stjaymz Reviews

Occupation 101 (2006)

A compelling account of the Palestinian perspective.

[9/10 · 8 July 2011]

There is no doubt that this is a one-sided movie. If you love Israel, this will be a very difficult film to watch, and you'll probably be highly critical.

But if you're interested in understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is best and most digestible account of the Palestinian perspective.

Don't take everything in this movie at face value. There's plenty of pandering to your heart, crying mothers, and upset children. But it is well researched, with a good account of the history of the conflict, and it eloquently explains many of the hot button issues for the Palestinian man on the street.. life under occupation, religious discrimination, US support for Israel, Gaza, and checkpoints.

After watching this, you'll understand better why a small minority turn to violence, and you'll have much more admiration for the large majority of Palestinians who've suffered and protested peacefully their lack of rights through 40 years of military occupation.

The movie is now a few years old, but it's still relevant.

I highly recommend this movie. It can be found online.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

A political masterpiece, yes. But still a wake up call for all of us!

[8/10 · 2 June 2006]

This is a political masterpiece for Al Gore. A clever film that puts the ex-vice-president right back into the front & center of American thought and discussion.

However, regardless of whether you're on the left or right side of the political fence, or whether you admire or ridicule Al Gore, this documentary compellingly shows how the planet IS warming, what the effects have been to date, and what WILL occur if things carry on in this direction.

The movie runs through plenty of charts showing CO2 levels, temperature levels, and so on over the last 100 - 100,000 years, and leaves no doubt about it... things are now well beyond the standard cyclical changes! Human civilization is changing the atmosphere, and pictures of receding glaciers, evidence of dying reefs, and melting ice-shelves drive home the point.

There are a scattering of jibes at the existing administration, and plenty of jokes that will have democrats laughing, but this is not a Michael Moore, agitate the loony-left movie. It comes across as a poignant sensible update on our place in the world which leaves one wanting to drive less, turn the lights off, and find ways to minimize our impact on the world we live in.