Learn more at Bullfrog Films

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Constant Gardener, The (2005)

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston

REVIEW: Forget about this as a "gardening film"—it's not. Instead, it's a superbly crafted tale of intrigue that finds the nexus of modern-day Britain's continuing methods of empire, a pharmacopoeia of shady corporate dealings, and the ongoing misery in Africa—a forsaken continent that the West has been manipulating and profiting from for more than a century. Blend in a bit of unsure romance and a couple shots of courageous behavior and you have yourself a darned good movie.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Corporation, The (2004) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: The Corporation explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?"

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003) (TV)

Starring: Brian Dennehy, Christian Kane

REVIEW: Crooked E tells a slightly loose fictionalized version of the Enron debacle from the perspective of a young Enron account manager (Kane) who quickly gets caught up in the razzle-dazzle of the supposedly brilliant, forward-thinking company, only to slowly come to moral consciousness as the corruption becomes apparent and the unravelling begins. Brian Dennehy adds a nice touch as the boozing, jaded, at-the-end-of-the-line executive. The movie feels a bit over-the-top at times, but then, so was Enron. Overall, it does a fine job of conveying the mess that became Enron.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

No Logo (2003)

Insider, The (1999)

Starring: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe

REVIEW: This film is based on the true story of "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman (Pacino) and Jeff Wigand (Crowe), a former research biologist for the Brown & Williamson tobacco company. Bergman suspects Wigand has a story to tell, but Wigand isn't talking. The company knows Wigand is flaky and leans hard on him to honor his confidentiality agreement, going so far as to have shadowy characters keep an eye on him. This does not sit well with Wigand, and he decides to go on camera for a Mike Wallace interview, risking arrest for contempt of court—and who knows what else. Now enter the complications of corporate-buyout politics, threats of lawsuits, and business-trumps-journalism hand wringing. It all makes The Insider a great ride, giving us a riveting story at the same time it shows us what an oxymoron "corporate journalism" really is.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

Silver City (2004)

→ See review under Politics & Media

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Crooked E (2003) (TV)

→ See review under Corporate Governance & Responsibility

Electric Valley, The (1983)

Energy Crossroads: A Burning Need to Change Course
(2007) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: America consumes 25% of the world's energy, 85% of which comes from non-renewable fossil fuels. Whether from a climate-change or peak-oil perspective, our energy consumption is a problem. Energy Crossroads examines the situation and offers concrete solutions for those who want to educate themselves. The film features passionate individuals, entrepreneurs, experts and scientists at the forefront of their fields, bringing legitimacy and expertise to the film's core message.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

Killing Cars (1986)

On Deadly Ground (1994)

Starring: Steven Segal, Michael Caine

REVIEW: This is a rather typical lone-hero movie that features Steven Segal battling corporate robber-baron Michael Caine and his crew of thugs over a new super-polluting oil refinery. Eco-friendly messages abound, and the inevitable comeuppance meted out to the non-green bad guys by Segal will be quite enjoyable for anyone with environmental leanings or a desire to see things set right. Of course, less eco-friendly explosions abound as well, but On Deadly Ground remains good outlet for anyone who thinks that maybe, just maybe, oil companies don't always behave responsibly.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Power Trip (2003)

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) (Documentary)

→ See description under Vehicles

Also see: Peak Oil Movies

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Airzone Solution, The (1993)

Category 7: The End of the World (2005)

→ See listing under Global Warming

Day After Tomorrow, The (2004)

→ See listing under Global Warming

Logan's Run (1976)

Starring: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Peter Ustinov, Richard Jordan

REVIEW: In Logan's Run, the scene is set in the 23rd century, amidst an environmental catastrophe brought on by war, overpopulation, and pollution. The remaining human population is sequestered in a high-tech domed city, literally sealed off from the long-forgotten world outside. Technology has reached a point where citizens live in an apparent utopia, with physical labor minimized and pleasures of the body and mind in abundance. But there's a catch....  Read full review of Logan's Run

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Survival of Spaceship Earth (1972)

TC 2000 (1993)

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Charcoal People, The (1999) (Documentary)

