Has the Left Tired of Michael Moore’s Shtick?
by Christian Toto
Whenever Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore releases a new documentary the reaction in the press is typically jubilant. Rave reviews. Fawning interviews which rarely ask tough questions. Oscar buzz aplenty.
But this time could be different.
Moore’s last film, “Slacker Uprising,” didn’t go straight to DVD. It went straight to download. Now, Moore’s catching heat from Movieline.com, the online film magazine which routinely taunts conservative targets like Gov. Sarah Palin. The site’s new Moore-related post swats the filmmaker for a less than sharp attempt at marketing his upcoming film about the country’s economic collapse. The movie blogger sets up his critique here:
Obviously, I don’t want this blog to get quoted on redstate.com or wherever, but there’s so much manufactured badness here:
This is only one example of a left-leaning site deciding not to carry water for Moore. Maybe Moore Nation (AKA the MSM) will fall in line soon enough. But with a liberal in the White House, the need on the Left to rally around Moore’s polemics decreases dramatically.
If that’s the case, there’s a better than average chance movie critics and entertainment reporters alike will see through Moore’s Everyman persona.
Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com and at The Denver Examiner.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Tips & Feedback
75 Comments
Especially if he dares criticize any decision Obama made. Though he has been pretty supportive overall. I also think if he supports Obama too much he risks becoming redundant and radioactive like all the other Obamaites after he inevitably falls (poll numbers are in the low 50s now, not much farther to go before the knives come out).
I still don't understand the following Moore has. His movies have been proven to be nothing more than complete lies. He's the posterboy for total hypocrites. And yet every college kid thinks he's great.
I urge everyone to see Michael Moore Hates America. I recently bought a copy and was impressed with the makers and even more disgusted with Moore. The guy is a loser and has made millions lying to us.
Wake up people.
All I can say is – "it's about time!" I get so tired of MSM and the left fawning over this guy. He is nothing more than a pompous a$$.
You just answered your own question: EVERY COLLEGE KID. Colleges and universities are by and large indoctrination centers for the left.
Oh, and where did they get this picture of Moore?? He looks at least 300 pounds lighter than he really is.
I think they photoshopped his head onto some poor slob's body.
he's so fat his blood type is Ragu…..
Who needs a documentarian who likes to expose problems (real or imagined) with the country when are running the country?
Moore will vanish for a few years until he finds a target that is opposing the Messiah.
"Maybe Moore Nation (AKA the MSM) will fall in line soon enough."
Don't kid yourself that the "dinosaur" media won’t be in lockstep behind Moore's latest effort. They’ll continue to sell their journalistic souls in order to help Barack Chavez push through his agenda. Especially if Moore's tripe puts most of the blame on Republicans.
Journalism is dead in America.
This IS NOT the change for which we voted!
Post a "spew alert" next time! I'm wearing Dr. Pepper!!!!
I know I have.
I shouldn't have laughed at that, but I did
I think Moore has never looked better and the weightloss is commendible. Now let's talk about his movies…
He doesn't limit his attacks to those that oppose Obama. No sir! He attacks capitalism, the constitution, basically anything even remotely American.
And he does it with lies. Flat out lies.
while I disagree with Moore's political views, I find his movies to be entertaining. That is why I expect the left to fall out with him in the near future.
"He attacks capitalism, the constitution, basically anything even remotely American." — as I said, the things that oppose Obama.
Touche' I stand corrected….
But… but… Trish, he's shown us the error of our ways by cobbling together a series of lies and misrepresented footage. He's a genuine hero, right?
I think Moore still looks like 10lbs of crap in 5lb bag.
But yes, let's talk about his movies. If you watch Michael Moore Hates America, you will see how his movies are carefully edited and manipulated to make you think you saw something that you really didn't. The makers had real documentary film makers dissect Moore's stuff and it's just shameful the amount of deceipt in these films.
going to put it in net fix queue now.
I'm a bit surprised that that American flag in his hand didn't spontaneously burst into flame.
Someone needs to ask Moore about the rabbit lady from Roger and Me and how much compensation he gave her after his movie hit it big.
[...] Has the Left Tired of Michael Moore’s shtick? by Christian Toto [...]
Actually, that picture above was taken when his book "Stupid White Men" (which I'll admit I thought was an autobiography) came out. He has since gained quite a bit of weight, more than what anyone would consider obese.
God what a waste of low density lipids that man is.
If you can get past the amateur production, you'll find that the movie is extremely well done
Don't forget: the director of "Michael Moore Hates America" is a contributor to Big Hollywood, none other than Michael Wilson.
Michael Moron preaches. He's a nag and a finger wagger. He's everything the left hates, his mockumnetary movies preach about how you should live your life by not being like 'them', the evil socially/fiscally conservative right. What's really galling is he cherry picks his facts and distorts their meaning in order to arrive at his foregone conclusion. I think the left sees him as an embarrassment because of his egregious misrepresentations which have discredited him to the point where the left fears his foolishness will discredit them. He really should switch over to mainstream fiction because he's got the experience.
