Coming to a theater near you

Al Gore’s apocalyptic fabulism - which achieved a measure of fame among the credulous devotees of the Gaia cult nearly a decade ago with the release of his crockumentary, the risibly entitled An Inconvenient Truth – is apparently being revived in a sequel to the original film.

Or is it really?

"We have had conversations," producer Lawrence Bender tells THR. "We've met; we've discussed. If we are going to make a movie, we want it to have an impact."

Hmmmm. This sounds a lot like the way I would describe my reaction to an unsolicited, and unsuccessful, sales pitch made to me a while back by a young fellow selling some kind of “revolutionary” attic insulation. We met, too. And we had a conversation. And that was…that.

Bender’s insistence on having an impact is understandable because, in spite of the first film’s fairly sizeable revenues, it has not been easy keeping all those sloping brows in a fevered state.

But Bender believes that during the ensuing years, the fossil-fuel industry has changed the dialogue with a misinformation campaign. "They did a really good job of pushing back and confusing people," he says. "Some people actually believe global warming doesn't exist."

Fancy that. I suppose Exxon/Mobil is…what, exactly? Blending mind-control chemicals in with its gasoline? Buying people off with discounted windshield wipers? If we ask Harry Reid, I’m sure we’ll find out that the Koch brothers are somehow behind this diabolical denialism.

Envirophiliac Laurie David also weighs in on the idea of a sequel.

"God, do we need one," she says. "Everything in that movie has come to pass. At the time we did the movie, there was Hurricane Katrina; now we have extreme weather events every other week. The update has to be incredible and shocking."

Well, yes, that whole Katrina thing was a real eye-opener, because it was the first time in recorded history that a hurricane ever blew ashore in Louisiana. That is, if we don’t include the 49 other hurricanes that have hammered the state since 1851. And the reference David makes to extreme weather events happening every other week? Boy, I’ll say! I’ve shoveled enough snow this winter to build a two-story igloo. So, yeah, if that’s global warming, let’s get rid of it.