joe gould 's secret is a 2000 american drama film directed by stanley tucci .

the screenplay by howard a. rodman is based on the magazine article professor sea gull and the book joe gould 's secret by joseph mitchell .

joe gould ' s secret ( film )

but if joe gould’s secret is well known , joe mitchell’s secret is not .
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we’d love your help . let us know what’s wrong with this preview of joe gould ' s secret by joseph mitchell .
the secret of
joe gould ' s secret
is that it is not joe gould ' s secret at all . it is joe mitchell ' s secret . joe gould is easy to understand because like many madmen he is consistent from day to day - - stuck in the rut of his delusions . but joe mitchell is a hard case , a man who hides his elusive nature behind a facade of shyness and courtly southern manners . stanley tucci ' s lovingly crafted film pretends to be about joe gould , and all the time its real subject is hidden right there before us in plain view .
all the film ' s energy goes into ian holm ' s stellar performance .
the swedish film institute has a duty to support production , distribution and screening of valuable film , to preserve and make accessible the swedish film heritage and to represent swedish film abroad .
tucci ' s slow - paced storytelling in
big night
was brave and worked beautifully , but the same technique in
joe gould ' s secret
becomes annoying .
some good stuff in this book for example joe gould eats a bowl of ketchup with a spoon , joe gould translates longfellow into seagull , joe gould suffers a breakdown from caring too much about albania , goe jould recites a proletarian poem , joe gould declares the auto unnecessary joe gould measures the cranium of an indian or two , joe gould is covered in lice . like i said some good stuff in this book .
i an holm is a great actor , and in
joe gould ' s secret ,
a film directed by stanley tucci , he nails one of the best roles of his career . the subject is joe gould , an artist / bum who became a celebrity thanks to a 1942 magazine article in the new yorker .
ah , joe gould… if it wasn’t for ‘u’ , it would have been gold .
the truth was revealed by mitchell in an article , “joe gould’s secret , ” that was published in two parts in the new yorker , on sept . 19 and 26 , 1964 . it is considered mitchell’s masterpiece .
joe gould ' s secret - slow , detailed , cautious , and ultimately kind of obtuse . perhaps the problem is that this is the first movie he has directed that he hasn ' t written .
around 1940 , the new yorker staff writer joe mitchell meets joe gould , a greenwich village character , who cadges meals , drinks , and contributions to the joe gould fund , and who is writing a . . . see full summary »
joe gould , one of the city’s great eccentrics , as seen by al hirschfeld . one the city’s great caracturists . ( illustration : the new yorker )
“joe gould’s secret” was one of mitchell’s last published works . he continued to go to his office at the new yorker for 32 years , until his death in 1996 , but wrote virtually nothing . joe gould , it seems , may have been part of the reason . in a profile published in 1992 , mitchell told the washington post :
the relationship between mitchell and gould became the subject of a 2000 film , “joe gould’s secret , ” starring stanley tucci and ian holm . ( in a review , stephen holden wrote that the movie “settles for being an atmospheric scenes - in - the - life biography of someone’s most unforgettable character . it could have been so much more . ” )
when mitchell died , on may 24 , 1996 , joe gould was prominently mentioned in the times’s obituary . ( the times also published excerpts from the gould profiles . )
joe gould ' s secret
is about friendship , writer ' s block , the challenge of fitting in and the thin border between madness and creativity . along with holm and tucci , the cast includes hope davis as tucci ' s photographer wife , steve martin as a publisher who ' s sympathetic to gould , patricia clarkson as a gallery owner and
now , several years later , studio executive dave kingman ( stanley tucci , joe gould ' s secret ) is in charge of promoting the couple ' s last film . there is only one problem : he has never seen the film . in fact , kingman won ' t get to see the finished product until the junket , when the final version of the film will be released to the press by the quirky and flaky director hal weidmann ( christopher walken , joe dirt ) , who claims that his film is
the most honest thing he has ever done
.
“dear muriel , ” rothschild began in a typed letter to gardiner on october 20 , 1947 . “i am very sad about your decision concerning joe gould . ” that decision , as mitchell noted in joe gould’s secret , was to stop bankrolling gould at the end of the year . in the book , mitchell did not mention rothschild’s letter . but rothschild gave a copy to mitchell , who stored it in his files .
a young joe gould makes an appearance in the 1911 harvard class album . ( click image to enlarge . )
joe gould’s secret , joe mitchell’s classic portrait of an astute but deluded bohemian in postwar greenwich village , has been picked over for half a century by literary critics , fact - checkers , college professors , and ordinary readers . one abiding mystery has long been the identity of the anonymous heiress who kept the down - and - out gould housed and fed throughout the late 1940s . that mystery has now been solved .
take an hour or two to read about one of the more fascinating street characters that haunted the greenwich village streets in the first half of the 20 th century . this was a time when painters and poets , novelists and other artists made the village their home and workplace , and joe gould was one of those . well , sort of – that’s joe gould’s secret after all . for joe gould , the son and grandson of boston doctors would describe to nearly all he met his grand project – to write an oral history of his t
the action takes place in new york city in the 1940s , joe gould died in 1957 , and joe mitchell wrote the book “joe gould’s secret” in 1964 to reveal the secret . i lived in new york in the 1940s and redd the book when it first came out . i found the book better than the movie , for the following reason : the climax of the story comes when the secret is reveal . after that the book comes to an end fairly quickly with a brief summing up . but the movie continues on for about 30 minutes , diminishing the dramatic impact . thus it becomes a biography of joe gould , rather than a good dramatic story of the revealing of his secret . it could have profited from some extensive editing . there are many excellent features of the movie ( which other reviewers have mentioned ) but i only gave it 3 stars instead of 4 because of what it might have been .
in
joe gould ' s secret ,
tucci opens the possibility that gould was a sham , that he was only pretending to be writing his epic , just as truman capote later did with
answered prayers .
tucci , who directs with quiet affection and rare restraint , also plays joseph mitchell , the reserved journalist who befriended gould and introduced him to his readers .
around 1940 , the new yorker staff writer joe mitchell meets joe gould , a greenwich village character , who cadges meals , drinks , and contributions to the joe gould fund , and who is writing a voluminous oral history of the world , a record of twenty thousand conversations he ' s overheard . mitchell is fascinated with this harvard grad , and writes a 1942 piece about him ,
professor seagull
, bringing gould some celebrity , and an invitation to join the greenwich village ravens , a poetry club he ' s often crashed . gould ' s touchy , querulous personality and his frequent dropping in on mitchell for hours of chat , lead to a break - up , but the two joes stay in touch until gould ' s death , and mitchell ' s unveiling of the secret .
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does anyone out there agree with me that joe was never invited to join the ravens ? i believe this non - fact bled over from the movie into the literature . at joe ' s funeral and in the death notice of the head raven , they were still taking about joe ' s failure to be admitted . only articles by people who saw the movie mention this supposed part of joe ' s life . or so i have found - comments ?
i ' m reading mitchell ' s book , up in the old hotel , and came across the professor seagull piece in mcsorley ' s wonderful saloon . this caused me to dig deeper into the story of joe gould .
“joe gould’s secret” ran in consecutive issues of the new yorker in september 1964 . published the next year as a book , it was , famously , mitchell’s final published piece ( though he reported to the office most days until his death in 1996 ) . it was also his finest—a “masterpiece , ” as new yorker editor david remnick later characterized it .
an observant evocation of new york’s literary and bohemian world of more than a half - century ago , “joe gould’s secret” remains sympathetically engaging even as it sporadically stumbles on its journey through the streets , saloons and salons of greenwich village . distinguished by a fine central performance by ian holm as the titular true - life “character , ” a shabby [ … ]
tucci ' s direction dwells on 1940 ' s greenwich village with bohemian romanticism . gould lived off the kindness of admirers , snagged between a bizarre novelty and a legitimate visionary . sir ian holm plays gould to the hilt , by turns eloquent and unstable . tucci fences himself in somewhat , over - internalizing his film ' s evocative nostalgia .
all my life i have recired these lines–“in the winter i’m a buddhist , in the summer i’m a nudist” joe gould has given me alot .
as for mitchell , he finds he can’t shake the man he’s put in the limelight , who turns up at his office anytime he wants , seeking full attention and generally being a nuisance . this finally provokes a sad but necessary confrontation that incidentally uncovers the secret of gould’s life .
howard a . rodman ’s intelligent , well - judged screenplay is based on mitchell’s two new yorker stories about gould , the first of which made the man a mini - celebrity when it appeared in 1942 ; the second , much longer piece , published in 1964 , seven years after gould’s death , disclosed far more about the author’s long and erratic involvement with his subject , in addition to revealing the “secret” that no one else knew .
left , gould enjoys a drink on the cover of mitchell’s 1965 book based on his new yorker profiles of gould . right , the memoir of muriel gardiner , the heiress who served as gould’s anonymous benefactress for years . , from harvard university archives , hud 311 . 04 .
era a criança catarrosa ; era o filho que sabia que tinha desiludido o pai ; era o lingrinhas , o micróbio , o fedelho , o meia - leca , o pequenitates ; era joe gould , o poeta ; era joe gould , o historiador ; era joe gould , o selvático dançarino chippewa ; era joe gould , a maior autoridade mundial em linguagem das gaivotas ; era o homem banido ; era o exemplo acabado do vagabundo nocturno solitário ; era o rato reles ; era o único membro do partido joe gould ; era o boémio local do minetta tavern ; era o professor ; era o gaivota ; era o professor mangusto ; era o rapaz de bellevue .
joe gould faz parte desse leque de personagens excêntricas , que não tendo nada para nos seduzir , nos seduzem com tudo o que têm , nos comovem por tudo o que são , e nos desconcertam pelo que poderiam ser e não são .
but operating underground in vienna , it was discipline and discretion that had guided gardiner . and she approached patronage with similar rigor , insisting not only on her anonymity but also , as mitchell wrote in joe gould’s secret , that an intermediary disburse her money to gould and see to it that the funds be used to buy room and board , not alcohol . gardiner further stipulated that this person be “discreet and responsible . … someone gould respected and would heed . ”
like holden caufield , i have always had an aversion to phonies : milli vanilli , the ramones , the kardashians , j . t . leroy . therefore it was with more than a grain of locally sourced organic sea salt that i read joseph mitchell’s joe gould’s secret . the work had some prominence when it was published ( actually re - published and re - re - published ) as pieces from the new yorker spread over a twenty - two year period . to explain : joe gould was a character back when such people did not have reality shows or
genres . during and following the screenings , the panel of filmmakers and composers , along with the audience , will explore the effect of music in films and how the same film with a different score will dramatically alter the experience of that film . moderated by bmi’s
you pick someone so close that in fact you are writing about yourself . joe gould had to leave home because he didn’t fit in , the same way i had to leave home because i didn’t fit in . talking to joe gould all those years he became me in a way , if you see what i mean .
tucci ' s multiple talents have led to a very diverse career . not only an accomplished and gifted actor , he is also a writer , director and producer . at last year ' s sundance film festival , stanley premiered the film blind date , which after seven years , brought him once again behind the camera , as he has directed and co - wrote , as well as starred in the van gogh remake of this film .
in conclusion , instead of getting a good - for - laughs , lighthearted date movie , audiences get a pathetic and demystified view of how screen celebrities really live . while making fun of film school flakes , hotheaded divas , and nervous film executives brings some laughs , the thin plot and the fractured fairytale ending ultimately sour the film .
primarily a movie about relationships entrenched in an era , joe gould ' s legendary tome
oral history of the world
lies thick in the plot . he claimed it to be the century ' s great literary work , an erudite mix of conversation , essay , philosophy , and the city ' s unconscious . he refused to show it to anyone , including mitchell . this little film is fine , evoking an enigma with style and care .
now a major motion picture starring ian holm , hope davis , and stanley tucci , who also directs . joseph mitchell was a legendary new yorke r writer and the author of the national bestseller up in the old hotel , in which these two pieces appeared . what joseph mitchell wrote about , principally , was new york . in joe gould , mitchell found the perfect subject . and joe gould ' s secre
joe gould ( 1889 – 1957 ) quem é joe gould ( joseph ferdinand gould ) ? joseph mitchell ( 1908 – 1996 ) um jornalista da mítica revista norte - americana the new yorker traça um retrato inserido numa rúbrica denominada “perfis” a vida de um excêntrico , joe gould ( 1889 – 1957 ) - conhecido como professor gaivota - , um homem que diz ser ” ( … ) a maior autoridade dos estados unidos em matéria de viver sem nada , ( … ) que vive de ar , amor - próprio , beatas de cigarros , café de comboy , sanduíches de ovo e ketchup . ” ,
an observant evocation of new york ' s literary and bohemian world of more than a half - century ago ,
joe gould ' s secret
remains sympathetically engaging even as it sporadically stumbles on its journey through the streets , saloons and salons of greenwich village . pic is distinguished by a fine central performance by ian holm as the titular true - life
character ,
a shabby little man who is a writing genius in his own mind .
in the article — later reprinted as a book and then included in “up in the old hotel , ” a 1993 anthology of mitchell’s work — mitchell recounted his relationship with gould and how he had come to realize that gould’s “oral history” did not exist .
in my article , i discuss the canadian pianist glenn gould’s ( 1932–1982 ) reception in literature ; in novels , children’s biographies and poetry . through close reading , i scrutinize the meanings associated with gould in these three literary genres . i give particular focus to gould’s national iconicity , that is , his position as a cultural icon and national hero . i utilise mikko heiniö’s concept of topos , referring to a petrified and unreflective mode of an individual’s public reception . gould’s reputation as a radical , iconoclastic , eccentric , and solitary artist is reflected in the qualities that circulate repeatedly in gould’s reception historically , and is therefore also instrumental in constructing his public image . topos , thus defined , always functions as a backdrop for the reception of gould’s music . one of the main conclusions of my essay , admittedly one in need of a further discussion , is that the experience of any music is , particularly in today’s age of information technology , a multimodal process in which an artist’s textual representation plays a crucial role .
i remember the story of gould and mitchell and i found it intriguing . what i didn’t know was that after that mitchell wrote very little , so joe gould must have an extreme impact on mitchell , but it must not have been positive . ruth beazer
there are several spoilers in this review of the hunger games , and i’ll get them out of the way early . the film shows precious little hunger and no sense of game . it’s a terrible movie , but it grossed $ 68 . 25 million on its first friday . so that’s where your teenage daughters were over the weekend—or what they told you . and that’s why film critics sometimes feel their own futility .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
a respectful communication from joe gould to his unknown patron ( who will be cherished by posterity for her generosity to the author of the oral history whether she chooses to remain anonymous or not ) .
stanley tucci is a director and actor with an openhearted generosity for his characters ; he loves and forgives them . his first film ,
big night ,
co - directed with campbell scott , was a perfect little masterpiece about an italian restaurant run with too many ideals and not enough customers . here he ' s made a chamber piece of quiet scenes , acutely heard dialogue and subterranean emotional shifts . ian holm ' s role as joe gould is the flashy one , and some viewers will be fooled into thinking the film is about gould . but he isn ' t the one who changes . he is himself from beginning to end , repeating the same notes , sometimes touchingly , sometimes maddeningly .
although the picture doesn’t pursue the psychological aspects of mitchell’s fascination with gould or try to explain why the author allows himself to become so consumed by his subject’s life , there is an implicit sense of “there but for the grace of god…” in mitchell’s feelings for gould . by expanding the range to include mitchell’s wife , pic offers three characters who capture street - level life in new york city in their own ways , each equally valid .
he didn’t apologize in “joe gould’s secret . ” in vintage mitchell form , he instead identified with his betrayer . as he later said in an interview , he held gould up as an emblem of “so many people who bit off more than they could chew” : in gould’s unrealized opus , mitchell saw a parallel to the big new york city novel that remained trapped in his own head . yet thanks to the constraints of nonfiction , he got many parts of that book out in other ways during a time of flux in journalistic standards . in his depictions of the people and places of an already disappearing new york , mitchell sought to elevate their daily routines into something universal . he saw the city itself , in kunkel’s words , as a “big , messy , living novel . ” david remnick , the new yorker ’s current editor , has called mitchell’s portraits “as pointed , various , and haunted as the stories in dubliners . ”
mitchell wrote that he realized the truth after introducing gould to several publishers that had expressed interest in publishing excerpts of the work . ( gould had claimed that he had been rejected by 14 publishers and had hidden the manuscript for safekeeping during the war . ) mitchell confronted gould with the truth , and gould only replied , “it’s not a question of laziness . ” mitchell returned to his office at the new yorker :
david thomson is the author of the new biographical dictionary of film and the moment of psycho : how alfred hitchcock taught america to love murder .
his film salutes the spirit of gould and asks if a man of such extravagant idiosyncrasy could be appreciated today , and not dismissed . played by holm , he ' s an entertaining figure , but a tragic one : a man of enormous gifts who lacked the emotional apparatus to turn those gifts into work .
the “oral history” did not exist , although mitchell didn’t realize the truth until years later . the legend of the “oral history” survived gould himself . on aug . 20 , 1957 , two days after gould’s death at age 68 , the new york times published an obituary of gould , by the associated press , which reported , in part :
the film is too lackluster and inconsequential to pack any punch . director tucci ' s mise - en - scène is too self - regarding and fussy , the just - so period design is stifling , the cinematography arid .
