The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. We brought you some excellent top 10 lists this week on art, technology, director Errol Morris, and naughty celebs who should rethink their eco-lifestyles. Don’t forget to catch up with some of our other most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Bush’s War: PBS Frontline Brings the War to a Computer Near You

Inverted Areola, Asymmetrical Breasts, & the Miss Bimbo Game

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Nicole:

Where the Wild Things Are: Top 10 Art Blogs

Dark Water: Artist Explores Consequences of Three Gorges Dam Project

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Giulia:

A Pregnant Man?

Is the Lebron / Gisele Vogue Cover Racist?

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Gina:

Top 10 Technology Blogs

Errol Morris’ Top 10 Films

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Kerry:

Top 10 Celebrities Who Need a New Cause

Dead Bats Flying: Mysterious Fatal Illness Alarms Scientists

America suffers from a collective case of do-gooder deafness: we have a hard time hearing a message when it’s delivered by a dorky academic or an unattractive activist. We’re all ears, though, when celebrities speak out about their pet causes, or their pets, or whatever. So, in acknowledgement of the fact that I, as a mere blogger, can only hope to influence so many people, I’d like to enlist the aid of some of our most oogled and Googled celebrities to help America combat climate change and overconsumption:

1. Britney Spears: Britney’s evidently on the road to recovery after some much needed r “˜n’ r. Here are three more “r’s” I’d love to see Britney promote: reduce, reuse and recycle. Our landfills are overflowing with post-consumer crap and the oceans are clogged up with plastic; what better time for Britney to redefine white trash! Recommended reading/viewing: Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte; The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.

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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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Armin Mueller who? While at MOMA a few weekends ago to see Laura Dunn’s powerful documentary The Unforeseen, I got into a conversation with a gentleman about the year in movies and we got to talking about David Cronenberg and his film Eastern Promises. The man claimed that the actor who played the head of the crime family did a really good job and he tried for a moment or two to remember who the actor was that played the old man.

After a moment I said - “It’s Armin Mueller-Stahl.”

The man shook his head, and said “no no, it’s not him”. I reasserted my position that it was in fact Armin Mueller-Stahl and the man again told me I was wrong. We talked about it until we got let into the theater and my friend decided to look up the answer on his I-Phone.

It was in fact Armin Mueller-Stahl. I resisted the urge to find the man and tell him I was correct and instead thought back to my introduction to the actor.

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Seeing The Unforeseen at last years Human Rights Watch Film Festival reconfirmed for me how powerful documentaries can really be. Laura Dunn’s flawless portrait whisks you away to Austin, Texas directly into the murky battle between nature and ideas of development. The film follows a local developer, a legal battle over Austin’s beloved natural swimming spot Barton Springs and different families as they try to find affordable housing, often having to turn to new developments.

What makes the documentary stand out is that it shies away from being a film that simply makes the developer the bad guy.

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