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A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash 
Actors : n/a
Director : Ray McCormack, Basil Gelpke, Reto Caduff
Studio : DOCURAMA
by DOCURAMA
Brand : NEW VIDEO GROUP INC
Release Date : 2007-07-31
Publisher : DOCURAMA
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0767685992036
UPC : 767685992036
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 31 reviews)
List Price : $26.95
Our Price : $13.04
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Product Description |
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An unforgettable and shocking wake-up call A Crude Awakening offers the rock-solid argument that the era of cheap oil is in the past. Relentless and clear-eyed this intensively-researched film drills deep into the uncomfortable realities of a world that is both addicted to fossil fuels and blissfully unaware of the looming "peak oil" crisis.Drawing on an international cast of maverick energy experts and thinkers directors Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack debunk the conventional wisdom that oil production will continue to climb and instead stare bleakly at a planet facing economic meltdown and conflict over its most valuable resource. Featuring a haunting score by Phillip Glass and a fascinating array of rare archival footage the film explores oil s rocky relationship with human progress in locales ranging from ancient Baku Azerbaijan to dusty oilpatch town McCamey Texas.Amidst a dark and disturbing vision of our future A Crude Awakening hints at a humbler way of life built around sustainability and alternative energy providing a visually stunning boldly prophetic testament which provokes not just thought but action.System Requirements:Running Time: 85 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 767685992036 Manufacturer No: NVG-9920 |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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While the previous eco-doc Who Killed the Electric Car? spent some time on the world's oil crisis, A Crude Awakening (formerly OilCrash) builds an entire film around the subject. Swiss journalist Basil Gelpke and Irish filmmaker Ray McCormack have constructed their narrative in a conventional manner, alternating between talking heads, archival footage, and modern-day material, but the addition of several pieces by Phillip Glass is an artful touch (and evokes his work on 1988's The Thin Blue Line). Throughout, a diverse array of experts from the U.S., Azerbaijan, Venezuela, and other countries explain how the 20th century became addicted to "the blood of the dinosaurs," and why contemporary society needs to change course. As attorney/activist Matthew David Savinar puts it, "Oil is our God." As Stanford professor Terry Lynn Karl adds, "More and more oil is going to come from less and less stable places...places that actually challenge the taking of oil in the first place." One of the more chilling revelations concerns the discrepancy between the reserves oil-producing nations claim they possess and the actual amount. These padded estimates allow them to drill with impunity, leading to an abundance of wealth in the short term and cataclysmic consequences once they've depleted their supply of this non-renewable resource. A Crude Awakening isn't exactly a day-brightener, but Gelpke and McCormack are comprehensive and impartial in their inquiry, which makes for an informative examination of a vitally important subject. Extras include extended interviews with four participants and bonus chapter Petrostates. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
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Every American should see this documentary for true facts instead of BS!! |
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A lot of factual in this comprehensive documentary which will arm every citizen who watches it against the lies being spewed by those who want to deceive Americans in order to gain their votes by fraud. Americans are being lulled into believing the lies that reliance on foreing oil will be reduced by any significant amount and that gas/oil prices will be reduced by offshore and arctic drilling - and Americans are desperate enough to believe such lies without question, without wanting to listen to the unappetizing truth that we use over 25% of the world's oil while we possess less than 4% of oil reserves. The mathematics show the truth, that drilling all the 5% total reserves would not even put a dent in our dependence on foreign oil nor prices, but the cynics know voters want hope even when a lie. The cynics know the reality and the truth will be face well AFTER the elections!!! Meanwhile, the old policies that got us into this mess will prevail, and contunue until the reality of depletion arrives for us to face, still dependent on foreign oil and still UNPREPARED!! And this deplection will be happening within the lifetime of our children, this has been well documented by both oil companies and governments, who withhold this coming catastrophe from the public!!!! |
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A Crude Awakening |
Very informative and relevant in light of the rising prices at the pump. Americans need to realize that the days of cheap energy are over.
We need to seek out alternatives that are renewable or face the day when we will run out of oil. |
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Compelling arguements to consider |
Today is June 12, 2008, and with oil is above $130 per barrel, we have an ideal environment to take in such a documentary as this. The scenario reminds me of a book called, "What To Do When Oil Is $200 A Barrel." Perhaps by the time you read this, it will be over $200 a barrel.
For this genre, this is a well-produced documentary that combines visual interest with good academic but energizing commentary. It plays out like a story: from the early discoveries of oil, the oil bonanza in the USA to the peaks in Venezuela, Russian states and Saudi Arabia.
As one watches how peak discovery USA or other early regions yielded to peak production then leading to ultimate decline, you quickly see the model used for calculating "peak oil" globally which many experts say is anywhere between 2003 and 2030 (many predicting around the next five years). The famous, so-called Hubbert's Peak is described by the man himself.
US production started around the 30's but peaked in 70's and has dwindled to a fraction of peak now. That's apparently what we see now in the giant of giant fields that produce a lion's share - some being pumpued with seawater to maximize output (something normally done when a field is peaking down). ALL these will eventually follow the model peaking scenario that was seen in USA, Baku and other areas. North Sea is also peaking apparently if you follow news in EU.
Arguements for being at a peak include the strong and sustained rise in demand, the apparent signs of peaking of the giant fields today and the fact that no fields this big have been discovered in a while (given oil companies have mapped much of the planet). This doc makes the strong point that huge discoveries are needed just to keep up with current demand - let alone feed growth - since all current fields will eventually decline.
But with price of oil so high, it will and is opening up discovery previously not pursued until crude hit a magic threshold price. The doc could have presented such supply-side possibiities more clearly to give more balance. But, this is a compelling documentary that will stimulate your own analysis. If nothing else, you will probably see just how oil permeates so much of our lives in the products we buy and way we live. PS: Some of the best writers on this topic in my opinion are economists who have little direct bias or professional stake in any particular outcome ("A Thousand Barrels a Second" is a quite good analysis of the situation). |
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crude crap |
THese guys that write these book must do one sided research, Peak Oil LOL not yet. We're finding out the earth core is producing more oil, sounds crayz ,but true. However, according to Popular Science Apr 2008 there are 175 Trillion thats right 175 TRILLION barrels of oil in Tar sands in Canada that they can extract a barrel of oil from for about $20.00 a barrel. Then you have 5 Trillion barrels of oil in OIL Shale in Colo,Wyo & Utah that they can produced a barrel of oil for about $40.00 a barrel. Then theres the Bakken Formation that stretches from Montana to N. Dakota and southern Canada that has 503 billion barrels of oil, then theres 40 or more billion barrels of oil on the Alaskan North Slope. 1/2 to 1/3 of the Gulf hasn't been explored and the present pools are refilling from deeper deposits seeping upward- from where -do you remember the core.
I have a best frined who's brother works on the Gulf oil rigs and he states they've capped off many excellent producing wells- wonder why? Maybe because Big Oil and Wall Street Commodity Traders want to keep getting richer with tight supplies.And we have all kinds of oil off the coast of Calif and Fla,plus 2 giant oil fields were just found recently off the coast of Brazil. China supposedly has all kinds of oil but no infrastructure to get it out and piped to refineries which they don't have either since it's rural country for the most part. Do we need to move from oil absolutely but not for quite awhile yet. But, fear books sell better, yet all the above info is readily available on the web if one has the time and searches for it. |
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Awakening. |
This documentary describes a process that is inevitable... but at least it describes it rather than putting ones head in the sand and denying it.
The more people that are aware of what will happen when cheap plentiful energy becomes scarce expensive energy the better.
Highly recommended. |
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