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The Chase (1994)
Funny Movie to Lampoon the TV News Media
"The Chase" (1994) is funny in the sense it continually takes jabs at the television news industry. The satire is very good. The non-news characters portrayed have a similar tone of satire. They over act their parts to the point of creating stereo typical characters that crop up in society every once in awhile.
Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson do a very good job as being the most believable characters. The chemistry between them ignites as time goes along. That is traveling down the interstate.
Someone watching this movie could write several different endings of their own liking.
It is entertainment pure and simple. Sort of a get away to escape reality.
The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (1979)
The Last Ride should have never been made
"The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang" is not any good. The script writers spin and twist the story to distort reality. A better movie would be the "The Last Day" starring Richard Widmark, Barbara Rush, and Robert Conrad. Though "The Last Day" creates a story around Richard Widmark's fictitious character, the movie is closer to some of the actual events and situations.
"The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang" characterizes the lives of the Dalton's as being frolicking womanizers. The whole movie distorts a historical event and trivializes the defenders of Coffeyville and the ones who died in the defense of their town.
The Last Day (1975)
Best Movie on the Dalton Gang's Bank Robbery in Coffeyville, KS
'The Last Day' is the best dramatization of the Dalton Gang's attempt to rob two banks at the same time on Oct. 5, 1892 in Coffeyville, Kansas. Will Spence is a fictitious character. Spence brings in the citizen aspect of rallying the local citizens to stop the bank robbery. The citizens were the real defenders of the town. The made for TV show does a good job of following the Dalton Gang to the climatic end. A few other characters are fictitious as are some situations leading up to the bank robbery.
Bill Kurtis is making a documentary for the series 'Investigating History' on the History Channel concerning the Dalton Gang. It is planned to be shown sometime in the fall of 2004.
Beginning about 1990 the community of Coffeyville, Kansas started commemorating the Dalton Gang's attempted bank robbery on a weekend closest to the Oct. 5th, 1892 anniversary. A reenactment is presented by local citizens of the attempted bank robbery. The original Condon Bank building still exists. There is a Dalton Museum a block from the bank.
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Fahrenheit 9/11 NOT a documentary but political satire
I went to the movie by Michael Moore, "Fahrenheit 9/11." Why did I go? I went to see the movie instead of reading bit and pieces about it. The audience was mostly a group of age 45 plus on a Monday afternoon. About 100 people were there. About half clapped at the end of the movie and one person stood up to clap.
On the Internet Movie Data Base site some people told stories of their experience at the movie. One person told how a woman sitting near by got up 30 minutes before the film ended and told her husband as she walked out that she was sorry she voted for Bush in 2000.
When people accept what Moore has been propagandizing against Bush, the election in November will even more difficult and divisive. Many people may believe, as the gospel, what Moore believes.
I feel Michael Moore manipulated the facts for his own political purposes. The problem is when people watch something that is suppose to be a documentary they believe it is the truth. When Moore interjects his own editorial and very opinionated comments, it ceases to be a documentary.
When someone produces a documentary one expects the producer to be fair in examining the issues and then draw conclusions. I feel Michael Moore was not objective in his presentation of 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' He only produced the film to present his own biased political views. Moore's political agenda is to defeat George W. Bush in the general election. It could be described as one long political advertisement against George Bush by a political action committee.
To be objective why did Moore not show scenes of ethnic Kurds lying dead in the streets from being gassed by Saddam Hussein's army? Why did Moore not show scenes of Saddam Hussein having political opponents being executed by a firing squad? The History Channel did in a show, Monday, June 28, 2004, on 'Iraq's Warring Factions.' There was no objectivity in the Moore film.
The film should be labeled as 'political satire,' not as a documentary.
Joe Scarborough on his show 'Scarborough Country' of Monday, June 28, 2004, presented an interesting quote from Michael Moore in the New York Times. He read this to a guest on the show, 'I want to read you what Michael Moore said. This is what the 'New York Times' David Brooks quoted him saying in England about the special U.S.-British relationship: 'You're stuck with being connected to this country of mine which is known for bringing sadness and misery to places around the globe.' Of course, he also said, 'Americans are possibly the dumbest people on the planet. Our stupidity is embarrassing.'
It certainly sums up Michael Moore.