Fact-checking Fahrenheit 9/11
I'm not pro-Moore, I'm not anti-Moore. I'm pro-truth, and sometimes, Moore's offering us the truth. I won't have an opinion of Fahrenheit 9/11 until I see it and check to see if his claims are backed up by the facts... and I hope others will follow the same course.Read more
Reel News (That Isn't a Typo)
I'm now writing the new movie-news blog at CT, which they've titled Reel News.Read more
Rage: The Hot Commodity
David Poland is oh-so-right about America's Heart and Soul:
Louis Schwartzberg went out into the world and over the course of years, bit-by-bit, human story by human story, he made a documentary film called America's Heart & Soul.
So why is there a controversy? Well, there isn't. The film has no apparent connection to Fahrenheit 9/11 except for its release date, which is July 2, when it will go out into just a handful of theaters (big hands…about 100 screens). Oh yes… and the film is a very positive, upbeat look at the people of America. Not the politics… the people. You will laugh and cry, with them and at them. You will find characters in the biggest cities and the most rural towns. But most importantly, you will find people who love what they have chosen as their paths in life. There are a lot of things wrong about America. But the passion of the individual and the freedom to explore that passion… it is what America is supposed to be about and it is what fills your heart in Schwartzberg's movie.
So why am I making it into something less than heartwarming?
Because I can see it coming. In today's political climate, anything that isn't nasty about America, as it is today, is seen as pro-Bush, horribly square and politically right-leaning. This is, of course, insanity. Life in black and white is for morons and salesmen. But rage has become the hot commodity of the day. Watching this film, I felt my cynicism melt. The film released me from my analytical straightjacket...
Trampin' Tramples Wisdom, But Van Lear Rose Triumphs
Just listened to the new Patti Smith album Trampin' , which is one of the best of her career -- a beautiful rock record of entrancing guitars and vocals that show her in peak condition. It whispers and it roars.
Before I go off on a tangent, I should mention that the softer songs on the record are the highlight... Read more
How Fair is Fahrenheit 911?
Even if one agrees with all of Moore's arguments, the film reduces decades of American foreign-policy failures to a black-and-white cartoon that lays the blame on one family. He ignores facts like the policy to arm and support Afghan rebels that began in the Carter administration. For that matter, the Clinton team never mounted a serious effort to go after al-Qaida even after the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa.
The Iraq violence is more gruesome than what normally appears on American TV. One particular sequence follows an American patrol on Christmas Eve, but Moore never identifies who shot the footage. Because Moore is very good at jumping in front of a camera when he is around, one can only assume he shot none of the Iraq footage. But his editing is designed to emphasize Iraqi suffering and U.S. military personnel indifference or even hostility.
The movie contains only one episode of Moore's patented "ambushes" of the famous. He collars congressmen leaving Capitol Hill and tries to persuade them to enlist their children to fight in Iraq. Not surprisingly, he has no takers.
When the movie devolves into problems of veteran benefits, harassment of peace groups or the grief of one family over a killed son, Moore simply loses his focus. These are worthy topics but have nothing to do with why the United States is in Iraq.
What Moore seems to be pioneering here is a reality film as an election-year device. The facts and arguments are no different than those one can glean from political commentary or recently published books on these subjects. Only the impact of film may prove greater than the printed word. So the real question is not how good a film is "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- it is undoubtedly Moore's weakest -- but will a film help to get a president fired?
10 Questions: The Terminal
1. Is it worth seeing?
Yes.
2. Why is it worth seeing?
Because it's Tom Hanks at his very best, with the most multi-dimensional and convincing character he's played in a long time. The movie set itself--an airport terminal constructed for the film--is a thing of beauty, and Janusz Kaminski films it in a spectacular array of kaleidoscopic light.
3. Is it as good as Catch Me If You Can?
"Charming and Dangerous"
My collegue-in-blogging Clint M. pointed me to this review of Sam Phillips's "A Boot and a Shoe," which includes this excellent description of Sam's work:Read more