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Friday, October 03, 2008
Culture wars at the cineplex
Bill Maher's anti-religion documentary Religulous is getting all the ink heading into this weekend, but I'm betting An American Carol will prove to be the bigger success, and justifiably so.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on October 3, 2008 in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Comments
When I heard Jon Voight and Kelsey Grammar were going to be in a movie poking fun and lefties, I was excited–but from the trailer the movie just seems to be a celebration of jingoism. No thanks, I'll take my chance with the heathen.
Posted by: Kalim Kassam | 2008-10-03 10:24:23 AM
Here are links to a movie that will be interesting. Especially now that US government seems likely to move wholesale into control of private financial institutions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBo2xQIWHiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp8ZmQMCtqA
Posted by: JC | 2008-10-03 11:19:29 AM
"...and justifiably so."
Conservatives (small 'c') are a funny bunch. They think, somehow, that whether or not a movie is worth seeing is measured not by things like entertainment value, but things like whether it expresses the 'right' (pun intended) politics. While a case could be made that political perspective matters in a documentary, and in some dramas it might, in comedies the political litmus test is just ridiculous (or should that be 'ridiculogical'?). Funny is funny and unfunny is unfunny, no matter who the target is.
Those pesky 'leftists' who thought the impeachment of Bill Clinton was nonsense don't have any trouble laughing at all the SNL skits and other comedians who made fun of Bill's lechery. They don't get in an indignant huff about it. Dennis Miller still has the same 'leftist' fans he had before he became a 911-Republican. Miller is still funny, even if he saves his best barbs now for Democrats.
But conservatives seem to think that ideology matters in comedy. Maybe it is because they have a funny ideology (again, pun intended). It is one of the oddest ways that conservatives are a throwback to the old fashioned idea of using the arts as propaganda first, and entertainment second. No wonder they want to be able to approve of which films get tax breaks and which don't!
I'm going to see "Religulous" because Maher is pretty funny and the promo-clips look good. I'm not planning to see "An American Carol" because I wonder if a film starring Kelsey Grammar (who has NEVER been funny in a film yet) and a guy whose only claim to fame is being Chris Farley's brother can really be all that funny. The FPM article says, "In a just world, the words 'From the makers of Airplane!' should be enough to guarantee a blockbuster." No. Twenty years ago that was true, but not now. Zucker gave us dogs like "Scary Movie 3", "Scary Movie 4" and "BASEketball".
So I'll pass on "An American Carol", and justifiably so. But not for ideological reasons, for humour reasons. Micheal Moore is a jackass and deserves to be taken out the the woodshed, but by funny people, not a hack, a wannabe, and a has-been.
Posted by: Fact Check | 2008-10-03 11:47:16 AM
I'd love to, but Religiulus (sp?) Opens throughout B.C.today while American Carol has no plans to open in Canada, let alone B.C..
Wasn't going to see the Bill Maher film anyway...but it's pretty hard to make the "right" film choices when they are unavailable to you.
(I ran into a simialr problem with Expelled, which a friend of mine drove to the U.S. to see in the theaters. I finally saw it about two months later when it played in one theater--for the entire Lower Mainland--for a week...)
Posted by: Rick Hiebert | 2008-10-03 1:06:19 PM
I might take up an offer to go to Seattle for the US election.
I'll make sure I go see American Carol.
Posted by: set you free | 2008-10-03 1:48:24 PM
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ which I find to be fairly accurate for mainstream taste rates "An American Carol" at only 43% , which generally means a waste of money.
Posted by: peterj | 2008-10-03 11:50:40 PM
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