The film Promised Land, a story of an energy company employee who travels to a struggling Pennsylvania town to convince the community to allow a method of collecting underground natural gas known as “fracking,” is just the kind of pretty story those Hollywood liberals want you to see: Corporate sheep meets real people, discovers he's working for an evil overlord, learns some valuable lessons about simple country life, and shakes off the shackles of Big Energy. How predictable.
If you're looking for a more nuanced examination of the world's energy options, try Switch. The documentary features energy expert Dr. Scott Tinker traveling the globe in search of answers to the puzzle of living in these modern, electricity-driven times: How to preserve our quality of life without polluting the planet. The filmmakers' mission statement says they aimed to remain as objective as possible, and the project was funded in part by the American Geosciences Institute and the Geological Society of America, so you know it's legit.
Tue., Feb. 5, 5 p.m., 2013