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Archives for: July 2006, 23

Kevin Smith/Richard Kelly Signing Pics

I finally got the pictures from the signing off of Chris' camera. I also took pics at Comic-Con which I will post later. I would also like to say that I really enjoyed the first Southland Tales book and I'm looking forward to the next two. More pics after the jump.

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posted by brendoman | 07/23/06| 05:47:58 pm| Kevin Smith| 1 comment »


Mekentosh

posted by Honzo | 07/23/06| 05:21:27 pm| Comics| Leave a comment »


Who Killed the Electric Car?

This movie opens up with scenes from a funeral for the electric car (obviously Ed Begley Jr. was present), and then moves to a scary looking shot of Phyllis Diller sitting next to a portrait of Bob Hope, reminiscing about the earliest electric cars. It was fun to see such eccentric shots in a movie I thought could potentially be very dull.

Instead of being dull, this movie, while definitely leaning toward some political bias that wasn't necessarily needed to fuel its cause, does a good job at looking at the history of electric cars in the 1990s and figuring out what the reasons were behind their disappearance from the roads. The focus is on Southern California in particular, and GM's EV1 model, and the story that is told really does cause one to be confused and somewhat outraged as well.

Interviews span from celebrities who liked driving electric cars to people who work for C.A.R.B. to the creator of a revolutionary electric car battery (who happens to be one of the most charming old men alive). I found this movie quite interesting and informative. It does have a few arguments that could use a little more behind them here and there, but overall I think Who Killed The Electric Car covers its bases thoroughly and enjoyably.

I don't think one necessarily needs to see it in the theater (in fact, some grainy old television footage actually looks pretty bad when blown up on the big screen), but it's worth a watch eventually.

By the way, if you're interested, the answer to the movie's title question:
- Big Oil Companies
- Motor Vehicle Companies
- California Air Resources Board
- Federal Government
- The ideal of hydrogen fuel cells

Not guilty: Electric car batteries or any other features of electric cars.

posted by Jeri | 07/23/06| 02:36:52 pm| movies| Leave a comment »