Kinda like what CBS and ABC did to the Palin interviews? That does seem to be the typical Liberal's MO of trying to remain relevent…
I disagree. I haven't seen anywhere that the left has criticised any of Moore's blatant lies. He still gets speaking engagements at universities and he's still making movies.
Not a peep out of Hollywood. Check the Hollywood papers and see if you can find even a single article calling out Moore for lying through his teeth in his movies. It's a proven fact that he lied repeatedly in almost all of his movies, but good luck finding anything harsher than what was written above.
As for the preaching I do agree. He screeches about American excesses while his weight hovers around that of a rhinocerus. Know how much his place in NYC cost? Or his stint at an exclusive weight loss clinic? This guy is a phony and a fraud and needs to be gone from the public eye.
Moore is no longer useful. Once a republican or somebody other than a nutty lib gets in office, people like him will be revered as revolutionaries once again.
Haha!
I wouldn't be surprised to see Moore's name in the credits for both of those interviews.
We need Conservative doc & filmmakers. No slant, just facts. Fair & Balanced. Trouble is, there are no "backers".
It will take far more than that fetid bag of postule drippings to incinerate Old Glory
Heh… now that would explain it all…
Moore drove himself right out of a job after he demonized President Bush for eight years. Good riddance.
Indeed, he has slipped from former status and now resides among the non-useful idiots.
Michael Moore has been rendered irrelevant by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MS-NBC, BBC.
How can one guy make up as much biased dishonest crap as the 95% of the media that is in the tank for the elitists that invite them to listen to Wanda Sykes wish death upon all who oppose the Fudge Nitwit.
Every time I see or hear about Micheal Moore, I have one thought.
Joseph Goebbels burning in hell, saying "And they PAY HIM to view HIS propaganda! Mr. Moore, I salute you!"
As long as he's generally helping democrats, I'll be a fan.
The only thing I can find wrong with this Moore presentation is that he's around 100 lb.s light in the photo.
So you're ok with him lying through his teeth to you?
That pretty much makes you a complete tool.
Which cheek?
Oh, Hank….Poor Ricki is not even a tool. A tool can be useful. He is more like a bag of hair clippings.
Well of course, Trish….. They don't want him dissin' Obammy's America, now do they? That schtick only works on Reagan, Bush, a privately held GM, private health care, etc, etc…..ad puke my brains out.
How warped can it get when you're worried about what might get quoted on a conservative site when you're critiquing Moore's marketing?
Makes you wonder who the left fears more- we conservatives, or their peers? I'm gonna say the latter.
I'm shocked Moore is releasing anything. He never released a film during the Clinton administration, outside the awful Canadian Bacon. No documentaries though. Wasn't much to complain about then.
Maybe this is a symptom of his overreach with "Sicko," trying to portray Cuba as some medicinal paradise, which most common sense Democrats wouldn't even buy.
Social/political satire is easy to pull off when you proceed from the petulant child's POV. It gets very difficult to pull off when you proceed from the adult's POV. That's why Zucker's American Carol fell flat, over all. At least it did for me. You are correct about the left seeing him as a possible embarassent now that, His Holiness the Teleprompter of Lake Shore Drive, has perched himself on his homemade throne. They're scared to death that he will inadvertantly expose some truth about HHTLSD that they don't want mom and pop moderate dem, who still watch NBC/ABC/CBS evening news, to see.
No doubt! Good one, Vad.
Interesting to see this article the day BH linked to the Roger Ebert diatribe. Ebert is a devoted Moore sycophant and lover of all things anti-Conservative. He loved all the anti-war (anti-troop) movies last year, as well. His swooning reviews of Moore's movies are painfully embarrassing to read, if you've read the book (or heard the authors) about Moore's dishonesty in his "documentaries." I always disliked him, but when I find out he hired actors to read scripts (pretending to be ordinary people), I was embarrassed for Leftist film critics who should have seen it (it's kind of their job, right?), but were too busy worshiping at Moore's Liberal agenda to notice.
It's like that Uncle you had who would get drunk and start racist rants at family parties when you were a kid. It made you wonder if there was a lucid moment in their real lives, or if they were pathetic 24 x 7.
It's hard to portray Cuba as a "medicinal paradise" when their beloved leader goes to Europe for medical treatment
Well, I'm not surprised about Roger Ebert. This is a man who became a film critic, due to the fact that his main claim to fame in the film industry was writing the screenplay for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls". Hard to put any stock into his critiques….
[...] this time could be different. Moore’s last film, “Slacker Uprising,” didn’t go straight to DVD. It went straight to download. Now, Moore’s catching heat from Movieline.com, the online film [...]
Michael Moore is irrelevant in the Age of Obama; therefore, he has to wait for the Republicans to regain Congress to be viable propaganda. He will only go against Obama out of desperation.
agree with the above post; Moore is very yesterday- without a windmill to charge, this latter day Sancho Panza will fade into the oblivion that awaits all propagandists. Like Cindy Sheehan, they needed Mr Bush to have any significance. And lefties, being notorious tightwads, won't support his choir-preaching mocdocs…
Done business.
it's a shame, too- for once upon a time Ebert was not only a good critic but an entertaining writer as well.
