PoliWood

July. 03,2009      
Rating:
6.1
Trailer Synopsis Cast

An in-depth look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions held during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election year.

Stephen Baldwin as  Self
Annette Bening as  Self
Ellen Burstyn as  Self
Rachael Leigh Cook as  Self
David Crosby as  Self
Alan Cumming as  Self
Tim Daly as  Self
Robert Davi as  Self
Charlie Daniels as  Self
Dana Delany as  Self

Reviews

Sexyloutak
2009/07/03

Absolutely the worst movie.

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Invaderbank
2009/07/04

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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Ava-Grace Willis
2009/07/05

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

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Cheryl
2009/07/06

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

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artpf
2009/07/07

The basic premise of this film is that the media has blurred the lines and polarized the country in a way that has created conflict over truth in reporting.The sub text is celebrity and it's role in making or breaking a candidate.I went into this movie wanting to really like it. The celebrities are all idiots who could care less about anything except getting their names in the paper. What an insular jaded bunch of jerks.It's not an even handed take, as some reviewers say. The film is roughly 90 minutes long and 2/3's is devoted to the DNC convention with Obama butt licking. Then we shift to the RNC convention and a bunch of liberals are interviewed saying they are going to learn what the Republicans believe in. They arrive and we are told the mood is somber and there is "nobody" there. Five minutes into what you think will be the right's say, we cut back to the libbie and some idiotic concert with Woody Guthrie music and the SEICU commies. Then Sting with some strange hair.Where's the balance?To be fair, Levinson's commentary is really good and on target. But those are few and far between. The vast majority of the movie is left- biased and presents the liberal point of view.The Republicans are shown as sand buffoons, unlike the Democrats.As i said, I really wanted to like this film more than I did. I wanted to smack Ellen Bursten. SHe's such a self centered jerk.Too bad...this really could have been a great film. Given the slant, it's just OK

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cbatower
2009/07/08

While I enjoyed Poliwood and everything it taught me about some of the actual views of celebrities, I couldn't help but feel that I was being manipulated. Everyone of the liberal celebrities is shown to be open-minded, intelligent, kind, compassionate, and empathetic. Meanwhile all of the Republicans--in one way or another--are subtly discredited. Example: The interview of Stephen Baldwin centers on religion and not politics. The entire film seemed to be about how rough the celebrities have it with their opinions not being respected. There was a clear bias in that there was rarely any mentioning of liberal media bias. The only media bias widely spoken of was, of course, Fox News. For crying out loud, Keith Olbermann, who many times out-Foxes Fox, is used to prove one of Levinson's points about conservatives. Levinson's bias is finally and ultimately revealed when he arrives at the RNC. Upon arrival, he immediately begins to crack jokes (Which might have been funny if he didn't have his sidekick ruining them). This is in stark contrast to his reverential approach to the DNC and President Obama. (Of course once the holy liberal celebrities arrive, they begin to hold meetings with conservatives about open-mindedness.)Final Verdict: 6/10 It was extremely interesting to me, however; it is a very manipulative, biased piece of film.

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sarahcatt-1
2009/07/09

Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general for that matter, has more than its share of vacuous people...BUT, there are many intelligent and thoughtful people there. I'd like to think the latter vastly outnumbers the former. Barry Levinson does a nice job in "Poliwood" by showcasing some very popular 'celebrities' who also happen to be very passionate and credible in their concerns about political issues. When did actors cease to be 'real Americans' as asserted by Rudy Giuliani? Thanks, Barry. The rest of us who call ourselves actors appreciate seeing our profession represented as more than just a bunch of overindulged airheads.

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Styopa
2009/07/10

Well, the Hollywood circle-jerk is now complete. We started with simple political movies, presenting an inherent dogma and begged questions as part of a Leftish worldview. Then we had Michael Moore, whose biased 'documentaries' (actually, cleverly contrived mosaics of out-of-context quotes, syllogisms, and cuts misrepresenting reality) would have inspired Leni Riefenstahl to tears. Then, An Inconvenient Truth, the sad story of a self-inflating concept by a desperately out-of-touch self-inflated politician who urgently needs to become relevant again - a purely political propaganda film whose synchronization with the sophomoric Hollywood worldview could be tallied by the free-flowing ejaculation as Mr Gore was handed an Academy Award for what was little more than the gussied-up rehash of the long-since-irrelevant ecological message of the 1970's: Humans BAD! Now, Mr Levinson has reached over to complete the chain, yanking Hollywood furiously to priaptic relevance as he actually made a film about how Hollywood 'activists' can participate and advance the political discussion without looking like fools. Short answer: this film proves that, at least for this bunch, they can't. Nothing is more persuasive than objectivity, which is why this group is utterly UNpersuasive. My impression is that Hollywood is so full of yes-men that these folks haven't been contradicted in years, at least not by anyone that they respect (of course, as professional narcissists, that's a pretty tall order). Barry's assembled a panel of interviewees (oh, and a token conservative, can't forget the little head-fake toward 'inclusiveness') natters on about relevance and meaning without seriously recognizing that they're all just preaching to each other. Like a sad evangelist standing on a soapbox and preaching to his wife and 18 children while everyone else walks past, Hollywood 'activists' are so convinced of their certainty, so certain of their relevance, that they don't notice that nobody is listening. Sure, the politicians are listening folks, but that's because you offer two things that politicians (the only thing as narcissistic as yourselves, by the way) need to live: money, and media time. Here's a hint: the next time a politician expresses their appreciation for your support, do a reality check. Tell them that you can't give them any money, and you refuse to PUBLICLY endorse them, but they have your full moral support. Oh, they'll shake your hand and tell you how much they appreciate it deeply, but see if they'll take the time to chat with you 'next time they're in town'. To paraphrase Homer Simpson..."Barry, just because I understand, doesn't mean I care." If he could tear himself from the cocoon of self-justification and bear to have his ideas contradicted by normal people, perhaps next time Mr Levinson could make a movie about the absurd concept of people who professionally pretend to play other people, misreading the attention that comes with celebrity as the regard that comes with respect.But then again, that's pretty unlikely.

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