Fahrenheit 911 is witty, tight, and at times brilliant. It is easy to see why it deserved the Palme d'Or. There’s some very clever cinematography here. The film is also, at times, boring. Once Moore began connecting the dots of the great oil conspiracy I caught myself yawning a few times. See, I’m not one of those who are usually persuaded by conspiracy theories. They usually require long chains of probability which fall apart somewhere in the middle.

One of those long chains involved demonizing the Saudis. The Saudi coup de grace, the one in which I heard members of the audience gasping at, was that the Saudis own 7% of America. “The Saudis are coming! The Saudis are coming!” Moore’s categorical demonization of the Saudis was decidedly illiberal. During this long segment, I caught myself thinking of D. W. Griffith's “The Birth of a Nation”. Enough said. Not enough Saudis in the US to cause a riot at the theaters though. Well, I guess they all escaped on September 13th.

Content-wise, the film is a bore. Moore has simply recycled the best of the theories from the popular conspiracy websites, mixed it up with some clips of Bush as Jedd Clampett and thrown in a little class warfare for good measure. Fahrenheit 911 is an incredible package though. The intro is grand, the narration funny, the humor biting, the choice of music flawless and Moore’s delivery and timing is sensational. In short, there’s no doubt as to why this film deserves to win every major documentary film award there is. It is one of the best documentaries of all time.

The theme which ties together Columbine to Fahrenheit is fear and there’s plenty of it.
Yes, be afraid of the Bushes. Be afraid of the people in power. Be afraid of white people. Be very, very afraid of conservatives. “The Republicans are coming! The Republicans are coming!”

Yes, there were people clapping during the film. This phenomenon has been reported ever since the film’s showing at Cannes. Who was clapping, I wondered? Have people been clapping because they thought the film was a cinematographic masterpiece or were they clapping because of its well-known political content? I thought I knew the answer before I went but it was one puzzle I wished to solve for good. Being an observant guy, I noticed that people clapped before the film even started. Check one for my theory - unless the audience was clapping because the 20 minutes of previews were finally over. I also noticed the biggest applause of all occurred not at the end of the film but when the words “Vote Democrat” were spoken in the middle of it. Check two. That's all I need. Armed with this knowledge I can safely give my rating for this film.

Democrats 5/5
Independents 4/5
Republicans 3/5
Saudis 0/5

And about the OIL.

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures fell to a nine-week low in London on indications supplies from OPEC are growing as Iraq takes control of its oil, easing concern pipelines there will be attacked.

Colin,

Nice review. ;-)

I have to admit, being a supporter of gun ownership, I was not expecting to like BFC but I did.

I found it was more about fear than guns, and that MM made some valid points. Sure, MM uses techniques that are controversial. They work, too.

I will see F911 expecting the same.

Maybe Alex can come explain why his fundamentals were wrong and my technicals were right.... again.

:lol:

I am also a supporter of gun ownership and I found Columbine to be hilarious and well-done. I would say that the content of Columbine was better but that Fahrenheit 911 is a better production.

Columbine was a great documentary and I don't hesitate to call it that but it is effectively propaganda. Moore's thesis in that movie doesn't effectively explain or even mention that US homicide rates have recently fallen to levels not seen since 1913, for example. In short, it is a great movie if it is not taken as academic - which it is not.

Moore is better at what he does than anyone else. He has no competition.

You have to remember the average American i.q is 98
and the average in this room is , i am sure, higher.

unfortunately....i am sure a high number of americans cannot see the humor in Moore's work...the sheep always follow the herd.

I am also an advocate of gun ownership.

Yes, Moore is entertaining, however I felt Fahrenheit 9/11 was a bit too serious at times - almost sounded like Michael Moore was hyped by anger at some points in the movie, which made the "laid back cool" Moore sound like protestor at a anti Bush demonstration (ok, maybe I´m over-dramatizing, but compared with his other movies, then there were a change).

I think the character killing of Bush was done very well by Moore... made Bush look like a 6 year old puppet controlled by others - I think it will do really well for people who already are thinking that the current US president is a bit "slow" - this movie might just convince them that he is.

wig, the saudi families have opened the spigots so as to lower fuel prices to keep their friend in the white house. The timing is most excellent.

However, all you need is one good oil attack piece of terrorism outside of Iraq, and the prices will go right back up.

Is this prices falling, or just a correction before the next run up in the fall?

Who knows?

Alex

:blink: You are pretty good at explaining why something that has already happened, happened.

Good stuff, really. :lol:

Thanks for the review Colin...I still have to go see it.....

IMO, the majority of the movie goers will be inherently 'liberal' or 'lefties'. I don't think Moore's reputation would attract many coservatives.

The response of the audience you witnessed doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Not everyone is as open minded as you and would go to the movie intending to see it for what it is.....an ingenious propoganda machine. ;)

I think a lot of independents will go. I gave it a 4/5. If you hate Bush, Conservatives, Republicans, America or tend to believe conspiracy theories you'll probably give it a 5/5. If anything, the movie probably tilted me a little more to the right in this election because I kept on thinking about the opposing arguments which, I think, are even greater.