Rating: 
Summary: bowling for columbine
Review: THIS IS SIMPLY A WORK OF GENIUS.
AN INCREDIBLE STATEMENT ABOUT OUR SOCIETY AND THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE WE HAVE ACCEPTED.
MUST WIN THE ACADEMY AWARD.
A LIFE CHANGING FILM.IT MAKES YOU LAUGH, AND CRY, AND THINK.
A MUST SEE.
Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful Moore product
Review: There hasn't been a documentary or a book Moore has done that I haven't liked. Bowling for Columbine is a bittersweet, humorous and, at the same time, upsetting commentary on guns and killing in America. Without stridency, Moore accomplishes this via stock footage, via interviews (notably with one of the Columbine alumnae who happens to be half of the South Park creative team) and through an effort to place an historical frame around the "killingness" of the American psyche. Particularly alarming are an attempted interview with Dick Clark--owner of a Michigan eatery where the mother of a six-year-old (who shot and killed a six-year-old classmate with his uncle's handgun) works. This eatery has applied for tax credits for hiring welfare-to-work employees (only a little obscene, this request for subsidy for underpaid employees). Clark blows Moore off with no pretense of manners or grace. Scary stuff. Even scarier is Moore's sit-down interview with Charlton (call me Chuck) Heston, larger-than-life long-term walking, talking symbol of the NRA. Spouting propaganda and refusing even to discuss anything other than "every American's right to bear arms," Heston is old, shambling and rigidly inarticulate. He is emblematic of so many of the gun-toting people Moore speaks with in the course of the film. The title, derived from the fact that the two Columbine shooters were on the school's bowling team (a credited part of the sports curriculum) and possibly bowled a couple of games the morning they attacked their fellow students, is at once amusing and, on a deeper level, alarming. When schools start giving credit for bowling, we're in trouble. When heavily armed kids enter a school and shoot other kids at random before taking their own lives, we're in serious trouble. Using relatively non-violent Canada as an example (among many) of countries with gun-related death rates that don't even register on the American scale is slightly misleading. While it's true that my native Canada has a relatively low murder rate, the societal reasons why are never satisfactorily answered. Still, this film is, to all intents and purposes, a mirror held up to reflect pervasive American attitudes that are rooted in fear; about a media that thrives on bloodshed, and a society that has been taught to fear those who are "different": people of color, ethnicity, or sexual preference. This is an important, thoughtful, good-humored, and heartstring-tugging film. Don't miss it.
Most highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!! A sold out theater for a documentary
Review: Today, Bowling For Columbine opened in Philly. We went to an afternoon show and it sold out. Matinees do not usually sell out. But a documentary? Amazing. This is on the surface a story about the Columbine shooting and gun control. But underneath it's a statement about the use of fear as a business tool that insanely inflates the number of killings by guns in this country. Moore keeps asking why do most major countries have under 200 or under 100 deaths a year caused by guns, while the US has... better I don't give the actual number. Find out when you watch the movie. But it is a LOT, LOT more. I went to see the movie because I read Michael Moore's best selling book Stupid White Men and loved it. Part of my motivation was political. We've been watching the spines of half the democratic members of congress melt away, and Michael's voice has been among the strongest, making the most sense in looking at the thieves and morons in the White House. I'm 51 and a veteran of the good old days of anti Viet Nam War demonstrations, so I wasn't sure how my 22 year old daughter would like it. But she and her fiancee' both really enjoyed it as a smart, entertaining movie. There are times you break out laughing and times you feel sadness-- over senseless violence and stupidity. Another reason I went to see this was because I want it to be a commercial success so corporations, that don't care about politics but do care about profits, will invest in more STORIES that depict the world from a more progressive, liberal perspective. We need people who put stories out there that contradict the big lies that the Bush team spews. One of the reasons I organized my storycon meeting on the art, science and application of story was to explore the power of stories to make the world a better place. Michael Moore is out there at the edges of the story universe, courageously exploring new ways to create, present and use stories to make a difference. The mini story about K-mart, that was a part of this film is a wonderful example of the power of story to make a real difference.
Watch it. You'll be glad you did. PS Once you've seen it and loved it,you can get videos of his TV show-- The Awful Truth. They're worth getting-- funny, enlightening. Michael Moore is a unique trip. What kind of peyote do they fed those kids in Michigan anyway?
