A meditation on youth, counter-culture and the system, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point (1969) is something to be seen. I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen last night - which is the only way to really experience the film (I think). That being said, the trailer is pretty awesome, even YouTube sized:

It has an ending that may not sit well with some, and a scene of mad desert love making that might be off putting as well, but with the times of today mirroring the times of the film, it couldn’t be more relevant.

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There’s actually a lot of good stuff in the theaters today and below are the Top 5 New Releases in Theaters that Spur Social Action.

All of the films are playing in New York City but don’t worry if you don’t live here - click on the “take action” links below each trailer to find out when the film might be coming to your area.

1. Chop Shop : Ramin Bahrani’s examination of what life is life for a boy named Alejandro living and working in a piecemeal auto repair joint in Queens (a “chop shop”) says more about courage, family and childhood spirit than any film I’ve seen in a long time. Reminiscent of Kiarostami, the film says a lot about the systems that effect kids like Alejandro in urban environments without ever needing to address the subject directly.

to see if Chop Shop is coming to a theater near you.

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Hey movie fans - Chicago 10 opens today! There’s no better way to spend one’s weekend then revisiting the powerful past that was Chicago in 1968. I really enjoyed the film when I saw it a few weeks ago - it re-energized me politically which is important with elections around the corner. This isn’t to say the movie is perfect, but it’s been far too long since I’ve seen something like Chicago 10 on the big screen, something that speaks to revolution and the forces that try to stop it. It seems that I am not the person who felt this way though:

In Chicago, J.R. Jones at the Chicago Reader has this to say about the movie:

Chicago 10, an electrifying new “mash-up documentary” by Brett Morgen, vividly reconstructs the battles on the street and in the courtroom, and it couldn’t come at a more opportune moment.

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Last night at the Director’s Guild of America Theater in New York City, I got to see a sneak preview of Brett Morgen’s powerful new documentary, Chicago 10. Morgen, best known for his 2002 documentary on Robert Evans, The Kid Stays in the Picture, decided he wanted to make a more political film after the invasion of Afghanistan about 5 years ago. The events of today brought him back to the year he was born, 1968, and he decided to tell the tale of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Bobby Seale, David Dellinger and the other 4 men that were put on trial after they encouraged people to non-violently protest the war in Vietnam at the 1968 Democratic Convention.

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