The 11th Hour

I haven't had so much criticism over a film for a long time. Primarily because I haven't watched enough, not because films are getting better. The 11th Hour just irks the hell outta me and I need to air it, so you know better not to spend your precious money watching. The only reason why I went to watch was because LYu has a free tix and needed invited someone (ie, me) to go with her.

Leonardo DiCaprio assembled stellar appearances ranging from renowned environmentalists (the man fronting the turtle clan left quite an impression - talk about 'turtle power'), scientists to even Stephen Hawking. And they just ranted on and on and on and on and on and on and on (so much longer than Energizer batteries - maybe it's amazing solar power that did the trick) about how the earth is facing its 11th hour - towards extinction of humankind and the species that have lived with us. Problem is, they talked so much, leaving no break in between for you to absorb the message. It's as if the editing machine got a glitch somewhere and it can't fade into silence for a second.

We all know saving the environment is paramount. The climate has warned us. Natural calamities have shaken us. And now the celebs went all out to remind us, through a 24 hour concert 'Live Earth' and now, this film. On a sidenote, I just want to highlight that when it comes to wasting the electricity, the entertainment industry surely does it best. What's the point of the film reiterating the earth in danger for 75% of time, while spending only the remaining 25% to talk abstractly about how we can "turn mankind's darkest hour into its finest"? Oh yes, I forgot, 11th hour is the title and my previous line in quote is the slogan. The emphasis is then of course, mumbling all about how the world is in danger to the effect of numbing you, then expound on what's more crucial - the action to take.

The film blames the government for all the wrongdoings that have been done unto nature, in the name of driving economy development. They talked about how US is one of the world's biggest pollution creator, but asked of the world to collaborate with it in saving its grace (and ours too - don't forget, if the US dies, we die). They urged us to stop crazy consumerism but conveniently forgot to mention how the celebs are the ones encouraging and endorsing it, through their lifestyle of extravagance and waste. Hey, I'm still taking public transport here but for them the ratio of private limo to a celeb is perhaps 3:1 on the average. 3's for the cars, in case you don't geddit. In other words, this film's a pretentious fiasco, all too contrived and ideas too imperialising.

And if I may add, who would pay to watch a film like this? Most likely those who ARE ALREADY concerned about the environment, along with some Leo's fans who simply love to see him anywhere. Then the message is not reaching out to the right people - people who are ignorant about the environmental crisis we are in and need to be awakened to senses.

However, good news to the filmmakers, I'm bought over to the cause. Not by merit of this docu, but all thanks to utilities bills. I could really save some cash, stinging a bit more on electricity and water usage. Environment-saving is a pocket-friendly movement. So this ends my blog. Computer shutting down.