A documentary film by Josh Fox about deception, corruption, profiteering and pollution. A must watch. Note: Many f-bombs were dropped in the watching of this film.

INSIDE JOB received this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary. It’s quite a powerful and infuriating film about our financial system and how it crashed and burned. And why no one on Wall Street went to jail. (Note: the only reason Madoff went to jail was because his illegalities hurt other rich people, period.)

Watch it, and if, for some reason, you still think the reason all the cards came crashing down was because some poor people bought houses they couldn’t afford, well then I think it’s time for a cage match.

TED Initiatives » Ads Worth Spreading Interesting new initiative from TED; celebrating ads that do more than sell.

• With this competition, we’re seeking to reverse the trend of online ads being aggressively forced on users. We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch. On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. This means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30 seconds. And that’s the key! In 2-3 minutes, there’s enough time to really tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection, become unforgettable. Instead of ambush, they offer pleasurable, intelligent engagement.

“Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio is a documentary film on the late architect Samuel Mockbee and the radical educational design/build program known as the Rural Studio.”

I’m really looking forward to seeing this one.

Via one of my favorite blogs: MAKR

The Botany of Desire – Trailer from Kikim Media on Vimeo.

Apples, Tulips, Marijuana and Potatoes and their evolutionary influence over us. The Botany of Desire examines this unique relationship through the stories of four familiar species, telling how each of them evolved to satisfy one of our most basic yearnings. Linking our fundamental desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control with the plants that gratify them  – The Botany of Desire shows that we humans are intricately woven into the web of nature, not standing outside it.

One major lesson: Monoculture = Bad. Who wants to live a place where everything is the same anyway?

Waiting for Superman is a powerful new documentary from Participant Media about the education crisis in America. We saw it on Saturday in Omaha. Touching and infuriating, a kind of hopeless look at a stark reality that demands a passionate response from an engaged citizenry to make change as soon as possible. Pledge to see the film and Take Action.

A couple video animations done to support the film:

TakePart: Participant Media – Waiting For ‘Superman’ – Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.

A Conversation with Davis Guggenheim from TakePart on Vimeo.

Last week Jason and I were catching up over the phone. Discussing upcoming projects, aspirations, recent roadblocks, cities, traveling, work and life with a healthy dose of examination and contemplation. He mentioned 180° South being a very appropriate film for the subject matter. Katie and I watched it this past weekend.

The only thing I’ll say about it, one of my favorite pieces, and the film itself is gold and a must watch, was the line about process, from Yvon. Something to this effect:

IF YOU COMPROMISE THE PROCESS, YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE GOING IN, AND AN ASSHOLE COMING OUT.

Here’s to now.

How the world really works, as opposed to how we were told it worked. The LA Times has a great article about the documentary, which opened late last year: Apocalypse now: ‘Collapse’ and the end of the world as we know it.

In the future, will we be able to control the weather? Do we already?

Owning The Weather: We’ve always wanted to control the weather. Now we may have to. OWNING THE WEATHER is a film about weather modification and climate engineering. The desire to modify the weather has been around forever; but with the threat of catastrophic climate change, water wars, and intensifying hurricanes, a new breed of weather control called “geoengineering” has emerged.

A really great documentary. Illuminating and a bit unnerving. In the face of runaway climate change, the need to keep Earth happy for humans may very well lead to some highly unusual solutions. And consequences.

Owning the Weather trailer from prewarcinema on Vimeo.

I always loved this title sequence from Michael Haneke’s 2007 remake (of his own movie) Funny Games. Wait for it… wait for it….

I also love the poster that Akiko Stehrenberger designed for it (see below). You can read an interview with her here, to learn about her process.

As for the film itself, its not for everybody, but I certainly enjoyed it.