The Filthy Critic on Fahrenheit 9/11
Still yet one more additional review of the #1 movie in America this past weekend. (By the way, have I mentioned, Bush supporters, that you have a problem on your hands with this? Because you do. I’m not saynig the movie is going to force you to renounce your Bushism. But for those tragically flawed people who don’t actually make up their minds until election day, having a powerful piece of propaganda like this out there showing Bush’s My Pet Goat moment in real time is really, really problematic. And so far, I don’t think you’ve come up with an answer for it.)
Anyway, this review is from The Filthy Critic. Having still not seen the movie myself, I can’t really evaluate the criticism, but it sounds like the sort of thing I find myself thinking, mostly, about Michael Moore.
June 28th, 2004 at 6:29 pm
First of all, I read The Filthy Critic weekly. Having said that, I frequently disagree vehemently with him — he hates most everything, and only seems to like trite little artsy films. He didn’t like the LOTR movies, and he loved Glitter. (I’m pretty sure he’s joking with that review)
But that doesn’t matter here — he nicely articulated the problems with the movie (previously Moore had complained that all the bad reviews were put into place from a right-wing point of view instead of from a moviegoer POV, or even an independent POV).
I actually agree with him. Maybe it was the hype. Maybe it was the 20-minute standing ovation. This movie is about as good as Bowling for Columbine, and I never liked Bowling for Columbine–and really stopped liking it when I read this. I don’t disagree that we shouldn’t be in Iraq, but I think that the picture he paints isn’t the best one that could be painted.
Offtopic, I drove for an hour to the movie theater, only to find that they were sold out. My friend and I bought tickets for Raising Helen, then snuck in. We got caught. The lady threatened to call security to kick us out, and the entire (nearly-full) theater watched us leave. I suspect most didn’t know what to about this public spectacle, but I thought I heard a boo or a hiss or two. Quick goat thinking, I yelled* “Bush/Cheney 2004!” as I left, just to give them some amusement before the movie started.
We saw the next showing. But we also saw Raising Helen. Worst movie ever.
* I thought of it later. The story is better that way.
June 28th, 2004 at 8:57 pm
I’d liek to post a link to the BoxOfficeMojo forum becasue I thought from a FILM perspective some of these people did a great job writing up reviews.
Unfortunately eloquent reviews tend to be from those who found positives in the film while short, trite reviews are from anti-Moore people.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forums/viewtopic.htm?t=41158
There’s one guy who was at least honest – he doesn’t like Moore and he can’t give the film an F or an A for what he saw.
June 29th, 2004 at 5:57 am
Michael Moore shows what kind of lies and vilification can be done using clip art/cut-and-paste movie splicing AND putting one’s own spin on events and on people’s expressions/reactions. Michael Moore is a living piece of crap.
Mike crouch
June 29th, 2004 at 8:49 am
I will probably wait to rent “Distortions 911” so that I only waste $5 as opposed to $9 plus at a theatre. I’m only mildly surprised that the movie hit #1 status during its initial appearance, since the current movie competition is weak, and there are certainly enough democrats, fervent anti-Bushers, and just plain curious people out there to support it for a short time. My two cents: expect the film to take a dive over the next few weeks and be mostly out of circulation by the end of July. It will get a brief spike again when the DVD comes out in the fall.
I also don’t see a “really really problematic” issue for Bush due to this film. The fence-sitters are mostly going to assess their own personal “pros and cons” list in their heads once November arrives and vote accordingly. That list will include security and economic concerns, but not reflecting on how many minutes Bush sat in a classroom before the Secret Service and his aides were ready to move him out and back to Air Force One. Way too much is being being made of that episode by the Left, and most moderate people will see it as unfair criticism, or at worst, inconsequential.
Again, my two cents.
June 29th, 2004 at 10:28 am
My three word answer: Spiderman comes out tomorrow. Between Spiderman and Dodgeball, I doubt this film will be a big deal next weekend, unless the choir comes out, en masse, for a second or third viewing
My longer answer: I went to see ” Fahrenheit 911″ this weekend and, as someone who has been very offended by Michael Moore in the past, I expected to be at least rattled by this film. I was puzzled when I came away without feeling much.
Michael Moore has made no secret of his disdain for the Bush administration, and has every right to express that disdain on film, which he does ably enough in this movie. Beyond that observation, I’m sure what to say. I respect Mr. Moore’s right to say what he says the way he says it, but I don’t agree with him, even after seeing the film, and couldn’t escape the feeling that much of “911” wasn’t really aimed at me anyway.
The film uses a lot of footage of the President to bolster Moore’s point that Bush is a conspirator and a goof. If you go into the theatre already believing that Bush is a conspirator and a goof, this footage stands by itself to prove the point. If you don’t, much of the movie seems a collection of otherwise innocuous news clips, deftly assembled to prove a point they don’t, by themselves, convey. It’s like “The Death of Outrage,” Bill Bennett’s book which attacked President Clinton as a rapist. For those who already bought the argument that Clinton was a rapist, the book seemed, in its personal attacks and hearsay, to provide ironclad proof of Clinton’s violence towards women. True believers could not understand for their lives why the rest of us, who didn’t come to the book having already concluded that Clinton was a sexual predator, were not convinced by the book’s shrill condemnations.
