Four reasons to stay inside and stare at screens this fall

At The Daily Green, we're usually trying to come up with excuses to play outside, but this fall's crop of movies and television provides a few reasons to hunker down indoors, even after a long day in the cubicle. Here's a quick look at some of the eco-documentaries and television programming that might keep us indoors this season:

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

"Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales — from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska — The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: People from every conceivable background — rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy. It is a story full of struggle and conflict, high ideals and crass opportunism, stirring adventure and enduring inspiration — set against the most breathtaking backdrops imaginable."

Yeah, Ken Burns did it, and it sounds awesome. The only challenge is figuring out how to make time for this six-episode extravaganza, which starts Sept. 27 on PBS. Watch more video and see all the other promotions, contests, community engagement, and donations-solicitation surrounding the series at pbs.org.

No Impact Man

"A guilty New York liberal decides to practice what he preaches for one year. Turns off the electricity, stops making garbage, gives up taxis, take-out, and becomes a walking, bicycling, composting, tree-hugging, polar bear saving, local food eating citizen. All while taking his baby daughter and caffeine-loving, retail-obsessed, television-addicted wife along with him."

It opens Sept. 11 in Los Angeles and New York, and has been hyped enough that it could actually achieve status as an eco-film that makes a mainstream breakthrough. Learn more at noimpactdoc.com.

Read The Daily Green's reviews of No Impact Man.

The Age of Stupid

"The drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching 'archive' footage from 2008 and asking: Why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?"

Debuting Sept. 21, this one sounds like a feast for the eyes ... assuming those eyes are in the head of someone who has embraced climate science and feels like everyone around has their heads stuck in the sand. Learn more at ageofstupid.net.

Crude

"This cinéma-vérité feature ... is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial environmental lawsuits on the planet. The inside story of the infamous 'Amazon Chernobyl' case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama, set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy film-making, exploring a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus."

Now playing in select theaters, this is a film to watch if you want to get riled up about an environmental injustice without sacrificing your desire to watch a thrilling film. Learn more at crudethemovie.com.

More from The Daily Green

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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

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