Battle in Seattle Opens! - Critics Chatter!

Tomorow, Stuart Townsend's new movie, The Battle of Seattle, opens across the country. There's still time to get involved in spreading the word about this movie, which depicts how everyday people can work together to change our system. Get involved here.

There are also plenty of reviews.

• David Postman of The Seattle Times, who covered the protests, says of Townsend: "When he began the project several years ago, he said he wanted to make something that would show "the meaning and limits of democracy." I think "Battle in Seattle" does that."
• John Hartl, doing the actual review of the movie for The Seattle Times, says: "Atlanta had "Gone With the Wind." New York City got "King Kong," more than once. And now our Emerald City has "Battle in Seattle." ... In the tradition of such movies as "Inherit the Wind" and "Compulsion," which appropriated Clarence Darrow's courtroom antics but never called him Clarence Darrow, "Battle in Seattle" features recognizable historical figures whose identities are partly inventions."
• Democracy Now has an interview with Townsend, and activist David Solnit, who helped orchestrate direct action events at the Seattle protests, and has written critically about the realism/authenticity of the protest scenes in the movie. He now says he is pleased with the movie and the debate it is engendering.
• Townsend writes about the David and Goliath moment on HuffPost.

The AFL-CIO features Steelworker president Leo Gerard's talking about the movie on the AFL blog:

It’s rare for a feature film to celebrate union power—or how activists of any stripe can trounce the world’s largest corporations. The writer and director, Stuart Townsend, tells our story in a way that lets a broad audience connect and learn about one of the proudest moments in American history.

The powers that be in Hollywood did not want this film made. Heaven forbid that the real story got out about the outrage of corporate globalization, the WTO or how motivated activists won against impossible odds.

Just like we organized turnout at the Seattle protests—telling our friends, posting information in our union halls, sending out e-mails and fliers—we can create another Seattle surprise! The fat cats in the big Hollywood studios are just like those CEOs sitting pretty the day before the Seattle summit started. I urge you to see the film and bring your friends, family and union brothers and sisters.

UPDATE: Also see Charlize Theron on Jon Stewart here: