Thom Hartmann, The 11th Hour, Leo DiCaprio

BORING HOST, DULL MOVIE

Libtalker's Book Made Into Box Office Bomb







A new film based on a book by libtalker Thom Hartmann has bombed at the box office, according to FOX News. Called The 11th Hour, the flick was a project of actor Leo DiCaprio and based on Hartmann's The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late, which was first published in 2004.

From FOX's report:

Leo's Eco Movie Bombs


It's a good thing Leonardo DiCaprio made so much money from "Titanic" a decade ago.

His environmental documentary, "The 11th Hour," has been a total bust at the box office. After 18 days in release, the film has grossed only $417,913 from ticket sales. The 90-minute snore-fest is playing on 111 screens this week, but that number is likely to be reduced this Friday. The film will be sent to DVD heaven after that.

By comparison, Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim's similar but far more engaging "An Inconvenient Truth" had already made $3.5 million by its 18th day of release.

I hesitated to say before "11th Hour" actually opened how mind-numbingly dull it was for fear that I would ruin it for those interested in the subject of global warming. But at Cannes, when the film by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen was shown to journalists, nearly the entire room fell asleep.

A Russian filmmaker told us afterward that she was the only person in the room who was awake at one point.

I can believe it. "The 11th Hour" is grindingly boring. Basically, a series of scientists, one after another, warn the audience that the world is coming to an end. These talking heads are interspersed with stock footage of melting glaciers. The film has the effect of Ambien — with no hangover post-nap.

And this certainly is not meant to belittle the idea of global warming on my part. Last week, we met an Australian civil engineer whose specialty is the environment. He told us he had just flown over Mount Kilimanjaro and was quite surprised by what he had seen.

For those who follow liberal talk radio, this should come as no surprise. Hartmann, who replaced Al Franken at Air America Radio after the latter left to run for the US Senate, is well- versed in the art of boredom. His ratings certainly reflect that.

In addition, Hartmann has some credibility issues in his past, including questions about his military record and inflated audience claims, which we previously covered here and here.

Perhaps Leo's Hollywood backers will think twice before wasting good money on another one of his brain- dead projects.


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