Seven years after adopting a McDonald’s-only diet for Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock once again puts himself at the centre of his documentary action. This time, Spurlock’s credibility, rather than his health, is on the line, in a movie about product placement in movies that follows Spurlock in his quest to fund the movie entirely with product placement deals. Very meta, and also entertaining. Spurlock’s the anti-Michael Moore, a filmmaker whose everyman personality and humour lead his subjects to trust him and who doesn’t resort to manipulative editing to make a strident point. His movie reveals how corporations exert influence on popular culture and suggests that, yes, it’s pretty fucked, but Spurlock shoots straight enough that the audience can make up its own mind. It’s a winking sellout that pays off.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2011.
Umm? What’s the title of the film? Seems to be pretty pertinent info for a review…..
It’s called The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. It’s in the headline. Online, you’ll notice all the titles of the movies reviewed are found in the headline. Maybe italics would help clear up the confusion, which I’ll add…
Matt Semansky wrote:
“Spurlock’s the anti-Michael Moore, a filmmaker whose everyman personality and humour lead his subjects to trust him and who doesn’t resort to manipulative editing to make a strident point.”
This statement makes no sense to me. The “anti-Michael Moore”? If anything, I’d say Moore was an inspiration to Spurlock. At the very least, I think they share the same sensibility when it comes to making films that question the status quo.
As far as that allegation about Moore’s use of “manipulative editing to make a strident point” I’ve heard others make that claim before, especially with reference to Moore’s “Farenheit 911”. Critics of that film suggested that Moore manipulated some of his subjects and also made false claims of fact. None of these accusations stand up to scrutiny. As far as being “strident”, well I guess that judgement all depends on how comfortable the viewer is with the status quo.
Michael Moore’s success has made it possible for film makers like Spurlock to have their work see wide distribution on theatre screens.
I think Spurlock does the same kind of work that Moore does and for the same reasons. In fact, independent film makers like Spurlock and Moore, as well as others like Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan, who made “The Corporation”, and Charles Ferguson, who directed the recent “Inside Job”, all provide a much-needed critique of the status quo that isn’t easily available elsewhere, certainly not in any of the main stream media.
If I had a dime for every time the capitalist system failed me I’d be a fat, bearded lying “documentary” maker in a baseball cap.
http://www.moonbattery.com/Team%20America%…