So a few of the usual suspects saw the movie last night. I am glad I saw it, it was worth my $8.50 or whatever. Much better than Bowling for Columbine, in my opinion, largely due to the fact that Moore is not as omnipresent. At times a bit hokey & slow, it was powerful & thought-provoking nonetheless. There is an overt bias that permeates the entire movie, though I doubt this comes as a surprise to anyone. The film approaches, if not surpasses the line between a documentary & propaganda. Also, there are a few quite gruesome scenes, so while it may not bother the doctors-to-be, I imagine it will be unsettling to most. As for the rest of you who have seen it, I am curious as to what you think.
Posted by John at July 21, 2004 11:19 AMI think Moore is an overrated documentarian. He can present seemingly powerful points, but he does fudge facts and blatantly ignore opposing views when they conflict with his intended conclusion. Farenheit specifically is of course his most "biased" work, but it's important to remember the film wasn't "this was the Bush presidency" it was "Bush is an idiot and has given the country an nice hot Cleveland Steamer."
All the stuff in the film about the Saudis, while powerful and probably (I think) very relevant, is still just circumstantial and an example of his sloppy style. Of course, the repeated and rock-solid views of Bush's utter incompetence - storytime being the most repulsive to me - and the film's moral about the cost of the war for America's poor, makes up for a half hour of lightly-defended conspiracy theory. I thought it was great, not because it was exemplar of all a documentary should be, but because in this ridiculous, nauseating, uninformed, gullible, jingoistic atmosphere someone needed to step up and slap everyone in the face, then peel the W '04 stickers of their car.
So I recommend the film, I enjoyed the film, but I'm not naieve enough to use it as a rallying call or believe every idea of Moore's, despite the fact that I'd like to see Bush get run over by a wheat thresher, or perhaps get forced to toss the salad of Marlon Brando's corpse during halftime of "American Idol." As an artist I think Moore peaked with Roger & Me...but that's the kind of powerful material that even I couldn't screw up, so if it remains his greatest work it's hard to hold it against him. So, in synopsis, I'd say it was well worth the download.
Posted by: Chris at July 21, 2004 05:42 PMPersonally, I think "or perhaps get forced to toss the salad of Marlon Brando's corpse during halftime of "American Idol" ranks right up there with "as gay as a figure skater sitting on a upside down bar stool" as one of the more random comments propagated by any of us. As for the movie, I have not seen it yet, but have every intention to do so. Additionally, I'd like to say that I think "jingoistic" would be a great name for a rock and roll band (Thank you Mr. Tony), as well as being a very accurate description of the political climate in Washington.
Posted by: Mike at July 21, 2004 07:44 PM