WHAT WOULD TOTO WATCH? » Michael Moore

Thank you, Michael Moore

cftoto — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:11:32 +0000

Michael Moore and I don’t agree on much – except maybe the merits of a good cheeseburger.

But it’s time to praise Moore for his contributions to film, especially since it was just announced his latest film didn’t make the cut for the Best Documentary category this year. (Hat Tip: Kyle Smith)

It’s hard to believe “Capitalism: A Love Story,” Moore’s recent polemic, not only failed at the box office by his standards but couldn’t convince Oscar voters it was worth being mentioned for an award this year.

How the mighty have fallen … but Moore’s work may already be done.

Let’s face it. The Oscar winner dramatically changed the way we think about documentaries. He even made more people consider them when planning a trip to the local theater.

Growing up, I wouldn’t pay money to see a documentary on a dare. Now, the genre is expansive enough to include odes to has-been rockers (“Anvil”), sobering news about our economy (“I.O.U.S.A.”) or simply toasts to a ribald era in movie making history (“Not Quite Hollywood”).

Don’t think Moore didn’t help make this happen. His work proved that documentaries could occasionally make a profit, and that audiences might lap them up if they plucked just the right emotional strings.

He also helped cement the first-person narrative that fuels so many docs these days. Where would “Super Size Me” be without Moore taking the lead?

That doesn’t mean Moore’s impact on the genre has been all positive. Today’s documentary filmmakers can play fast and loose with the truth, knowing Moore does it all time without negative repercussions.

Unless you call winning an Oscar such a “repercussion.”

And many people will look at important, fact-based documentaries with a cynical eye, knowing all the tricks available to the filmmaker to bend the narrative to his or her will.

Ironically, Moore’s work is getting more scrutiny these days than ever before. Some critics cried foul over “Capitalism’s” techniques, even though many applauded Moore for reflecting their own ideologies.

So let’s toast Moore and his impact on the genre, since this moment could be the one that marks the end of his reign as an influential force in Hollywood.

The last word on Michael Moore?

cftoto — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:45:03 +0000

Movie fans are being inundated with spilled ink – and bytes – over lefty documentarian Michael Moore.

The Oscar winner’s new film, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” is in select theaters now and opens wide Oct. 2.

Leave it to The New York Post’s Kyle Smith to write the definitive column on the overhyped auteur.

Like BigGovernment.com, Smith is doing the work mainstream reporters ought to be doing.

Let the Moore/media lovefest begin

cftoto — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:06:11 +0000

Michael Moore, the mainstream media and movie critics – it’s the love triangle with no end in sight.

Moore, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “Fahrenheit 9/11,” is set to release his latest documentary Oct. 2. The untitled film will examine the root causes of the global economic meltdown.

Expect Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the Democratic party to get their comeuppance at last.

Just kidding.

Moore’s films are consistently lively, often funny and usually so unfair and imbalanced that they deserve massive scrutiny from media types. It’s rare to find someone who takes such advantage of our capitalistic system only to mock, refute and attempt to destroy said system.

That’s the story a curious and frisky press might consider pursuing. Instead, any new Moore film is an instant Oscar contender and bound to draw tons of positive press.

What a shame.

Michael Moore would be proud

cftoto — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:38:22 +0000

I used to think documentaries were historical narratives that helped enlighten us about subjects we often knew too little about.

How naive of me.

Today, too many documentaries are simply op-ed columns writ large, polemics with more fiction than fact.

Just consider Michael Moore’s body of work as exhibit A-Z.

Now, we get “Crips and Bloods: Made in America,” a new doc delving into the LA gang culture. It’s a meaty topic, for sure, and director Stacy Peralta previously gave us the beautiful documentary “Riding Giants.”

But “Crips and Bloods” isn’t interested in sharing the birth of gang culture so much as blaming America every step of the way – and absolving the gang members of even a passing degree of responsibility.

My Pajamas Media review says much more. What a wasted opportunity.

‘Enlighten Up!’ – Super Namaste Me

cftoto — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:35:00 +0000

“Enlighten Up” is the natural by-product of Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock’s brand of docu-reality.

The indie feature, in select theaters now, tracks a yoga skeptic pushed by the film’s director to discover the exercise’s spiritual side.

It’s got Spurlock’s personal touch and Moore’s whimsical stylings. If you’re gonna crib from the lefty filmmakers, documentarian Kate Churchill picked the right elements for inspiration.

The film follows Nick, a handsome 29-year-old who serves himself up as a test case for Churchill’s belief that yoga can expand the mind, not just tone the tummy.

So Nick travels near (NYC) and far (India) to practice with yoga experts, all in the hopes he’ll emerge enlightened. Some instructors treat yoga as an excuse to get pretty girls into flimsy attire, like former wrestler turned “regular guy” yoga teacher Diamond Dallas Page.

Others, including the older yoga experts Nick interviews from India, insist yoga be practiced along with a deep spiritual component.

The teachers in between are the most intriguing. They lean on yoga to round out their lives, and it’s hard not to be alarmed at the weight they place on each pose, or asana.

Nick, dubbed a “skeptic” because he works as a journalist, is as open minded as any yoga novice could be. Audiences will appreciate his candor and good spirits, and like Spurlock before him those spirits elevate the material.

But he can’t enlighten fast enough for Churchill. Their exchanges give the film a tangible friction, but that drama evaporates as Nick heads off to an extended trip to India.

Churchill, a yoga devotee who clearly hopes to create a disciple out of her subject, is the occasionally bullying force behind the narrative. But her zeal betrays her filmmaking instincts, since the last 20 minutes offer little in the way of resolution – let alone enlightenment.

Frankly, the film could have dovetailed into why most yoga enthusiasts feel the need to graft spirituality onto an exercise that works perfectly well as a timeless mind-body connection.