I do have some critiques. For instance, the section of the film dealing with the dead GI’s mother struck me as a crass manipulation by Moore of other people’s anguish , but I wasn’t as offended as I might have been had I not come expect such tactics from Moore. Also, the section on pre-war Iraq, with the happy kids flying kites and such, was dumb. Is anyone stupid enough to believe such a lollipops and puppy dogs version of Saddam’s Iraq?
Overall, however, I found the film too disengaging to react very strongly to, either pro or con. It’s alright, in its own way, on its own terms, In an era of truly interesting, politicized documentaries like “Fog of War,” “Radio Bikini,” “The Weather Underground,” however, “Fahrenheit 911” seems particularly outclassed.
Beyond that, what’s to say? A lot of left wing viewers will think this is a great movie the way trekies thought “The Undiscovered Country” was a great movie, but who can trust the opinion of people already set to like something before it even comes out? Similarly, so many right wing pundits take the film as an almost demonic attack on America, but don’t they mistake every critique of the Bush administration for a demonic attack on America? Here in the right side of the center, I have to confess I can’t see what a lot of the fuss is about, and hope, if Bush does lose the election, this mediocre film doesn’t claim more than the small credit it barely deserves.
June 29th, 2004 at 10:33 am
Seen the movie Mike? You just don’t like him because he is pissing in your tent, I am quite happy that he is standing in mine. Big fan of Rush Limbaugh by any chance? No lies and vilification there? Compare the facts of the two purveyors of hate and tell me which one is more full of shit.
June 29th, 2004 at 2:20 pm
Saw the movie. Liked it. There were some very funny parts, some very sad parts, and overall it is truthful. Read the Filthy Critic’s review. I understand, and agree a little, but not much. On the whole this is material the public needed to see and the corporate media would not provide. (Note to the freepers: corporations are inherently not liberal, since they oppose regulation, taxes, unionism, and so on; so how can corporate media be liberal? Why is the ‘liberal-controlled media’ full of conservative commentators who hypnotize you with the repetition of the phrase ‘liberal media?’ Don’t you think a real liberal-controlled media might let more liberals talk? WTF?)
There are things I wish he had put in the movie. A couple of minutes at the beginning and perhaps one more at the end going into detail about EXACTLY how Bushco stole the 2000 election and plan to steal the next one (more info on Diebold and ChoicePoint, in other words) would have been very helpful. I fear that enraged Dems will flock to the polls this fall, give Kerry a solid margin of several million votes, and watch Republican-friendly voting-machine companies fiddle the numbers to give W a squeaker just like they did with the 2002 races for governor and senate in Georgia. Moore could have given the public a heads-up on that one.
(ChoicePoint is not a manufacturer of voting machines; they were hired to cull felons from voter rolls in Florida in 2000. They were paid a lot of money, and in theory were supposed to make sure only actual felons got culled by, for instance, making verification calls. There is no record of their making these calls, and 90,000 non-felons (if I recall correctly) lost their francise and STILL have not got it back. Almost all are black. Coincidence? No, because the rolls list the race of the voter! And voters go heavily Democratic. Greg Palast and the BBC (see gregpalast.com) estimate that Gore should (if these people got to vote) have taken Florida by 16,000 or more. President Gore might have met with Richard Clarke and caught some of those 9/11 hijackers before they could strike, and he sure would not have invaded Iraq for oil. Fuck you Repuglicans, you are nothing but thieves, liars and murderers.)
I’m at the point where I consider all freepers to be bad Americans and enemies of the real United States. If they like right-wing dictatorships so much, why don’t they move to Chile? I’m tired of hearing scumbags like Mike say people like me should move. I’m not the one who sold out the Bill of Rights. I’m not the one who subverted the democratic process. I’m not the one who turned American soldiers into redcoats.
June 29th, 2004 at 2:23 pm
Correction to previous comment: “And voters go heavily Democratic.” should read “And African-American voters go heavily Democratic.”
July 2nd, 2004 at 2:02 am
Has there been any answer as to why the President sat in the classroom without taking action? It appears to many as though he was waiting for somebody to tell him what to do.
July 2nd, 2004 at 2:06 am
Has there been a comment from G.W.B or any of his people as to why he sat in the classroom all that time without taking action? It appears to many as though he was waiting for somebody to tell him what to do.
July 2nd, 2004 at 3:00 pm
If anyone’s interested in the pet goat book…
go here —-> HERE
July 7th, 2004 at 7:41 pm
After you go to Fahrenheit 9/11, keep your ticket stub and mail it to:
George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington DC 20500
With a note attached: ‘I saw what you did last summer.'”
July 8th, 2004 at 7:40 am
About the President reading the book after he first heard about the plane crashing into the tower…
1. All that was told to him was there was an airplane that crashed into the World Trade Center. (Not that the US was attacked by terrorists.)
2. Don’t be rude and freak out the kids by getting up and not giving them just a few minutes of your time, they are just children and all they know or care about is the next 15 minutes. (So far, no word of Terrorism, just an accident that is already being taken care of.)
3. When they told him more information about what had happened then he got up.
July 12th, 2004 at 2:07 am
I propose “911” as the in-flight movie on every major international flight with final destination USA. That way those who have been away and those who are stepping into the cacophonic clusterf$#* for the first time will be made aware of the real, ahem, state of the union.