Bowling for Columbine

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Summary: Bowling for Columbine
Review: Excellent movie!! If you care about this country and the direction we're heading, this is a great movie. A real eye openeer.

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Summary: Is it a documentary or a psuedo-documentary/comedy?
Review: Other then a headache and a mild sense of bewilderment, the only thing I got from Bowling for Columbine is a sense that Michael Moore is a huckster and a shameless self-promoter.

While trying to verify some of Moore's facts, I became confused as to whether Bowling is supposed to be taken as a serious documentary or a psuedo-docu-comedy (PDC). And, having seen both documentaries and PDC's I'm not even sure Bowling is either one of those. I'm not even sure it can be called a film, unless you go with the "to become coated or obscured" definition.

Bowling's greatest weakness is a lack of focus. In both documentaries and PDC's, there is generally one subject or a group of subjects connected by a common event/experience/belief. If Bowling has a subject, I would guess it has to be Moore. Unfortunately, Michael Moore is not a very interesting subject and nowhere near as witty as he must think he is.

Moore spends the running time aimlessly wandering between Flint MI, Columbine CO, and L.A. CA. He seems to focus on gun violence and the question of why so many American's kill other Americans (presumably with guns, but it never clearly established if Moore is talking about murder in general or murders involving guns).

Random facts are thrown at the viewer presumably in support of whatever Moore's argument is. Or maybe its just to throw random facts and the audience.

It could just all be the white man's fault. In fact, a short cartoon blaming white male Puritans for slavery, the KKK, the NRA, and the current murder rate in the U.S. (once again, presumably gun related murders) is about the only coherent part of this mess. In fact, I think this cartoon short is the only thing that qualifies as a film in the "movie" sense of the word. Anyway, white men are blamed for slavery, U.S. white men in particular, and no mention of any other country's involvement in the slave trade is made. It is not even mentioned that slavery is still going on today. Black on black slavery in Sudan and all kinds of sex slavery all over Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Moore does have a point on how the U.S. news media and politicians scare the American public into a state of learned helplessness, and he claims the same is not true in Canada or Europe, but he never goes anywhere with this point. Maybe a simple comparison of the U.S. and Canadian constitutions and the role the press is given by each might have been instructive, but Moore, in his eagerness to blame America first, never takes the opportunity.

The movie is called Bowling for Columbine but the only thing documented is Moore's, and by extension, the U.S. left's descent into bitterness and schizophrenia. The only true highlight is an edited and all too brief clip of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.

If this is the best argument the facist/socialist factions living in the U.S. can make for gun control, then Americans will be bearing arms for a long, long time. If there's some other argument being made here, good luck in finding it.

I give Bowling for Columbine 1/2 star for the inclusion of the South Park clip which helped me to remember that there was a reality outside of Bowling for Columbine.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I'm convinced the people who gave this movie one star never watched it. They seem to just be spewing Rush Lies in an attempt to fit in with the conservative fringe.
So is this movie Biased to the liberals? Yes, of coarse but we liberals are the majorty so It's really no wonder it has positive reviews despite the Right wing pigeons trying to do their best to skew the results.

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Summary: you bunch of morons.
Review: i think i was 13 when i quit believing everything i was told by my parents and teachers.
by no means do i hold michael moore's words and opinions as gospel. he's quite heavy-handed and alarmist. but you little right wingers who blasted this movie need to either get out of your cave and experience the real world, or stop watching so much fox news.
i envy you all and your ability to walk through life every day with your head up your rectum.

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Summary: Thought provoking look at the culture of violence
Review: Ultimately, Michael Moore fails to answer the question that is essentially the basis for "Bowling for Columbine": why are Americans so violent? There are no easy answers to that question. Moore centers the film in Littleton, Colorado and the shootings at Columbine High where he tries to make sense of the senseless. It's a difficult task. Moore travels to Canada, where there are millions of guns but few gun-related deaths. Why? The viewer is frustrated, along with Moore, that this question cannot be answered.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson, whose fans included Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, is interviewed by Moore, and displays more intelligence and empathy than he is given credit. What would he say, Moore asks, to Harris and Klebold? Nothing, Manson replied. "I'd listen to them."

Sure, Moore takes some dramatic license in the film. The opening segment has Moore at a bank that offers a free rifle for opening an account. The piece is edited to look as if Moore got the gun right away, which he didn't; he had to wait for a background check. But that's really a non-issue, as Moore illustrates: how absurd is it for a bank to give guns to customers? Another segment has Moore purchasing ammunition from a barber shop, as he gets a haircut. All of it ties together to the fact that guns are everywhere, readily available to anyone who wants them, and lots of people are dying because of it.

Other segments center on the NRA and it's then-president, Charlton Heston. Moore is granted an interview by Heston at his Hollywood Hills estate. Heston has no answers, either, on the subject of gun deaths, other than the fact that the U.S. is of "mixed" ethnicity. Heston has lots of guns. Not that he needs them, with his well-guarded home.

