Ethos (2011)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I love this movie so much

Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Politicians are the Televangelists of the Corporate World: they preach what their financial backers want them to preach (no matter HOW f***ing stupid); this is one of the great Givens of the twenty-first century (which often calls to mind the a**-backward thinking of the Middle Ages). Compilation or not, ETHOS gets its message across most effectively (or the message(s) of the filmmakers whose documentaries comprise the various segments of this one...). I must admit, though, that the admonition to withhold one's financial support of the various criminal enterprises (i.e.; the corporations) profiled herein seems just a tad too late (since-the-second-World-War too late): the REAL damage has already been done- and it was done in large part because We didn't stand up and say ENOUGH! when there was still time to salvage something. I try to be optimistic. STAR TREK (the original series) and comic books taught me that We as a Species could change the world (and, perhaps, the Universe) for the Better. But I'm convinced at this point that we blew it. We're well on our way to the next "Extinction Event," and we did it to ourselves. GOP (Geriatric Older People) TV (Fox "News") played a BIG part in it: the ME (Moneyed Elite) of Reagan's "Mourning in America" have swayed so many simple-minded saps that the Flat Earthers have had The Final Say and it's "No!" to Science and "No!" to Common Sense and it'll STAY that way 'til we're all sucked under. Consider: The Corporate News (as far as I can tell) has made no mention of a recent Friendly Fire incident in which U.$. $oldier$ who had been ambushed called in a Drone strike and were themselves killed by said Drone. And how many newscasters made mention of the fact that there have been (as of this writing) 75 school shootings (or mass shootings, I forget which) since Newtown? Did anyone hear about Lafeyette, CO, where The People PREVENTED fracking by drawing up their own Community Bill of Rights to combat corporations? (The corporations stand poised to rape this area as I write: seismic testing has begun.) Oh, and one last item: Tony "The NitBrit" Blair claims that the current troubles in Iraq "have nothing to do with the Iraq War." He thinks it's an easy sell because the U.$.-backed dictator, the late Saddam Hussein, was such a b****** that some people STILL believe the war was about Weapons of Mass Destruction (which totally ignores the fact that plans had been drawn up to divide Iraq's oil resources a full DECADE before the U.$. invasion). End of screed.

Hosted by twice Oscar nominated actor Woody Harrelson, Ethos explores the mechanisms in our systems that work against democracy, the environment and our own personal liberty.Harrelson says "it would be illogical to expect politicians to change a system that puts them in power". True, but only if we accept that the system is so far gone that it cannot be changed. Bernie Sanders is a case in point, showing that (although rare) dissident voices can get into the ring.Another reviewer says the problem with this documentary is that it is clipped from other documentaries. That does seem to be a problem, on top of Harrelson's desire to suggest conspiracy theories are sometimes real.The film has a big reliance on Chomsky, including his insights into Bernays and Walter Lippmann. While Chomsky is in here, it seems (like everyone else) his footage was taken from other sources. He would have been more than happy to appear for five minutes to discuss these topics...

First of all, I have been watching a few of these so called "conspiracy" documentaries recently and the little description piqued my interest.Once the film gets going, you will recognize interviews lifted from "The Corporation" as well as pieces of the "Zeitgeist" series and many other sources. These didn't present any new information or even try to offer a different opinion. The narration often switched from a pleasant accented voice, to Woody Harrelson standing in front of a set of looped T.V screens.???This film failed to present any new information and assumed the viewer was unaware of any information on the subjects discussed.I am eagerly waiting for the film that offers REAL solutions to these issues. We all know the problems we face as a society. When are we going to stop making documentaries about the corruption and finally take a stand against it? The hopeless nature of this film was very discouraging.

I stumbled across this documentary online because it was free to watch on their official site, as well as on youtube. I would say my knowledge on the US political system is basic, but I'm interested in building upon it, more than what the big media corporations feed us. Because of that reason, Ethos was a delight seeing. It captivated my interest right away, especially when Woody Harrelson started narrating lol. I knew that he's a good actor but seeing him in this docu made me separate the actor from the "White Men Can't Jump" character.It touched on a few subjects like the environment, capitalism influencing our gov't, role of big businesses in politics, Sept 11, propaganda, apathy in the public, among other juicy topics. With a running time of 52 mins (Director's Cut is 72 mins), it piqued and kept my interest with a non-sluggish pace. More importantly, after seeing the movie, Ethos motivated me to learn more so I checked out the official Ethos website which had some helpful links and recommendations.It had several good messages, and one that I remember most vividly is that consumers have power/voice/influence in how businesses conduct their business. Choosing to buy from a socially-conscious business versus a company that isn't sends a message to both companies, one of support, the other of disapproval.I rated this 9/10 because it was one of my favorite documentaries, I don't regret seeing it, and I recommended it to friends.