Comments on: Libertas in The LA Times + Moore’s Shoddy Legacy in Documentary Film

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:02:52 +0000

Yeah, that would be great – wouldn’t it? Snooki handing out Best Documentary Short.

By: lazypadawan

lazypadawan — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:29:37 +0000

There are people who find Moore’s films entertaining but my biggest issue with him is that he flat out lies in his movies. It’s like rewarding a plagiarist you know is a plagiarist with an A because you still found his paper entertaining.

The Oscars have been an embarrassment over the past couple of decades and putting a hack like Michael Moore on the board of governors is par for the course. I fully expect Snooki and JWoww to present Oscars at next year’s ceremony and for the stars to out do this year’s MTV Movie Awards f-bomb count.

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:12:02 +0000

Shinsnake, thank you for commenting, as always. But I deny him any talent whatsoever. The man is a hack who is propped up by the system due to his politics. End of story. I give him no credit at all, because I’m familiar with what great documentary filmmaking is, which – may I be frank? – 99% of the on-line ‘conservatives’ opining on this matter seem to have no knowledge of, whatsoever. Mr. Moore is purely and simply a product of our narcissistic celebrity culture, and has cleverly used the format of the documentary to propel his own career. He’s not actually all that different from Kim Kardashian, frankly, except that instead of making a spectacle out of his body (thankfully) he makes a spectacle out of his radical politics.

If you’re interested in this subject, I recommend that aside from the documentaries I mention in the post above, you investigate the work of someone like Claude Jutra – or maybe even Arthur Lipsett or Jordan Belson. What you’ll be exposed to in the work of these filmmakers is the genuine artistry that the documentary form can take when pushed to its limits. These guys had a huge influence on young Hollywood filmmakers coming up in the 1960s and 1970s. You could even go way back and watch something like Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” series, which isn’t about Capra himself – the way Moore would’ve done it.

Beyond all this, though, it puzzles me that certain conservative film commenters are going to the mat to defend this guy – and that somehow criticizing his election to the Academy Board constitutes ‘blacklisting.’ I’ve never seen anything so idiotic in my life. No one is denying Mr. Moore the right to work, or to say whatever he pleases. But that doesn’t mean he’s entitled to a seat on the Academy Board. Such an opportunity is a privilege. One of my own instructors in documentary filmmaking at USC film school, for example, was Mark Harris – who also has won an Academy Award, for his film on the Kindertransport during World War II. Why shouldn’t he be on the Board? There are all kinds of legitimate people out there who they could’ve selected instead of this divisive, ugly and talentless hack.

By: shinsnake

shinsnake — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:21:46 +0000

How do you deny Moore’s obvious talent? Of course he perverted the very idea of a documentary pretty much from his very first film. But how else could a man weave so many lies into film and form them into a narrative that sounds almost plausible if not with talent? Black magic? No one is giving him a pass for his propaganda and documentary-ish tactics, but you have to give him credit for being able to thrive in that genre despite not actually participating in that genre. Ben Stein’s “eXpelled” couldn’t match that, despite being cut from the same cloth except the opposite side. Perhaps you have less problem with conservatives who see Moore’s talent and more with those people who classify Moore’s films as documentaries?

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:49:26 +0000

Right.

By: motionview

motionview — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:14:57 +0000

I’m glad to see Moore on the board, just in case anyone had any question about what was really important to AAMPAS.

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:04:50 +0000

I’d love to say more about all this, but … isn’t the picture of Bar Refaeli lovely? Really lovely.

http://www.libertasfilmmagazine.com/hollywood-round-up-78/

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:02:35 +0000

Thanks, H. Keep commenting here at LFM.

By: SilverySurfer

SilverySurfer — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:59:03 +0000

I just read Nolte’s post over at Big Hollywood. I guess his point is that you’re “blacklisting” Moore by simply opposing his election to the Academy Board. I think that’s a little over the top. It’s also ironic because of who really has the power to blacklist in Hollywood. It certainly isn’t conservatives.

While on this topic, I was really offended by what Moore did to Charlton Heston in “Bowling for Columbine.” He basically reedited Heston’s words, and set them out of context, in order to score a political point. I really don’t see why Big Hollywood wants to defend this guy.

By: Jason Apuzzo

Jason Apuzzo — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:38:53 +0000

Nobody important.