, legendary chairman of anthology film archives . enormously influential , particularly in new york’s early underground cinema , the pioneering filmmaker will curate and host the three - part series chronicling the history of the american avant - garde cinema .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
the diary’s 1 , 100 - odd pages are first and foremost a record of baths taken , meals consumed , and dollars bummed . it’s clear that gould’s favorite subject was himself . other people were mere bit players in the movie of his mind , and the bustling city he lived in no more than a backdrop .
i grieve for jennifer lawrence to think that vital years will be given over to the drivel of this franchise . it is sad to see woody harrelson in a role that need not exist , when he is becoming an odd and compelling actor . donald sutherland’s portentous mastermind figure is as hollow and predictable as his other work in recent years . the only person i want to see again is stanley tucci , who is witty , exact , and wicked as a blue - haired commentator to the games—they are a television entertainment , of course , a reality show . tucci is a treasure as an actor . if he’s in a film for a minute , you want to see it . he is also a very good director ( joe gould’s secret ) , and i wish he had the freedom or the resources to do more things like that .
writer freely mixed fact and fiction—much of what he wrote wouldn’t meet today’s fact - checking standards . but maybe literary journalism has lost more than it’s gained .
· girlfight - women in film ; making a movie is hard . making a movie as a woman is even harder . so how do you do it ?
«diria que o homem mais são é aquele que mais claramente que qualquer outro compreende a trágica solidão da humanidade e prossegue tranquilamente os seus objetivos essenciais» , escreveu . «suponho que penso assim porque tenho a mania das grandezas . penso que sou joe gould . » estou a sentir - me um bocadinho com a mania das grandezas pelo privilégio de ter conhecido joe gould . e grata pelos momentos emocionantes que passei a ler sobre a sua vida . e com ar de tolinha a folhear e reler passagens deste liv
although a modest budget keeps the film’s physical focus relatively narrow , production designer andrew jackness , costume designer juliet polcsa and cinematographer maryse alberti have packed the picture with period flavor by using many real village locations and coordinating an immaculately handsome look for the appealing tale . evan lurie ’s piano - dominated score is supplemented by numerous period tunes .
in 2002 , stanley won a golden globe award for his brilliant portrayal of lt . colonel adolf eichmann in the television film entitled ,
conspiracy .
he also received a golden globe , as well as an emmy award for his portrayal of walter winchell , a founder of american gossip , in the hbo original film ,
winchell .
please note : only exteriors of the burke campus may be used for commercial filming . in rare instances , interiors of other campus buildings can be used for filming upon the marketing department’s approval . initial outreach must be done at least one month prior to film date .
how much to trust his sources , and his own intuitions , could be a hard call , as he discovered at what seems to have been a crucial turning point in his career . mitchell was deeply unsettled when one of his characters got away from him , and his subsequent struggle to navigate the boundaries of fact and fiction is instructive . after his piece on joe gould was published , in december 1942 , mitchell learned that gould was a fraud . there was no oral history of our time ; gould’s hundreds of composition books were filled with the same few essays written over and over .
having first spied the disheveled , cantankerous gould in a diner pouring a bottle of ketchup into his bowl of soup , mitchell learns about the “oral history” and decides to do a profile of the homeless hobo , who carries portions of his manuscript with him everywhere and is forever soliciting donations to the joe gould fund , which will keep him alive and moving ahead with his grand - scale project .
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within minutes of hearing his wife ' s confession , he ' s kissed passionately by a bereaved woman who barely knows him ( and plays no role in the rest of the movie ) ; shoved to the ground by a gang of homophobic teen - agers ( who are never seen again ) ; and propositioned by a gorgeous west village hooker ( who ' s revealed to be hiv - positive later in the film , not that william actually sleeps with her ) .
again , this is nothing that can ' t be found in a penthouse video , albeit shot by a man who had an almost mystical grasp of film ' s technical capabilities . scores of unspeakably beautiful women march around servicing a variety of masked men ( no , the lone ranger ' s not there ) , with incense and red robes lending the proceedings a religious undercurrent .
an observant evocation of new york’s literary and bohemian world of more than a half - century ago , “joe gould ’s secret” remains sympathetically engaging even as it sporadically stumbles on its journey through the streets , saloons and salons of greenwich village . distinguished by a fine central performance by ian holm as the titular true - life “character , ” a shabby little man who is a writing genius in his own mind , pic is also marked by a studied directorial style that could be complimented as rigorous when it works and criticized as stiff when it doesn’t . generally favorable critical response and appeal of the story and milieu to sophisticated audiences suggest an ok b . o . future in specialized markets for this usa films release upon its skedded early - april bow .
berman took gould to her home . she cleaned him , fed him , gave him money . after he left , she sent out letters to many people he knew . “joe gould is in bad shape , ” she wrote , as mitchell later recounted . “something must be done about him at once . if it isn’t , some morning soon he and a part of us will be found dead on the bowery . ”
i would judge the sanest man to be him who most firmly realizes the tragic isolation of humanity and pursues his essential purposes calmly ,
he wrote .
i suppose i feel about it in this way because i have a delusion of grandeur . i believe myself to be joe gould .
the scene that everyone will be talking about , of course , is the orgy . as always , kubrick ' s visual mastery is beyond reproach . the film ' s lush production design and elegant lighting are dazzling , and the elaborate masks that the revelers are wearing during the debauchery create an honestly unnerving atmosphere . but the sheer silliness of what you ' re looking at hamstrings the sequence .
vagrant and poet , genius and humbug , gould was one of manhattan ' s legendary eccentrics . disheveled , toothless and exasperating even to the collection of artists who supported him with donations , gould was a writer who claimed to be working on the
oral history of time ,
a 9 million - word opus built from overheard conversations .
eighty - two winters ago , on a frigid day in greenwich village , a very little man in a very big coat entered a greek restaurant and asked for free food . his name was joe gould . the year was 1932 , the height of the great depression , and the owner offered gould soup and a sandwich . as gould waited for it , a reporter drinking coffee in a nearby booth took him in : his dirty face and bald head and bushy beard and small fingers clasped for warmth . gould made an impression . so did the mention by the owner of the restaurant that this same man was “writing the longest book in the history of the world . ”
the story follows cruise ' s character through an absurdly eventful night of almost - sex , but this is the most passive character you ' ll ever see in a movie that ' s supposed to be about one man ' s descent into the darker recesses of his psyche . and don ' t let those big block letters that scream cruise . kidman . kubrick . in the ads fool you - - this is tom cruise ' s movie . kidman is on camera for 40 minutes , tops , and disappears for the vast majority of the second act . that ' s too bad , because the scenes that feature cruise and kidman together are , far and away , the best in the film .
over the years , burke rehabilitation hospital ' s campus has been the backdrop for television and film projects . the 61 - acre manicured grounds that include its original neoclassic buildings and graceful colonnades designed by the famed architecture firm of mckim , mead & white , have found their way into both modern day and period productions .
the war was nearly over when , in 1944 , gardiner’s old friend john rothschild and his former wife , erika feist , received those letters from berman requesting help for a panhandling poet named gould . a possible patron came immediately to mind .
in essence , gould makes his hard but gutsy way through life endlessly promoting the idea that his unfinished “oral history” is the greatest unpublished literary work of all time . although mitchell is vaguely disappointed with the few excerpts he examines in the school composition books gould shows him , he accepts that the bulk of it is temporarily inaccessible and publishes the admiring profile . celebrity brings gould many letters , a roof over his head courtesy of an anonymous donor , his own table at the minetta tavern and the attention of a big - time publisher , charlie duell ( steve martin ) , who’s interested in the manuscript , if only gould would produce it .
there is a final twist to the story . in 2000 , the village voice reported that the archives of new york university contained “11 dime - store composition books that make up a nearly 150 , 000 - word diary” by gould — nothing like nine million words , to be sure . the diaries , the voice reported , offered a day - by - day account of gould’s life from 1943 to 1947 . gould entrusted the journals to his neighbor harold anton , an abstract painter , who eventually sold them .
the handicaps reach further . before i saw the hunger games i had to watch a trailer for the hobbit ( coming at christmas ) , and it’s clear that this return to tolkien is going to indulge peter jackson’s eye for the romantic grandeur of wild new zealand scenery . the forest is the essential setting for the hunger games and there is a lot of tracking through the trees . but it’s drab , a cheesy and unimaginative landscape compared with jackson’s work or michael mann’s vision of the outdoors in the last of the mohicans . katniss climbs trees to escape from marauders , but we seldom feel we’re in trees , and there’s very little animal life .
