I Guess Moore's Point is... War is Bad?
Published July 05, 2004
Maybe it was the pre-release hype.
Maybe it was because Bowling for Columbine was so damn good. It had depth and was all-encompassing. It resonated. It had heart.
But I don't rightly know.
When it was all said and done, the last thing I expected this Michael Moore movie to be was... boring.
Moore's anti-Bush opus was too long. It was mostly cinematic shock and awe. The crappy soundtrack music wasn't any less crappy because it was used ironically. The novelty of Bush's infamous non sequitur bushisms, sprinkled throughout the film, wore thin years ago. There wasn't enough of Moore himself doing what he does best - being Michael Moore while interacting with adversarial interviewees.
I guess Moore expected George W. Bush to carry the film. The man is having trouble carrying a country, and carrying on a war, but he expected him to carry this film? Maybe that was his point, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy watching it.
So what were Moore's other points? Hmmm...
1. War is Bad.
2. Corporations and a few individuals profit from war.
3. People die during wartime.
4. Relatives of the war dead, on both sides, get a tad emotional when their loved ones die.
5. A number of people aren't too fond of President Bush.
6. Michael Moore isn't too fond of President Bush.
Did we really need a film to tell us all that?
Reportedly, Moore's next target will be the U.S. health care system. So you don't have to go see the film when it's released, here's a synopsis:
1. U.S. Health Care is bad.
2. Corporations and a few individuals profit from the U.S. health care system.
3. People die due to an inadequate health care system.
4. Relatives of the dead get a tad emotional when their loved ones die due to inadequate health care.
5. A number of people aren't too fond of U.S. Health Care.
6. Michael Moore isn't too fond of U.S. Health Care.
Think of it as a public service. When Moore's next film comes out, now you can go see Spiderman 3 or the latest Bruce Willis flick instead.
And for those people who make fun of Moore's weight, they've obviously never seen him jump a shark. But now... maybe they have.
- I Guess Moore's Point is... War is Bad?
- Published: July 05, 2004
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- Section: Video
- Writer: Pete Petrisko
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Comments on this articleComments
You sound like a Johnny-come-lately who's trying to cough up something interesting to say now that the film has been talked to death. One could just as easily put the old reductio ad absurdum spin on Moore's other films -- or ANY film -- if you were in a similarly pissy mood.
So what were Moore's points in Bowling for Columbine? Hmmm...
1. School shootings are bad.
2. The NRA is insensitive to people who die from gun deaths.
3. We have too many guns in this country.
Etc., etc., etc.
If you want to know the point of this film you should realize that it's premise is that Bush has sent our young men and woman to die in a war based on lies. Saadam was NOT involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq(have we found them yet?). Also, Rodney, the premise of Bowling For Columbine was to support gun control, which hopefully could PREVENT school shootings.
Cinematically, the film was pretty bad and in my opinion certainly didn't deserve a Palme d'Or.
As to your question, though, yes, many people do "need to be told that." And he did go beyond just presenting his points generically as you did, naming names.
Note that the people who "need to be told that" include Wolfowitz, who had a star turn slobbering over and tonguing his comb, then running that replusive mess through his hair, helping to clarify the meaning of the term "lick-spittle" when one of his flunkies then, bare-handedly, patted down Wolfie's spit-covered hair.
It helps.
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(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/17121)
Heh, whilst i don't agree that F*9/11 was boring, it certainly did lose focus a tad in the last half. But that synopsis of his next flick "so as we can go see the next bruce willis" was great, good sir.
The Duke salutes you, good Pete.