I wanted to see this in the theatres but I couldn't. I think it just had too limited a showing. As soon as it came out on DVD (which was like the next day) I put a "hold" on it at the public library. Still, I had to wait months before getting it. It got just over 7 stars at IMDB. And that is about where I'd rate it too.
I started reading the book, Eating Animals, a couple of months ago and got distracted. But I still have it (at my library you can keep a book for 15 weeks if no one else puts a hold on it). Just judging by the couple of chapters I read the book is way better than the movie. I think the movie kept the message the same. And some of the narration is really poetic. Foer was credited as a writer. but I don't know if that means he helped with the writing of the narration. And some of the cinematography is really beautiful too.
The book seems to just involve Foer. The movie follows a bunch of guys around. Maybe 3. The reason I'm not sure is that the movie is unfocused. Not sure why. It took me half the movie to realize there was an internal logic. It takes one idea and looks at it thru chickens or pigs or turkeys. And then it takes another idea and looks at it thru a factory farm or a traditional farm. and then another idea thru neighbors or whistleblowers.
The documentary is very comprehensive. but what I didn't like is that it didn't do much but scratch the surface. It would spend two minutes on one subject and then go off to the next. It also didn't seem to want to go into details. There were a couple of stories that contained gaps.
As a vegan, there is little or no new information. I think even most average Americans know the outline of this stuff. But maybe what it could do is get more people to think about their food choices.
It does spend more time on alternatives to factory farms. The more "traditional farm". but it doesn't seem to try to promote that as a viable alternative. Again, it leaves quite a few gaps.
It doesn't promote veganism. Not sure, but I don't think the word vegan is ever used. And maybe just one time the word vegetarian.
It does promote meat substitutes a little bit. One minute with Just, and one minute with Beyond.
If anything it promotes change. We have a problem and we need to fix it. Or it will fix us.
In IMDB, it said that Natalie Portman became a vegan after working on this film. I'm pretty sure she was already vegan.
I'm not even sure If I would recommend this movie to others. Maybe the best thing about it is that I don't think anyone can call this movie PETA propaganda. So perhaps a teacher could show this to a class to provoke discussion. If i was recommending a movie to someone who was thinking about being vegan but wasn't quite ready - maybe then this would be a good film.
I started reading the book, Eating Animals, a couple of months ago and got distracted. But I still have it (at my library you can keep a book for 15 weeks if no one else puts a hold on it). Just judging by the couple of chapters I read the book is way better than the movie. I think the movie kept the message the same. And some of the narration is really poetic. Foer was credited as a writer. but I don't know if that means he helped with the writing of the narration. And some of the cinematography is really beautiful too.
The book seems to just involve Foer. The movie follows a bunch of guys around. Maybe 3. The reason I'm not sure is that the movie is unfocused. Not sure why. It took me half the movie to realize there was an internal logic. It takes one idea and looks at it thru chickens or pigs or turkeys. And then it takes another idea and looks at it thru a factory farm or a traditional farm. and then another idea thru neighbors or whistleblowers.
The documentary is very comprehensive. but what I didn't like is that it didn't do much but scratch the surface. It would spend two minutes on one subject and then go off to the next. It also didn't seem to want to go into details. There were a couple of stories that contained gaps.
As a vegan, there is little or no new information. I think even most average Americans know the outline of this stuff. But maybe what it could do is get more people to think about their food choices.
It does spend more time on alternatives to factory farms. The more "traditional farm". but it doesn't seem to try to promote that as a viable alternative. Again, it leaves quite a few gaps.
It doesn't promote veganism. Not sure, but I don't think the word vegan is ever used. And maybe just one time the word vegetarian.
It does promote meat substitutes a little bit. One minute with Just, and one minute with Beyond.
If anything it promotes change. We have a problem and we need to fix it. Or it will fix us.
In IMDB, it said that Natalie Portman became a vegan after working on this film. I'm pretty sure she was already vegan.
I'm not even sure If I would recommend this movie to others. Maybe the best thing about it is that I don't think anyone can call this movie PETA propaganda. So perhaps a teacher could show this to a class to provoke discussion. If i was recommending a movie to someone who was thinking about being vegan but wasn't quite ready - maybe then this would be a good film.
