‘WALL-E’ sheds light on Greenway

“We’re from the Bronx. We don’t care about that personal garbage.”

That’s what you hear loud and clear midway through the crash and burn that is “Weiner.” If you agree, you’ll want to see it. If you don’t, you won’t. “Weiner” the movie might well be as divisive as Weiner the man.

One thing beyond dispute is that New Yorkers love politics, and that comes through loud and clear in “Weiner.” In the few weeks that the candidate catches fire, the camera catches the energy and interaction of parades, events, grand openings and shout-outs like few dramatic films have.  

Weiner actually makes a joke about channeling Warren Beatty’s no-holds barred performance in “Bulworth,” but “Weiner” actually lacks that movie’s upbeat ending, if you can believe it. No one gets killed, but the hero goes down nursing a giant cup of coffee. Why is this so sad? That oversize cup means that this creature of politics, this Frankenstein of the media, this showman of the Congress is working from home.   

The second half takes you into a marriage just as political as Bill and Hillary’s and twice as tortured. This marital mess has not one but two “other women:” the infamous “Sidney Leathers,” the internet foil for “Carlos Danger” who is as articulate and indomitable and ambitious as Weiner; and Hillary herself, calling the shots from afar and peeling off Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, from her flailing husband. As these “other women” become more prominent in “Weiner,” Abedin gets more political — and more invisible, which is to say, she is getting more political. She just can’t afford to show up at the loser’s campaign send-off and concession if she wants a seat at the table. Weiner’s ridiculous behavior makes her move on, and up.     

Whether “Weiner” tells a story of justice done might depend on whether you agree with that lady from the Bronx. I just wonder where her husband will be when the GOP attack dogs go after Hillary’s State Department ties to Huma. Trump versus Carlos Danger in a Twitter war is something I might pay to see.

Bronxites enjoyed their love of politics in a far more family-friendly fashion with three movies under cloudy skies at this year’s pre-RiverFest movie fest, shaping up to be an event in its own right. Saturday night’s main event was a showing of “WALL-E,” the movie with the miraculous wordless, plotless half hour opening sequence. But “WALL-E” for Riverfest? KRVC Director Tracey Shelton had an interesting perspective.

“Sometimes you watch this movie, and you think it’s a love story,” she said. “Another time you could think it’s a science fiction robotics story. But when you watch it for RiverFest, you know that it’s about the environment.”

I saw it that way too — look carefully at the end and you’ll even see the resettled earthlings building the Greenway!

RiverFest’s film fest also ended up being the world premiere of the preview for “When the Climate Changed,” an ambitious work of advocacy film-making by local environmentalists Beth Haase and Jessica Haller. Another movie about climate change? Ms. Haller drew a distinction.  

“This is about what do we do today to prepare our children for the world that’s coming,” she said.

 Intended as a “wake-up” for policy makers, educators, actors and decision-makers, “When the Climate Changed” is a call for all of us who think we want more and more environmental action.  

“Our future is already drastically different — even if we stopped short combustion right now.  What are the mental health aspects of living in a changed world? Experts have barely begun to scratch the surface,” Ms. Haller said.

Start you mental adjustments with a longer version of “When the Climate Changed,” coming to a July KRVC event.

And a final shout-out for the KRVC short film, “Build it Now,” a great piece of montage filmmaking by Jordan Stanton, especially with its cuts to the Manhattan waterfront pathways and greenways that should make every Bronxite, well, green.  

Worth staying home for: I gave “Whiskey Foxtrot Tango” a shot because I strongly felt that I hadn’t given Tina Fey her due. The movie had disappeared from theaters quickly, and for the first two acts, I thought, here is gnarly, chaotic Afghanistan companion to my favorite war-torn tragicomedies, “MASH” and  “Three Kings,” with enough solemnity to bring to mind the magisterial “Year of Living Dangerously.” 

But somewhere between a hangover and a kidnapping, the movie makers decided it would be cool to mate the fish-out-of-water adventures of our female hero with “Eat Drink Pray Love.”  You’ll end up thinking, this really is what the mainstream media wants from coverage of our endless wars. A smart career move and a latte date with the cute correspondent that got away.