Moore Bores

I have a small problem with the new Movie Show on SBS: it has three of the most pretentious gits ever to disgrace our television screens delivering trite reviews, padded out with oxymorons, tautologies, and cliches:

Produced, written and directed by Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 9/11’s agenda is the war on terrorism and the Bush Dynasty.

That's the start of a Michael Moore review by Jamie Leonarder. He continues:

Sure you can call it poorly edited, raw quality, propaganda and sentimental

Not to mention poorly researched, paranoid, anti-right-wing, anti-Saudi-Arabia, and exploitative (check in at Tim Blair's website every now and then for details, or here and here). Not that I'd do that myself, it's just the preliminary judgement I'd make about his film after having read his 200 page paranoid rants in Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country.

But in its totality, 9/11 transcends its flaws to deliver one of the most insightful documentaries ever made. In a “democratic” society we must have a counterfoil in the media to make governing officials accountable. “Who will watch the watchers?” Before we shoot the messenger, let’s all take the time to examine the message.

Who will watch the watchers? I want to know, who will watch the film after that hackneyed effort? And who will even bother watching The Movie Show anymore, if this is the standard of review? Not me: I changed channels and watched the end of The Others, one of the best horror films in recent years.