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Reviews
Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers (2003)
Not your typical documentary, but certainly worth a watch
A very unusual documentary about consumerism. I prefer
statistics-filled, dry, just-throw-the-facts-at-me types of
documentaries. I find most of Michael Moore's humor distracting to his
main points, for example. This film uses a variety of techniques to
appeal to emotions.
For instance, it uses a sometimes annoying, sometimes surprisingly
effective tactic of repeating sound bites. The footage ranges from
protests to interviews. Footage includes a Cuban teen's reactions to
visiting McDonalds, to European homeless people, to Microsoft's Steve
Ballmer dancing around screaming to motivate Windows programmers at a
conference. It's truly unusual, but despite my preference for "drier"
more fact-oriented documentaries, I found this unusual emotion-appeal
film quite enjoyable and effective. That surprised me; perhaps it will
you too?
The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004)
Few can claim to know about the clash of the US/west versus Muslim fundamentalism and the interaction of US politics in that clash without seeing this video.
This is a superb 3-part BBC documentary about how gov'ts overblow
threats to create "nightmares" which can then be used for domestic
purposes/control. It traces the US neo-cons back to the Cold War days
and examines how both the neo-cons and Islamic fundamentalists falsely
claim credit for destroying the overblown threat of the USSR. The film
then examines the so-called War on Terror (WoT). It includes
outstanding "evidence" of the terrorist "sleeper cell" trials in the US
(you have to watch and see this evidence to believe it!!). This is an
extremely well done, insightful look at the post-9/11 reactions by the
US and UK and will challenge propaganda about the WoT (e.g. the US
gov't named Al Queda not Bin Laden; nuclear scientists and the Pentagon
both say a "dirty bomb" would most likely not kill anyone) with
reasoned and well-sourced logic and arguments.
For more information, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stm
The first episode is not the most exciting, since it does the
historical background to set up the last two episodes. (You can get
the gist of the entire documentary just by watching the last two.
Viewing the BBC's link above will give some add'l info.) Few can claim
to know about the clash of the US/west versus Muslim fundamentalism and
the interaction of US politics in that clash without seeing this video
-- it's that good!
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)
Highly recommended for all citizens
This flick will educate you on the inevitable outcry following the 2004
election (no matter who wins).
This film examines the botched 2000 elections in as an objective manner
that I've seen, doing so in a non-ranting, tell-me-the-facts manner.
It clearly documents that the election was not over "hanging chads" and
delves into its seemier aspects. It cites Jeb Bush and Katherine
Harris for their various acts of malfeasance, knocks Gore for things
like only seeking recounts in 4 democratic-leaning counties, and even
points out the blatant conflicts of interest of Supreme Court justices
with interviews with the individuals in question. Greg Palast of the
BBC explains his investigative reports (something very few Americans
are aware of) very well. While the film is from 2002, it is not dated
and it also includes a bit on potential problems of electronic voting.
As a former high school civics teacher the 2000 election particularly
disgusted me, not only because of the inevitable warping process that
the undemocratic electoral college inflicts on our presidential
elections, but because I saw it as a clear indication that the concept
of "fair play" had gone out the window. This film makes that crystal
clear, citing the facts to back up that opinion. It will be an
education for most any citizen.
Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003)
Informative and well done
There are some other great comments about this film, so I'll instead
try to give out some detail. The film is done in a calm, non-ranting,
informative manner primarily via interviews with journalists. Many
points about the corporate domination of the corporate mass media are
brought out well; the citing of GE Inc.'s top management interfering
with NBC news is one case in point. The portrayal of the media
industry itself as a political "special interest" similar to the
tobacco lobby or other traditional special interest is both insightful
and strong. The film also does an adequate job of painting the change
in "ethics" of government officials over the years, and gives a few
citations to support its point.
If there is a knock, it's that the film covers a vast amount of points
and therefore cannot go in depth unless you want to watch a ninety-hour
documentary. This is not a big knock -- it seems that one goal of the
film is to try to tie many disparate issues and trends together to
paint the big picture, which is something our regular mass media simply
does not do.
To me, two points are worth special mention and applause. (1) the film
mentions the original 1980 "October Surprise" and while it does not go
in depth, it does flush out the basics and gives a reference to the
book by Carter's Nat'l Security Adviser ("October Surprise"), which one
can use to read for more information. Still, it would have been nice
to mention Jimmy Carter's quote about the October Surprise or the fact
that the former Iranian president has publicly said the October
Surprise did indeed happen while he was president. (2) Despite it not
being a focus of the film, the film brings out the class gap (aka the
growing gap between the rich and poor) and issues of Americans working
long hours. This is done in a way related to media self-censorship but
I'm always surprised when this issue rears its head -- simply because
reporting about it is so very rare in the mainstream press. The film
gives a few stats but its message that the poor are poorer now than a
couple of decades ago and the rich are much, much richer comes through
well; it notes the current gov'ts solution to this problem is a tax cut
for the rich stands out starkly in its plain-face absurdity. While
there was a few of those conventional-wisdom-turned-upside-down moments
in the film, that one stood out.
Overall, like the other reviewers, I highly recommend the film. While
it's not done in a Michael Moore-like funny manner, the material
presented is on the money, is not preachy and is easily followed, and
the film runs along coherently in an easy to watch pace. In some ways,
it's scary, depressing stuff; in other ways, it's invigorating because
it illustrates the depth of what's happening to our republic and paints
a picture of just how much work we've got to do to return our gov't to
some semblance of rule by/for the people.