Friday, March 09, 2012

Obama's Documentary: A Sequel To "A Burns For All Seasons"?

And while the president does not have his own "Senor Spielbergo" to direct, he does have Davis Guggenheim, who - were he two dimensional - would be a personality ringer for Waylon Smithers.

Piers Morgan interviews; and even he is a bit incredulous:

Piers Morgan: "Most documentary makers balance these movies with the negative as well as the positive. What are the negatives in your movie about Barack Obama?

Davis Guggenheim: "Well, I mean the negative for me was, there were too many accomplishments. I had 17 minutes to put them all in there."

Piers Morgan: "Oh, come off it! You can't say that with a straight face. Come on."

Davis Guggenheim: "I'm looking at you right now with a straight face."

Piers Morgan: "The only negativity about Barack Obama is there are too many positives?"

Davis Guggenheim: "That was the negative -- excuse me, that was the negative for me."

Piers Morgan: "But where do you find fault in him, personally?"

Davis Guggenheim: "I -- you know, I don't. I don't, frankly."

Piers Morgan: "He's a perfect human being?"

Davis Guggenheim: "Well, no. but I'm really quite in awe of him, as a leader, and the choices he's made."


Kyle Smith at the New York Post reviews the trailer:

How do we understand this president, and his time in office?” asks Hanks at the outset. Tell us, Tom, tell us! “Do we look at the day’s headlines, or do we remember what we, as a country, have been through?”

Whoa, is Hanks ordering us to pay no attention to those pesky newspapers? Stupid is as stupid does.



Hanks continues, amid Very Seriously Dramatic black and white photos of Obama, “His advisers would ask, ‘Where to begin? Which urgent need would he put first?’ ” Um, filling out his March Madness bracket, naturally...

Hurrying on from health care, mainly because 53 percent of Americans oppose it and the rest think it’s unconstitutional anyway, the movie passes along some news: Did you hear Obama got bin Laden? Not the SEALs, not the vast US intelligence apparatus, not 10 years of painstaking waterboard-assisted sleuthing — no. Obama did it. By sitting in a conference room in Washington and uttering two syllables: “OK.”

 
Mr. Burns tried the same thing once...





...and he produced "A Burns For All Seasons". Scene by scene description below; tell me if it sounds much different than what Barack Obama is about to put out:

The first scene opens with Mr. Burns atop a horse wearing a sombrero, rounds of machine gun ammunition draped across his chest. "Simple villagers," he says to a group of people, "I promise you I will close plants in America and bring work here!" ...

The next scene features Mr. Burns saying, "Remember, Elliot, I'll be
right here," on one knee to a child. The tip of his finger lights up
briefly; he then enters a spaceship, its door spiraling closed, which
takes off into the crimson sky. The audience murmurs angrily among themselves, "Pure egotism! Self-indulgent tripe," and the like. "I don't care what they say," vows Burns, "I'm going to win this festival!"


The next scene shows a Roman centurion on a horse leading a group of shackled prisoners across the desert. The last prisoner, who bears a striking resemblance to Charlton Heston, collapses from exhaustion. A shadow appears over him: a man kneels in front of him, strokes his hair, and hands him a bottle of spring water. "Drink up, Judah Ben Hur,"exhorts Mr. Burns. Ben Hur does so, then looks up gratefully and says, "You truly are the king of kings." A heavenly light shines down upon Burns, and he says "Excellent." The movie ends.

And what was the reaction to this piece of "self-indulgent tripe"?

Burns: Smithers...are they booing me?
Smithers: Uh, no, they're saying "Boo-urns! Boo-urns!"
Burns (turning to audience): Are you saying "boo" or "Boo-urns"?
Audience: Boo! Boo!
Hans Moleman: I was saying "Boo-urns"...

Beware, Baracky....the American people will forgive many things, but...a bad movie? A bigger career-killer than health care reform...

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