list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Manufacturing Dissent on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Manufacturing_Dissent/321689/default.aspx Title: Manufacturing Dissent
Year: 2007
Director: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine
Plot: In an era where fact, fiction, and legend have become increasingly difficult to distinguish, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine set out to explore the politically charged climate in America and find out just how documentary director Michael Moore has evolved from a simple filmmaker into an icon of left-leaning politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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]]>Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:01:01 GMTManufacturing Dissent2007Debbie Melnyk, Rick CaineIn an era where fact, fiction, and legend have become increasingly difficult to distinguish, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine set out to explore the politically charged climate in America and find out just how documentary director <a href="/players/P___103383/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Michael Moore</a> has evolved from a simple filmmaker into an icon of left-leaning politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide133http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/u43674r64fy.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Manufacturing_Dissent/321689/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/8/27/18871.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/27/2007 9:01:01 AM
Body: As part of a campaign to promote their film’s upcoming DVD release, the producers of the Michael Moore attack doc Manufacturing Dissent have struck a deal to stream 40 minutes of the movie on AOL’s TrueStories documentary site. According to Variety, AOL’s Stephanie Sharis said they’ll monetize the event “by splicing adds into the video;” they’re hoping to get some free publicity from “plenty of blogs.” SuperBad held onto the top slot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, making it just the third film this summer to show such staying power. Meanwhile, the Weinstein Company’s losing streak continued with a sixth-place open for The Nanny Diaries. The New York Film Festival has announced three sidebars:  “Views from the Avant-Garde”, an annual program featuring films by Ernie Gehr and Ken Jacobs; “Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade,” through which NYFF will screen 13 films by the Brazilian director; and “Chinese Modern: A Tribute to Cathay Studio,” featuring Hong Kong cinema of the 1950s. The Pasadena Playhouse will host the world premiere of a stage musical based on Peter Bogdanovich’s 1985 film, Mask. Despite the fact that the score will be written by the songwriting team who brought us “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” it seems unlikely that Cher will reprise her role. The Playhouse will also host the premiere of Orson’s Shadow, a play based on a real-life encounter between Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles. Owen Wilson was hospitalized over the weekend after an apparent suicide attempt. Variety cribs the story from National Enquirer, who have a few additional details. Originally posted on:Spoutblog
]]>Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:01:01 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/27/2007 9:01:01 AM As part of a campaign to promote their film’s upcoming DVD release, the producers of the Michael Moore attack doc Manufacturing Dissent have struck a deal to stream 40 minutes of the movie on AOL’s TrueStories documentary site. According to Variety, AOL’s Stephanie Sharis said they’ll monetize the event “by splicing adds into the video;” they’re hoping to get some free publicity from “plenty of blogs.” SuperBad held onto the top slot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, making it just the third film this summer to show such staying power. Meanwhile, the Weinstein Company’s losing streak continued with a sixth-place open for The Nanny Diaries. The New York Film Festival has announced three sidebars:  “Views from the Avant-Garde”, an annual program featuring films by Ernie Gehr and Ken Jacobs; “Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade,” through which NYFF will screen 13 films by the Brazilian director; and “Chinese Modern: A Tribute to Cathay Studio,” featuring Hong Kong cinema of the 1950s. The Pasadena Playhouse will host the world premiere of a stage musical based on Peter Bogdanovich’s 1985 film, Mask. Despite the fact that the score will be written by the songwriting team who brought us “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” it seems unlikely that Cher will reprise her role. The Playhouse will also host the premiere of Orson’s Shadow, a play based on a real-life encounter between Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles. Owen Wilson was hospitalized over the weekend after an apparent suicide attempt. Variety cribs the story from National Enquirer, who have a few additional details. Originally posted on:Spoutblog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/7/2/12880.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 7/2/2007 6:00:35 PM
