All right, finally a thread of mine that has staying power baby!!! I still haven't seen this, but hopefully it is still playing when I get back to Houston later this week.
just started in Adelaide on the weekend, will go and see it in the next few days and will give it a decent review
Parts I didn't like: 1.) The whole Dick Clark thing was a dead end. 2.) The Heston interview. 3.) I couldn't quite tell what he was trying to prove by showing all of America's military actions over the past several decades. I guess don't see the connection between random, criminal gun violence and national defense. After that, I pretty much liked the rest of the movie. Especially the "sign up for a bank account, get a free gun" part.
According to Forbes, Moore staged that scene. While the whole "open an account, get a free gun" promotion was in fact offered by that particular bank, Moore (not suprisingly) left out a couple of extremely relevant details: 1. You had to open a long-term CD, not just any ol' checking account; 2. You received a voucher from the bank (not an actual gun) to be redeemed at a local gun shop, after a background check.
#1 was mentioned in the movie. As for #2, the guns were at the bank. Do you mean they were planted there?
Can you explain more about how it was set up. I havn't seen it yet, but during the previews, he is standing in the bank with a gun, how could he get away with that?
According to the bit I read, the guns were not given out at the bank. I haven't seen the movie. Were there perhaps some guns there at the bank for show (to see what you'd be getting)? Also, a minor nitpick but the title itself is based on a mistake (the Columbine killers skipped their bowling class the morning of the massacre).
Sorry 'bout #1, it's been awhile since I saw the movie. From what I remember reading (I'll try to find the article online) in an interview with a bank spokesman, the guns that were in the bank were for display purposes only, and were not given out to customers. Moore basically shot some film of himself with one of the display guns, carefully edited his interaction with the staff (who made it clear on camera that they weren't giving away guns at the bank), and played it off as something it wasn't.
I can definitely see him doing something like that, but the employee said they had a room full of guns in the back and one of the other employees said "it was a good choice." Either he paid them to say that, they weren't bank employees or they were kidding.
Par for the course with Moore. Never let a little thing like the truth get in the way of a good story. Another nit to pick: Moore (rather bizarrely, as I remember) brought up the relationship between the Columbine incident and the "weapons of mass destruction" made at the Lockheed Martin plant in nearby Littleton, with accompanying footage of ominous looking rockets & such. Only problem is that the LM plant makes rockets for launching tv satellites into orbit, not weapons.
a) If you don't think the USA and Canada are *incredibly* similar, I'm just astounded. Sure, there are some differences. But that's like saying Australia and New Zealand aren't at all alike. I mean, I'd *like* to argue for New Zealand exceptionalism, but it has to be said: our societies, with a few important exceptions, are really similar. The US and Canada: their societies, with a few important exceptions, are really similar. b) Plus, why can't the US look to other Western states to solve or explain its problems? What's so different about the US? Specifics? Sorry, but I get tired of the American exceptionalism argument. It makes the USA even more insular and it gives the country excuses not to solve its problems.
