Damned Frenchie bastards. What do you expect? Do you know they even screened The Assassination of Richard Nixon there? That’s right, it’s not enough to give the top award to a movie that makes a lame pun of 9/11, they have to get their jollies watching a movie glorifying Samuel Byck, who forced his way into the cockpit of a commercial airliner, intending to crash it into the White House in an attempt on Richard Nixon’s life. And who plays the lead? The Loony Left’s favourite son, Sean Penn! Where is the outrage? :mad:
I’ve never been happy with Moore’s casual attitude to facts and chronology in his documentaries, but one has to admit that he does raise important issues that ought to be discussed. Certainly, Bush’s actions on 9/11 and the shoddy way he has bamboozled this country into the Iraq war ought to be investigated. That’s what we do in a free society, ask questions of our leaders.
But for some fools it’s much easier to engage in Francophobic rhetoric (ignoring the fact that the French are our allies in Afghanistan) than to actually watch the goddamn film for themselves.
I despair that simpleminded puppets like Flickster and Abbie Carmichael, who regurgitate what Fox News has told them to think, believe they are holding original opinions.
I hardly believe I was the 1st to formulate this opinion on Mr. Moore’s work of art, as they are too widely held.
In case you haven’t noticed, there are also those on the liberal side who adopt the opinions of insert favorite liberal news source here. Come to think of it, what’s the latest count of how many editors and reporters have been bounced from the NYT & USA Today for credibility problems?
As for Mr. Moore…I kind of find him to be the Reeder of the film world. May be right occasionally, but in a documentary or the Dope you would prefer 100% (as well as possible) accuracy in polemic. You don’t know whether you’re happy that he’s not attacking your guys, or just wish he’d shut up.
I have scaled down my suspicion that there might be political reasons behind the award. I based that solely on my knowledge of Moore’s past film-making efforts. Without watching the film, it is indeed futile to speculate on its artistic merits. May be the film was really well-done or the entries this year weren’t that competitive.
(But then, Pulp Fiction won this award and I don’t consider that film to be that good either… suppose juries every year have different tastes)
So, should I believe the opinions of the judges at Cannes, who actually saw the film, or a bunch of right-wing partisan hacks at Fox News denouncing a movie they haven’t seen?
While I’m not as enamored of Moore as I used to be, due to his documented lapses and exaggerations, I am heartened by the reviews of Fahrenheit 911 who says he’s actually reined in his excesses and “let the footage speak for itself” this time around.
Bah. If shit comes out of the hole for six days, why expect gold on the seventh? Mssr.Moore has a unbroken record of churning out partisan shit, chock-a-block full of lies. It is idiotic to expect this one to be any different.
Abbie, you’re normally fairly reasonable. The above, though…
When another poster has already pointed out that the judging panel included one French person and four Americans… well, it makes you sound like a fucking moron.
Frankly, I can’t believe there hasn’t been a bigger outcry over Disney locking up the film. Maybe it is like Moore’s interviews, and it’s a two hour anti-Bush propaganda piece. On the other hand, it might actually be pretty accurate.
Do the right thing, Disney, and let us decide for ourselves.
My big hope is that Moore took the Al Franken route this time and had his movie vetted for stringent factual accuracy. There’s no reason not to; there is plenty in reality to rile the left up and make Bush look bad without resorting to distortion.
When the facts of the movie are in question, that becomes the focal point of any discussion that ensues. It makes it easy for those who disagree with Moore to dismiss him and avoid discussing any points that his movies have made. I expect that even if this movie is indisputably factual down to the letter, it will still be, “but…he edited Charleton’s speech! He’s a liar! And he’s fat!”
(For the record, I thought BfC was a fraction of the movie it could have been, just because it was so scattered. Many said that its failure to make a single point was a strength, but I thought he could have taken the “culture of fear” idea and run with it far more than he did. Also, the movie seemed to come to the conclusion that guns weren’t necessarily the problem, and then closed with the K-Mart bit and the Heston interview, which strongly implied that guns are the problem after all.)
Are you suggesting that members of the entertainment industry should be politically inactive? Why??? Are you nursing a grudge against John Wayne and Ronald Reagan? Entertainers are Americans too and every American has the right to criticize those who have been selected for positions of public service. Public servants should not be treated as gods or kings. They are to be held accountable to the people.
Likewise, those who are in the entertainment industry must be held accountable for any information that they present as fact. And those who challenge what is said in the film should be able to back up their claims with indisputable data.
Really? The biggest news about it seems to be that it just won the most prestigious film award in the world yet someone doesn’t want Americans to see it. Wonder why that is…
Widely held by you and other people who haven’t seen it?
And yet, you don’t have a problem with Fox News. Curious…
What I love is disney’s assertion that they don’t want to sponsor “political speech” in an election year, but haven’t lifted a finger against carrying Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly on ABC’s radio stations. :dubious: