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8.0/10
1.1K
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A documentary analyzing the role of the modern American media and its effects on democracy.A documentary analyzing the role of the modern American media and its effects on democracy.A documentary analyzing the role of the modern American media and its effects on democracy.
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Tim Robbins
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Quotes
title card: CBS News killed the story on the basis of a denial by Governor Jeb Bush, who was the TARGET of the allegations.
- Crazy creditsWar Is Not Peace Freedom Is Not Slavery Ignorance Is Not Strength
- ConnectionsFeatured in Stare Into the Lights My Pretties (2017)
Featured review
Informative and well done
There are some other great comments about this film, so I'll instead
try to give out some detail. The film is done in a calm, non-ranting,
informative manner primarily via interviews with journalists. Many
points about the corporate domination of the corporate mass media are
brought out well; the citing of GE Inc.'s top management interfering
with NBC news is one case in point. The portrayal of the media
industry itself as a political "special interest" similar to the
tobacco lobby or other traditional special interest is both insightful
and strong. The film also does an adequate job of painting the change
in "ethics" of government officials over the years, and gives a few
citations to support its point.
If there is a knock, it's that the film covers a vast amount of points
and therefore cannot go in depth unless you want to watch a ninety-hour
documentary. This is not a big knock -- it seems that one goal of the
film is to try to tie many disparate issues and trends together to
paint the big picture, which is something our regular mass media simply
does not do.
To me, two points are worth special mention and applause. (1) the film
mentions the original 1980 "October Surprise" and while it does not go
in depth, it does flush out the basics and gives a reference to the
book by Carter's Nat'l Security Adviser ("October Surprise"), which one
can use to read for more information. Still, it would have been nice
to mention Jimmy Carter's quote about the October Surprise or the fact
that the former Iranian president has publicly said the October
Surprise did indeed happen while he was president. (2) Despite it not
being a focus of the film, the film brings out the class gap (aka the
growing gap between the rich and poor) and issues of Americans working
long hours. This is done in a way related to media self-censorship but
I'm always surprised when this issue rears its head -- simply because
reporting about it is so very rare in the mainstream press. The film
gives a few stats but its message that the poor are poorer now than a
couple of decades ago and the rich are much, much richer comes through
well; it notes the current gov'ts solution to this problem is a tax cut
for the rich stands out starkly in its plain-face absurdity. While
there was a few of those conventional-wisdom-turned-upside-down moments
in the film, that one stood out.
Overall, like the other reviewers, I highly recommend the film. While
it's not done in a Michael Moore-like funny manner, the material
presented is on the money, is not preachy and is easily followed, and
the film runs along coherently in an easy to watch pace. In some ways,
it's scary, depressing stuff; in other ways, it's invigorating because
it illustrates the depth of what's happening to our republic and paints
a picture of just how much work we've got to do to return our gov't to
some semblance of rule by/for the people.
try to give out some detail. The film is done in a calm, non-ranting,
informative manner primarily via interviews with journalists. Many
points about the corporate domination of the corporate mass media are
brought out well; the citing of GE Inc.'s top management interfering
with NBC news is one case in point. The portrayal of the media
industry itself as a political "special interest" similar to the
tobacco lobby or other traditional special interest is both insightful
and strong. The film also does an adequate job of painting the change
in "ethics" of government officials over the years, and gives a few
citations to support its point.
If there is a knock, it's that the film covers a vast amount of points
and therefore cannot go in depth unless you want to watch a ninety-hour
documentary. This is not a big knock -- it seems that one goal of the
film is to try to tie many disparate issues and trends together to
paint the big picture, which is something our regular mass media simply
does not do.
To me, two points are worth special mention and applause. (1) the film
mentions the original 1980 "October Surprise" and while it does not go
in depth, it does flush out the basics and gives a reference to the
book by Carter's Nat'l Security Adviser ("October Surprise"), which one
can use to read for more information. Still, it would have been nice
to mention Jimmy Carter's quote about the October Surprise or the fact
that the former Iranian president has publicly said the October
Surprise did indeed happen while he was president. (2) Despite it not
being a focus of the film, the film brings out the class gap (aka the
growing gap between the rich and poor) and issues of Americans working
long hours. This is done in a way related to media self-censorship but
I'm always surprised when this issue rears its head -- simply because
reporting about it is so very rare in the mainstream press. The film
gives a few stats but its message that the poor are poorer now than a
couple of decades ago and the rich are much, much richer comes through
well; it notes the current gov'ts solution to this problem is a tax cut
for the rich stands out starkly in its plain-face absurdity. While
there was a few of those conventional-wisdom-turned-upside-down moments
in the film, that one stood out.
Overall, like the other reviewers, I highly recommend the film. While
it's not done in a Michael Moore-like funny manner, the material
presented is on the money, is not preachy and is easily followed, and
the film runs along coherently in an easy to watch pace. In some ways,
it's scary, depressing stuff; in other ways, it's invigorating because
it illustrates the depth of what's happening to our republic and paints
a picture of just how much work we've got to do to return our gov't to
some semblance of rule by/for the people.
helpful•228
- intnsred
- Oct 19, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Orwell przewraca się w grobie
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,389
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,059
- Jul 25, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $20,389
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
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Top Gap
By what name was Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer