Age of Stupid party pics

Killer weather movie packs in the crowds

THANK YOU so much for turning up to The Age of Stupid movie premiere last night. Lots of you stopped to say hi to me, which was brilliant.

It was a huge hit. Mega celebs turned out for the world-wide party, including Kofi Annan and various rock stars and actors (see pics above).

The New York premiere got the biggest buzz, but it sold out in massive numbers of venues in 60 countries, and even in Hong Kong (where I took the Kofi Annan role, introducing the movie to the audience before it screened) the cinema was packed.

And here’s director Franny Armstrong demanding tough pledges from Energy Minister Ed Milliband.

It also got great press. “One of the most important films of the year (perhaps decade),” the Huffington Post huffed. “The Age of Stupid represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing.”  Now that’s what I call a positive review. However, the Huffington Post writer does include a small disclaimer. “(I haven’t seen it yet.)”

Well, I have, and it’s great. Negative critics say that it is scare-mongering and puts forward the worst case scenario about killer weather. That's true, but it’s still a great film. It’s moving because it is mostly real people talking about their experiences of climate-related events and there’s nothing more gripping than human beings expressing something important to them.

The scenes where an elderly guide gives people a tour of the Alps and there’s no snow left is stunning.

And it makes your hair stand on end when you realize that those scenes are not projections of the future. They are documentary segments of what the Alps look like right now. Scary stuff.

*

Click here for the earlier posting about the film.

Technorati Tags: age of stupid

Comments

[Ryan]

How coincidental that as a movie about killer weather premiers here in Aus. we have been hit by thousands of kilometres long dust clouds.

[farah]

any idea if the movie is going to make across to this region? would love to see it.

i think earthquakes are also part of global warming (maybe or is it not?) cause we have been shaking a lot lately. thrice in 2 days and one of them mild is very scary.

[Nury]

The movie is pretty scary in its references to Australia. Your gorgeous glorious country unfortunately already has a tendency to extreme weather conditions. The movie begins with a scene of the Sydney Opera House on fire.

Last time I went to Aus there was a flood and my speech was cancelled. But I still love Australia and I am longing for an excuse to visit again!

[sej]

Farah, that's a good question. One theory suggests earthquakes are lubricated by water, so on one hand, more rain might make earthquakes more prevalent, on the other, prolonged drought means we're taking more water from the ground, lowering the water table, there could be less water to lubricate the faults.

So by my reckoning...

If there's more water, then the quakes might be more common, and being more frequent, there would be less energy buildup, and so less energy per earthquake, so less damage per earthquake. So you could potentially see this as a good result.

But if there's less water, then the opposite happens, there's more stress built up between earthquakes, and so when they do break, they break more violently.

On another tack, if the ice caps of Antartica and/or Greenland melt, this will greatly change the mass of those continents/islands, changing the mass of the plate. This I would think will cause the plates to rise, even if only in particular areas. Surely this has to have an impact on the movement on the plates, and hence earthquakes and the like.

On the other side of this ice cap melt, well, the water's got to go somewhere, the oceans are going to get deeper, and so gain extra mass. I would think this is going to weigh down the plates which are mostly ocean. So again, the plate tectonics have to change.

In fact, because the whole shape of the planet is going to change, then the spin of the planet has to change, day length will change (would become longer if the planet is allowed to buldge around the equator, shorter if it narrows around the equator but bulges more towards the poles).

Will any of this come to pass? I have no idea, I'm far from an expert. But is seems silly to ignore the possibility.

[sej]

Ryan, today's dust storm was extraordinary. I saw a photo on the ABC website (attached to this story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/23/2694705.htm) which showed a sattelite photo of the dust. I reckon the length of the dust plume within the photo to be in excess of 1000km (600 miles).

I also remember a dust storm in Beijing back in 2003 if I remember correctly. It was winter in Beijing, and should have been snowing, but it was a very, very balmy 14-18 degrees C. Wasn't confidence inspiring when we were flying back to Hong Kong out of it and the aircraft has a flare out.

[Vince A]

sej, the entrepreneur in me is piqued. Is it time to invest in a watch company, since we will all be needing new watches set to 25 hours per day?

Apart from the problem of melting ice caps changing the game of plate tectonics, I hear that the universe will soon collapse unto itself in less than 10 billion years.

Before you think that is nothing to concern yourself with, apparently very soon we will all be able to live forever, thanks to nanobot technology.

The solution to one thing brings new problems.

[Leo]

I have more interest in watching the Late Show with President Obama than that movie. I guess I enjoy laughing my head off and shape it to a pointy one than watching our world dying gently in the flow of time.

[farah]

wow sej very interesting post. i was chatting with one of my friends the other day and he told me that the biggest tsunami is yet to be triggered in this region. if a big chunk of iceberg collapses and falls thousands of feet below then the tsunami is going to be massive that it's going to start from Nepal and possibly wash away Maldives and other small islands. i still have nightmares when i see the pics from the tsunami caused in Indonesia.

[sej]

Farah, The most common cause of a tsunami is actually underwater landslides, although admittedly many of those landslides are probably triggered by an earthquake in the first place.

Nonetheless, I also vaguely recall reading somewhere the greatest threat when it comes to tsunamis and global warming, are the methane calthrates that sit on the ocean floor and at the edge of continental shelves. The theory goes the warming ocean will cause the calthrates to sublimate, destabilising the shelf, causing massive underwater landslides, and these landslides will cause much larger and more devastating tsunamis than any earthquake.

An earthquake can cause a shift in the ocean floor of up to a few metres. A landslide could cause the ocean floor to fall by significantly more than a few hundred meters. The order of magnitude difference says it all.

A landslide like this, you'd be talking thousands of cubic metres of material, perhaps even in the order of cubic kilometres, not sure, but I very much doubt an iceberg would even come close to the smaller figure.

[Another "kid"]

I'm curious how come there wasn't this much buzz when Al Gore screened "An Inconvenient Truth" 4 yrs ago?

[Vaibhav]

Don't the Mayans think that the world will end in 2012? Well their calender ends.

And that leads some to believe it does end. Who knows i just hope the sticks realize it in time to snack on that desired piece of dessert.

[Nury]

Dear "another kid", thanks for your postings.
I think one of the things that is special about this film is that it was made by young people.
Usually adults dominate everything because they have all the money.
But Franny got lots of her buddies and other young people to help, so she did it without the usual film financing people.
The fact that you can make a movie in this way and have a global launch is good news for everyone!

[fardel]

Scientist predict the fall of a mountain in the Canaries islands;
when it happens a 50 foot wave should cover the Caribbean islands.
We shall have 4 hours noticed , if we do.

At 6 feet above sea level , I sleep well:there is a liferaft in my bedroom.
There is a hill right behind the house; The only problem is that I have to stay fit if I do not want to die from a heart attack ,climbing it.

[sej]

Fardel, I bet you can't get flood insurance!

Farah, here's an article I think you might find interesting: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html

[fardel]

I have flood insurance .
The difficulty would be to survive to collect it.

Nury, you and the gang have to wait a few weeks as I am flying to Europe (land of the tall girls) monday and won't be back til mid October.

Any one hanging there?

[sabrina]

Wow, I really want to watch the movie too!

But... I guess the movie's not available yet in Indonesia. Hope it'll be here soon! :-)

[Nury]

Sabrina, there's a plan to show the movie in Jakarta on December 5th. Or you can just get your own copy and have your own screening (although it looks and sounds way better on the big screen).

Fardel -- hang on a moment -- you are flying to Europe for a month?
Angela is flying to Europe for a month?
What's going on here?! secret meeting?

[fardel]

Top secret
Not meeting
Not a month

[Karuna]

Nury..we are having a "secret" mr.jam commentrators meet in europe.
The meeting is so "secret", none of us know nothing more about it.
I am right now in Northern Spain, in a city called Asturias. Off to Germany tomorrow evening.

[TS]

If any of you Europe bound people drop by London, then make a note here and we can have a cousin/nephew/niece party and discus uncle Nury.

[fardel]

Breaking news, from Europe:

The UNNN is planning a secret meeting in Europe to fight the H1N1 Pandemic , coordinated by the WHO :

From Joe Keu, in London

A secret meeting of Uncle Nury 's Nephews and Nieces is about to take place somewhere in Europe , in connection with the worldwide spreading of Hilarious First Nuryan Naughty Nonsense (H1N3) pandemic.
It is unclear at this time who is behind this meeting,but our source in London mentions that an eMEL was sent to Picadilly, in the early months of 2008.
This could have sparked reactions from Singapore which sent an Angel- A to investigate the rumor.
We take it from other sources that a Kaa Run -A was spotted in Spain .

In Germany , Underestimated Lullaby International denies any involvement in this matter.

But there are unconfirmed reports from the Caribbean that an envoy could be on his way from those far d'isles.

The World Health Organization is very concerned that this H1N 3 could reduce the devastating news about the H1N1 pandemic,
That would put the pharmaceutical Industry ,their investors and the Medjahs out of business , by saving lives of millions of people, without bringing any penny to their friends and sponsors.

The World Hilarious Organ A Zest On ,believes that the H1N3 will save the planet, AND mankind from the Inner Dul ness syndrom;
The WHO Azo recommends a daily injection of LOL E KDA ( Loughing Out Loud Everyday Keeps the Doctor Away)

The WHO , The UN have asked the M6 to investigate the matter

[Jigishu Ahmed]

Yes Farah on Eid day to be exact!!
I think this is just a warning that a big one is coming up. Surprisingly I have never felt an earthquake before.