Director: Michael Moore
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 3.5
Fassbinder once said, "I don't make films, I throw bombs," and here is Moore's very own grenade, a devastating attack on not simply on George W. Bush and his war criminal staff, but on Capitalism and its placement of money above human life (like the great joke in the Parker and Stone South Park movie, African Americans really are used as human shields). Critics may lash at Moore about his tone - yes he's sarcastic, yes he uses cheap shots, yes he's biased (this isn't real journalism, folks, it's a movie) - but I feel, in a strange way, it's completely justified: the people he's exposing are morally wrong and totally responsible for the lives of civilians lost, using the events of 9/11 to further their money-making need. His filmmaking style cobbles together pieces into a somewhat visually ugly but still effective whole, and he isn't above low humor or sarcasm - but would a documentary composed of mostly talking heads have as great a cultural impact as informed agitprop? Love him or hate him - and my God do people hate him - this is one of the most incendiary attacks on the inner mechanics of our country ever made (it's second only to the equally biased Hearts and Minds). If you really want to know "why they hate us," here's one response. Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is waiting patiently for an apology.
