Friday, October 2, 2009

Well worth it

I hate recommending a theater other than our own lovely Salem Cinema, but if you see movies in theaters rather than waiting for DVDs, then you'll find that Michael Moore's latest, "Capitalism, A Love Story" is well worth your time and money. As Wikipedia says:

Capitalism: A Love Story is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Michael Moore. The film centers on the financial crisis of 2007–2009 and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the United States and capitalism in general. Topics covered include everything from Wall Street's "casino mentality," for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs' influence in Washington, DC, the poverty-level of many airline pilots, the large wave of home foreclosures, and the consequences of "runaway greed."[1]


UPDATE: Simon Johnson's website, Baselinescenario.com. Check it out. All the details Michael Moore can't fit into a two-hour movie.

7 comments:

Emily said...

Did you see that Moore's new film is only screening at chain theatres, and not at independents such as our own Salem Cinema? That is an irony to take note of. I won't see that movie in the theatre. Je refuse! on those very grounds. To truly understand the politics of movie theaters, you should watch "This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated."

Walker said...

"This Film Has Not . . . " is a great movie.

We had free passes for a Regal cinema film because we went and saw the latest "Star Trek" confection there, a movie we were pretty sure Salem Cinema would never show. The sound kept dropping out during the movie and we complained about it and they gave us a pair of free passes to placate us. So we got to see Moore's film without passing Regal money we'd have rather given to Salem Cinema.

Walker said...

As for the politics of screening in chain theaters, I kind of like having "Capitalism" in chain theaters, actually. Most of America doesn't have access to an indy movie house anyway, and I'd much rather that many people see Moore's film than have it show on the indy circuit only.

Emily said...

I can understand that logic completely, but I'm still not paying to go there. Think about it this way: He's enough of a name that maybe his film playing in indie houses would get new consumers into the theatres...

Walker said...

Fair enough. Although, I was really surprised at how sparse the attendance at the 6:40 showing was last night (opening night). If that was representative of the interest for the film in Salem, it wouldn't have been a "Slumdog Millionaire."

Emily said...

I guess what it boils down to for me is that every person is free to pick the cultural injustices she wants to be self-righteous about. That's capitalism too ;)

Walker said...

Ouch!