Joseph Roberts

For some time now, I have been recommending a series of great movies for my friends to watch. These are brilliant films and worth watching because God knows there is a lot of crap filling the racks at most regular video stores. I like to tell others when something is tremendously entertaining and informative. Much insight was gleaned from the following DVDs. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the following films equal a good book.
The recent actions of our government, both provincially and federally, just feels like a bad movie where you can’t leave or get your money back. The popcorn is GMO and the fake butter causes the flu. Take PM Stephen Harper’s embarrassing pro-oil antics at the Bali Conference on Global Warming. We dedicate the accompanying Titanic-like film poster starring Japan, USA and Canada for dragging their industrialized corporate heels against the wishes of the rest of the world. Peter MacKay parroted that Canada should take a bigger leadership roll in the Afghanistan “Mission” one day after George W. Bush said other NATO nations should take a bigger leadership role in the Afghanistan “Mission.” Peter McKay is Bush’s man, not Canada’s man.
The Tar Sands in Alberta have been renamed the Oil Sands, and a war has become a mission.
And where are the Greens, NDP and Liberals on these issues? Basically, standing back hoping the Neo-Conservatives will continue to do stupid things, and thus become more and more unpopular due to their own actions.
Here is my list of films I have enjoyed and learned much from:
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
This film shows who did what to screw their employees, shareholders, lenders and peasants paying their electrical bills. Enronites intentionally caused rolling brown outs and caused electrical shortages to force Californians to accept hugely overpriced power. It shows how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political campaign got funded by the insurance underwriters who would rather fork out a few million to get Arnold elected as state governor than pay billions back that were stolen by Enron and their associates. We need to learn from California’s mistakes and not let BC Hydro be Enronized. The current provincial government supports transactional power privatizing and the sell-off of our hydro assets to independent power producers who will steal our rivers and jack up the price of electricity. Enron contains a Valentine video from both Bush presidents thanking Kenneth Lay of Enron for being the biggest donator to Bush Jr.’s campaign. A footnote (not in the video) is that the files investigating the Enron scandal were in Building 7 at the World Trade Centre in NYC. This was the building that was never touched by a plane, but somehow managed to implode in a controlled demolition-like manner (google Building 7 WTC for further details).
Who Killed the Electric Car?
A great complement to the Enron saga. Did you know that back in the 1930s big car companies bought up electric trolleys in America and moth-balled them in order to increase demand for cars? The film tells the true story of how GM already had a popular electric car on the road called the EV1. But instead of increasing electric vehicle sales to all the people who wanted them, GM recalled them all and sent them to a crusher.
The 11th Hour
Covers the global warming, climate change issues very well. I prefer it to An Inconvenient Truth, which is also worth a view. One gem I got out of watching this flick was that it put in perspective why there are no mass produced electric cars in America. The oil companies are bigger. Mobil Exxon (rhythms with Enron) alone is larger than all the car companies in the US. My metaphor is think of automobiles as photocopies (or ink jet printers) on wheels and that the consumables or toner is where the real money is. Selling gas is why we have gas-powered cars; we don’t have oil refineries because the cars are petroleum-powered. The hydrogen highway, though an interesting concept, can be an environmental horror story. Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger who promotes the hydrogen in his hydrogen-powered Hummer. Bio-fuel extracted from crops would starve the world’s growing population to feed cars, not unlike the Irish potato famine where the Irish peasants starved while Ireland exported food to jolly old England’s colonialists.
Death of a President
I was originally turned off from watching this movie because of the bad press it got, even by a reviewer who had not even watched it. When you know who owns most of the mass media and their friends, go figure. This is a fictional documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush. This film portrays the reaction of police and the legal system in the USA. It is so accurate one could call it fictional anthropology.
Bobby
I never really understood what an amazing man Bobby Kennedy was until this movie. It took Martin Sheen’s son Emilio Estévez six years to produce it. It’s worth watching just for the incredible lineup of actors, including Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, Harry Belafonte and Martin Sheen. The original soundtrack by Mark Isham included an orchestra backing up Aretha Franklin. These actors chose to work on the script because of their respect for Bobby, who was assassinated during his run for president. Nixon won, the world lost. Watch it a day or so after Death of a President. The story of Bobby’s brother John F. Kennedy is also well recorded in Oliver Stone’s earlier film JFK. Watch all three presidential films to learn about the empire to our south.
The Matrix
I love it for the sheer metaphor of how we all “could” be living in a dream.
V for Vendetta
Based on a great comic book with deep social implications.
The Constant Gardener
Based on John Le Carré’s novel, this film exposes how transnational drug companies test experimental drugs on poor illiterate Africans rather than on lab animals in Britain because it is cheaper.
Syriana
Great acting by Alex Baldwin in this film about deceptive oil companies working with their Middle East puppet government use any issue to win at their game.
The Painted Veil
Watch it for the sheer beauty of nature, human drama and romance.
Amazing Grace
Tells how the slave trade was stopped in England. A great study of the MP who was torn between dropping out of politics for spiritual reasons, and the ex-captain of a slave ship who wrote the famous song Amazing Grace.
Blood Diamond
DeCaprio’s best bad guy role. Find our how diamonds are not a girl’s best friend if she lives in a conflict zone where slaves dig diamonds.
On a much lighter note I recommend these delightful yet inspiring movies:
Stardust, Across the Universe, and The Golden Compass. There is hope, adventure and intelligence in all these movies.

Joseph Roberts, founder & publisher of Common Ground