Rating: 
Summary: have fun and revolt at the same time!
Review: If you're a Michael Moore fan, this is essential for you. Roger & Me should probably be the first thing you see, but after that the best thing I think would be the first season of the Awful Truth. Moore goes after all the targets you thought needed to be attacked, and a few you wouldn't have thought of. (Who outside of Ohio had heard of that chicken coop with 11 million birds?) If you're liberal at all, you'll have a ton of fun seeing Moore heading into corporate headquarters and demanding a change (his specialty) and, surprisingly, getting his way a lot of times, going after those pesky Clinton impeachment folk, and otherwise trying to give the working man his fair share. You'll be a better person having seen it.
Rating:
Summary: have fun and revolt at the same time!
Review: If you're a Michael Moore fan, this is essential for you. Roger & Me should probably be the first thing you see, but after that the best thing I think would be the first season of the Awful Truth. Moore goes after all the targets you thought needed to be attacked, and a few you wouldn't have thought of. (Who outside of Ohio had heard of that chicken coop with 11 million birds?) If you're liberal at all, you'll have a ton of fun seeing Moore heading into corporate headquarters and demanding a change (his specialty) and, surprisingly, getting his way a lot of times, going after those pesky Clinton impeachment folk, and otherwise trying to give the working man his fair share. You'll be a better person having seen it.
Rating:
Summary: Michael Moore makes me laugh
Review: it is that simple. in everything he says and does, he takes it to the extreme..and that is a refreshing, and very humorous, change.
Rating:
Summary: Free Speech
Review: Many thanks to the "reviewer" who, like all of the flag-waving, jingoistic fascists demands that we supress any dissent and has the audacity to decide what's "right" or "wrong" or "correct" expression. I count myself among those who love the America our founding fathers envisioned, not the America of McCarthy and Nixon. The McNixons want us all to shut up and tell us what to do, or say, or buy if we "love America". Well, I love America so much I'm buying Michael Moore's work; and I'm STAYING in America and fighting for America and it's flag, despite what the counter-revolutionary Stalinistas want - a silent, compliant, slave-state.
Rating:
Summary: Free Speech
Review: Many thanks to the "reviewer" who, like all of the flag-waving, jingoistic fascists demands that we supress any dissent and has the audacity to decide what's "right" or "wrong" or "correct" expression. I count myself among those who love the America our founding fathers envisioned, not the America of McCarthy and Nixon. The McNixons want us all to shut up and tell us what to do, or say, or buy if we "love America". Well, I love America so much I'm buying Michael Moore's work; and I'm STAYING in America and fighting for America and it's flag, despite what the counter-revolutionary Stalinistas want - a silent, compliant, slave-state.
Rating: 
Summary: When he's good he's good, when he's bad...
Review: Michael Moore can be very funny. Some of the brilliant bits in this DVD set are, e.g., the "witch hunt" segment, the "I need a pancreas" segment, the "beat the rich" segment, the "voice box choir" segment, and a few others. Many of the other segments are misfires--some like the one with Hitler in Zurich or the Debt Collector are simply embarrassingly bad. I don't have cable, so I will wait for the next season to come out on DVD, but I hope the "quality assurance standards" go up a bit. Some serious re-examination needs to be done. Things need to be thought out a bit more. I get the feeling Michael Moore prefers to improvise, but with a little preparation (or perhaps some better editing) the show could be a lot better. I fondly remember the consistent quality of TV Nation. What happened?
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the best of what's on
Review: Michael Moore is a genius. The Awful Truth is far and away the best show on television today.
Rating:
Summary: The Moore I see, The More it Hurts so Good!
