The Power of One, Holes, Catcher in the Rye, Life is Funny, Great Expectations, The Laws of Thinking, Winesburg Ohio
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If you take anything away from my blog, it should be this post right here!
The other day I saw one of the best documentary films I’ve ever seen and I am writing today to urge everyone to download it ASAP and watch it!
The movie I’m talking about is called Trouble the Water. It’s a Hurricane Katrina movie, but unlike other documentaries or news specials about the hurricane, this film takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way no one has ever shown.
(If you’re into accolades, then you must know that this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Film, won a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and was included in film critic Roger Ebert’s “best of 2008” list. Basically this movie is proven to be the shit so you need to download it and watch it now!)
The film contains REAL LIVE footage shot by 24-year-old Kimberly Roberts and her husband, residents of the poverty-stricken 9th Ward in New Orleans, the day before the
storm, during the storm, and after the storm. Kimberly takes her camera around her lively neighborhood before the storm and introduces us to friends and family, some packing up and evacuating the city, some sticking around with hopes that the storm will pass rather peacefully, some people we sadly never see again. Kimberly keeps her videocamera rolling as the s
torm rages on and the levees in New Orleans break, rushing water into her home and forcing her and her family into the attic. We watch as Kimberly, her family, and her neighbors work together to survive (with ZERO help from the government or local authorities, might I add) and then rebuild their lives and their community after Katrina. Sounds like a dramatic disaster movie à la The Day After Tomorrow, right? And I’m telling you…some of the footage is so crippling you forget that what you’re watching was real life! The trailer:
storm, during the storm, and after the storm. Kimberly takes her camera around her lively neighborhood before the storm and introduces us to friends and family, some packing up and evacuating the city, some sticking around with hopes that the storm will pass rather peacefully, some people we sadly never see again. Kimberly keeps her videocamera rolling as the s
torm rages on and the levees in New Orleans break, rushing water into her home and forcing her and her family into the attic. We watch as Kimberly, her family, and her neighbors work together to survive (with ZERO help from the government or local authorities, might I add) and then rebuild their lives and their community after Katrina. Sounds like a dramatic disaster movie à la The Day After Tomorrow, right? And I’m telling you…some of the footage is so crippling you forget that what you’re watching was real life! The trailer:When I first saw Inception, my mind was on roller coaster and working overtime trying
to keep track of all the stories and backstories and subplots, etc. Likewise, Trouble the Water sends your emotions on a roller coaster ride. One minute you’ll b
e crying (or maybe that’s just me), the next you’re be joyful, the next you’ll be angry! The film weaves in archival footage of news reports about looters and “refugees” (let's not call them people trying to survive or American citizens ripped from their homes) and Bush talking plain nonsense, with tragic images of people standing for days on their rooftops literally pleading to be rescued and 911 phone calls of people begging for help only to be told “there are no rescue teams out at the moment.” In fact, there’s one specific scene in the movie, that made me so disgusted with the American government in its entirety that I instantly in that moment felt like packing up my bags, moving to Australia, adopting a Jamaican accent, and pretty much dissociating myself with this country…seriously!Now, there’s no question I WAS NOT a fan of the Bush administration, or conservatives in general for that matter, and this movie only affirms my beliefs. But I think this film is also a must-see for everyone no matter what your political affiliation may be. There’s no denying after watching this movie that you’ll begin to question whether some citizens of this country are treated as second-class citizens. And the movie is bound to get you thinking…if the hypothetical levees of Beverly Hills broke, would the government allow these people...
...to stand on rooftops for days begging for their own government to help them?
Hurricane Katrina certainly isn’t old news. Many people are still living the effects of the hurricane and their stories must not be forgotten! This film reminds you of the serious race and class issues this country has (in case you forgot) and should always be looked at critically! So please download and watch this film ASAP!
**FYI: You can rent the DVD from Netflix or download it (illegally) from ANY torrent website.
I just saw that movie too and was so grabbed by it also! I was only a sophomore in high school when Katrina happened and was not really aware of all that Hurricane Katrina meant to so many people.
ReplyDeleteI too was inspired by this movie to write a blog post, and wanted to leave it with you in case you were interested.
http://favorfreedom.blogspot.com/2013/04/could-social-media-have-saved-lives.html