Over the last dozen years he fell in with the hard left Hyde Park/Chicago crowd; his wife is a black activist-
and he became increasingly unhinged…
He is now a poor political pundit who does film criticism.
I somwhat agree. The political left loves what Moore does, but don't what to be close to him when they are running for office. The Hollywood Left, on the otherhand, fully embraces M&M. To the political left he is just a mistress. Moore, like Bill Maher, wants to be relevant in the age of Obama. His work has been completely deceptive (Bowling for Columbine- trying to link the Klan with the NRA, please). I am completely over this low-self esteem, delusional, self-righteous, hypocritical man (He claim he could not support someone who voted for the Iraq War, but he initially backed John Edwards who voted for the war.).
[...] they don’t want to be quoted by Red State, I knew I had to quote them, and Big Hollywood quoted them, too, and if you are another conservative blogger, maybe you should quote [...]
I suspect it's because overweight people are the latest target for the elitist left and are being blamed for everything from global warming to health care being expensive.
They are finally seeing Michael Moore as a grotesque slob that doesn't fit in with their image of attractive and enlightened elitism.
When you make a joke of the profession you claim to be a part of, you become the joke.____ABC doesn't get that, either, but they're about to.
That's great, micro ricky. Good luck with that.
Two irrelevancies for the price of one. And I didn't have to pay for either of you.
Like that Niagara of suet coming for you, do you?
I suspect another scrote nuzzling is in S&MM's future…
I agree MM is still getting love from the left but the article Toto mentions does a pretty good job of calling him to task for his stunt in New York. I'm hoping it's the beginning of some critical thinking by the group think folks. My own form of Hope and Change.
Moore does something most of the left won't do, he gears-up and take the battle to the streets. They bitch and whine and moan but he does something. IMO they defend his stuff, no matter how bad it is because at least he's out there swinging. Although the left is still willing to overlook his sins, I think if he produces more of the SOS they'll distance themselves from him. I think he'd be much more effective if he'd make entertaining movies with his message buried in the dialog and plot. At least that would disarm the right who rightfully call his documentaries progaganda.
IMO Moore is a phony through and through. From watching his interviews and movies and movies about him, I think he's probably got big emotional problems which are what drive him to make the movies he does. He tries too hard and overplays his hand. He's a guy who's found a niche and he's milking it. He's a useful idiot the left loves because he carries their water.
Even the liberals find him to be yesterdays news. He had his 15 mins. Now pay your tax bill Mr. Moore and move along.
Michael Moore is an oxygen thief.
Once you realize that he's stealing air from sentient life forms (Conservatives), everything falls into place.
Moore's show "TV Nation" on NBC back in the mid-90s did not endear him to the people working for him — there were stories of how he was as cheap and demanding as the worst of any of the CEOs he has attacked. So any support since then mainly came while Bush was in the White House under the guise of "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," rationale. With Obama in the White House and Democrats in control of Congress, there's no need for now to play nice with Michael, though if the Dems suffer big mid-term or 2012 losses, he'll be back in their good graces again.
I think Team America said it best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nu8G4v9TEs
WARNING: contains offensive language!
"If that’s the case, there’s a better than average chance movie critics and entertainment reporters alike will see through Moore’s Everyman persona."
————
Considering that Moore is 400 lbs, I don't think anyone will ever see thru him, around him, or past him.
His reputation really began to tank after the release of "Sicko". When you have Sanjay Gupta on CNN criticizing you, there is a pretty big problem. Citing Cuba as a sterling example of public healthcare might get you plaudits in Marxist circles, but it was more than even most liberals could take. Most Cubans would not have gotten within a mile of the facility that Moore was in, and that was quite obvious.
It does appear that he could market his gut as a pork belly.
[...] Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com and at The Denver Examiner. This piece was originally published on June 17 at the Big Hollywood blog. [...]
[...] Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com and at The Denver Examiner. This piece was originally published on June 17 at the Big Hollywood blog. [...]
[...] Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com and at The Denver Examiner. This piece was originally published on June 17 at the Big Hollywood blog. [...]
Has the Left Tired of Michael Moore’s Shtick?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2009/06...
Why is the left ignoring Moore now? Maybe because he actually is on to something? His trailer mocks how we taxpayers have given mega-bucks to Goldman Sachs, Citibank, et al. He criticizes the stimulus. He's right.
Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRm0S0__3ns&eu...
As for the left, he'll learn what Cindy Sheehan learned, that is, he has outlived his usefulness. When she was useful, you couldn't swing a dead cat and not hit 200 reporters. When she took on the establishment left for not living up to what they claiming to stand for, she couldn't buy a photo op.
Whatever truths it looks like Moore will be exposing in his latest, will be ignored by the right. Though Moore did raise many factual points in films like Sicko, he wasn't thorough in presenting ALL the information. It's the credibility factor. And now with the left turning on him, he'll have nowhere to go.
I fear he may raise some legitimate issues but will be understandably and immediately dismissed.
You must be logged in to post a comment.