LISNews: Librarian News

mdoneil writes "Fridley Theaters owner has banned Farenheit 9/11 because it incites terrorism.

I'm not as sure about that as R.L. Fridley is, but I think his idea not to show propaganda films from either the left or the right is on target.

If it is political propaganda, and I do think it is simply that and not by any strech of the imagination a documentary, the parties should arrange for its showing."

Fang-Face writes "Following up the non-library story of interest that is Michael Moore's film: Stuart Klawans, of The Nation, had his review of Fahrenheit 9/11 posted to Alternet.org. All will not like it, of course, but there is one anamolous factor in the controversy Klawans notes:

For clarity's sake, then, let's start with the politics: the film's bill of particulars against Bush, and also against the Democratic leadership, which in Moore's view has colluded most shamefully in the misrule the world now suffers. [...] Moore's antagonists, being Republican, won't go so easy on him. Their attacks will no doubt include the charge that his film is Democratic Party propaganda. You should understand from the preceding the flimsiness of this accusation --

Moore apparently didn't criticize Bush alone, he bashed the whole government and the part played by the Democrats. "

Reuters is reporting that Michael Moore was informed over a year ago that it would not release his inflammatory, anti-Bush movie "Farenheit 911." A Disney spokesperson has called Moore's announcement a "PR stunt" designed to coincide with the movie's debut at the Cannes film festival. Disney chief Michael Eisner also denies the assertion made by the Moore camp that the film is being withheld over fear of Disney losing tax incentives in Florida. Moore has not responded to Disneys response.

Here's another story about Moore shopping for a new distributor.

Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup," just out on DVD, is a touchstone of 1960's cinema culture. Released in 1966 to critical and popular acclaim, the enigmatic movie follows a cynical photographer (David Hemmings) as he moves among the pampered rich and the heedless young of swinging London. When he shoots a series of pictures of a tryst between Vanessa Redgrave and her lover in the park, he finds that he may have photographed a murder. The Times asked two film critics of different generations, Stuart Klawans, of The Nation, and his younger colleague Nathan Lee, of The New York Sun, to discuss the movie then and now.
NYTimes Has The Story