REVIEW: This movie finds the intersection between Amazon deforestation and global commerce by focusing on the lives of locals who make charcoal from cut-down trees. The movie could have benefitted from more backstory—that is, more exploration of the political policies that result in people finding themselves with no better option than to cut down noble trees—but the story is nonetheless compelling, showing how the free-trade wheel grinds down more on some than others.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

Maquilapolis—City of Factories (2006) (Documentary)

REVIEW: Maquiladoras are the multinationally owned assembly plants that dominate the economy of the US-Mexico border region, employing over a million people. The movie tells the story of the good and bad aspects of this system though the lens of Carmen, one of the Maquiladora workers—her work life in chemical-saturated manufacturing plants; her home life with her kids in their garage-door house in a neighborhood beset by industrial pollution; and, once Panasonic pulls out of Mexico almost overnight, her legal battle over promised but unpaid termination pay. The story is compelling, and the film uses cool video techniques to keep things flowing. A must-see, especially for anyone who thinks that a free-trade world run by multinational corporations is a good thing.

→ Learn more at the film's web site

North Country (2005)

→ See review under Mining

Stolen Childhoods (2003) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Stolen Childhoods is a feature-length documentary film shot in seven countries, profiling laboring children and the pioneering efforts to get them educated, break their family's cycle of poverty, and lead them into a hopeful future.

→ Learn more at the film's web site

Silver City (2004)

→ See review under Politics & Media

Take, The (2004) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: In the wake of Argentina's spectacular economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class found itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. Since then, workers have reclaimed the factories and made an astounding success of them—operating them as non-corporate, democratically run cooperatives.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Learn more at the film's web site

This Is What Democracy Looks Like (2000)

Wal-Mart – The High Cost of Low Price (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Or learn more at the film's web site

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Frankenfish (2004)

→ See review under Genetic Engineering/GMOs

Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story (2003)

One More Dead Fish (2005) (Documentary)

REVIEW: One More Dead Fish is a 54-minute documentary that tells the story of a small fishing town in Nova Scotia. Local hand-line fishers, facing new federal rules that will phase them out in favor of industrial fishing fleets, barricade themselves inside a Federal building in protest. The film does a decent job of exploring the the general crisis in the global fishing industry but is at its best when it shows the personal and environmental impact of bad policies enacted by government officials beholden to industry.

→ Learn more at the film's web site

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Chocolat (2000)

→ See Grinning Planet review

Fast Food Nation (2006) (Docu-drama)

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama, Avril Lavigne, Kris Kristofferson

DESCRIPTION: Based on the acclaimed book by Eric Schlosser, this film traces the birth of an everyday, ordinary hamburger through a chain of riveting, interlocking human stories—from perilous work in meat-packing plants to life behind the fast-food counters to the dirty secrets of fast-food corporations. What exactly are we biting into?

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Or learn more at the film's web site

Super Size Me (2004)

Sustainable Table  What's On Your Plate?   (2007) (Documentary)

→ See description under Agriculture

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Big Trees, The (1952)

Starring: Kirk Douglas, K.D. Aubert

Guardian of the Wilderness (a.k.a. Mountain Man) (1976)

Starring: Denver Pyle, John Dehner, Ken Berry

Based on the true story of Galen Clark, who, along with John Muir, worked to preserve America's greatest natural wonders, most notably Yosemite National Park.

Burning Season, The (1994) (TV movie)

Emerald Forest, The (1985)

Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Ferngully 2 (1992)

Great Bear Rainforest (2001) (TV movie)

Lorax, The (1972)

Medicine Man (1992)

Once Upon a Forest (1993)

Trouble in High Timber Country (1980) (TV movie)

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Garden's Family, A (1995)

Greenfingers (2000)

Healing Gardens of New York, The ( ) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: This 55-minute documentary chronicles gardens that have changed neighborhoods and transformed lives, making it clear that, in New York, the best gardens reach out. The film speaks to the importance of green spaces as a source of stability and emotional well being—something that is often overlooked in a city dominated by steel, glass, jackhammers, and cranes.