Body: Late last Friday, I got an email from indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez, pointing me to this, an "open letter" from film producer/professor John Pierson to his former friend and colleague, Sicko director MIchael Moore. I was traveling at the time and didn't get a chance to read the letter until today. An exemplary excerpt: You're on the side of the fucking angels with SiCKO and no lapses, omissions or oversimplifications can detract from its contribution to the greater good. But please baby please, let the movie, which you have so beautifully made, do the talking. My instant reaction was that Pierson's letter, which is in some ways meant as propaganda in favor of Manufacturing Dissent (the pseudo-expose of Moore in which Pierson appears, and which recently provoked an expletive-laced reaction from its subject), managed to put forth the arguments made in that film with a clarity and aggression sorely missing from the film itself. Still, as Agnes Varnum points out, why would Pierson suddenly feel the need to order Moore to "get out of the way"? And considering Sicko is already the least Moore-centric Michael Moore film in a good long while, what would that even mean? "I asked Eugene why this letter now? What bug is in Pierson’s britches? He let me know that there was an article in the LA Times that might have caused some bristling." Varnum then goes on to read that LA Times article and conclude that Moore "is as phony and as hypocritical as they come." Point: Pierson. If you haven't yet, you really should read Pierson's missive in full. Make sure to scroll down to the comments, where Pierson and a Moore supporter beat the "did Moore really interview Roger Smith?" dead horse for a couple of rounds, before other commenters (most apparently in opposition to Pierson) begin to debate the importance of fact vs. fiction within the context of documentary filmmaking. Though he's certainly not explicit about it, I think you could argue that the letter is Pierson's acknowledgment that, as Dissent seems to be in no danger of receiving a release to rival that of Sicko, the internet might be the only place for that debate. More on Spout: Sicko Manufacturing Dissent Roger & Me Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:00:35 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com7/2/2007 6:00:35 PM Late last Friday, I got an email from indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez, pointing me to this, an "open letter" from film producer/professor John Pierson to his former friend and colleague, Sicko director MIchael Moore. I was traveling at the time and didn't get a chance to read the letter until today. An exemplary excerpt: You're on the side of the fucking angels with SiCKO and no lapses, omissions or oversimplifications can detract from its contribution to the greater good. But please baby please, let the movie, which you have so beautifully made, do the talking. My instant reaction was that Pierson's letter, which is in some ways meant as propaganda in favor of Manufacturing Dissent (the pseudo-expose of Moore in which Pierson appears, and which recently provoked an expletive-laced reaction from its subject), managed to put forth the arguments made in that film with a clarity and aggression sorely missing from the film itself. Still, as Agnes Varnum points out, why would Pierson suddenly feel the need to order Moore to "get out of the way"? And considering Sicko is already the least Moore-centric Michael Moore film in a good long while, what would that even mean? "I asked Eugene why this letter now? What bug is in Pierson’s britches? He let me know that there was an article in the LA Times that might have caused some bristling." Varnum then goes on to read that LA Times article and conclude that Moore "is as phony and as hypocritical as they come." Point: Pierson. If you haven't yet, you really should read Pierson's missive in full. Make sure to scroll down to the comments, where Pierson and a Moore supporter beat the "did Moore really interview Roger Smith?" dead horse for a couple of rounds, before other commenters (most apparently in opposition to Pierson) begin to debate the importance of fact vs. fiction within the context of documentary filmmaking. Though he's certainly not explicit about it, I think you could argue that the letter is Pierson's acknowledgment that, as Dissent seems to be in no danger of receiving a release to rival that of Sicko, the internet might be the only place for that debate. More on Spout: Sicko Manufacturing Dissent Roger & Me Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/6/19/11422.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/19/2007 10:11:16 AM
Body: Poor, poor Michael Moore. The millionaire Oscar winner, whose Sicko opens June 29th, has already been saddled with the twin burdens of bailing The Weinstein Company out of their flop hole and saving a commercially sagging genre, neither of which will be an easy task considering the fact that Sicko is already available online. Then, this weekend, a reporter asked Moore to comment on an independent documentary critiquing his filmmaking methods. Moore responded by calling the makers of that film "f-ing liar[s]", and went on to accuse them of spreading misinformation about "a fictional character that's been created with the name of Michael Moore." The documentary in question is called Manufacturing Dissent, and it was one of the most talked-about films heading into the SXSW Film Festival this past March. The film aims to unmask Michael Moore as an unethical documentarian, a Capitalist hypocrite and, perhaps most egregious in the minds of the filmmakers, a not-very-nice guy. Dissent was dramatically billed as an attack on the Left (or, at least, on one of the American Left's most visible icons) from the Left. Directors Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, self-professed 'liberals", start out as fans of Moore, but end up painting an unflattering portrait of the filmmaker after failing to secure access to his inner circle. The picture ends up vaguely alluding to some interesting academic questions about the nature of truth-telling on film, but is ultimately unable to accuse Moore of anything other than being a really, really good propagandist. Dissent sparked a bit of controversy at SXSW, but not for the intended reasons. At the time, filmmaker AJ Schnack (who attended SXSW 2007 with his documentary Kurt Cobain: About a Son) pulled together a lengthy blog post summarizing some of the discussion surrounding the film. He