‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ // a movie discussion

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which is directed by Daniel Goldhaber, and is available on Hulu.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline essentially plays like a heist movie where the object of the heist is a future that otherwise seems so futile and bleak that to not successfully execute the caper is simply not an option. Propelled along by a bustling, plaintive, largely electronic score composed by Gavin Brivik, we follow our cast of characters from several walks of life as they converge on the representative object of their derision.

That object is the titular pipeline – somewhere in arid West Texas. And the relative isolation only aids in the film’s success at making the viewer feel immersed in the microworld the group of characters have chosen to now exist in, away from a society that may judge their actions separate from their meaning and, at least as far as they’re concerned, necessity. This immersion through isolation makes it all that much easier for us to feel as if we’re a part of the plot ourselves.

The result is a vital commentary on the state of our world – a world where the idea that we may actually be able to make a difference for the sake of humanity’s very future can seem not only daunting, but often impossible.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Guests - Charles Hinshaw

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media