→ Learn more at the film's website

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Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food (2006) (Documentary)

REVIEW: Interviews of anti-GMO activists and scientists; information about the dangers of genetically modified food and the tactics used by GMO corporations to keep their products on the shelves and out of the news. An informative, sobering array of reasons to be afraid of GMOs.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

→ View online at film's web site

Brave New World (1980, TV movie)

DESCRIPTION: Brave New World  portrays a future where parents-to-be routinely use genetic engineering to pick the physical and mental characteristics of their soon-to-be offspring. Things have also evolved into a complicated caste system to create a weird techno-society, with ego and bigotry featuring prominently. Based on the classic novel by Aldous Huxley.

Corn (2002)

Frankenfish (2004)

Starring: Tory Kittles, K.D. Aubert

REVIEW: The movie makes this page only because of its title, which plays on the anti-GMO slogan "Frankenfood." In this case, the Franken-fright is the Northern Snakehead, genetically altered to monstrous, man-eating proportions. It's Jaws meets Anaconda. Decent but not essential.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Future of Food, The (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled US grocery store shelves for the past decade.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

→ Learn more at the film's website

Gattaca (1997)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman

REVIEW: Part 1984, part Brave New World, the movie Gattaca shows us a world where a person's life is determined by a "genetic litmus test"—and enforcement is rigorous. Those with inferior genes need not apply ... at least not for anything as cool as a manned mission to Saturn. Ethan Hawke's character is indeed one of the inferiors, but he has a plan to beat the genotype-driven totalitarian system and get his dream journey to the ringed planet. But, of course, there are complications—including Uma Thurman. While it's not as out-and-out scary as Orwell's 1984 and it's not as fresh as Brave New World—originally penned by a visionary Aldous Huxley in 1932—Gattaca is still great sci-fi. It's well worth the two hours you'll spend being intrigued and entertained by it.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Life Running Out of Control (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: From the loss of biodiversity to health scares about GM food, the effects of genetic technology are prompting more and more debate. This documentary takes an intelligent look at both sides of the issue.

→ Learn more or purchase at Journeyman Pictures

Mimic (1997)

Mutations, The (1973)

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Category 7: The End of the World (2005)

Starring: Gina Gershon, Cameron Daddo

REVIEW: Super-severe tornados and hurricanes set about wiping out the world's major cities. Is global warming to blame? Well, it's a little more complicated that that, but the answer and the action are presented in an engaging way, albeit with the normal amount of over-Hollywooded silliness. If you enjoyed The Day After Tomorrow, you'll like this too.

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

Day After Tomorrow, The (2004)

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal

REVIEW: What happens if the most pessimistic predictions of the gloomiest global-warming doomsayers turn out to be right? See for yourself in this movie! It's a Hollywood-ization of the climate-change problem, for sure, but the overdramatization and over-compressed timeline of the disastrous effects can be excused—the special effects and shear epic-ness of the presentation are well worth the viewing time.

→ See Day After Tomorrow review and scientific analysis on Grinning Planet

→ Check out on Amazon.com: DVD  |  VHS

Everything’s Cool (2007) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION:  Everything's Cool  is a toxic comedy about the dangerous chasm that exists between scientific understanding and political action on the topic of global warming. While industry-funded naysayers sing their swan song of scientific doubt and deception, a group of self-appointed global warming messengers are on a life-or-death quest to help the public go from understanding the urgency of the problem to creating the political will necessary to push for a new energy economy. From the director of Blue Vinyl.

→ Check out Everything's Cool DVD on Amazon.com

Fire Next Time, The (1993, TV Movie)

Great Warming, The
(2003, TV documentary; updated and recut for 2006 theatrical release)

DESCRIPTION: Just as other generations spoke of a Great Plague and a Great Depression, our children will be compelled to endure The Great Warming—and find a way to conquer its consequences. The Great Warming, filmed in eight countries on four continents and endorsed by dozens of the world's leading scientists, aims to show that the consequences of global warming are already being felt around the world.

→ Get more info at the film's web site

Ice (1998, TV Movie)

Starring: Grant Show

REVIEW: Before there was The Day After Tomorrow, there was Ice. Unlike the former, the cause of the sudden northern-hemisphere freeze-over in Ice is not greenhouse-gassifying mankind, but climate-shifting solar flares on the sun. Within days, only a few people in Los Angeles remain unfrozen, including (of course) the main characters, who are duped by a prominent scientist into helping him reach a rendezvous point for an escape boat. Ice lacks the glitzy special effects of The Day After Tomorrow, and environmental aspects are generally missing from the film, but there are enough interesting insights into human nature to make it worth seeing.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006) (Animated)

REVIEW: Forget about this film's barely green creds; the slapstick action, funny dialogue, and lovable characters make Ice Age: The Melting very entertaining just as a movie....  Read full review of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Inconvenient Truth, An  (2006) (Documentary)

REVIEW: Whatever you thought of Al Gore as a politician, you'll have to give him credit here for being a great teacher. He spends most of his time in An Inconvenient Truth guiding us through the data and science of climate change, demonstrating cause and effect and noting the impacts, both present and future—and doing so with wit, charm, and only an occasional (though deserved) political barb. Though this is largely a speaker-on-stage style documentary, it's backed by great pictures, charts, and graphs, with cutaways to on-site footage and personal annecdotes, all woven together in a way that makes the whole thing very watchable. Gore's three-decade-long study of climate change shows in his seemingly effortless presentation of the material. The result is 100% convincing, showing climate change to be not just an environmental issue, but a threat to our way of life—perhaps even to life itself. This is the last nail in the coffin of the climate skeptics.

→ Get more info at the film's web site

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

Rising Waters  (2000) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: For 7 million people living on thousands of islands scattered across the Pacific ocean, global warming is not something that looms in the distant future—it's a threat whose first effects have already begun. Through personal stories of Pacific Islanders, Rising Waters puts a human face on the international climate change debate.

→ Get more info at Bullfrog Films

Too Hot Not to Handle  (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Heat waves. Melting glaciers. Rising sea levels. Catastrophic storms. Migrating viruses. Population displacement. Over the past 100 years, the mass consumption of fossil fuels, especially in America, has contributed to a dangerous warming of the earth that will adversely impacted the way we live. This cautionary documentary offers a guide to the coming effects of global warming in the United States.

→ Check out on Amazon.com (DVD)

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Girl in the Café, The (2005)

Starring: Bill Nighy, Kelly Macdonald

REVIEW: This is a lovely little movie that thrusts an unlikely romance between a shy, high-level bureaucrat and a seemingly simply young woman onto the stage of global politics-as-usual. The film is listed here because of its clearheaded portrayal of one of the seamy sides of the globalization juggernaut—the G-8 summit. The grit of the film slides in unexpectedly but naturally and impressively, making The Girl in the Cafe well worth a second look.

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→ See Grinning Planet's The Girl in the Cafe review page

Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: The last several decades have witnessed the competitive slaughter of America's small, independent retailers at the hands of corporate mega-marts and other "Big Box stores." This film shows how small business is clawing its way back as Americans look to shore up their local communities in the face of outrageous corporate scandals, the daunting side-effects of globalization, and even the fear of terrorism.

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→ Or learn more at the film's web site

No Logo (2003)

Spectre of Hope, The (2000)

Wal-Mart – The High Cost of Low Price (2005) (Documentary)

→ See review under Fair Trade/Worker Rights

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Baraka (1992)

Black Diamonds (2005) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Black Diamonds charts the alarming increase of large mountaintop coal mines in Appalachia. These mammoth operations have covered 1,200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste, polluting local water sources; demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest; and flattened hundred of Appalachian mountain peaks, covering nearby homes and furnishings in thick, unceasing layers of coal dust. Citizen testimony and visual documentation are interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists, and scientists to create riveting portrait of an American region fighting for its life—caught between the grinding wheels of the national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride, and natural beauty.

→ Get more info at the film's web site

Fire Down Below (1997)

Starring: Steven Segal, Kris Kristofferson

REVIEW: EPA agent Jack Taggart battles a group of Kentucky baddies who are illegally using coal mines to store toxic waste. The message is pro-environment, though there is so much stuff exploding in this movie that it can't exactly be called eco-friendly. Nonetheless, Segal's heart is in the right place. And there is a happy ending, too. :-)

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)

Harlan County War (2001)

Starring: Holly Hunter, Stellan Skarsgard, Ted Levine

DESCRIPTION: Holly Hunter stars as Ruby, the wife of a coal miner in Harlan County, Kentucky. After two senseless deaths, the union calls a strike against the mining company. What follows is one of the most violent, bitter and notorious union battles in history. With no end to the violence in sight, Ruby decides to fight the company her own way. Based on a true story.

