Search - Out of Balance on DVD

Citizen filmmaking.

Preston C. Enright | Denver, CO United States | 04/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The past decade has seen an exciting increase in the accessibility people have to professional filmmaking technology, and director Tom Jackson's "Out Of Balance" illustrates how that technology is providing vital perspectives that the corporate media tend to marginalize. The film is nothing glitzy, but a solid presentation of the ways in which ExxonMobil attempts to corrupt the national discussion of environmental concerns and energy policy. With massive resources to buy advertisements, to subsidize think tanks, and to hire an army of PR agents and lobbyists, ExxonMobil can reach deep into the hearts and minds of countless people. But the best spin efforts sooner or later run up against the realities that "Out of Balance" reveals through interviews with people like Ross Gelbspan Boiling Point and Bill McKibben Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community. One could even put aside concerns over climate change, and simply look at the destruction caused by the drilling and spilling of oil Oil On Ice (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) to want a change in the way we fuel the economy and our lifestyles Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.

"Out of Balance" covers some of the alternative energy paths we could take, and the director ends up purchasing a van that he fuels with used cooking grease. I'd like to see future films criticizing one or another corporate criminal suggest the idea of nationalizing rogue businesses, or revoking corporate charters Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights.

Some DVDs on related issues:
A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
Everything's Cool
The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
e2: Design Season 2"