Rating:
Summary: Wow, this is a mind blower
Review: I saw this film at the Mill Valley Film Festival with my wife.
We both walked out of the film with a feeling of lightness. It was as if someone finally said something that we knew, but were unable to express adequately in words.
I did not see this as being a movie against guns. To me it was about the excesses that can come from stirring up false fear and hatred. If truth has the power to make us free, we sometimes have to see the truth even if it is unpleasant. The greatness of this film is in the inescapable clarity of it's message.
Rating:
Summary: Moore Does it Again
Review: Whether it's writing about the Bush coup or corporate irresponsibility, Michael Moore always tries to find something to investigate. This time, he focuses on gun control and the NRA. This movie is both funny and sad, leaving you cracking up at certain points but leaving the audience silent with tears in their eyes as you see victims of guns and their families speak. This movie really makes you think about gun control laws and the irresponsibilty and coldness of the NRA's president, Charlton Heston. Do not miss this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Motives got a little muddy
Review: so michael moore's movie is well made, entertaining ... and for a documentary, i think that says a lot...i think he set out to try and answer why the US has so many gun slayings, with a presumption that it's due to our obsession with guns. he spends the first 30 minutes making dumb gun owners look really dumb, but that's no big feat. I think the main crux of the movie happens when he goes to Canada and discovers that they've got just as big (infatuation) for guns as america does, with a fraction of the crime. Canada had something like 500 gun slayings last year, whereas the ol' US had over 11,000. So he then had to reevaluate what was behind the bloodthirst here in the states. The answer he comes to, i feel was dead on. The media and an atmosphere of terror and fear perpetuated by the media, which seemed to be a problem only within the US. Once he carries the audience to that point, the target of the movie should have changed. Instead of continuing to make gun owners look bad, i feel he should have started poking at the media...and he starts to with an interview of the producer of the Cops TV show and an embarrassing scene with a reporter on the scene of the youngest school slaying. But the climax of the movie returns to the original focus and attacks guns. Two scenes, trying to get bullets removed from the shelves of Kmart and another embarrassing interview with an enthused gun advocate, this time the king of the mountain, the president of the NRA, Charlton Heston himself. Sure, the bullets used in Columbine were from Kmart and the NRA used atrocious judgment in showing up in Columbine within days of the shooting for a gun rally. But Michael Moore has already shown us that these things are not at the crux of our murder rate, at least, not directly responsible....So why still attack them? In the end, i felt like this was a propaganda movie. and regardless of the cause, propaganda with its slanting facts, playing the shell game, or distracting viewers is still wrong. the ends don't justify the means. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and would recommend it to everyone, but i felt in the end that Michael Moore's motives got a little muddy.
Rating:
Summary: truly amazing
Review: All that I can really say is wow. Michael Moore is brilliant. The movie was sad, painful, and was even funny and humorous. I was one of those firm believers in our 2nd amendment but Michael Moore gave me a new perspective and now I'm not so sure that it's good for our country. If you only see one movie this year make it this one. Sadly, my words just cannot do justice for the praise this movie deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie- this is a must see..
Review: Bowling for Columbine is overwhelming, but in a way that I'd like to see more people- including myself overwhelmed. The movie is overflowing with thoughtful, powerful and meaningful ideas- which are not limited to Columbine.
Rating:
Summary: Bowling for Columbine
Review: Latest First-Class entry in Michael Moore's documentary style of filmmaking, "Bowling for Columbine" is alternately funny, touching, shocking and heart-rending. A strong anti-gun, anti-media frenzy film, it links the shootings at Columbine High School with perceived flaws in American society regarding attitudes toward guns and gun control. Sure to be a contoversial film, it is on a par with Moore's earlier film, "Roger and Me', and ironically has a segment in Moore's home town of Flint, Michigan, when a 6th grader is tragically shot by a classmate. Fans of Charlton Heston may not like Moore's low key, but direct interview! A must see.
Rating:
Summary: Five Feet from the Man Himself
Review: I had the pleasure of viewing Mr. Moore's new film at the Chicago Film Festival on Saturday. Even as a fan of his work, the beauty and power were overwhelming. If you don't leave the theatre feeling angry and disillusioned, you probably weren;t paying close enough attention. There is little more I can say, the film will speak for itself, if you are brave enough to listen.
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