Trailers - Myspace Edition

It's getting tougher to find documentary trailers, so I thought I'd look into some of the hundreds of documentary films posted on Myspace.

Jesus Can't Skate - An Australian documentary about competitive roller skating and the people who do it. The trailer makes it seem like they've given the film a bit of a rock n' roll edge, which might make this foreign sport a bit more accessible.

That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor - There are many character actors who we instantly recognize, but never know by name. This is the story of one of those guys, who appeared in over 500 movies and television shows, mostly westerns. Looks like a fun little film.

Unsettled - This film about young people on both sides of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip, just premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. It appears to be a well made and powerful film.

The Circus - An overly long trailer for an in production documentary that goes behind the scenes of professional wrestling big and small.

Dead on Arrival

The VCR, the microwave and home computers, these every-day household items didn't become overnight best sellers. It took time for consumers to adapt to these new technologies. So why was the electric car, a definite step into the future, killed off so early in its roll-out? That's the question filmmaker Chris Paine sets out to answer in Who Killed the Electric Car?. What he finds will surprise you and make you angry at the same old answers.

In 1990 California passed the zero-emission mandate, which ramped up requirements until 2003, when zero-emission cars were supposed to make up 10% of cars on the road; an environmentally-friendly precedent setting law in the state with some of the worst pollution in the nation. In response to this, a few car makers began the roll-out of an electric car, the most popular version being the GM EV-1. Costing about $35,000, the first wave of cars ran 80 miles on a full charge. Not the most friendly numbers for those brave early adapters, but they were still lining up, among them a lot of pollution conscious actors.

The film includes Tom Hanks talking about his electric car on David Letterman, Baywatch beauty Alexandra Paul, Thirtysomething star Peter Horton, the not-so-liberal Mel Gibson and of course environmental-activist-sometime-actor Ed Begley Jr. makes an appearance. The film opens at the Hollywood Cemetery where many of these stars along with the not so famous owners of the EV-1 hold a mock funeral for the car's passing. However, the most impassioned speaker for the cars is not one of the recognizable faces; she is Chelsea Sexton, a former employee of GM who helped release the EV-1. She has some damning behind the scenes stories that she is not afraid to share.

Ed Begley Jr. eulogizes, Chelsea Sexton spills the dirt.

From the very beginning GM was reluctant about selling this new type of car. They made it nearly impossible for people to buy one; building only a handful of the cars a week, putting out a minimal amount of advertising, making people sign up on a waiting list for them, and forcing them to fill out an exorbitant amount of paperwork to get one. Mel Gibson jokes that they even made him give a urine sample. That is why so many celebrities ended up with the cars, because they could rise to the top of these lists and pass the tough personality tests for the honor of owning one.

While GM was slowly releasing the cars out to the public, they fought a constant battle against California's zero emission law. With the help of the federal government, i.e. George Bush and his oil-baron-cronies, they got the law overturned in 2001. After only a few years on the market the electric car makers began to pull the cars off the road; despite the growing consumer acceptance and the promising improvements to the technology; like upping the car's driving limit and getting charging stations installed all over California. The electric car's creators began to destroy these still new cars, crushing and shredding them beyond recognition.

The GM EV-1 pre-extinction.

GM didn't allow any of the EV-1's to be sold to their owners, they were all on lease, and even though most were willing to continue payments, they were forced to return the cars under penalty of law, until the last 78 cars in California were found abandoned in a parking lot. The now enraged former owners came together in hopes of saving the last of their slaughtered EV-1's, they sat in vigil of the cars 24/7, watching over them so GM couldn't sneak them away in the middle of the night. They put together a collection and offered GM nearly two million dollars for the seemingly forgotten cars, but there was no answer. When GM finally did come for the last of its electric cars, a few celebrities were cuffed and dragged away in defiance.

So why was a car that caused so much passion in its owners pulled off the roads before it was given a fair chance? Big oil is the first obvious answer, experts figure there is still 100 trillion dollars worth of oil left in the ground, they're not about to give that up. But there are still plenty of oil dependent cars around, so it wasn't the only reason. The maintenance of the car is another big one, car companies make billions on the replacement parts for the combustion engine; the electric cars had minimal upkeep. But the answers go deeper and get more complicated beyond that. The electric car seems to have died the death of a million cuts.

The film is an in-depth look at the unfortunate failings of a burgeoning car technology. It is a very traditional type documentary, filled with talking heads and stock footage. The varying degree of the interviews keeps it interesting, from far left-leaning celebrities to corporate big-wigs. In the end, I don't know if the film will change many minds; it is a lot of preaching to the choir. Despite the high gas prices, most folks are happy with their gas guzzlers, but things are slowly beginning to change with hybrid cars, electric's cuter-little-brother. Recently released on DVD Who Killed the Electric Car? plays as a good companion piece to Al Gore's similarly concerned documentary The Inconvenient Truth.

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Ross Williams is a writer/director/editor, currently working on his first feature length documentary film. He lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife and son. You can view his previous work at: eRATicate.com - You can now watch the trailer and the first four minutes of Ross' documentary: The Turning Point