general motors Tagged Articles at Cinematical

• Marit Allen (c.1941-2007) - Costume designer who worked often with Ang Lee (on Brokeback Mountain, Hulk and Ride with the Devil) and Nicholas Roeg (on The Witches, Eureka, Bad Timing and Don't Look Now). She also produced wardrobes for Eyes Wide Shut, Smilla's Sense of Snow, Dead Man, Mrs. Doubtfire, Mermaids, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 2007's La Vie en Rose and Love in the Time of Cholera. She had recently been working on costumes for Justice League of America. She died of a brain aneurism November 26, in Sydney, Australia. (Variety)
• Jeanne Bates (1918-2007) - Actress who co-starred in the 1943 serial of The Phantom. Known for playing nurse characters in TV and film, she appears as such in Gus, The Strangler and Paula. She also appears in Eraserhead, Mulholland Dr., Die Hard 2 and Grand Canyon. She died November 28 in Woodland Hills, California. (FindaGrave.com)
• Fred Chichin (1954-2007) - French musician and songwriter who composed music for André Téchiné's latest, The Witnesses. He also appears as himself, with his band Les Rita Mitsouko, in Godard's Keep Your Right Up. He died of cancer November 28, in Paris. (France 24)
• Mali Finn (c.1938-2007) - Casting director who worked on many on many films by James Cameron, including Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Titanic and True Lies, and by Joel Schumacher, including Batman Forever, Batman & Robin and Tigerland. She also worked on The Untouchables, L.A. Confidential, The Matrix trilogy, Wonder Boys, All the Real Girls, Running with Scissors, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Shooter and the upcoming 10,000 B.C., among others. She died of melanoma November 28, in Sonoma, California. (Variety)
• James M. Hart (1943-2007) - Special effects coordinator who worked on Newsies, Apollo 13, The Vanishing and Witness. He died November 19. (IMDb)
• Evel Knievel (1938-2007) - Daredevil stunt motorcyclist who appears as himself in Viva Knievel! and Freebie and the Bean (as "motorcyclist"). He was portrayed by George Hamilton in 1971's Evel Knievel and by Sam Elliott and George Eads in separate TV movies of the same name. He died November 30 in Clearwater, Florida. (AP)
• Al Mancini (1932-2007) - Actor who plays a soldier "Tassos Bravos" in The Dirty Dozen. He also appears in Miller's Crossing, Falling Down, Big Business, Turk 182! and The Public Eye and voices a fish in Babe: Pig in the City. He died of Alzheimer's disease November 12, in London, Ohio. (FindaGrave.com)

Often when an investigative documentary ends, it is only the film that stops, while its story continues beyond the credits. For example, any doc with allegations against a corporation, institution or government is going to lead to further debate and discussion. Actually it's a safe bet that such a doc will garner a full public dispute and/or press-released defense if not also an extensive attempt to discredit everyone involved with the film. Therefore it is not surprising that General Motors has quickly come out with its own side of the story told in Who Killed the Electric Car?, a film which hardly makes outright claims so much as it asks obvious questions about GM's recall and demolition of its EV1.

GM is not a stranger to being the subject of investigative documentaries. Michael Moore's debut film, Roger & Me, hit the company's image hard when it became a surprising success in 1989 and popularized the investigative doc format. But even though Who Killed the Electric Car? is not nearly as well made as Roger & Me, and it probably will not have as big an audience, no potentially harmful film is going to be ignored by the business it might damage (see the story of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, which never got wide distribution but still caused a fuss with the superstore chain).

GM's answer to the film is in the form of a posting by spokesman Dave Barthmuss on the company's FastLane blog. I won't go into his statements because this isn't the place for that discussion, but I would like to point out that Barthmuss has not seen the film, and that should be an immediate mark against him. Not only does slamming a film he hasn't seen make him obviously unfit to do so, it puts a dent on the credibility of GM's whole argument. I didn't even enjoy the film, but I would certainly watch it again if I was going to intelligently discuss its contents. I'm sure GM's stance on the issue won't change after viewing Who Killed the Electric Car? but wouldn't it help their side to have Barthmuss spend 92 minutes at the movies? Or at least have him lie about seeing it?

A new documentary titled Who Killed the Electric Car? presents the history of GM's battery-powered EV1 vehicle, which was discontinued after only five years of production supported by very limited marketing. The film, which opens in NYC and LA on June 28, is very topical right now because The Smithsonian Institute just made a controversial decision to remove their EV1 from public display. It is also relevant to current cinema, as it provides a footnote to the global warming doc, An Inconvenient Truth.

Look for my review of the film later in the week, but until then, check out Sebastian Blanco's exclusive interview with one of the doc's subjects, Chelsea Sexton, over at AutoBlogGreen. Sexton, a former employee of GM who worked on the EV1's leasing program, is the heart and soul of Who Killed the Electric Car?. She is also the most enjoyable part of the film, providing it with much needed spirit throughout its depressing story. If you like the interview with her, you may just want to check out the film to hear more about her passion for and former life with electric cars.