«diria que o homem mais são é aquele que mais claramente que qualquer outro compreende a trágica solidão da humanidade e prossegue tranquilamente os seus objetivos essenciais» , escreveu . «suponho que penso assim porque tenho a mania das grandezas . penso que sou joe gould . » estou a sentir - me um bocadinho com a mania das grandezas pelo privilégio de ter conhecido joe gould . e grata pelos momentos emocionantes que passei a ler sobre a sua vida . e com ar de tolinha a folhear e reler passagens deste livro maravilhoso . e sem coragem de me separar do homem que imitava as gaivotas . e com o coração a explodir de ternura pelo meu querido vagabundo solitário . . . . e frustada por não saber o que fazer para convencer toda a gente a lê - lo . a não ser sugerir que quando passarem numa livraria procurem joe gould . e que leiam os comentários de antónio lobo antunes , de salman rushdie , de martin amis , de doris lessing , de julian barnes e de ian mcewan . e que acreditem . . .
questo joe gould , personaggio reale , era un eccentrico clochard - letterato . joseph mitchell , che lavorava per il giornale “new yorker” , scrisse su di lui nel 1942 un primo breve “profilo” ; successivamente acquisì ulteriori elementi interessanti , tra i quali un “segreto” dell’uomo che ritenne di mantenere tale per non screditarne l’immagine . solo nel 1964 , sette anni dopo la morte di gould , scrisse e pubblicò ancora su “new yorker” un secondo “profilo” , molto più corposo ed esauriente . il libro co
the film is more prurient than daring , and whenever there is a lull in the action , the filmmakers bring in a trio of unfunny drag queens . the only way to enjoy the drag queens is to see them as symbolic of the three directors , victims of a style that they can ' t quite inhabit - - but flaunting it , all the same . - - advisory : this film contains graphic violence and nudity . mick lasalle . .
today , the campus is regularly visited by film location scouts , architecture buffs , historians and students . it remains a wonderful example of post - victorian architecture , seemingly untouched from when burke opened its doors nearly 100 years ago .
the film feels like it was artfully crafted out of tons of vaguely related footage , with a talky scene near the end playing like frantic thread - tying . ( in that scene , co - star sydney pollack systematically deflates everything that we just watched . ) there ' s certainly little impetus for the adventure william ends up going on .
still , she received it . for much of gardiner’s life and deeds were recorded . there was her memoir . there was her biography . and there were the characters she inspired in other books : “elizabeth” in stephen spender’s memoir world within world and “julia” in lillian hellman’s memoir pentimento ( although hellman denied this ) . but among all the words written about gardiner , there was no mention of gould . and when gardiner died at age 83 in 1985 , there was no indication that she had spoken of gould to any but feist and rothschild and marquié and mitchell . they too said nothing publicly and now are gone .
had the oral history been real , and been received with acclaim , it may be that gardiner would have come forward herself . it may be that she would have been “cherished by posterity , ” as gould , in his letter to his unknown patron , had asserted she would be . but giving food and lodging to a dispossessed man is no less heroic than assisting a great book into the world . and almost 70 years ago , joe gould got both from a woman named muriel gardiner .
it is not hard to understand why joe gould might have captured muriel gardiner’s imagination . like her , he loved literature . he had pursued meaning at the expense of comfort . and he had found that meaning in greenwich village , just as she had when , in the summers of 1926 and 1927 , she had called the village home and gloried in its egalitarianism and camaraderie , its literary vitality , its freedom —sleeping , as she later wrote , atop its roofs .
born in peekskill , new york , tucci graduated from the acting program at state university of new york at purchase when he was 22 and got his first film role three years later . but he would have to wait . . .
fifty years ago tomorrow , a small , bearded , prematurely frail psychiatric patient named joe gould , age 68 , died at pilgrim state hospital in brentwood , on long island . for three decades , gould , a harvard graduate from a distinguished new england family , had spent his days and nights wandering the bars and taverns of greenwich village , staying in flophouses , living off the generosity of friends and strangers . he became unexpectedly famous as the subject of a celebrated profile by the writer by joseph mitchell .
joe gould was certainly beat , though , like jack kerouac , proudly not beatnik , one of those mercurial american eccentrics , messianic when it suited him , pathetic when it didn’t , diplomatic or direct when he needed to be . when new yorker writer joseph mitchell first encountered him in the late 1950s , gould was living semi - rough in new york , though he was a harvard graduate and had been a professional ethnographer and a journalist . he was known as professor seagull , and frequented poetry readings ,
an important early sequence - - in which the couple shares a joint and alice winds up telling her husband way too much about her secret sexual fantasies - - is prime kubrick . it ' s funny while remaining borderline ugly , the same unnerving vibe that kubrick successfully nurtures in all of
dr . strangelove
( 1964 ) , and , every now and then , in
a clockwork orange
and
the shining
( 1980 ) .
a special program by american master elmer bernstein , whose work over the past fifty years has defined american film music . the academy award winning composer of more than 200 films will conduct a special music scoring workshop for a select number of participants .
the whole film is like this , with cruise gawking at a variety of kinky activity that neither comments on his stance toward the world nor alters his perceptions of sexuality . it just happens because kubrick has decided to deal with panties and breasts .
the profile , “professor sea gull , ” published in the new yorker on dec . 12 , 1942 , described a monumental work that gould was writing , “an oral history of our time , ” containing snippets and excerpts of conversations gould had heard , and his essays commenting on those conversations . (
( woodstock , ny ) august 20 : from the aquarian age to the digital age , the 2001 woodstock film festival presents a stimulating line - up of workshops , panels , seminars and special programs with key film professionals including : elmer bernsein , haskell wexler , albert maysles , leon gast , d . a . pennebaker , chris hegedus , mary harron , karyn kusama , karen durbin , gary winick , martha frankel , stanley tucci , john pierson , betsy mclane , bill plympton and many others .
funny how you stumble onto books . between the ages of fourteen and seventeen , i took art lessons after school from a very eccentric fun and inspiring painter named evelyn leavens . evelyn’s favorite painter was alice neel and she owned a coffee table book of her portraits which we were free to peruse . in that book , there was a shocking nude of a leering old man with multiple penises titled “joe gould” . i’d forgotten all about it , but it must have made an impression because the name immediately ca
st . louis : backstage bite : deluca celebrates the muny ' s 100th season w / ooey gooey st . louie bars
it should be noted that the hooker is a wildly optimistic variation on the lost souls who are actually roaming the streets of new york selling sex to strangers . the erotic charge of the film is based solely on the fact that every woman cruise ' s character encounters is built like a brick playmate . the underlying complexity of his carnal desires has nothing to do with it .
“i’m sure she had a reason that made sense to her , ” said gardiner’s daughter , connie harvey , 82 , who spoke from her colorado home this past summer . “she had her rules . she was very consistent . ” that gardiner had left gould peremptorily was consistent with how she generally ended relationships : “swiftly , absolutely , and with no discussion , ” according to sheila isenberg , in muriel’s war .
pretty cool little biography or character study or whatever you like . some funny parts and well . . . kind of a bummer in the end . there were a lot of times that i felt like i related to joe gould more than is healthy . here ' s a funny passage
i can ' t stand them and they can ' t stand me , but the hell of it is , i enjoy them and i enjoy their meetings . they ' re so bad they ' re good . also , after the program they serve wine . also , there ' s a high percentage of unmarried lady poets among them , and sooner or la
imagine hamsun ' s emaciated artist taking his defiance to greenwich village and living hand to mouth for twenty years . no pawning of underwear and top coats here , the intellectual vagrant would require a different angle . he ' d have to shuffle , he would need to embrace his humility . such was what i initially divined to be at the core of mitchell ' s book , an outgrowth of piece he wrote on gould in the new yorker in 1942 . that isn ' t the case . an expose lies at the heart of the tale , but the story of joe gould is a worthy diversion . unfortunately a journalistic argot is employed . it feels like outtakes from preston sturges bent around the worst of jimmy breslin . this is not an illuminating glimpse into the bohemian life , but a sad character story .
eyes wide shut
is the ultimate nudie film . wild sex at the orgy is partially obscured at all times , but the naked women stroll around like they ' re looking for detergent at an a & p . there ' s also bad language . the entire movie is encapsulated in one shot , during which cruise verrrrry slowly leans in to kiss a well - built female corpse , then verrrrry slowly pulls back without doing it . rated r . better bring a lunch : it ' s 159 minutes long .
joseph mitchell virou referência pela qualidade de seu texto e por dar vida aos anônimos de nova york nos longos perfis que escrevia . são essas as duas observações que mais se repetem sobre o autor , mas “o segredo de joe gould” também põe abaixo dois dogmas do jornalismo : o “compromisso com a verdade” e as fórmulas ortodoxas sobre como escrever uma reportagem . isso , mais de 40 anos atrás . fascinante .
joseph ferdinand gould was born in the fall of 1889 in an apartment above a meat market in norwood , massachusetts . his father and grandfather were doctors . but gould hated the sight of blood—he once fainted when he saw the family cook kill a chicken—and on top of that was “ambisinistrous , ” as he later put it to mitchell : as clumsy as a person with two left hands . and so , when gould told his father , at roughly age 13 , that he too wished to be a doctor , his father answered , “that’ll be the day . ” the words still pained gould when he recalled them to mitchell four decades later .
: burning to put your script on film or tape ? before you run up your credit card bill , take a reality check with a panel of seasoned veterans who have been selling , making , distributing and exhibiting independent films for the past twenty plus years . with
mitchell did not write again about gould until two decades later . by then , gould was dead and mitchell was considered “the greatest living reporter” ( at least by lillian ross of the new yorker ) . mitchell in the interim had also learned something remarkable : the oral history did not exist . it was a complete figment . gould had looked up at mitchell with his conjunctival eyes , and flat - out lied . gould had written nothing more , as mitchell later noted , than a few repetitive thoughts about tomatoes , indians , and the deaths of his parents . but no matter . mitchell regarded gould as a form of performance art . and looking back at him , mitchell had seen something greater than a great book : a kindred spirit , a fellow outsider and peripatetic aspiring to catalogue life in the big city .
in man in profile : joseph mitchell of the new yorker , a thoughtful and sympathetic new biography , thomas kunkel—who delved into the magazine’s history for his earlier biography of its founding editor , harold ross—pores over mitchell’s archive in an attempt to figure out how the writer created those memorable pieces , as well as what he might have been working on in those final decades . what kunkel finds may distress mitchell’s fans . not only did mitchell’s use of composite characters go beyond what he acknowledged during his lifetime , but some of the key scenes in his best - known profiles appear nowhere in his notes and may also have been invented . by current standards , which privilege fact - checkability over storytelling , and data over character , mitchell—“a national treasure , ” in kunkel’s words—would likely be denounced as a fabricator . but if today’s literary journalism no longer has room for a category - defying writer like mitchell , the problem isn’t him—it’s us .


cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film which explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment , and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue .

the film looks at various environmental concerns , including global warming , water use , deforestation , and ocean dead zones , and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction .

the union of concerned scientists has disputed the film 's assertion that 51 % of greenhouse gases driving climate change are produced by animal agriculture , which runs counter to scientific consensus on that subject .

cowspiracy

kip andersen , director of cowspiracy , in paris during the cop21 climate talks .
defending beef - cowspiracy review : nothing more than a . . . | facebook
♦ cowspiracy may be the most important film made to inspire saving the planet .
woronczuk : kip anderson and keegan kuhn , coproducers of the new documentary film cowspiracy .
film & speaker : dr . will tuttle , featured expert in the documentary , cowspiracy
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , 2014 a . u . m . films and first spark media
film & speaker : dr . will tuttle , featured expert in the documentary , cowspiracy | meetup
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing cowspiracy : the sustainability secret near you .
the exclusive netflix release is a new cut of cowspiracy : the sustainability secret that has been updated with new facts and information .
kuhn and andersen have been road tripping the country for
cowspiracy
screenings , and in fact , agreed to be interviewed en route from sun valley to bend , oregon . want to see
cowspiracy
at a theatre near you ? host a screening .
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by kip andersen and keegan kuhn . the film explores the impact of
it ' s paid off . the information in
cowspiracy
is not just getting out , it ' s making the beef industry uneasy .
central to cowspiracy ’s conspiracy theory is the supposed “fact” that a 2009 study found that 51 % of all greenhouse gases are produced by animal agriculture .
the 2017 documentary what the health was written , produced , and directed by the same production team ( kip andersen and keegan kuhn ) as cowspiracy .
i think the guy that made cowspiracy was a very passionate man who had made a life time commitment to environmental causes and made lifelong personal . . .
a vegan diet has a lower carbon footprint . graphic : @ simple _ happy _ kitchen # cowspiracy # greenhousegases # climatechange # animalagriculture # goplantbased # vegan urltoken
cowspiracy highlights that ngos do very little to educate public about the impact of their food choices . lets fix that . here is one way : . . .
i guess you just have to conclude that the makers of cowspiracy¸ despite its narrator’s claims of extensive research , just didn’t manage to find any of this work . or maybe it’s just that our rejection of the 51 % figure shows that , along with the rest of the scientific community , we’re part of the cowspiracy too .
more than fossil fuel usage , more than fracking , more than overpopulation , livestock agriculture is the number one destroyer of our planet that cowspiracy wants you to care about .
i think cowspiracy was very unfair to alan savory , who says in his ted talk that culling the elephants was tragic mistake that he deeply regrets . that . . .
well , then , in honor of
cowspiracy
and its creators , here ' s a moroccan spice paste to paint on your basic veggie burger . think of it as veggieburger helper .
a : a new cut of cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , executive produced by leonardo dicaprio , jennifer davisson and appian way productions , was exclusively released on netflix on september 15 , 2015 .
i saw cowspiracy last night ; therefore , it ' s fresh in my mind . what i got from the film regarding greenpeace is * not * that they were taking donati . . .
the
cowspiracy
anderson is unfolding is also pretty basic : agriculture is a business that ' s based on taking advantage of people ' s enjoyment of meat to the detriment of the planet .
1 . 8 billion gallons used for animal agriculture in the u . s . every day . # worldenvironmentday repost @ rainforestactionnetwork # cowspiracy # animalagriculture # waterscarcity # water # goplantbased # vegan # loveyourmother urltoken
“if you don’t realize right now that you’re putting your neck on the chopping block , you better take that camera and throw it away . ” — howard lyman , subject of cowspiracy and former cattle rancher .
* having said all that for some context , i cannot wait to see ” cowspiracy ” . i feel it will be right up there with inconvenient truth and gasland and fahrenheit 911 . we can hope .
we will continually update cowspiracy as new research comes out . we would like to expose the ngo ' s funding , the blanket corruption of governments from this industry and the cultural taboo of speaking about personal change .
by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else , cowspiracy implies that anyone who eats meat isn’t a ‘proper’ environmentalist . this is deeply offensive and elitist , and it harms the movement we need to build .
hopefully after viewing cowspiracy : the sustainability secret you be will motivated to start questioning politicians , environmental organizations and others why they are ignoring what is ultimately one of the major contributors to global climate change and biodiversity losses .
you ' re probably reading this blog because you have some questions raised by the film cowspiracy . i ' d like to address these directly – and tell you a little about our work on animal agriculture around the world .
thanks bevan - the response did seem rather weak . before seeing cowspiracy i thought vegan / vegetarianism was about not hurting animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i . . .
my biggest criticism of cowspiracy was the way that the whole film seemed to be set in an isolated us bubble , and that bubble itself was a very distorted view of america that focused almost exclusively on a particular subsection of the population .
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it .
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world ' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it .
animal agriculture : a neglected agent of global warming ? the co - producers of the documentary film
cowspiracy
discuss the environmental impact of intensive animal farming - and why mainstream organizations have been silent about it . november 20 , 2014 , the real news
cowspiracy co - director keegan kuhn defended the 51 % figure featured in the documentary , pointing to a 2012 article in the journal animal feed science and technology . in that article , goodland and anhang addressed criticism of their study , and explained their methodology .
livestock eat soybeans from the deforested tropics , produce clouds of methane , pollute water systems and consume up 30 percent of the world’s grain production . solution : opt out of the livestock industry . go plant - based . # cowspiracy # animalagriculture # livestock # goplantbased urltoken
but – does this justifiy this article summary : “by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else , cowspiracy implies that anyone who eats meat isn’t a ‘proper’ environmentalist . this is deeply offensive and elitist , and it harms the movement we need to build ? ”
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a movie starring lisa agabian , manucher alemi , and lindsey allen . follow the shocking , yet humorous , journey of an aspiring environmentalist , as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability .
the main reason for focusing on climate was simply that it is at the heart of cowspiracy’s conspiracy theory . it is because ngos do not disseminate the 51 % of emissions figure , and indeed that most of the ngo staff who the movie interviewed appeared not even to have heard about it , that the movie concludes that they are covering it up . there are certainly grounds to criticize how cowspiracy treats the scientific data on other issues besides climate , and various of the comments on my post have explained some of these weaknesses and given links to writings that explain them in more detail . but livestock’s impact on climate change – the claim that , as the 2009 worldwatch report asserted , “the key actors in climate change are… cows , pigs and chickens , ” not fossil fuels — is the basis of the allegation that there is a cowspiracy going on .
keegan kuhn is the award - winning co - director of the highly acclaimed documentary film cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , executive produced for netflix by leonardo dicaprio . kuhn is the owner and operator of first spark media , a digital film production company tailored to creating films for social justice .
“those of us who wish to see a truly , radically different world must demand of ourselves the possibility that we are called to lead not from right to left , or from minority to majority , but from spirit towards liberation . ” - adrienne marie brown # cowspiracy # activism # community urltoken
i pulled a lot from dr . richard oppenlander’s book food choice and sustainability . why buying local , eating less meat , and taking baby steps won’t work . many of the facts in cowspiracy can also be found in oppenlander’s book . it’s very thorough . i love his powerpoint presentation online .
additionally , making cowspiracy took a great deal of time and money ( we were the sole financial backers for cowspiracy and our production team was incredibly small , meaning we worked 10 to 15 hour days for over a year to make this film ) and in order for us to make more films like it ( as we plan to ) , we need to have the funds to do so . the money we make from screenings , dvds , merchandise and donations goes into the non - profit animals united movement and is put toward promotion for the film and the making of our next documentaries .
perhaps it could be added to this important articel that cowspiracy also is inccorect in its water calculations . they do not apply the virtual water concept correctly and misinterpret it as an environmental indicator which it is not . im not a scientist . i would be very glad if someone points this out correctly .
kuhn : yeah , absolutely . we just need to get this information out in front of as many people as possible . we really feel people can’t make informed decisions unless they have the information . so that’s what cowspiracy is . it’s a tool to get this information to as many people as possible .
cowspiracy investigates the environmental impact of animal agriculture . picking up on 2006 un climate report , which indicates that animal agriculture causes 14 % of all greenhouse gas emissions - more than all forms of transportation combined - the filmmakers solicited responses from major environmental organizations like green - peace and the world wildlife fund .
these two departures from the scientific consensus— counting the non - additional co 2 respired by livestock , and weighting the methane that ruminant animals emit nearly three times as heavily as most scientists do—account for the biggest differences between the scientific consensus of about 15 % of emissions and the 51 % figure that cowspiracy uses .
cowspiracy
likewise ends on an up . it ' s even having an affect on kuhn .
it ' s exceeded expectations . people are so excited about it ,
he says .
we ' re going to look back on how food ' s produced today and shake our heads .
our first major film production is titled cowspiracy : the sustainability secret and was premiered in late 2014 . this documentary uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today - and investigates why the world ' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it . you can learn more about the film at urltoken
cowspiracy won the audience choice award at the 2015 south african eco film festival , [ 9 ] as well as the best foreign film award at the 12th annual festival de films de portneuf sur l ' environnement . [ 10 ] it was also nominated for cinema politica’s 2015 audience choice award . [ 11 ]
worse , until he and andersen completed filming , they couldn ' t even go public with what they ' d learned .
we ' ve had to stay silent every step of the way in fear of being shut down ,
says andersen . the topic is so hot , their funding got pulled . to get the word out , the
cowspiracy
team put a lot of skin and a lot of money in the project . they self - funded
cowspiracy
with the support of an indiegogo campaign . says kuhn ,
we put everything on the table we could to fit into the film .
cowspiracy tells audiences that all the energy , water , and land that goes into dairy and cattle farming feeds into the gross amount of methane gas produced , and that is what is killing the planet . it ' s also what no environmental groups want to talk or know about , or so the film claims .
some of these components are by - products of human interference in the earth’s nitrogen cycle , the phosphorous cycle and the biodiversity cycle , but all such interference have to be remedied before we can reach sustainability . cowspiracy has served to broaden the dialog since a narrow focus on fossil - fuels alone won’t solve the problem…
fancy yourself an environmentalist ? eat meat ? well , according to
cowspiracy
it ' s time to either put your money where your mouth is and step away from that burger , or find another way to self - identify . the revelations made in this film are brutally inconvenient , for all types of eaters .
the money from licensing fees helps us to recoup the expenses from producing the film as well as create more films like it . due to budget restraints as a non - profit , we are unable to give licensing discounts at this time . please note : every screening license purchase includes a cowspiracy : the sustainability secret dvd .
it is a strategy to try to put guys that write in favor of their own institution . this comment does not quote any serious or internationally accepted report that fully contradicts cowspiracy on the issue . greenpeace is now part of the bureaucratic system that is afraid to lose money , it was not before but now it is .
why we charge for licenses : we charge for screening licenses to cover our costs , and the money we make from the licenses , dvds , and donations goes to the non - profit animals united movement and is put toward promotion for cowspiracy and the making of our next documentaries . additionally , making cowspiracy took a great deal of time and money , and we were the sole financial backers until postproduction . our production team was incredibly small , meaning we worked 10 to 15 hour days for over a year to make this film . we are still a very small team , doing all we can to make sure cowspiracy and its message reach the widest possible audience , and in order to keep our doors open we need to have funds coming in . why we don’t negotiate on our prices : we are incredibly grateful for the huge amount of attention and interest cowspiracy is generating , and we really appreciate all the caring and thoughtful people who are making this movement bigger and bigger with every passing day , but the flipside to this attention and interest is that our time and attention at this point is incredibly limited and we simply can’t afford to negotiate our prices . we understand that people wishing to host a public screening of cowspiracy come from a wide variety of financial circumstances , and for some the cost of a screening license may be prohibitive . we have done our best to price the licenses fairly , for both people wishing to host a screening and ourselves . we hope that those who are not in a position to buy a license themselves can perhaps team up with others in their community to bring a screening to their area .
this is the short version of the eye opening documentary
cowspiracy - the sustainability secret
. this is an unofficial version and i don ' t in anyway claim this to be an official version of the documentary . this is a must watch documentary to know about the impacts our day to day activities causes on the planet .
woronczuk : okay . and as i just mentioned , both of you , the coproducers of the new documentary film cowspiracy , let’s take a look at an interview you did in the film , where you ask the conservation director of the sierra club about this issue of animal agriculture and its contributions to climate change . let’s take a look .
despite the efforts of both advocates like the makers of cowspiracy and by the fossil fuel industry ( see ucs’ recent report the climate deception dossiers for details ) , there is strong agreement among scientists as well as among the global public that global warming is happening and humans , principally through the fossil fuels we burn , are the main cause of it .
i have started a petition at urltoken to ask cnn to air cowspiracy , the way it aired blackfish . we all know the impact blackfish has had , after enough people had the chance to see it . if you think this is a good idea , please sign my petition and share it with everyone who might be inclined to sign . thank you . urltoken
starting by saying that although i appreciated cowspiracy highlighting the huge ( because it is huge ) impact that animal agricolture has on climate change , i didn’t like the way the documentary is developed and the fact that it focuses mainly on putting engos in a bad light , so that in a “conspirative burst” i almost thought it was the one paid by fossil fuels industry .
cowspiracy
' s anderson was raised on
meat , dairy eggs , the whole works , every day . i ' m the biggest carnivore . i grew up that way , i crave it ,
he says .
i ' m not giving up meat , i ' m just going from animal meat to sustainable meat , plant - based meat .
boucher ' s review concludes :
movies like cowspiracy aren’t believable , not only because of how they twist the science , but also because of what they ask us to believe : that the fossil fuel industry—the exxonmobils of the world—aren’t the main cause of global warming . . . and that thousands of scientists have covered up the truth about the most important environmental issue of our time .
according to cowspiracy , the major source of global warming pollution isn’t fossil fuels like coal , oil , and natural gas , as the world’s scientists are telling us . no , it’s animal agriculture—not just eating cows , but all other kinds of meat , and eggs and milk and fish too . so the principal solution to global warming isn’t renewable energy . it’s for everyone to become a vegan .
a good deal of the movie is taken up with interviews with people from environmental organizations , such as the rainforest action network , oceana , and the natural resources defense council , who don’t seem to accept this “fact , ” and therefore must be part of the conspiracy to cover it up . greenpeace politely declined , twice , to be interviewed , proving that they’re part of the cowspiracy too .
i am working on getting a showing in steamboat springs , colorado . i’ve was referred to a group who’s mission statement is about sustainability . i ran into the same issue as did the producers of cowspiracy ; this group is somewhat reluctant because they have an association with the county extension office . i sent them my copy of the dvd anyway – can’t hurt to rattle their cage a little .
hi all , i recently watched cowspiracy and enjoyed the discussion in the soil / health group and the review and comments here . i ' m currently being trained by consumer reports on editing wikipedia and urltoken should definitely have some references about sustainable ranching . unfortunately , i can ' t link to garth ' s review here because links to personal blogs aren ' t allowed on wikipedia . the cowspiracy site lists the studies in their favor , such as
got drought ? on thursday , nasa released a study which says that the united states should prepare for the worst drought recorded . . .
so i ' m looking for links to studies or articles about the impact and
carbon footprint
of pastured cattle and other farm animals . i live in the desert and our fastest internet connection is around 500k lately , makes it hard to research . i personally think that cowspiracy is right on the money in most respects and it really doesn ' t matter whether it takes 1000 or 2500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef , but we really need to distinguish between corn / soy fed and sustainably raised and grass fed farm animals . please post any info here or email me directly , thanks !
we work on the animal agriculture issues by campaigning on cattle ranching , animal feed and destructive fishing , we encourage people to eat less or no meat and fish , and we serve only vegan and vegetarian food at our on site cafe . the implication in cowspiracy that we take money from the meat industry is completely false and baseless – we are 100 % independent and accept no money from companies or government .
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by kip andersen and keegan kuhn . the film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment , and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue . environmental organizations investigated in the film include greenpeace , sierra club , surfrider foundation , rainforest action network , and many more . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]
while the subjects are different , what conspiracy theories about president obama’s birthplace , the 9 / 11 attacks , contrails from jet planes , vaccination , and climate change have in common is that they tell us that an incredibly large number of people—in government , in the media , and in cowspiracy ’s case , in science and the environmental community as well , have agreed to hide a key piece of information from the public .
kuhn : the response for the film has been amazing . we’ve had people from all across the globe write us who have seen the film through theatrical screenings , educational screenings , or through our website — the previous version of the film . it’s just been incredible , an unbelievable outpouring of support , and we think fans of cowspiracy are really going to love this new edit of the film that’s going to be exclusively on netflix .
many of the criticisms of “cowspiracy” raised in this article were addressed during the vetting of the documentary by leonardo dicaprio’s team prior to its netflix release . i respectfully disagree with the specific criticism of the late dr . robert goodland and jeff anhang’s environmental assessment of the impact of livestock production . there was a scientific debate about their result in the animal feed science and technology journal and here’s a summary with links to the original papers :
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a feature - length environmental documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers one of the most destructive industries marring the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it . as eye - opening as blackfish and as inspiring as an inconvenient truth , this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large - scale factory farming has on our planet .
movies like cowspiracy aren’t believable , not only because of how they twist the science , but also because of what they ask us to believe : that the fossil fuel industry— the exxonmobils of the world —aren’t the main cause of global warming ; that the transition to clean energy isn’t what matters most for our future and our grandchildren’s ; and that thousands of scientists have covered up the truth about the most important environmental issue of our time .
top off the fair with a visit to the ovec office , just up the street at 725 14 th street west . join us from 4 : 15 to 5 p . m . for a meet and greet reception . refreshments served . at 5 we’ll screen fridays at the farm , a short film ( 19 minutes ) . at 5 : 30 we’ll screen cowspiracy : the sustainability secret . there’s limited seating , so come early .
movie night at my house last weekend , featuring cowspiracy . the name says it all . the 2014 / 2015 movie by that name—“the film that environmental organizations don’t want you to see , ” according to its website —has uncovered an immense conspiracy between governments and the world’s biggest environmental organizations , to deceive the public about the principal cause of global warming . but the film’s premise is based on badly flawed—and almost unanimously rejected—interpretations of science . let me explain…
are environmentalists afraid of stepping in cow dung ? the documentary film cowspiracy contends that large environmental groups are turning a blind eye to the harmful effects cattle have on ecosystems and human health . environmentalists bristle at the charge and point to work promoting vegan and vegetarian diets and campaigns against factory farms and other aspects of the animal agriculture industry . the film , which was backed by leonardo dicaprio , presents “a sensationalist conspiracy where none exists , ” according to greenpeace executive robin oakley .
we all share cowspiracy ' s concerns about the environmental impact of animal agriculture and it ' s great that these issues are being given more attention . however , our us office declined to take part in this project as they felt sure our position would be misrepresented ( as it has been for several other organisations featured in the film ) . but sadly our reasons for not taking part have been misrepresented as well , in an attempt to create a sensationalist conspiracy where none exists .
it’s perfectly possible to make a powerful environmental case against the meat and dairy industry without using made - up numbers . a lot of the rest of cowspiracy does just that – the film is packed with plenty of real facts about the dreadful deforestation , water use , and local environmental damage caused by animal agriculture . but there’s another major problem with the documentary : it’s built on the assumption that persuading western people to change their lifestyles is the best way to save the world .
cowspiracy ignores this broad consensus , and indeed scientists are practically absent among the many talking heads in the film . it’s telling that although there are lots of statements of supposedly scientific numbers , the people making those statements aren’t identified as scientists , but rather by tags such as “environmental and ethics author , ” “environmental and food author , ” “environmental researcher and author , ” “greenpeace alaska founder , ” “former whole foods market executive , ” “former cattle rancher , ” and “veganic farmer . ”
kip andersen , co - producer / director of
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret ,
considered himself to be an environmentalist . he recycled to reduce waste , took quick showers to save water , supported several environmental organizations . then
i did some research and discovered all these incredible things - - rainforest destruction , species extinction - - can all be tied to animal agriculture . jeez , this is the cause ?
and if so , why was no one talking about it ?
coming up next : as i mentioned in my last blog post , i’m going to do a short series of reviews on recent books and movies related to beef and climate change . this review of cowspiracy is the first of the series , and as you can guess , it’s about a movie that is fiercely anti - beef . the next two posts in the series will be about books : in defense of beef by nicolette hahn niman , and cowed by dennis and gail boyer hayes .
after cowspiracy co - director , kip andersen watched the documentary an inconvenient truth about the catastrophic impacts of global warming , he started following the advice of all of the major environmental organizations – composting , recycling , switching lightbulbs , shorter showers , bicycling over driving , you know the drill . but when he discovered that animal agriculture plays a larger role in environmental destruction than even the fossil fuel industry , he was shocked that the organizations that he had been supporting had not even mentioned it .
for many of the ngo’s , the film makers didn’t contact the correct people within these ngo’s . here’s a link to a podcast of a debate urltoken between kip from cowspiracy and nicolette hahn niman where this is mentioned by one of the people within one of those ngo’s not contacted . additionally in this podcast several of these ngo’s and others got to finally confront kip about the film . kip not only lied to people what the film was about , he heavily edited the interviews to fit his agenda .
cowspiracy : the sustainability secret is a groundbreaking feature - length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today and investigates why the world ' s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it . as eye - opening as blackfish and as inspiring as an inconvenient truth , this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large - scale factory farming has on our planet , and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population .
i recently had the pleasure of viewing new video of kip andersen and keegan kuhn cowspiracy : the sustainability secret . the basic question these two film makers ask is why the contribution of livestock to ecosystem degradation is missing from the world’s environmental agenda . to find the answer they set out to interview environmental leaders as well as others to see if they could find the answer . the video is well researched and illustrated . but more than that , it is also entertaining . you will enjoy this video .
i think the guy that made cowspiracy was a very passionate man who had made a life time commitment to environmental causes and made lifelong personal sacrifices to help the planet and became a david to the goliath of the animal agriculture industry in america where the king of the environmental movement greenpeace stood shaking in their boots to speak out against the giants of animal agriculture . if those who are meant to stand against the giants of corruption don ' t stand , god will send a david to defeat the giant .
joining us from san francisco to discuss the impacts of animal agriculture on the global environment are kip anderson and keegan kuhn . kip and keegan are the coproducers of the documentary film cowspiracy , which came out this summer , is being released on dvd this month , and is currently available for streaming on their website . kip is an award - winning designer , documentary filmmaker , and entrepreneur who’s built more than a dozen businesses . and keegan is an award - winning documentary filmmaker , videographer , and professional musician .
boucher claims that the creators of cowspiracy gave the impression that various environmental groups are part of a conspiracy because they don’t accept that livestock are responsible for 51 % of global emissions . however , the issues discussed in the movie with those organisations extended well beyond that one . for example , when the interviewer questioned the sustainability of industrial scale fishing with geoff shester of oceana ( 26 : 50 ) , and rainforest destruction with lindsey allen of the rainforest action network ( 31 : 30 ) , the 51 % figure was not mentioned .
appreciate your candid admission of bias . i knew cowspiracy would set off a statistics - war - counter - stats , counter - counter - stats , on and on . . . even if they are off by a factor of 2 or 3 - so what ? but you have nothing to fear from the movie - factory farming , yes , but not the movie . we americans will not lift a finger to save ourselves . given the state of the economy , we won ' t be buying much grass - fed beef either .
since the 51 % figure is key to the film’s conspiracy theory , let’s look at the study that it comes from . ironically , in light of cowspiracy ’s thesis that environmental ngos are hiding the science , this study proposing this figure on which they rely so heavily was not published in a scientific journal , but in a report by an environmental organization , the worldwatch institute . the report’s authors , jeff anhang and the late robert goodland , were not named in the movie but were described simply as “two advisers from the world bank . ”
thanks bevan - the response did seem rather weak . before seeing cowspiracy i thought vegan / vegetarianism was about not hurting animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it is so much broader an issue . the directors may have taken some liberties but the message needs to be heard and it does seem those agencies we trust to tell us these things have not been strong enough in conveying it . we need to change direction with our diet not just for personal health benefits but to protect our beautiful planet .
by focusing on veganism to the exclusion of all else , cowspiracy implies that if any of these frontline defenders – including the murdered brazilian land rights campaigners mentioned in the film – eat meat then they’re not ‘proper’ environmentalists . this is deeply offensive and exclusive , and also ignores the cultural importance of hunted meat in many indigenous societies . to build the genuinely international climate movement we desperately need , northern campaigners need to think carefully about the language they use to challenge the industrial livestock industry , and avoid sweeping statements that ignore the struggles of millions of people across the world .
however a growing number of environmentalists are praising cows and claim they can be climate healers rather than the villains they are often made out to be . they contend that a cow’s methane - rich burps can be offset if cattle grazing patterns are carefully managed . the result , they say , can be pretty landscapes and healthy soil that stores both carbon and water . is that just spin from cattle ranchers ? does cowspiracy use green groups as a foil to make a sensational film to generate buzz ? a conversation about the future of an american icon in the age of climate disruption .
kip andersen’s awakening as a filmmaker came as a result of an inconvenient truth . after seeing the film , he dramatically changed his lifestyle and believed he was doing everything he could to help the planet . but his life took a different direction when he found out animal agriculture is the leading cause of environmental destruction . together with keegan kuhn he co - produced his first film , cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , which became an overnight viral success and ignited the environmental movement . following this success , he was invited to speak in front of the european parliament and a new cut , executive produced by leonardo dicaprio , was exclusively released on netflix in september 2015 .
