DVD - Fahrenheit 9/11

7 1/2 out of 10

A good movie, and I was pretty impressed. I wish I had actually seen it in the theaters when it was out, but for some reason (probably a feeling of hopelessness) I stopped going to the theaters during last summer. There's one scene that I'd read about and it was pretty remarkable when I was watching. When the planes hit the towers in NY, there's no picture -- just sound. These massive explosions. In a way, it's a touch of class to do that; in another way, it demagnifies the event, choosing not to go for the sensationalist approach; in yet another way, it makes it more dramatic than anything. Michael Moore is so twisted (in a good way) that he gets this one soldier on-camera talking about how they all hook up into the same intercom system so they can all listen to this jammin' music as they kill people. It's a remake of "The Roof is on Fire." I don't know who it's performed by, and I don't care, because it's really macabre-sounding. And, I can imagine these idiots immediately transformed from the hicks they are to Ultimate killing machines just by hearing the song. There's something wrong with someone who can tolerate killing others. It's called sociopathology. And, it's very dangerous. In fact, it's one of the few mental diseases which will NOT be successful if used as an insanity defense -- because you're too far gone, and way too dangerous, to be allowed to live. Huh. But, the real point I was going to make about that is that, Michael Moore, clever and ill in his own passionate way, has a scene of American soldiers bodies being burned and then later hung up for display in Baghdad, and he has the music for this horrible remake of "The Roof is on Fire" in the background. Burn motherfucker, burn. Other than that, I found the whole film was a little tame, for my taste, and pretty much had the biggest hard-on for George W. -- which, personally, I am starting to find a little exhausting, in my life, and really not much worth the effort. Almost like Michael has a vindetta (sp? How do I get spell check in these posts?) against W b/c W insulted him once. While I love a good slam against the president, I wish I could've seen more of the war and soldiers and New Yorkers reaction and why exactly those people flew planes into the towers. On the upside, I finally am able to tell how the war was really about oil, and why.



Ah... Tilda Swinton was on the panel for the Cannes Film Festival that gave Michael Moore the Palm D'Or (sp?).

I've started to notice, and find it curious, that people often speak of 9/11 and Ground Zero and The Towers and all that. And, we all know what they're talking about, instantly. I wonder if it will always be that way, even in 20 years.

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Update: I came back and removed 1/2 a point from my rating of this film. I had forgotten that I initially wouldn't go to the theater to see this movie because I've decided that what Michael Moore does is not make true documentaries. It's more like propaganda. And, while I usually agree with his estimate when he makes these kinds of movies, it's really transparent to me that his stuff is really just propaganda for a political stance he is taking. That makes it less enjoyable for me, and not really true to the artform. And, I adore documentaries. Highly recommended: Winged Migration: "Strongly recommendable for people who want to rest from violence, corruption, and all mankind in general. It is refreshing to the soul."