In the end, Moore raises many thought-provoking points, but offers few answers. Unfortunately, there aren't any.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding and thought provoking
Review: I can't think of another film I've seen that moved me as deeply as Bowling for Columbine. If you're upset with Michael Moore because of his comments at the Oscars, get over it and watch this movie. You will think deeply about the state our nation is in, and how we got there. As a former Colorado resident, the scenes about Columbine High School made me cry. As a teacher, the story of the Flint, MI girl who was shot and killed by her young classmate moved me beyond belief. I can't praise Michael Moore enough for creating this documentary. All Americans need to watch it with an open mind...and then think about where we are at, and what needs to be done to protect all of us as well as our children. Highly, highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the viewing
Review: What a terrific movie and insight into the problems that the United States faces on a daily basis. I have heard many critical reviews but mainly from people who are just afraid to even begin to conceptualize the problem. I bought this DVD when it came out a few weeks ago and have already watched it twice, both times with equal fervor and excitement. Michael Moore has completely hit the nail on the head with this production. Also, the "history of the United States" within the movie is not to be missed. Truly a hysterical and historical look at the racism, violence, and bigotry which runs through the United States' blood today. Three cheers for this movie.

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Summary: Great Message Cut Out to Make Room for Ego
Review: Ever seen Le Mans with Steve McQueen? That movie was created around 24 hours of footage taken from McQueen's (real) race car while he was driving in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. The movie was created to use this footage to make a great racing movie. I think they succeeded.

Michael Moore didn't. I just couldn't help think "What's the point?" I finally realized that Moore had sold himself out. He created a film with such noble pretenses to address the violence rampant in our society and cheapened it by making strange political statements throughout the film.

He bashes media hyping violence to get ratings, and in the same film shows a downright disturbing montage of video clips of people blowing their brains out.

He ambushes and attacks Charlton Heston on Camera to make a weak point that the NRA doesn't care about violence. Isn't it a bit unfair that Moore is picking on a man that wasn't prepared and is barely able to think coherently?

I'm mad at this film because it touches on the issues of media hype, a culture of fear, a lack of respect for human rights and dignity and the senseless violence we Americans inflict on each other. But then Moore goes and uses these same things to get butts in the seats in his theaters. I couldn't help but think that Moore is just a man with a camera who likes to make himself look smart, and the poor subjects of his camera look really stupid. Well he almost succeeds at that.

The real jewels of this film are in the special features. The interview with Charlie Rose is especially interesting. I, for one, am more moved by Michael Moore the concerned citizen speaking to an intellectual equal than Michael Moore the on-camera preadator alleging that the NRA was created because the KKK became illegal in the 1870s.

It's in these features that you realize how lost this movie is. Do yourself a favor and watch these BEFORE the film. Moore wanted to make a movie to address violence in our society and get to the roots of why people kill each other.

When he finishes that film, I'd really like to watch it.

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Summary: What A Wonderful World
Review: Bowling for Columbine is a brilliant film.

I was able to see Bowling for Columbine while visiting Columbus last year. Unfortunately it was not being played here in the backwoods of West Virginia.

I think that every American should be required to see this film. Especially the montage of facts and newsclip set to "What a Wonderful World". If you have any illusions that the American government is there to protect and serve us and help the world, see this film.

Even if you aren't an American, it's a great and thought provoking documentary. I won't give away details, mostly because there is simply too much to talk about in the film.

But it made me like Marilyn Manson even more, lose respect for Dick Clark, hate Charlton Heston so much I want to set him on fire, and it made me want to move to Canada. The film had some very hilarious scenes, but in the end it made me very, very sad about this country. Some people cried during the movie, I just felt ill.

Oh, there's a shot of Katie Sierra, the West Virginian high school girl who was expelled for starting an anarchy club. She now works at my husband's office, telemarketing to raise money for the police. Ironic, eh?

Anyway, in my opinion, Bowling for Columbine is a very important and relevant film for everyone.

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Summary: Review of Columbine DVD
Review: Moore once again shows us another point of view. What terrified me the most about this video was the part where he showed how a blind person legally owned a gun. There were some flaws in this DVD that were actually uncovered by Fortune magazine. The first was the bank that Moore said he could buy a gun at. That isn't true. The bank can't sell the actual gun and the gun he did have was a prop. The person who buys the gun must go through a background check and then they are able to pick up the gun at a store the bank refers them to. You can't just walk into that bank and come out with a gun. The second flaw was in the cartoon depicting American paranoia. Black slaves were brought over from Africa but white slavetraders don't share all the blame as Moore depicted. Rival tribes in Africa assisted the white slave traders in capturing helpless blacks so they could make a profit since Africa was in a state of chaos.
I did enjoy the corporate cops skit as well as Moore's interviews with Marylin Manson and Charlton Heston.