Review: Michael Moore is a rogue journalist who unapologetically states what many people are thinking, but don't have the guts to verbalize. He's like Penn and Teller, the magic comedy duo that deconstruct magic tricks and expose how they're done; only instead of showing you how the rabbit gets in the hat, he exposes the hypocrisies of major industries, companies, and people who desperately want to save face while hiding their true motives. These people want you to either stay ignorant of their doings, or simply remain apathetic to them. Moore isn't afraid to hold a mirror up to their faces and show them the "warts" they so desperately try to hide, while making you laugh in the process. Moore reminds me a little of a smarter but less charismatic Abbie Hoffman, without the baggage or controversy. The difference is that in the 60's, most people had a grasp of the hypocrisies and controversies Hoffman highlighted. Nowadays, it's a struggle to get people to even care what those controversies are. Thus, Moore's goals aren't as lofty as Hoffman's, but he uses similar guerilla theatre tactics. Hoffman demonstrated the Greed of the 60's by throwing money onto the New York Stock Exchange floor and watching the traders scramble on top of each other to grab it. Moore shows the greed of our time by getting a group of cancer stricken former smokers to sing Christmas carols to Tobacco companies through their mechanical voice boxes. Moore uses the same style of shock theatre to bring out into the open modern travesties, and exposes the recipient's hypocrisies. Moore uses guerilla tactics because he knows that if he does so, the perpetrator can't hide behind spin and his PR people. In this compilation, he is almost always successful, and the result is almost always humorous. Moore is chubby and frumpy (sorry, Mike if you ever read this- do you think if you looked like Brad Pitt it would help your cause?), but this allows the focus to be his message instead of his pecks and sexy smile. This lets him appeal to the common man, who is his target audience anyway! Since this is guerilla theatre in documentary form made for a T.V. show, you can't expect the quality to be the best. The production isn't the slickest- it was made for the Bravo network, and if you're familiar with this network, it isn't exactly in the upper echelon of cable channel cash cows! That the show had a shoestring budget might be an understatement. But as above, the quality is not the point- it's the message, and on that point, Moore hits home runs on almost every account. I think that many of Michael Moore's critics misinterpret the concept of "nonpartisan". That doesn't mean it's free of politics or opinions. The definition of nonpartisan that is being used is that of political party affiliations. He is definitely not a spokesman for the Democratic Party or its agenda (in present form anyway). Where many people get confused is how he chooses his "victims". He chooses to pick on the hypocrisies of Corporations and the rich- the fact that those groups are usually "Republican" or "conservative" is not his fault. In fact, it's secondary to his purpose; the fact that they are abusing their power is what Moore is concerned with. Besides, as shown by Enron, when it comes to politics, corporate ties are more often in the right than the left (if you go by campaign contributions, 3/4ths more!) Admittedly, Moore is a self-avowed left leaner. But if you familiarize yourself with some of his other work, he's definitely not a Democrat- he criticizes them just as much, albeit for different reasons. In fact, he supported Nader during the election, even though Nader fired him a decade ago! Despite what his critics desire to portray him as, Moore is simply an equal opportunity offender, exposing hypocrisies wherever he sees them. For instance, Disney can hardly be considered a radical right wing organization (note their track record on gays and demonizing by conservative Christian groups), and yet the Big Mouse is the butt of one of his stunts. He simply wants to show the world how corporations and people in power simultaneously abuse their power while desperately trying to convince the common guy, you and me, that he has our best interests at hand. Moore simply wants to show us what's really going on, and does a bang up job in this compilation of the Awful Truth, as well as the rest of his work. Keep it up, Mikey!
Rating:
Summary: Awful... but truthful too
Review: Michael Moore is one of the few journalists out there who understands and acts on the need to present the story as it stands, regardless of the consquences. He refuses to sell his soul in order to satisfy media magnates, and this means we get a combination of (a) the hidden reality behind the big media stories, and (b) a rather irreverent look at the way many large US corporations operate. Both of these are tackled in humourous ways (Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken taking on Disney was an absolute classic), but can also be alarmingly sober (e.g. cold-hearted insurance company refusing to pay out to save a client's life). The Awful Truth is thus social conscience as well as great entertainment. We need Michael Moore - he helps to keep things honest. If he does something you disagree with (e.g. anti-war speech at the Oscars), just put your prejudice on the back-burner for a minute and think about the issue from another angle. As the great Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn said (in 'Maybe The Poet'), "...maybe you will not agree, but you need him to show you new ways to see." This is, after all, the essence of free speech.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Enjoyable
Review: Michael Moore is sort of a hero of mine. He takes on causes that are impossible, and gets results. The way does it is shocking (and often very funny), but for one reason or another it works. The Awful Truth shows him taking on these causes, and keeping big corperations honest. It urges you to become more active in the political world around you, and helps you to realize that what this country needs is less political apathy, and more political awareness. Michael Moore is a Genius, and seeing this helps you understand why.
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