spoke for a lot of us who saw (and were disappointed by) the film when he called BS on the filmmakers supposed mid-production shift in slant. "How in the world can anyone who is making documentaries, particularly documentaries on somewhat political or tabloidy subjects, not be aware of all the arguments against Michael Moore?" Schnack wrote. (Schnack was summarily accused by a colleague of "bad form" for questioning a fellow filmmaker.) I was reminded of Schnack's argument against Dissent when reading about Moore's screed against Melnyk and Caine. On the one hand, Michael Moore is not known for his restraint, and it's implausible that he would be so oblivious to an attack on his character and livelihood that he'd wait three months after the source of the attack was profiled in the NY Times to respond. This outburst was clearly timed to coincide with the release of Sicko--Moore actually gains credibility with a segment of his core audience by defining himself as the ultimate truth-teller surrounded by vicious liars. On the other hand, maybe Moore took so long to respond to Dissent because it's just so not a legitimate threat. A muddled mix of personal travelogue and pseudo-investigative expose, Dissent turns on the meek, overly-earnest Melnyk's inability to get Moore to consent to a lengthy on-camera interview. Why would someone of his stature assign credibility to the complaints of a disgruntled fan? On the OTHER hand, by responding so vehemently to questions about Manufacturing Dissent, does Moore maybe protest too much? I don't know. I've never been a fan of Moore's methods, but I'm fascinated by his ability to mainstreamize (no, that's probably not a real word) niche debates. I'm going to see Sicko on Thursday, and I'll report back post haste. In the meantime, watch the Sicko trailer above, and talk about your love/hate for Michael Moore on the Spout Documentary board. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:11:16 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/19/2007 10:11:16 AM Poor, poor Michael Moore. The millionaire Oscar winner, whose Sicko opens June 29th, has already been saddled with the twin burdens of bailing The Weinstein Company out of their flop hole and saving a commercially sagging genre, neither of which will be an easy task considering the fact that Sicko is already available online. Then, this weekend, a reporter asked Moore to comment on an independent documentary critiquing his filmmaking methods. Moore responded by calling the makers of that film "f-ing liar[s]", and went on to accuse them of spreading misinformation about "a fictional character that's been created with the name of Michael Moore." The documentary in question is called Manufacturing Dissent, and it was one of the most talked-about films heading into the SXSW Film Festival this past March. The film aims to unmask Michael Moore as an unethical documentarian, a Capitalist hypocrite and, perhaps most egregious in the minds of the filmmakers, a not-very-nice guy. Dissent was dramatically billed as an attack on the Left (or, at least, on one of the American Left's most visible icons) from the Left. Directors Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, self-professed 'liberals", start out as fans of Moore, but end up painting an unflattering portrait of the filmmaker after failing to secure access to his inner circle. The picture ends up vaguely alluding to some interesting academic questions about the nature of truth-telling on film, but is ultimately unable to accuse Moore of anything other than being a really, really good propagandist. Dissent sparked a bit of controversy at SXSW, but not for the intended reasons. At the time, filmmaker AJ Schnack (who attended SXSW 2007 with his documentary Kurt Cobain: About a Son) pulled together a lengthy blog post summarizing some of the discussion surrounding the film. He spoke for a lot of us who saw (and were disappointed by) the film when he called BS on the filmmakers supposed mid-production shift in slant. "How in the world can anyone who is making documentaries, particularly documentaries on somewhat political or tabloidy subjects, not be aware of all the arguments against Michael Moore?" Schnack wrote. (Schnack was summarily accused by a colleague of "bad form" for questioning a fellow filmmaker.) I was reminded of Schnack's argument against Dissent when reading about Moore's screed against Melnyk and Caine. On the one hand, Michael Moore is not known for his restraint, and it's implausible that he would be so oblivious to an attack on his character and livelihood that he'd wait three months after the source of the attack was profiled in the NY Times to respond. This outburst was clearly timed to coincide with the release of Sicko--Moore actually gains credibility with a segment of his core audience by defining himself as the ultimate truth-teller surrounded by vicious liars. On the other hand, maybe Moore took so long to respond to Dissent because it's just so not a legitimate threat. A muddled mix of personal travelogue and pseudo-investigative expose, Dissent turns on the meek, overly-earnest Melnyk's inability to get Moore to consent to a lengthy on-camera interview. Why would someone of his stature assign credibility to the complaints of a disgruntled fan? On the OTHER hand, by responding so vehemently to questions about Manufacturing Dissent, does Moore maybe protest too much? I don't know. I've never been a fan of Moore's methods, but I'm fascinated by his ability to mainstreamize (no, that's probably not a real word) niche debates. I'm going to see Sicko on Thursday, and I'll report back post haste. In the meantime, watch the Sicko trailer above, and talk about your love/hate for Michael Moore on the Spout Documentary board. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/filmmaker/MemberTagFilms.aspxfilmmaker
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