southern_jew

Wow, what a moving film I am still processing it the day after seeing it. As a person who was raised with religion but has lost his faith in the organized aspect of it all, this film really spoke to me. Bill Mahr is able to excellently and non-judgmentally discuss religious matters with the most extremist peoples of different faiths and it not become just another shouting match which usually happens when I try to discuss religion with friends, family or co-workers. I plan on purchasing this film when it comes out on DVD and showing it to everyone I possibly can for many years to come. I was especially fascinated to be reminded how anti-organized religion Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and John Adams were and how entwined in government today organized religion has become. IN G-D WE TRUST indeed.....

What an eyeopener! This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. You would think that watching Al Gore give a lecture for an hour and 40 minutes would be a bit long, but it was very enjoyable, extremely informative and even a bit humorous. The movie begins with a very well thought out Powerpoint presentation given in a lecture hall setting and switches between exotic locations showing signs of global warming and shots of different periods in Gore's life. I was not aware of this, but Gore has been working most of his life towards preserving the environment, starting when he was a boy, continuing through his years in the Senate and culminating in his two terms as vice president. While presenting the information, Gore even cracks several jokes about the 2000 presidential election, showing that he holds no grudges and has moved on to an endeavor that can do so much more for the people of the United States and the rest of the world: bring the subject of global warming to the forefront of public consciousness so it can be halted before it is too late!

I was a bit apprehensive about viewing this film, wondering if enough time had gone by for me to revisit this terrible day in our nation's recent history. There is no single word that can describe this movie other than POWERFUL. The director, Paul Greengrass uses hand held cameras and jumping from shot to shot to give the film a docu-drama feel. Also, the choice of casting several of the actual air traffic control and military personnel involved as themselves lends a sense of realism to the film.

The story begins on that terrible morning and shows how the people involved conduct their business. The tone of the film is very non-biased, we see air traffic controllers, flight staff and passengers portrayed as regular people, not as heroes or bad guys. Although I knew how most of the day's events played out, I still found myself hoping and wishing for a different ending.

This film is quite an emotional roller coaster, and is definitely not something easy or pleasant to watch, but great cinema sometimes can be painful. Please do yourself a favor and see this movie.