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In Memory of the Land and People (1977) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: This film explores the devastating effects of strip mining coal on life in Appalachia, showing how the practice has destroyed mountains; animals and plants; and people's homes and lives. The film combines striking visual images with interviews of residents talking about how mining has affected their lives.

→ For DVD purchase info, see this web page

Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story (2003)

Out of the Black (2001)

North Country (2005)

Starring: Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean

DESCRIPTION: This film is really about misogyny, sexual harassment, and underdogs fighting back, and only a little bit about coal-mining. North Country could just as easily have been set on an oil derrick, in a meat processing plant, or in some other rough, male-dominated environment. Nonetheless, the film is based on a true, precedent-setting case that did involve a coal company, are there are many shots of the mining operation. Plus, it's a great movie with great performances... So we think it deserves a mention here.

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Silver City (2004)

→ See review under Politics & Media

Trouble in High Timber Country (1980) (TV movie)

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Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987)

Atomic Twister (2002) (TV movie)

Starring: Sharon Lawrence, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Corbin Bernsen

REVIEW: Nuclear power plants have all the dangerous stuff inside containment vessels, right? So if a tornado hit the plant, no problem, right? This B+ made-for-TV movie explores the ways in which that might be wrong, and in spite of an occasional lapse into the type of silly character behavior that only Hollywood writers can dream up, the movie does a creditable job of keeping us entertained and reminding us that there is no such thing as "disaster-proof."

Chernobyl Heart (2003) (Documentary)

REVIEW: Perhaps you think the risks associated with nuclear energy are minimal (or at least acceptable). To you I say, watch this film. Or perhaps you think that nuclear energy is "a bit unsafe" but, given the likely energy shortfalls of the future, use of nuclear in a necessary evil. To you I say, watch this film. Wrap your brain around the vast geographical area (including 99% of Belarus) that is still contaminated by the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident. Force your eyeballs to endure the heartache of so many deformed children—the "collateral damage." THEN see if you still think nuclear energy is acceptable. Though it's hard to watch, this is a very important film.

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→ Learn more at the Chernobyl Children's Project

China Syndrome, The (1979)

Starring: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas

DESCRIPTION: While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, an opportunistic reporter witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to publicise the incident but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret.

→ Get reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

Day After, The (1983)

Dr. Strangelove
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb   (1964)

Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott

REVIEW: Dr. Strangelove is Stanley Kubrick's satirical masterpiece about the Cold War and nuclear annihilation. Peter Sellers' and George C. Scott's performances are superb, and the movie finds the perfect blend of satire, thriller, and out-right comedy. The film's message about hyper-patriotic paranoia gone wildly wrong remains relevant in today's militaristic environment.

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Doomwatch: Winter Angel (1999) (TV movie)

Downwind (2002)

Fail-Safe (1964)

Helen's War (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: Dr Helen Caldicott, firebrand anti-nuclear campaigner, celebrated author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is too alarmed to retire. She's certain that the White House's War on Terror is escalating the global nuclear arms race. Set against the volatile backdrop of the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, Helen's War  tracks Caldicott's activities as she vies with spin-savvy neo-conservatives for airtime, courts celebrity backers for her DC think-tank, and battles to stop the bombing of Baghdad. Winner of "Best Documentary," 2004 Sydney Film Festival.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

On the Beach (1959)

Poison Dust (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: US use of radioactive "Depleted Uranium" weapons has increased six-fold from 1991 to Gulf War II, and the results are predictably disturbing. Subtitled "A Close Look at the Dangers of Radioactive Depleted Uranium Weapons To Innocent Civilians & Our Own Troops," Poison Dust tells the story of mysterious ailments related to the use of depleted-uranium weapons in Iraq and elsewhere.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

Silent Running (1972)

