Savior or just another sensationalist?

As many of you know, (or have figured out by now) I'm pretty liberal. In fact, I'm about as liberal as they come: Pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, pro-universal health care, pro-environmental responsibility, anti-war, anti-Bush (and anti-pretty much everything his administration stands for), anti-American job outsourcing; Daily Show/Colbert Enthusiast... You name it. Oh, but Michael Moore? Ehhh... I'll pass.

I just don't trust Michael Moore. I've seen Roger & Me and Bowling for Columbine and I wholeheartedly believe in his causes... But I think in part he's doing the liberals a disservice by manipulating facts, feeding half truths, and using the same confrontational exploitation tactics that are employed by the assholes on the right.

I think Mr. Salted said it best, as we were watching Bowling for Columbine, (and I'm paraphrasing here, because it's been a few years) when Moore wheeled the poor shooting victim into the K-Mart headquarters and snotted something along the lines of, I told this boy he could talk with the President of Kmart, "Well, you shouldn't have told him that, asshole!" I mean, not to defend anyone in Moore's cross hairs, because I'm sure to some extent they're all guilty in one way or another... But showing up unannounced with a camera crew and a documentary filmmaker known for manipulating facts? No shit most people aren't going to be happy to submit to an impromptu interview. That's hardly an admission of guilt, and I don't appreciate it being shoved down my throat otherwise.

So when I heard of an upcoming documentary, aptly titled Manufacturing Dissent, which turns the cameras on the man himself... Well, I was intrigued, to say the least. I already know what you're thinking, it's a load of right-wing propaganda, naturally. Wrong! Husband and wife filmmaking team Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine set out to make a documentary celebrating Moore, but what they found was that Moore himself is not exactly fond of being on the business end of impromptu interviews, (or even scheduled ones, for that matter.) After 4 months of unsuccessfully trying to track Moore down, they began to delve deeper into his history and methods; ultimately questioning his tactics.

Source.

I don't think Michael Moore is a huge phoney, and I honestly wouldn't want to see him unmasked as such. I do think he's done a lot of good by exposing the more unsavory facts and practices of the Bush Administration to a wider audience, via Fahrenheit 9/11. But I do think it would be nice to see him practice a little more responsibility in his films. Let's face it Michael, the Bush Administration has done a cherry job of fucking things up on their own. You don't need to sensationalize it. Put the facts on a plate and let the viewer decide who to believe. I think you'll find, (should you give them a choice) they just may surprise you.

That was a freebie.

I was literally just saying to a friend last week that I wanted to write something on the blog about Grizzly Man, but I wasn't sure where to start. However in light of recent Guys Who Get What's Coming To Them news, it seems suddenly appropriate. If you think Steve Irwin "wasn't playing with a full deck" than let me tell you; in comparison, Timothy Treadwell was maybe working with a hand or two of "Go Fish."

Before seeing this movie, I assumed I was going to be dealing with some pumped up Jack Hannah type who, ultimately (SPOILER!!!) gets eaten by a bear. I mean, that in itself is a fabulous sounding premise, am I wrong? Instead, and I cannot stress enough, this is a film about a completely insane person who gets eaten by a bear. Timothy Treadwell had no ecological or biological training of any kind. This is a story of an out of work, alcoholic, drug addicted actor who decides to clean his act up, move to Alaska and go screw around with some bears. Why not? Seems like the next most logical step.

Lucky for us Timothy Treadwell was among other things, a raging narcissist, so he videotaped all of his Alaskan adventures complete with crazed ramblings. Highlights include: Timothy baby talking to the bears and giving the bears cutesy names. And yes let me remind you, bears are enormous killing machines. Timothy also goes off occasionally on deluded and expletive filled rants about the park service, (whom he thought were out to get him) for expecting him to abide by the rules that are put in place so you don't get eaten by a bear.

At the time of Treadwell's appropriate and timely death, he had been filming. (But hadn't yet managed to take the lens cap off.) So there is actually audio footage of him and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, being eaten alive by the bear. German Director, Werner Herzog takes one for the team and listens to the audio. He then tells Treadwell's ex-girlfriend and close friend, "Oh Jewell. Zoo must deestroy thizz tape. Zoo muzt neeever listen to thizz." But I gotta say, the bloodlust in me was pretty disappointed. The whole time here I'm thinking "YES!!! There's audio!! Will we get to hear it?!" Sadly, no.

Probably my favorite part of the movie though, was when Treadwell strokes and babbles over a pile of the bear shit he would ultimately become. The following is an actual quote from that scene: "Oh my gosh! The bear, Miss Chocolate, has left me her poop! It's her crap! It was just in her butt and it's still warm! This is a gift from Miss Chocolate!

Conclusion: Tempted yet? See the movie! I rate it 4 out of 4 bear droppings.

My favorite retards.

While waiting for a show to come on FX the other day, I had the misfortune of catching the last 10 minutes of the movie Radio, starring Cuba "Snowdogs" Gooding Jr. Normally I love movies about retarded people, but even the hilarity of Cuba (poorly) attempting to play a retarded man was not enough to make this schmoopy, inspirational dreck watchable.

Playing a mentally challenged person is a big gamble for an actor. If done well, it can garner awards and respect. If not, it's going to be a grossly embarrassing failure. Although in my opinion, one consistency of the good and the bad is that they're almost always hilarious. And so, I bring you: my favorite movie 'tards.

Sling Blade: Homicidal Maniac With A Heart Of Gold-Tard
Oh Billy Bob, you had me at French Fried Potaters. Sling Blade taught me that just because a movie about a retarded man is superbly cast, acted and written, that it can't still be totally funny. (Funny ha ha, not funny queer.)


The Other Sister: Fakeout-Tard
One might think, that since Juliette Lewis looks and acts like a person with Downs Syndrome in real life that she would be able to convincingly portray one on film. Not so, my friends! Giovanni Ribisi's acting fared a little better, but paired with the tragedy that is Juliette Lewis and the overall terrible script he was a goner. According to IMDB this movie is categorized as Drama/Comedy/Romance. I'm just not clear on which parts are which. I guess two retarded people having sex to recorded Marching Band music kind of touches on all three.

Stevie: Doc-Tard
Stevie is a documentary about a retarded man living in rural Illinois. It is funny and sad, as exploitation stories about the retarded and unfortunate usually are. The director of this movie (Steve James of Hoop Dreams) was at one time a "Big Brother" to Stevie, and comes back to see what's become of him after a decade gone by. When describing the plot to my mother she asked if what became of Stevie was "good or bad." Well, without spoiling anything, if it was "good," it probably wouldn't make for a very interesting documentary, now would it?

Forrest Gump: Oscar-Tard
I love Tom Hanks and I love Forrest Gump. LOVE! I have nothing snarky to say about this movie whatsoever, and did not laugh at one inappropriate time while watching it. I would say Tom Hanks can do no wrong, but you know... DaVinci Code and all.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape: DiCapr-a-Tard
Oh, what this? A Juliette Lewis flick makes my list again? Coincidence?? I think part of the reason why I love this movie so much is seeing that smug prick DiCaprio playing a poor retarded boy. Titanic who? This is inarguably his best film role to date. This is another example of a movie that's done very well yet still manages to be inappropriately funny. Just looking at DiCaprio's stupid face makes me want to laugh already!