why only mention fossil fuels ? why not the inefficiency of livestock for nutritional purposes ? why not discuss the nitrogen cycle disruption ( steffen et al . 2015 science ) , biodiversity loss ( & rainforest destruction ) ( erb et al . 2016 nature communications ) , the amount of global agricultural land taken up by livestock ( it’s 75 % , foley et . 2011 nature ) ? why focus solely on greenhouse gases , when cowspiracy : the sustainability secret discusses far more effects of the livestock industry ? yes , the 50 % ghg is derived from a much contested study , but to discredit the documentary because it cites one study ( among many ) that isn’t credible , is intellectually dishonest .
i think cowspiracy was very unfair to alan savory , who says in his ted talk that culling the elephants was tragic mistake that he deeply regrets . that said , savory ' s methods really only work on natural grasslands that co - evolved with large ruminants ( eg elephants on the savannah or bison on the prairie ) . they ' re not suited to natural deserts , eg most of australia and large areas of central and north america , which are best left as wilderness reserves . nor are they suited to natural forestland , particularly rainforests like the amazon , tasmania , and aotearoa ( nz ) , where food forests of treecrops are a better option for producing human protein than grazing animals .
streaming giant netflix recently launched cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , a 90 - minute documentary financed via the crowd - funding site indiegogo and executive - produced by hollywood star leonardo di caprio . it is the latest in a short line of factual features promoted by netflix , which was prompted to make this acquisition by the huge number of people keying the title into its search box . since its internet release last august , the film has been triggering major behavioral change among young adults , an age group often labeled as apolitical and apathetic . as friends and facebook contacts recommend the film , young people watch it and by the time the end credits roll , they have resolved to become vegans or vegetarians .
what the health is the groundbreaking follow - up film from the creators of the award winning documentary cowspiracy . the film follows intrepid filmmaker kip andersen as he uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases – and investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it . with heart disease and cancer the leading causes of death in america , and diabetes at an all - time high , the film reveals possibly the largest health cover - up of our time . with the help of medical doctors , researchers , and consumer advocates , what the health exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars , and keeping us sick .
the filmmaking duo’s new cut of the documentary , cowspiracy : the sustainability secret , which is executive produced by leonardo dicaprio , is a controversial look at the animal agriculture industry’s practices and collisions with environmental organizations like greenpeace . recently acquired by netflix and premiering globally on the streaming service september 15 , the film depicts the tangled web of corruption within the industry that brings food to the tables of most americans . throughout the filmmaking process , andersen and kuhn interviewed dozens of environmental activists , some of whom were routinely threatened for speaking out against pro - animal agriculture organizations with limitless legal resources and congressional protection . if you think you’re going to sit through another horrific outcry like food , inc . — think again .
if you’ve posted anything online about fossil fuels and climate change lately , the chances are you’ve seen a response like this . cowspiracy : the sustainability secret may have started as a crowdfunded documentary by us filmmakers kip andersen and keegan kuhn but following a year of online success a new version of the film – executive produced by hollywood star leonardo dicaprio – has now been launched on netflix . the film follows andersen’s investigation into the climate impact of animal agriculture , and his attempts to get a series of large us environmental ngos to speak to him about it . it’s a compellingly told story , as most of the green groups seem reluctant to answer his questions or to justify their focus on fossil fuels rather than livestock emissions .
you already know the subject , animal husbandry . you all know the thesis - that animal husbandry is simply ecologically unsustainable with our current population numbers . what cowspiracy does is take one person through a very personal journey to show just how there is only one course of action that will allow this species to have a reasonable chance of surviving at the current population levels . we can change and adapt and go to a more healthy diet or we can wait for a massive ecological change and have our population levels and civilization crash like so many others have before . is it perfect ? no , but it is still that good . i wish broadcast tv had the guts to run it . i wish it were played in schools . unfortunately they never will .
cowspiracy also seems to assume that the only people worth targeting with its message are white , northern and middle - class . one of the most problematic lines in the film is when a commentator says “it’s not possible to be a meat - eating environmentalist . ” this statement is presumably meant to prick the consciences of well - off us eco - activists but it sweeps the struggles of millions of poorer southern and indigenous peoples under the carpet . most of the people fighting for a safer global environment aren’t middle - class northern folks with carbon - heavy lifestyles . they are the people engaged in frontline battles against fossil fuels , local pollution , and – yes – livestock megafarm projects around the world , and they are leading the way in the defence of our shared climate .
the film has built a sizable and vocal following , as evidenced by the critical cowspiracy - inspired comments that frequently pop up on articles about climate change , bemoaning the lack of coverage of the climate impact of animal agriculture . in paris for the climate talks in december , there was no escape either . i spotted the headline statistic from the documentary – “animal agriculture is responsible for 51 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions” – emblazoned on at least one placard or banner at most of the protests i attended in paris . kip andersen himself even turned up at the anti - oil protest outside the louvre , with a film camera and the 51 per cent figure printed on his shirt , presumably to denounce such fossil - fuel - bashing antics as a waste of time compared to stopping the livestock industry .
the film has built a sizable and vocal following , as evidenced by the critical cowspiracy - inspired comments that frequently pop up on articles about climate change , bemoaning the lack of coverage of the climate impact of animal agriculture . in paris for the climate talks in december , there was no escape either . i spotted the headline statistic from the documentary – ‘animal agriculture is responsible for 51 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions’ – emblazoned on at least one placard or banner at most of the protests i attended in paris . kip andersen himself even turned up at the anti - oil protest outside the louvre , with a film camera and the 51 per cent figure printed on his shirt , presumably to denounce such fossil - fuel - bashing antics as a waste of time compared to stopping the livestock industry .
the facts and stats underpinning the movie avoid the eco - yawn trap through jolly animation sequences : one acre of rainforest being cut down per second is shown as football fields replacing the trees , and the 660 gallons of water it takes to produce one beef - burger spring as a flood emitted from a man’s garden hose . cowspiracy ’s strong narrative has a thriller - like quality when anderson starts to realize the formidable adversary that is the us agricultural industry – and that of brazil too , where people who stand up to ranchers tend to end up dead . howard lyman , an erudite ex - rancher who spent 2 years fighting lawsuits after speaking against the beef industry on the oprah winfrey show , leaves the duo in no doubt about what they are taking on . the withdrawal of their financial backer seems like the last straw .
jo dirix criticizes me , and indeed calls me “intellectually dishonest , ” for focusing on cowspiracy’s climate argument and not also criticizing what it says about land use , nitrogen , water or deforestation . readers of this blog ( see previous posts at urltoken ) and of the ucs web pages on deforestation ( urltoken ) will know that i have written extensively on these issues and linked them to livestock production , particularly beef . i’ll continue to do that in future posts , and some of these issues will figure prominently in my next two posts , the reviews of the books defending beef and cowed . but given the limitations of space – we aim to keep our blog posts to 500 - 1000 words , and this one had already reached nearly 2000 – i chose to focus on climate , and just make brief mentions and / or give links to my writings on the other issues .
when those grasslands are torn up for man made agro - ecosystems ( cropland ) is where biodiversity is lost where these marginal grasslands are converted to agro - ecosystems , that’s where you lose soil carbon , lose methane sinks and require more diverted blue water for crops that aren’t anywhere as near nutrient dense . when these lands are also industrially farmed , the synthetic inputs including nitrogen also leach into waterways causing hypoxia . the common misconception is that all of this industrial farming is mainly for animal feed . cowspiracy furthers this misconception . the reality is that the feed is a co - product of the seed oil / biofuel / ethanol industries . feed started as a by - product . now there are a myriad of other by - products from industrial farming . note too that monocrops of palm oil trees also require huge inputs of nitrogen fertilizers to increase yields . the consequences of these inputs are also now just being realized .
in reference to the comment “…indeed scientists are practically absent among the many talking heads in the film…” the film is mainly based on the book “comfortably unaware” by richard oppenheimer . oppenheimer was the film’s main talking head . per the credits he was also the film’s statistical adviser . the film presented oppenheimer as “dr . ” and noted he was an environmental researcher , somehow implying that oppenheimer has a phd in the topics he was discussing . however , what the film didn’t clearly note was that oppenheimer is actually a dentist without any research background ( see meme ) . in addition to being an abolitionist vegan , oppenheimer also owns a wholesale vegan food company called ope’s , which ironically uses palm oil in its baked goods . so needless to note , both the book and the film based on the book further oppenheimer’s business interests . here’s a good review of oppenheimer’s book urltoken citing its many fallacies many of which are repeated in cowspiracy ,
agree . also , all the examples laid out by greenpeace paints a pattern . . . that they haven ' t questioned , let alone challenged , the practices of the meat industry in the us . given examples were of overseas . secondly , greenpeace has denied receiving
money
. but they didn ' t deny donations / other forms of rewards . thirdly , greenpeace did not apologise to kip andersen ( cowspiracy ) for swatting his multiple interview requests down over a year . this is unacceptable , given his persistence and what the documentary has ultimately shown : educating the public on meat industry crippling our earth . i sensed earlier too that kip was a fan and a donator of greenpeace . my partner & i have given greenpeace australia over $ 9k over 5yrs ( included a $ 3k gift when my partner had a promotion ) . i ' m thinking that we have to look elsewhere , since greenpeace has clearly been compromised .