Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

poe-48833 The images of the aftermath are unforgettable: an elderly woman in a wheelchair, draped with a blanket, sitting lifeless on the sidewalk; gas-bloated bodies, blackened by rot, floating in water made toxic by raw sewage and industrial waste(s) or lying untended on the ground being buzzed by blowflies; people left stranded atop the roofs of homes all but under water, begging desperately for help from those come to watch and record in helicopters high above it all; the death toll pushing 2,000- just SOME of the sights and sounds of Catastrophe. WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE records it for posterity, but some things never seem to change. We're STILL indifferent to Suffering in this country. Consider this: just yesterday, 14 people were slaughtered (and another 17 or 18 wounded) by gun-toting American Terrorists ("terrorists" in MY lexicon being ANYONE whose goal is to Kill or to Terrorize others). The usual rhetoric has followed, but those we've chosen to "lead" us haven't lifted a f---ing finger to see that it never happens again. (In my own neighborhood, just this Saturday past, a gunman literally stood outside my front gate blasting away with a gun. His intention was to frighten neighbors across the street, but he stood in front of MY house when he did it. He fired half a dozen rounds. I know, because I counted the shell casings. By the time I got the front door open, he was gone. But he returned the very next day and did it again. This time, he cut loose with ten shots- again, I counted the shell casings in front of my home, no more than ten feet from my front door. The clean-up crew- the police- once more went through the motions of taping off my house and driveway and the street, but, as far as I've been able to determine, they still haven't got the gunman. He's still out there, as far as I know, and he's still armed.) Life in these United $tate$ just don't seem to be WORTH a whole lot to our Elected Leaders these days (the Libertarian Party, anyway, formerly known as the GOP); they seem to prefer POP- Profits Over People. Some s--- never changes...

jc1305us This documentary of the Hurricane of the century, Katrina, should be watched by anyone who wants to see the best and worst in humanity. Centered on the New Orleans, LA area, this movie shows us the complete and utter devastation wrought. It's almost hard to believe that this actually happened. Filled with interviews from survivors and their families, along with some of the politicians from New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and the federal government, we hear their stories of survival, heartbreak, amazement, disbelief, hopelessness, despair and death. The hurricane is merely one part of the equation here. (The movie runs 4 hours) the aftermath and the rescue efforts are given more footage than anything else. Starting with the city's response, then up the ladder to the state's response, then finally to the federal government's response. To say that there was widespread inaction and fumbling would be an oversimplification. What really happened before and during the response from these agencies will be debated ad infinitum. The truth is, there were over 200,000 residents of New Orleans stranded and needing assistance. Many were infirm, elderly, or did not have the means to leave the city when ordered. Some were no doubt, stubborn, refusing to leave their homes. But in the end, they were all human beings in need of help.Through interviews with many people who were there at the time, we learn and see of the chaos that took over in the hours and days following the storm. Without a proper plan in place to deal with all of the affected families and citizens, things broke down. Without proper amounts of food, water, clothing and other basic necessities, many were dying. Some of the toughest footage in the entire four hours is devoted to family members detailing how they had to leave the bodies of their loved ones behind, under blankets and tarps because there was no place to bury them. we see bodies floating in the flood waters, distended from heat, under tarps on a freeways. No way for anyone to die. One aspect of this movie that was somewhat troubling is some of the conspiracy theories that come up occasionally, such as the levees were blown up by the government, but these are generally given short thrift by the filmmaker, and most of the interviewees. However, one major problem I had was with the inclusion of Al Sharpton in the interviews. What does he add? Nothing. It seems as if he was included to pontificate and spew his racist views. He should have been cut. The film does have some major flaws, such as letting the governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, and the mayor of New Orleans off the hook. They are never really questioned extensively about their roles, and it seems as if they were given a pass. On the other hand, FEMA director Mike Brown, was grilled, and deservedly so for his mishandling of the rescue efforts, along with Michael Chertoff, head of the Dept of Homeland Security, and former President Bush, none of whom are interviewed for this documentary. With a Spike Lee film, you're always going to get his angle, which is fine, but in this instance, because it was such a monumental event in this country's history, I though it deserved a more even treatment. Even so this is a must watch. At the end of the movie, we see many of the people interviewed in the film, going back to their wrecked and destroyed houses, to try and rebuild. Mardi Gras is again in full swing, and it seems that New Orleans may just rise from the waters and be reborn. One can only hope...

T Y This is appreciated. And I'm glad Spike Lee has put viewers in contact with the horrible Katrina imagery. (I stowed my TV in storage 4 years ago to cut down on the idiocy in my life, so I missed footage of the disaster). But my rental place only had the first and the last dvds in the series. I missed the central 2 hours! But that oversight, sadly, has pointed out the shows problem; extrapolating from the two DVDs I saw, I feel pretty confident that I could guess the general tone, format and points of the missing DVD. It's not a very focused or structured series. I don't feel like I missed anything specific.Lee chose to roll footage of the debris and inundation, which is fine. But I wish someone else (Frontline) would do an expose on who's to blame. Like everyone else, I blame the incompetent Bush and Co. as the main culprits. But Lee keeps blame (and thus any solution) very vague. He really seems to be letting Nagin off the hook here. Even after black homeless refugees cite Nagin as a problem. For any of the Sean Penn haters, Penn was there putting himself out and helping people in danger - What were you doing?

nannorth2005 I borrowed this DVD from the Library and watched it all in one evening. Very moving and extremely well done.However, there is one complaint I have, or perhaps because I did watch it all in 6 hours straight, I missed this.Spike Lee shows some footage of the RCMP in dress uniform (obviously not taken in New Orleans at that time, but from some performance footage from elsewhere) and mentions only in passing about offers from other countries to help with the rescue/recovery programs.My first comment is that he neglects to mention that Fidel Castro in Cuba had 1600 doctors ready to go, but Cuba received no response from the White House to this offer.My second comments is that he neglects to honor those people - groups and individuals who traveled to New Orleans to do search and rescue for people and for animals. In such a dismal and sad commentary on the slow reaction of the United States Government and its affiliated organizations to this tragedy, nothing is said of the thousands of individuals and groups who contributed money and time - surely the only bright light in this terrible situation. And surely showing that there still is hope for humanity when compassionate and caring people (Americans, Canadians and persons from other countries as well) traveled thousands of miles to help complete strangers.Recognizing these wonderful acts of kindness and compassion would not have taken away from the tone of the film, but would rather have added to it as a contrast to what the official line was.I think Spike Lee produced a wonderful documentary. But I also think he missed an opportunity to show that there is still incredible goodness in the people of the United States and those from other countries who contributed to the search and rescue and recovery programs.