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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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GasLand (Film)

by Annette Basile | November 15, 2010 11:58 | Edited November 15, 2010 13:00

While it’s let down by its disorienting camera work, this is informative, entertaining and impassioned.

Imagine putting a lighter up to a running tap and watching the water burst into flames. Fiery faucets are now occurring in an unknown amount of American homes, as writer/director/banjo player Josh Fox reveals in his documentary, Gasland. This literal kitchen sink drama occurs because the drinking water is contaminated by natural gas in certain areas - areas where energy giants are using the dodgy, environmentally unsound drilling method of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Fracking - now making controversial headlines in Australia - is not something that one would want in one's backyard, and many of those who do have it in their vicinity are suffering from serious, unexplained maladies thanks to the chemicals and contaminants that the drilling releases.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Gasland is an informative and - despite its alarming subject matter - surprisingly enjoyable film. It's been influenced by the Michael Moore School Of Guerrilla documentary-making, and like Moore, Fox is an impassioned, engaging and amusing guide.

 

The offspring of hippies, Fox was offered big bucks by a big energy company to lease his family's land for natural gas exploration. He thought it sounded too easy. He did his homework, and this DIY doco is the result. The interviewees (including US Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower Weston Wilson) are excellent, and Fox presents the scientific facts in a digestible format.

 

But there's one massive problem with Gasland - the camera work. Handheld cameras are often an effective tool, and can bring an unvarnished reality and style to the screen. But here, it's just shaky-cam...and it's out of control. It's so bad at times that it actually distracts from the message. Happily, Fox's banjo strumming (of which there's a little) is far better than his camera work, and this grainy doco leaves you both educated and hungry for more details.