The last three movies I've seen in theaters have been documentaries and the next one on my list is a documentary. What can explain all these documentaries that are being released left and right? I guess people are fed up with the line of horsesh�t that the corporate media ceaselessly feeds us. here's me list:
Supersize Me
Everyone loves to take a dig at McDonald's every once in a while. This guy took that desire to the next level. The premise of the flick is that his diet was limited to things he bought in McDonald's for thirty days. He had to eat everything on their menu at least once, and he had to supersize every time he was asked. This movie was destined to be gross, and it was most certainly that, but the dude that made it had such a good sense of humor that the whole film seems to be a very well educated wise crack against fast food. I was particularly entertained when I left the theater and saw all the soda cups and jumbo popcorn bags that people had drained during the movie. Americans can be so deliciously ironic.
Fahrenheit 9/11
I guess everyone knows about it and either hates it or admires it. Here are a few of the things I personally took away from it: The 9/11 sequence itself is the first time I'v seen a depiction of that event that gave it a human slant. I had a really tough time identifying emotionally with the attack because the news just looked like, to paraphrase The Onion, a bad Jerry Bruckheimer movie. The way Moore treated that event was so passionate and sensitive that I finally felt a glimmer of what it must have been like to be in lower manhattan on that day (where I now go to school for 9 months out of the year). I've been talking to plenty of folks who have seen it and everyone wants to talk about it like it's propaganda. I really hate that. I think it's an essay, not a propaganda piece. I didn't walk away from the theater with my eyes glazed over mumbling 'mustdefeatbush mustdefeatbush mustdefeatbush' (I was doing that on the way in). Jokes aside, I think the film presented a solid argument and made me think. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I respect his opinions. Propaganda, such as Limbaugh, discourages free thought. Limbaugh tells his listeners not to read the paper. He'll give them all the info they need. Moore's film made me want to go et information and come to my own conclusions. Changing my mind if new information necessitates that. As far as flm making is concerned I think F9/11 is a weaker film than Columbine. The music is really great in the preview and then ho-hum in the picture.
The Corporation
Just saw this 3 hour opus last night and was absolutely amazed. It's a film that explores the history and evolution of the corporation, examines it in our modern life as the dominant institutional form in our society, and what the future of corporations will be. They got interviews with intellectuals, think tank wonks, artists, protestors, CEOs, stock traders, journalists, psychologists and corporate spies. As far as filmmaking is concerned I think it's actually a little bit better than F9/11. It's damn close to being 3 hours long and like any epic film it tells many stories concurrently and resolves them as they play out. They conduct cinematic case studies of corporate crime and accountability and rack up a huge list of flaws that plague the world as a result of the corporate system. It questions corporate power, and while it doesn't make any specific statements as to how to solve these problems, it examines several options for how they could potentially be dealt with working both inside and outside the system. It is an amazing document of one of the most important aspects of the time we live in. It's a shame this film will go largely unnoticed due to the amazing popularity of F9/11.
The Hunting of the President
This is the next flick on my list. It seems to be the hardest one to find a screening of. Living in a major metropolitan area has its benefits, though. I heard the filmmaker, Joe Conason, talking about the show on the radio. It's based on his book by the same title that explores the scope and scale of the right wing attack of President Clinton. Should be some good wholesome lefty fun.
Supersize Me
Everyone loves to take a dig at McDonald's every once in a while. This guy took that desire to the next level. The premise of the flick is that his diet was limited to things he bought in McDonald's for thirty days. He had to eat everything on their menu at least once, and he had to supersize every time he was asked. This movie was destined to be gross, and it was most certainly that, but the dude that made it had such a good sense of humor that the whole film seems to be a very well educated wise crack against fast food. I was particularly entertained when I left the theater and saw all the soda cups and jumbo popcorn bags that people had drained during the movie. Americans can be so deliciously ironic.
Fahrenheit 9/11
I guess everyone knows about it and either hates it or admires it. Here are a few of the things I personally took away from it: The 9/11 sequence itself is the first time I'v seen a depiction of that event that gave it a human slant. I had a really tough time identifying emotionally with the attack because the news just looked like, to paraphrase The Onion, a bad Jerry Bruckheimer movie. The way Moore treated that event was so passionate and sensitive that I finally felt a glimmer of what it must have been like to be in lower manhattan on that day (where I now go to school for 9 months out of the year). I've been talking to plenty of folks who have seen it and everyone wants to talk about it like it's propaganda. I really hate that. I think it's an essay, not a propaganda piece. I didn't walk away from the theater with my eyes glazed over mumbling 'mustdefeatbush mustdefeatbush mustdefeatbush' (I was doing that on the way in). Jokes aside, I think the film presented a solid argument and made me think. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I respect his opinions. Propaganda, such as Limbaugh, discourages free thought. Limbaugh tells his listeners not to read the paper. He'll give them all the info they need. Moore's film made me want to go et information and come to my own conclusions. Changing my mind if new information necessitates that. As far as flm making is concerned I think F9/11 is a weaker film than Columbine. The music is really great in the preview and then ho-hum in the picture.
The Corporation
Just saw this 3 hour opus last night and was absolutely amazed. It's a film that explores the history and evolution of the corporation, examines it in our modern life as the dominant institutional form in our society, and what the future of corporations will be. They got interviews with intellectuals, think tank wonks, artists, protestors, CEOs, stock traders, journalists, psychologists and corporate spies. As far as filmmaking is concerned I think it's actually a little bit better than F9/11. It's damn close to being 3 hours long and like any epic film it tells many stories concurrently and resolves them as they play out. They conduct cinematic case studies of corporate crime and accountability and rack up a huge list of flaws that plague the world as a result of the corporate system. It questions corporate power, and while it doesn't make any specific statements as to how to solve these problems, it examines several options for how they could potentially be dealt with working both inside and outside the system. It is an amazing document of one of the most important aspects of the time we live in. It's a shame this film will go largely unnoticed due to the amazing popularity of F9/11.
The Hunting of the President
This is the next flick on my list. It seems to be the hardest one to find a screening of. Living in a major metropolitan area has its benefits, though. I heard the filmmaker, Joe Conason, talking about the show on the radio. It's based on his book by the same title that explores the scope and scale of the right wing attack of President Clinton. Should be some good wholesome lefty fun.
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