Lists

Picture of a movie: Fed Up
Picture of a movie: Betting on Zero
Picture of a movie: going clear: scientology and the prison of belief
Picture of a movie: Deep Web
Picture of a movie: Hot Coffee
Picture of a movie: Harlan County U.S.A.
Picture of a movie: Why We Fight
Picture of a movie: Capitalism: A Love Story
Picture of a movie: Forks Over Knives
Picture of a movie: The Queen of Versailles
Picture of a movie: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Picture of a movie: Jesus Camp
Picture of a movie: Four Horsemen
Picture of a movie: Inside Job
Picture of a movie: Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
Picture of a movie: the fog of war: eleven lessons from the life of robert s. mcnamara

29 Movies

Grasping for Knowledge

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The only thing I know about the world is that I know next to nothing about it, outside of my own lived experiences and the lies the people in charge tell us to keep our curiosities in check (if we have any at all, that is. asking the tough questions isn't exactly rewarded behavior and as a collective whole we seem to have issues with long term memory). While mine might get me killed, here's to hoping satisfaction will bring this kitty back.

Inspired by this list

Picture of a movie: The Parking Lot Movie
movies

The Parking Lot Movie

2010
The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a singular parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The film follows a select group of parking lot attendants and their strange rite of passage. The eccentric brotherhood of attendants consist of grad students, overeducated philosophers, surly artists, middle-age slackers and more. This self-described "ragtag group of fractured poets" prefer skateboards and bicycles to cars and have at best a tolerant contempt for the people they serve. That's not to say they don't care about anything. They hang out at the lot even in their spare time, shooting the breeze or playing a spirited game of "flip cone," just because...they like it there. They conduct their own private "war" against the elites, the pretentious and obnoxious customers who park their BMWs, Hummers, Suburbans and other vehicles. They study the art of doing nothing and the knack of getting even with rude, SUV-driving dolts who treat them like inferior beings. The gradual devolution from enthusiasm to resentment in the psyches of guys self-aware enough to notice it is an interesting process; in an attempt to distract themselves from the rapidly mounting bitterness, the attendants amuse themselves any way they can-stenciling random messages on the parking gate, writing songs, even dancing for tips. Through interviews with former attendants who have moved on - we see that their time at the lot has clearly provided rites of passage and afforded them Zen-like perspective. As one parking attendant laments, "We had it all in a world that had nothing to offer us." If the intersection between the status quo and the quest for freedom is their ultimate challenge, could a slab of asphalt be an emotional way station for The American Dream?
Picture of a movie: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
movies

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

2009
"The Most Dangerous Man in America" is the story of what happens when a former Pentagon insider, armed only with his conscience, steadfast determination, and a file cabinet full of classified documents, decides to challenge an "Imperial" Presidency-answerable to neither Congress, the press, nor the people-in order to help end the Vietnam War. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg shook America to its foundations when he smuggled a top-secret Pentagon study to the New York Times that showed how five Presidents consistently lied to the American people about the Vietnam War that was killing millions and tearing America apart. President Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger called Ellsberg "the most dangerous man in America," who "had to be stopped at all costs." But Ellsberg wasn't stopped. Facing 115 years in prison on espionage and conspiracy charges, he fought back. Ensuing events surrounding the so-called Pentagon Papers led directly to Watergate and the downfall of President Nixon, and hastened the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg's relentless telling of truth to power, which exposed the secret deeds of an "Imperial Presidency," inspired Americans of all walks of life to forever question the previously-unchallenged pronouncements of its leaders. "The Most Dangerous Man in America" tells the inside story, for the first time on film, of this pivotal event that changed history and transformed our nation's political discourse. It is told largely by the players of that dramatic episode-Ellsberg, his colleagues, family and critics; Pentagon Papers authors and government officials; Vietnam veterans and anti-war activists; Watergate principals, attorneys and the journalists who both covered the story and were an integral part of it; and finally-through White House audiotapes-President Nixon and his inner circle of advisors.