Friday, October 17, 2008

On W

In case you were wondering (and I know you were not) I have zero interest in seeing this. I do not even have the energy to bury or praise Oliver Stone, though as Tootle always rightly says, historians have every right to resent Stone simply for the time we have to take to correct him. Let's just say that Stone's claims to be a "historian" are laughable.


Stone and I are on the same side of the aisle in that we will both be voting Democrat in this election, and in all of them. But you do not necessarily have to waste time on everyone on your side of the aisle. I'll simply nod in recognition and move on to more important things. (Though it does seem that no one will go to this movie who is not already convinced of its premises. And it might breed some resentment among not only the doubters, who are unlikely to vote for Obama anyway, but also from those cherished independent voters. This leads me to see a whole lot of solipsism in this movie's pre-election release date. Ultimately W seems to be as much about Oliver Stone as about its putative subject. In other words: It's a typical Oliver Stone movie!)

4 comments:

Rich Holmes said...

Admit it: you aren't going to see this movie because you're waiting to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

dcat said...

Slice --
You know, I've actually never seen a Michael Moore documentary either.

dcat

Rich Holmes said...

Really? I think I've seen three: Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, and Fareneight 9/11, and I enjoyed every one of them purely for Moore's ability as a filmmaker, putting the substance of each one aside. I think what I enjoy most is that Moore is a wise ass, and an intelligent wise ass at that. Wise asses get big time points in my book, irrespective of their views.

Roger said...

I just rewatched Nixon yesterday, and I enjoyed it as much as the first time I saw it. I will definitely be going to see W.

Oliver Stone is no historian, and I don't watch his movies for his politics (in fact, I think Nixon is the only Stone film I really like), but I like that there's someone who's so fascinated and paranoid about American history, but makes Hollywood movies about his obsession rather than writing tedious polemics. Nixon is all mad drama, and a great example of the theatrical potential of the White House. I just wonder if George Bush is a sustainable enough character for a two hour film.