BALLOTING FOR THE BEST FILMS OF 2008 BEGINS
The final ballot for the best films of 2008 appears below. Political Film Society members can mark favorites in each category as YES. If you have not seen the film, mark UNDECIDED. If you believe the film unworthy of an award, mark NO. The deadline for receipt of all email ballots is February 28.
Select the best film from the categoryEXPOSÉ, fact-based films that raise political consciousness:
| FILM TITLE | YES | NO | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| The Bank Job | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Largest robbery in history is OK |
| Battle in Seattle | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How globalization affects us all |
| The Counterfeiters | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Nazis forced Jews to be counterfeiters |
| Defiance | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Jews hide from Nazis in a forest |
| Still Life | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Impact of 3 Gorges Dam in China |
Vote for the top film that raised consciousness of the need for improvements inHUMAN RIGHTS:
| FILM TITLE | YES | NO | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| Battle in Seattle | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Unnecessary police brutality |
| The Boy in the Striped Pajamas | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Auschwitz’s impact on ordinary Germans, especially a child |
| Changeling | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How police can mistreat women |
| Hunger | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | British mistreatment of IRA prisoners |
| Milk | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | The need to advance gay rights |
Vote for the top film that raised consciousness of the need for greater DEMOCRACY:
| FILM TITLE | YES | NO | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| Changeling | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How police manipulated facts in LA |
| Flash of Genius | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How corporations steal inventions |
| Milk | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | How a gay man got elected in SF |
| Nothing But the Truth | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Why reporters should be protected from source disclosure subpoenas |
Vote for the top film that raised consciousness of the need for PEACE:
| FILM TITLE | YES | NO | UNDECIDED | CONTENT (see full review on website) |
| Gran Torino | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Adverse effect of war on GIs in Korea; the efficacy of nonviolence |
| Stop-Loss | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | Adverse effect of war on GIs in Iraq |
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Winners in all four categories will be announced March 1, following a meeting of the Board of Directors at 11 a.m., March 1, at 8481 Allenwood Road, Los Angeles, CA.
TAKEN CELEBRATES BUSH’S CIA
The recently released Taken, directed by Pierre Morel, involves an effort by former CIA agent Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson) to rescue his daughter Amanda (played by Katie Cassidy) from a kidnapping in Paris preparatory to confinement in a condition of white slavery. The film stresses Mills’s love for his daughter, frustrated by a divorce that restricts his ability to be with her. The inevitable rescue enables him to gain new respect. The circumstances of the rescue, however, involve Mills in littering the screen with dead bodies on an unimaginable scale and escaping accountability for his vigilantism. Rather than questioning the American public’s toleration for the Bush administration’s mantra, “the end justifies the means,” Taken will have the effect of justifying that departure from the rule of law. MH