Friday, October 22, 2004
Moore of him to hate.
Jody just took me to task for not having moral outrage about Farenheit 911. I don't think I've ever said a word of good about that movie. I think Michael Moore is a dissembler & sloppy thinker. Worse, he's rude. I agree Farenheit 911 is full of distortions and half-truths. I think Moore's bad tactically for the left like Tom DeLay is for the right. He's a caricaturist's dream.
That said, I think "Roger and Me" deserves every word of praise it ever got; it's a great movie. And while it has a point of view, I don't think you could say it's a smear or distorts the truth. And if you can keep a straight face while watching the sketch in The Awful Truth where Moore's ragging on William Cohen, Clinton's poetry-writing secretary of defense (he gets a North Korean, an Iraqi, a Sudani? Sudanese? anyway, guy from the Sudan to stand outside Cohen's office and yell things like "Your poetry is for the weak! Our poetry is strong!" Then he has an eight-year-old girl challenge him to an arm-wrestling competition. Anyway, this parenthetical comment has gone on long enough), well, you're a better man than I. With a filmmaker, I'm really less interested in them personally and more interested in their movies. Some of Moore's stuff I like very much, some I think flirts with being reprehensible, and some is absolutely reprehensible--I about lost my lunch when he used footage from 9-11 in "Bowling for Columbine." Moore as a public figure = jackass. Moore as a filmmaker = when he is good, he is very very good, and when he is bad, he's rotten.
Farenheit 911, the only thing I really thought was interesting to see was the scene of Gore certifying Bush's election. That must have just about killed him. Dunno if you guys saw the thing in the New Yorker a month or so ago about Gore, but they asked him about the movie--he hasn't seen it, but he never thought anything could make him feel sympathetic for Charlton Heston until he saw "Bowling For Columbine."
Moral outrage, no. I'm embarrassed Moore's vocally supporting Kerry. I'd be the last one to defend his honor. And now, let's talk about the Swift Boat Vets.
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That said, I think "Roger and Me" deserves every word of praise it ever got; it's a great movie. And while it has a point of view, I don't think you could say it's a smear or distorts the truth. And if you can keep a straight face while watching the sketch in The Awful Truth where Moore's ragging on William Cohen, Clinton's poetry-writing secretary of defense (he gets a North Korean, an Iraqi, a Sudani? Sudanese? anyway, guy from the Sudan to stand outside Cohen's office and yell things like "Your poetry is for the weak! Our poetry is strong!" Then he has an eight-year-old girl challenge him to an arm-wrestling competition. Anyway, this parenthetical comment has gone on long enough), well, you're a better man than I. With a filmmaker, I'm really less interested in them personally and more interested in their movies. Some of Moore's stuff I like very much, some I think flirts with being reprehensible, and some is absolutely reprehensible--I about lost my lunch when he used footage from 9-11 in "Bowling for Columbine." Moore as a public figure = jackass. Moore as a filmmaker = when he is good, he is very very good, and when he is bad, he's rotten.
Farenheit 911, the only thing I really thought was interesting to see was the scene of Gore certifying Bush's election. That must have just about killed him. Dunno if you guys saw the thing in the New Yorker a month or so ago about Gore, but they asked him about the movie--he hasn't seen it, but he never thought anything could make him feel sympathetic for Charlton Heston until he saw "Bowling For Columbine."
Moral outrage, no. I'm embarrassed Moore's vocally supporting Kerry. I'd be the last one to defend his honor. And now, let's talk about the Swift Boat Vets.
Comments(0) |
