Last year, between the two of us, we watched an average of 317 movies.
This year our goal is to top that by watching at least one a day.
And as an extra special torture, we've decided to write about all of them.

12 December 2008

I.O.U.S.A.

Director: Patrick Creadon
Writers: Patrick Creadon, Christine O'Malley, Addison Wiggin
Released: 2008
Cast: David Walker, Robert Bixby

NIKKI says:
So, oh my fucking god. The state of the world is worse than I imagined. And George W. Bush has had a more catastrophic impact on the world than I imagined (and I thought his war-mongering and his time as the Texacutioner couldn't be topped!).

This was less a documentary and more a horror movie. I gasped and jumped and couldn't believe much of what I was seeing. Even the beginning -- did you know that the economic crisis was predicted during White House speeches back in the days of Eisenhower? Pretty much every president mentioned in speeches throughout history how American people are spending more than they're earning. They all talk about the ramifications of that spending and massive debt generations are leaving for their offspring.

And now it's at crisis point. When they made this film, the National Debt was 8.7 trillion dollars and growing. America owes everyone and everyone in America seems to owe someone else and standards of living are plummeting because no one can afford anything. This movie details how the debt became so big and what needs to be done in order to get America's finances back in order.

Just like An Inconvenient Truth, the solutions are relatively simple, with great impact. But those solutions mean stepping out of our comfort zones and changing the way we live. I just don't know if I can see people doing that on such a large scale. Someone says it in this movie -- America does not respond until catastrophe. So, I can't see anything being done until the money literally dries up and Americans at large wind up on the streets. It's a tragedy. Maybe Barack Obama can do something about it?

This movie is highly informative, and simplifies much of what is happening as far as the debt goes to make it understandable. It's scary, really, just how easily it all can be simplified -- we spend too much, America spends too much, George W. Bush doubled the National Debt in just eight years in office. The movie uses cool little graphics to get its points across. It's also got some cool characters in David Walker and Robert Bixby -- men on a mission to inform America of its financial woes.

It's funny, educational, and terrifying as hell.

4.5/5