RNC '08 Report: Text: Movies: 'Battle in Seattle' beyond reach

Movies: 'Battle in Seattle' beyond reach
Colin Covert, vita.min, Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 29th, 2008

Issues drama at its patchiest, "Battle in Seattle" takes the 1999 street siege protesting the World Trade Organization conference as the jumping-off point for a simplistic diatribe.

I'm no expert on trade guidelines, but the deck is stacked against the WTO so heavily that, in dramatic terms, they're the underdogs.

The activists are uniformly young, attractive and adventurous. Their adversaries are a phalanx of anonymous, frowning wrinklies in suits.

The scenes of conflict carry a certain local resonance after the recent arrests surrounding the RNC, but the film's ambitions exceed director Stuart Townsend's grasp.

(Rated R. )

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2004 Republican National Convention in NY, 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Harassment of Glass Bead Collective journalists (night of Aug 26th/early morning of Aug 27th), Critical Mass Bike Ride at Loring Park (Aug 29th), Raid on Convergence Center at 627 Smith Ave S, St. Paul, MN (Aug 29th), Raid on 951 Iglehart Ave, St. Paul, MN where i-Witness Video were staying (Aug 30th), Raid on 2301 23rd Ave South, Minneapolis, MN (Aug 30th) Food Not Bombs home. Nathanael David Secor arrested, Raid on 3500 Harriet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN (Aug 30th), Raid on 3240 17th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN (Aug 30th) - Garrett Scott Fitzgerald, Eryn Chase Trimmer, Monica Rachel Bicking arrested, Liberty Parade on Nicollet Mall (Aug 31st), Vets for Peace Solumn Funeral Procession (Aug 31st), March on the RNC to Stop the War (Sep 1st), Vandalism in downtown St. Paul (Sept 1st), Democracy Now staff arrests (Sep 1st), Mass Arrest of Harriet Island "Take Back Labor Day" concert-goers on Shepard Road (Sep 1st), Ripple Effect Concert at the State Capitol (Sep 2nd), Mears Park Poor People's Rally & March for Our Lives (Sept 2nd), Near-raid on i-Witness Video space at 1595 Selby Ave (Sep 3rd), Mass arrest of Rage Against The Machine concert goers in Minneapolis (Sept 3rd), Student Strike Against the RNC (Sep 4th), "No Peace for the Warmakers" Rally & Demonstration (Sep 4th), Mass arrest on Marion St Bridge (Sept 4th), Community Conversation about the RNC (Sep 24th), RNC Public Review Safety Commission public hearing (Nov 6th), G-20 Protests in London (March-April 2009), G-20 protests in Pittsburgh (24-25 September 2009), RNC 8 evidentiary hearings (May 2010), G-20 Protests in Toronto (26-27 June 2010), RNC 8 Final Court Appearance (19 October 2010)

BOSTROM, Matt (Assistant Police Chief of St. Paul), CHOI, John (St. Paul City Attorney), COLEMAN, Christopher B. (St. Paul Mayor), DARBY, Brandon (A.K.A. "CHS 1", paid informant who infiltrated Austin protesters), DARST, Andrew (A.K.A. "Panda", "CRI 2", paid informant who infiltrated RNC Welcoming Committee), DEPALMA, Matthew (Michigan Molotov Case), DOLAN, Tim (Minneapolis Police Chief), FLETCHER, Bob (Ramsey County Sheriff), GAERTNER, Susan (Ramsey County Attorney), GOODMAN, Amy (Democracy Now, arrested Sept 1st), GROSS, Michelle (Communities United Against Police Brutality), HARRINGTON, John (St. Paul Police Chief), HEFFELFINGER, Tom (Former U.S. Attorney) and LUGER, Andy (former Assistant U.S. Attorney), HUGHES, Elliot (alleged torture under Ramsey County Sheriff's care), JOHNSON, Jason (Tased in Mears Park on Day 2), KELLY, Mick (Banner carrier shot with projectile at point blank on Day 4/Arrested for distributing leaflets about RNC march at Obama rally), LANE, Leah (abusive arrest on Day 4 captured on CNN and Fox 9), LUBINSKI, Sharon (Assistant Police Chief of Minneapolis), MAHONEY, Dave (Accused of dropping sandbag onto I-94 freeway on Day 1), MULHOLLAND, Ann (St. Paul Deputy Mayor), NESTOR, Bruce (President of National Lawyers Guild, Minnesota Chapter), PAWLENTY, Tim (Governor of Minnesota), ROWLEY, Coleen (retired FBI 9/11 whistle-blower and peace activist), "RNC 8" Arrestees (Monica BICKING, Robert CZERNIK, Garrett FITZGERALD, Luce Guillen GIVINS, Erik OSELAND, Nathanael SECOR, Max SPECTOR, and Eryn TRIMMER), RYBACK, R.T. (Minneapolis Mayor), SMITH, Keith (17-year-old protester allegedly beaten by police on Day 1), SULLIVAN, Karen (Undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Anti-War Committee), SUNDIN, Jess (March on the RNC organizer, Anti-War Committee), "TEXAS TWO" Arrestees (Bradley Neal CROWDER and David MCKAY), THUNE, Dave (Ward 2 Council Member for St. Paul)

Academic Source | Activist Group | American Civil Liberties Union | The American Jewish World | Amnesty International | Associated Press | Austin American-Statesman | Austin Chronicle | The Austin Informant Working Group | City Pages | CNN | Committee to Protect Journalists | Communities United Against Police Brutality | Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure (CRASS) | Congressional Quarterly Today | Connecticut Local Politics | crimethinc.com | The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Defense Technology/Federal Laboratories | Democracy Now! | Des Moines Register | Digital Journal | Federal Bureau of Investigation | Flickr.com | Fox 9 (Fox News affiliate) | Free Speech TV | Glass Bead Collective | Gnooze.com | The Guardian | Huffington Post | i-Witness Video | Indian Express | Indymedia | Kare 11 (NBC affiliate) | Kentucky Kernal | KSTP Eyewitness 5 (ABC affiliate) | Legal Firms | Malarky News | Minneapolis City Council | Minneapolis Police Department | Minneapolis Saint Paul 2008 RNC Host Committee | Minneapolis Star Tribune | Minnesota Daily | Minnesota Independent | Minnesota Monitor | Minnesota Public Radio | MinnPost | Minnesota State Legislature | Mobile Broadcast News | MPLS Mirror | National Lawyers Guild Minnesota | National Press Photographers Association | New Orleans Gambit Weekly | The New York Observer | The New York Times | nigelparry.com | PBS | Poynter Institute | The Rag Blog | Ramsey County District Court | Ramsey County Sheriff's Office | Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press | Reporters sans frontieres | RNC '08 Report | RNC 8 | RNC Welcoming Committee | Security Source | States News Service | Society of Professional Journalists | St. Paul City Council | St. Paul Legal Ledger | St. Paul Pioneer Press | St. Paul Police Department | Submedia.tv | The Texas Observer | Truthdig | Twin Cities Daily Planet | Twitter.com | The Uptake | U.S. Department of Defense | United Press International | Variety | The Washington Times | WCCO (CBS affiliate) | Xinhua News Agency

Coldsnap Legal Collective | Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) | Community RNC Arrestee Support Structure (CRASS) | Friends of the RNC 8 | Glass Bead Collective | Ground Noise and Static documentary | Help Dave Mahoney | The Milwalkee Three | National Lawyers Guild (Minneapolis) | RNC Commission Report & Executive Summary | Support the Texas Two | Terrorizing Dissent documentary | Twin Cities Indymedia

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