by SARAH ROWLAND

Middle America's worst fear is Bhopal's 20-year reality. In 1984, a death cloud drifted over a densely populated city, leaving thousands dead, blind and deformed. The culprits? Union Carbide. Reaping the benefits of cheap labour and inefficient environmental laws, the improperly sealed American-owned pesticide plant leaked poisonous methyl isocyanate gas during rush hour. That was almost two decades ago, but children conceived long after the worst chemical industry disaster in the history of the world are bearing the residual effects with growth retardation and various webbed body parts. Not surprisingly, it's taken 9/11 and the subsequent fear of chemical warfare to spark the interest of U.S. research departments.

Bhopal: The Search for Justice, a riveting documentary that looks at the generations of victims and the role that multinational greed has in tragedies like these, will air exactly 20 years to the hour on CBC's The Nature of Things, Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. But on Wednesday, Dec. 1 in the Leacock Building at McGill University, room 26, there will be a screening followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, Peter Raymont, (The World Is Watching, Shake Hands With the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire), Lindalee Tracey (A Scattering of Seeds) and Harold Crooks (The Corporation) and representatives of Amnesty International, Greenpeace and CERAS.

If mass destruction and globalization is bringing you down, What the Bleep Do We Know Anyway!? may be the film for you. True, for the first 10 minutes you may feel like you fell asleep with the TV on and awoke to an infomercial. But it's not long before you realize that the 14 physicists, neurologists and physicians showcased in this docu-drama are not in fact selling anything. And if you overlook your natural (and warranted) fear of spiritual cinema, you can learn about the science behind personal and professional losing streaks. Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) stars as a depressed divorcee on the verge of a breakdown. Her light-hearted vignettes are woven in between clearly explicated theories about laws of possibility. The result is an accessible exploration of the daunting world of quantum physics. (Opening Friday, Nov. 26, at the AMC Forum). Don't worry, you can still hate Oprah-sanctioned self-actualized gurus while liking this movie.

In other news, the Cinémathèque québécoise is hosting a retrospective of Jerzy Skolimowski's work as part of the Festival polonais de Montréal, which runs until Saturday, Dec 11. Over a dozen of the renowned filmmaker's movies will be screened, including his international breakthrough Deep End and the lesser known The Lightship. The latter is perhaps not his greatest movie, but Robert Duvall's performance as the Truman Capote-inspired New Orleanian crook makes it all worth it. For more info, visit www.fpmtl.org.

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