“Enlighten Up!” will intrigue anyone who ever felt the burn, or the tranquility, from a yoga session. Everyone else may still view yoga from a distance.

(Photo: Nick Rosen, left, isn’t nearly as flexible as some of the yoga disciples he practices with in “Enlighten Up!”)

‘Special’ – A not so super man

Shot down by Moore and co.?

cftoto — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:19:59 +0000

Kevin Leffler isn’t a filmmaker by trade. He’s a college professor and CPA.

But he grew up in Michigan and heard all about local hero Michael Moore’s efforts on behalf of the “little guy.”

Leffler wasn’t buying it, so he picked up a camera and pointed it toward Moore.

The result is “Shooting Michael Moore,” a critical doc about the Oscar-winning filmmaker. My latest Washington Times feature shares Leffler’s story – and the effort by one of Moore’s closest pals to stop Leffler’s film from getting show in Michigan.

Does Moore’s friend have a point, or is the man who gave us “Roger & Me” getting a bit defensive about his persona? You be the judge.

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WWTW Interview: Director Nick Tucker (‘Do As I Say’)

cftoto — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:17:35 +0000

Michael Moore gets the Michael Moore treatment in Nick Tucker’s new documentary “Do As I Say.”

It’s only fitting, since Tucker learned much of what he knows about making documentaries that entertain as well as enlighten from the Oscar winner himself.

Tucker’s film, which debuts at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Oct 2) at the American Film Renaissance’s fourth annual festival in Washington, D.C., skewers liberal hypocrites like Moore, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Noam Chomsky.

It’s based on Peter Schweizer’s best-selling book “Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy.”

The film’s signature bit has Tucker leaving an interview request, along with a cake, outside Moore’s home. Instead of sampling the cake and inviting the young filmmaker inside, Moore calls the police.

“He’s definitely someone we looked to for inspiration for the film. The segment is an homage to him,” he says.

Tucker says he “stole from as many sources as you could” to make the low-budget feature, citing “The Daily Show” as well as “Borat” as comedic inspiration. But Moore’s imprint on Tucker’s film is the most obvious. The director inserts himself into the narrative repeatedly, sharing personal stories about his attempts to speak with Moore as well as other amusing snippets that echo Moore’s guerilla brand of filmmaking.

“Do As I Say’s” unabashedly conservative bent is a departure for the young filmmaker, whose previous films weren’t politically based.

He didn’t initially think twice about embracing his own ideology, which leans toward the libertarian side of the street.

He’s had a few second thoughts since then.

“I probably was less concerned about it when I started out than I am lately,” he says, especially the rough treatment Jon Voight received recently for speaking out against Sen. Barack Obama. “I feel a little bit more like, ‘whoah, maybe I shouldn’t have stepped out of the conservative closet so quickly.”

Ultimately, the industry’s reaction to his work took a backseat to his overall vision.

“I didn’t want to be part of the studio system. I just want to make movies on my own,” he says. “I think we’ll have no problem finding an audience for this film.”

Tucker started shooting his new documentary, “Do As I Say,” before he secured the film’s complete funding.

His initial proposal attracted some financing, and he immediately started shooting scenes to convince other benefactors to pony up.

“It wasn’t as hard to raise money for it once we had something to show,” Tucker says. “It meant starting before we knew where we were going.”

The documentary doesn’t have a distribution deal in place yet. Tucker hopes to see his film in theaters nationwide, but if that doesn’t happen he plans to hit the college circuit and show “Do As I Say” to students.

“Young audiences really respond to it,” he says, adding students can visit the film‘s web site and request the film be shown at their university.

Conservative films like “Do As I Say” are suddenly springing up across the country, but they still can’t match the economic power of their liberal counterparts.

Tucker credits the increase, in part, to right-leaning think tanks realizing they need to channel their resources not just into policy papers but toward communicating their ideas in more compelling ways.

That doesn’t always inspire great cinema, though, he contends. It’s one reason he’s hopeful that David Zucker‘s “An American Carol” will be a smash.

“It’s not someone who’s conservative who decided to be a filmmaker,” he says. “Zucker knows the craft. He knows how to make a good comedy.”

Let the Zucker bashing begin

cftoto — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:41:43 +0000

How dare David Zucker mock the almighty Michael Moore?

Well, film reviewers and bloggers aren’t gonna let him get away with it. Zucker’s next movie, “An American Carol,” is a pro-American, anti-Michael Moore romp. And the battle lines have already been drawn.

What Would Toto Watch? will keep you posted on these developments. I mean, we don’t want an alternative view shown on the big screen, right?

For starters, here’s what Fancast: The Big Picture had to say about Zucker in a piece ostensibly about Kelsey Grammer.

Considering Grammer’s also appearing in An American Carol by David Zucker, who has essentially announced that he has no intention of being original ever again …

This will be mild compared to what’s to come, no doubt.

No related posts.

One more reason to dislike Madonna

cftoto — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Madonna played the “girl next door” card from her dwindling deck this week.

The pop sensation returned to her Michigan roots to premiere “I Am Because We Are,’ a new documentary she produced about Malawi orphans.I’d kill to hear the audio from her appearance. Did she affect the local accent or stick to her new British one?

She also made time to hug Michael Moore, the “documentary” director who co-founded the festival where the film was shown.

What did Madonna have to say about Moore?

There aren’t a lot of role models for us in the world, or people we can look up to,” she said. “People who are not afraid to stick their neck out, people who are not afraid to stand up for things and be unpopular, to go against the grain, think outside the box.

“And we need, and I need, Michael Moore in my life.

Was this the same Michael Moore who once said this?

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow—and they will win.

Yeah. We need a lot more people like him.

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