Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
kristianszalans-29553
Raises awareness, overall slightly lacks analytical perspective. There are only a few, but considerably weird bits with sexual jokes and some gender panic.
billcr12
Bag it is a documentary with a simple and important message; our disposable society needs to change if we are to survive as a species. We are now using 1milion plastic bags per minute. Quite a few countries have banned their use including New Dehli, India, where they were clogging the drains and causing floods. Jeb Berrier travels from city to city and nation to nation illustrating the different ways they are dealing with the problem. Berrier is sort of a less sarcastic and non confrontational version of Michael Moore. His wife is pregnant with their first child, so he is concerned about his baby's future. The numbers are staggering; 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes, requiring 17 million barrels of oil to produce and 12 billion dollars spent every year on bottled water. Recycling turns out not to be the simple solution either, as every locale has vastly different guidelines with many categories. 260 million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans from around the world annually, resulting in fish and birds, and in one particularity sad example, albatross's ingesting it as food and dying. The last issue raised is the production of baby bottles and other products requiring BPA to produce. This chemical has been shown to increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, and to drastically alter the hormones levels in newborns.Berrier has a light touch with an important topic and at 78 minutes, it is well edited with important information without being too preachy and he is a very likable host. Spread the word about this vital documentary and maybe we can make a difference.
evening1
This movie follows up on the famous line from "Mrs. Robinson" by showing just how indispensible, polluting, and even murderous plastics have become. Jeb is a genial guide through the world of entrenched plastic consumption and his message is both compelling and tragic. How sad that our litigious world is set up so you can't use your own packaging -- say, as you go through a McDonald's drive-thru -- even if you'd want to.Parts of the movie are humorous. My eight-year-old son and I had to laugh during the scene where well-meaning Jeb buys more than he plans and struggles to leave the store without a bag.Other parts of the movie were rather chilling, for example, when he talked about toxicity and children. And then of course you have the thousands of sea animals who choke to death.The movie has affected me strongly and I use less plastic now. I hope lots of people can see this.
critic-at-large
Bag It is a documentary clearly in the style of Michael Moore's filmmaking. With humor and charm, Jeb Berrier investigates the path taken by plastic bags as they journey from the market where a clerk puts our groceries in them to the air, ocean, creeks and shipping containers where they become a source of suffering and ugliness.Cut to cheerful Mr. Berrier walking through a supermarket, holding up other examples of plastic packaging. He manages in a moment to make these items appear ridiculous as he looks into the camera and asks why we need all this plastic. Does it really serve a purpose? If so, then why do we throw it away? Not just a little bit of it, but collectively millions of tons each year.I confess that I have been one of the millions of people who, though I know better, have continued to shop without bothering to bring a bag. I justified my sloth by telling myself that the bags get recycled, so what does it matter? After seeing Bag It I can no longer think this way. Bag It is an important movie that I believe will have important consequences, both for those who see it and for the environment. But most important of all, Berrier, like Michael Moore, pulls off the coup of making his point while making us enjoy watching him. See it to be entertained, informed and enlightened.