Starring: Bruce Dern

DESCRIPTION: In this far-looking, speculative film, Bruce Dern is a crew member on a specially designed "biodome spaceship" that harbors Earth's last nature reserve—intended to refurbish an Earth devastated by nuclear war. When he is instructed to jettison his beloved forests and return home, he goes renegade. Accompanied only by three robots, he ponders the fate of his last pocket of nature and the murders of his fellow crew members.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)  |  (VHS)

→ Get more info at this movie's fan site

Silkwood (1983)

Sum of All Fears, The (2002)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Testament (1983)

Thirteen Days (2000)

Threads (1984) (TV movie)

War Game, The (1965)

WarGames (1983)

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Garden's Family, A (1995)

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Crude Awakening, A  The Oil Crash   (2007) (Documentary)

REVIEW: A Crude Awakening serves as an excellent introduction to the subject of Peak oil and all of the related topics—the huge rise in human population numbers, locations, and living standards made possible by cheap and abundant petroleum products; the economic risk related to high oil prices and fuel shortages; the problems inherent in non-renewables like coal and nuclear and the challenges facing alternatives like ethanol, biodiesel, wind, solar, and hydrogen; the ultimate likely impact of "energy descent" on our modern way of life; and the politics of petroleum, including war for oil. The film puts the story together in a cogent, comprehensive way, leaving those who already know about Peak Oil with an expanded, reinvigorated understanding of the subject and provides newbies with a clear picture of a complex topic that promises to change life as we know it.

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Crude Impact (2006) (Documentary)

DESCRIPTION: The film explores the interconnection between human domination of the planet and the discovery and use of oil. Crude Impact exposes our deep-rooted dependency on the availability of fossil fuel energy and examines the future implications of peak oi—the point in time when the amount of petroleum worldwide begins a steady, inexorable decline.

→ Learn more at the film's web site

End of Suburbia, The (2004) (Documentary)

→ See description/review under Sprawl

Escape From Suburbia (2007) (Documentary)

→ See description/review under Sprawl

Oil, Smoke & Mirrors (2006) (Documentary)

REVIEW: This 50-minute documentary is an excellent presentation of the facts that cast overwhelming doubt on the official story of 9/11, linking the event to a larger, unspoken geopolitical strategy that has its roots in Peak Oil, not Al Queda. This is a must-see for any citizen of the US—and the world. Available free from Ronan Doyle via Google Video.

→ See it free at Google Video

Oil Storm (2005) (TV movie)

REVIEW: What would happen if several disasters, one right after the other, hit the world's oil supply infrastructure? In a word, chaos—at least for those countries and people that are highly dependent on oil and gasoline. This movie envisions such a scenario using a fictionalized documentary style, simultaneously giving us story background and human-interest cases to make it feel real. Overall, it's a highly engaging film, even if they do pull their punches a little bit at the end.

Power of Community, The  (2005) (Documentary)
How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

REVIEW: Cuba lost over half of its oil imports after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990. This spelled disaster for its oil-dependent economy and society. But by completely reorganizaing its agricultural system and implementing many other changes in day-to-day affairs, Cuba survived. This movie does a good job of showing us how they did it—and how WE might have to do it when Peak Oil finally kicks in.

→ Get more reviews or purchase info on Amazon.com (DVD)

→ Learn more at the film's web site

Syriana (2005)

Starring: George Clooney, Christopher Plummer, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Alexander Siddig, Tim Blake Nelson, William Hurt

REVIEW: Syriana sets out to explain to us how things really are when it comes to oil, The Middle East, and US policy, and to do so in an entertaining manner. For those of us who are watching keenly as modern industrial society begins its slow, deathly descent towards the center of the petroleum whirlpool, Syriana is a must-see....  Read full review of Syriana

→ Check out DVD on Amazon.com

What a Way to Go — Life at the End of Empire (2007) (Documentary)

REVIEW: This is a different sort of "Peak Oil movie." Rather than just focusing on the approaching decline in oil production and its likely effects on our petroleum-powered modern lifestyles, What a Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire, presents that issue merely as a symptom of a larger problem—modern society as empire....  Read full review of What a Way to Go

Also see: Energy Movies

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