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Reviews
I Am (2010)
Pure Ignorant Propagandizing
If you want to get into the head of today's improperly-labeled 'intellectuals' (more like socialist propagandists), this is as good a way to do so as any I've ever seen.
Let's start with one of the 'profound' quotes thrown out as some sort of brilliant observation: "An ocean, a rain-forest, the human body, are all co-operatives." False. While they are inexorably LINKED, they are in NO WAY anything close to the definition of a co-operative. Does the rain-forest make demands of the ocean, and the ocean act on those demands(or vice-verse)?! Obviously NOT! The co-operative label is clearly used improperly in order to promote a false notion that humans must therefore subjugate themselves to some all-powerful governing body. Never-mind that we are thinking individuals and water/trees are 'dead' for all practical purposes.
"The redwood tree doesn't take all the soil and nutrients, just what it needs to grow." Neither do you or I take ALL of ANYTHING - we BUY what we CAN. However, neither does the Redwood give a rats ass about other Redwoods, or anything else whatsoever - they take care of themselves and only themselves, where humans are the most charitable creatures on Earth.
"A lion doesn't kill every gazelle, just one." Apparently I make two pot roasts every night just to throw one out?! Seriously, who out there is cooking two meals every night and chucking one in the waste bin? Who are the people that actually hear this nonsense and just buy it without question? While there are examples of excesses, these are the outliers (exceptions) - not the norm. Ours is still the most efficient system on earth.
"We have a term for something in the body when it takes more than its share, we call it: cancer." Wow - we had the cure for cancer all along and just didn't know it - POVERTY AND STARVATION!
'I Am' is a mockery propaganda piece mislabeled as a documentary, unless you want to call it a documentary of the worst in propaganda - that would be spot on. Please - if you give Tom Shadyac or his production/distribution companies one dime for this drivel, do us all a favor and move to Cuba where the citizens are, by Shadyac's very definition, healthy and as cancer-free as anyone can be in their poverty stricken and starving awesome co-operative! (while the greedy political power mongers get pretty bad cancer - Fidel Castro & buddy Hugo Chavez and the like)
As for myself, I'll take our time-proved personal liberties and free market system any day over the historic and present-day atrocities perpetrated by such silver-tongued power-hungry collective governance cheerleaders.
Voices of Iraq (2004)
Voices of Iraq is one of the most moving and inspiring documentaries
I agree completely with the review I read at DVDMOVIECENTRAL.
Voices of Iraq is one of the most moving and inspiring documentaries I've ever had the pleasure to watch. It's like witnessing the birth of an unimaginable miracle. If, as it has been said, the basic yearning of all human beings is to be free, then this is a film that speaks directly to that most sacred part of all of us.
It was a simple project instigated by a group called Voices of Freedom, who decided to distribute 150 digital video cameras to the people of Iraq in April of 2004, telling them to film anything they wanted to
themselves, their friends, their families
giving them full license to speak their minds and talk about whatever they felt like addressing. Then pass the cameras along so that others could do the same. In September, the cameras were collected, and the amassed footage was turned into this documentary
a film in which the Iraqis spoke with their own voice, with no one looking over their shoulders.
The six month period encompassed a lot of landmarks in the war
it began with the first Fallujah insurgency. Early on in the film, many Iraqis were disheartened. They were not sure if their futures had a chance with all the bombings and disruptive terrorist attacks. Though they were glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein, some wondered aloud if they would have been better off with him remaining in power.
But despite the hardships, many begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Setbacks are amusingly chronicled by the American media as worse than they are (we frequently see newspaper headlines on dates where the video footage is showing quite a different picture). How did the Iraqis really react, for example, to Abu-Grahib? At least one was impressed that America would apologize for it. Many had been in that prison when it was Saddam's torture chamber, and therefore don't see why such a fuss was being made over the photos that had the anti-war crowd in our country so up in arms.
On the day sovereignty was handed over, many media outlets tried to portray it as a symbolic but meaningless transfer of power. But in the eyes of the Iraqis, it was a new birth. People who used to work for slave wages were suddenly getting real money. Schools were being opened with a new sense of freedom. News agencies were celebrating that for the first time, they didn't have to censor themselves. Open discussions were being held about the emergence of the role of women in Iraqi society. Okay, some men were still a little hesitant about that, but the women were proud and fearless
one gleefully announces that if men won't give them their rights, they'll simply TAKE them. Another young woman is asked about the future of women's roles in her country. She pauses, laughs, and says, "I can't believe we're talking about this in IRAQ!" The Iraqi stock market began to emerge as a true economic force. Email addresses, which used to cost a year and a half's worth of an average salary, were becoming common as Iraqi citizens took to the internet. Passports used to cost a fortune and were hard to come by
now they are free and available to all. Some older citizens are shown beside themselves with joy that for the first time, they could travel.
We watch the nation look on as their national soccer team played in the Olympics for the first time in 16 years
they had been banned from participation since 1988 because of Uday Hussein's use of torture against players who lost matches. Now, playing for love of country instead of fear, they took to the world stage, and despite such a lengthy absence from the event, managed an impressive fourth place showing overall.
The music of the film is provided by an Iraqi group called Euphrates, whom we see as finally being able to record the kind of music they've always wanted to, without government restrictions. We see Christians and Muslims side by side, respecting one another and working together for the future of their nation. We see kids dreaming of growing up to be doctors and lawyers and such, while their parents look on and smile and realize the new generation will have the kinds of opportunities that theirs never had.
It's too bad that while vile propaganda films like Fahrenheit 9/11 get shoved down out throats for the better part of a year, a modest, unstaged and non-partisan film like Voices of Iraq has to struggle for distribution. It has only been shown in a few cities. This DVD was produced as a way of getting it seen, but it's not available in most stores
thankfully, Netflix has chosen to add it to their library so renters can get a look at what can only be described as a documentary of the purest kind
no scripts, no directions, just real people baring their real souls. I can only hope in the wake of Michael Moore that people will take the time to remember what a real documentary can be like.
Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal (2004)
Very touching and well documented
I nearly cried to hear what these POWs went through, and to see them and their wives have to relive the pain of those wounds that they suffered under their captors, and from their own misguided countrymen. Not the least of which included a fellow soldier in John Kerry, and the infamous Jane Fonda.
As the title states, these wounds will never heal. And I feel almost as wounded as them when watching these poor souls relive those horrors in this film.
When America under LBJ and Nixon lost its will to try those like Kerry and Fonda with treason, was a day we will never live down. It is arguably one of our biggest failures and darkest hours in failing to support our Vietnam Veterans - particularly the POWs. We can only pray that this never happens again, and that the citizens take note of the current opportunity to RIGHT THOSE WRONGS!
The Reagans (2003)
Far from reality, and as a result - very few real laughs
A so-so comedy for what it intentions are, but this obviously comes from writers and producers who wish to stray from the reality of the real Reagan family so as to create a more "tailored" view.
Good for a (very) few laughs, but hard to stick with it when you lived the era - REGARDLESS of your political views (if any). The acting is barely even second rate (lots of mouthing of the others lines from those who aren't speaking). You would think the editing was done in a half-hour. The sets are obviously low budget as well.
If you have some time to kill with no other options, this may be worth a watch. Otherwise, you might want to stick with some good "Late Night with Jay Leno" or Saturday Night Live for far more laughs with a much better base in reality.
This one scores a 2 at best. A waste of time for the most part when many other shows/movies would be far more entertaining.