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I saw this tonight, and the first 2/3 of the film is some of the funniest stuff I have seen recently (disclaimer, I haven't seen much recently).

It has a lot of political humor yet can probably humor most people on both sides of the aisle.

Anyone else seen it?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 502 • Replies: 11

[+1] - cavfancier - 10/23/2004I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list. I've heard nothing but great things about it from friends.
[+1] - Lightwizard - 10/23/2004The reviews are mostly favorable (Rotten Tomatoes site is down right now but check with it later). Ebert hated it but the user reviews on the page (click on user ratings) were high: ...
[+1] - Acquiunk - 10/23/2004The fact that the "actors' in this feature film are puppets (marionettes) reflects the influence and work of of Frank Ballard. His goal was to make puppetry a fine art rather than...
[+1] - littlek - 10/23/2004I can't wait to see it!
[+1] - nimh - 10/23/2004It's not playing here yet. I'll probably wanna see it. Meanwhile, the liberals among the chattering classes hate it, apparently: ...
[+1] - Merry Andrew - 10/23/2004Haven't seen it yet. May be something for this weekend. It's gotten mixed reviews locally. As Lightwizard has said, this kind of flick is dependent on personal taste. I'm not much into...
[+1] - Craven de Kere - 10/23/2004[quote="nimh"]It's not playing here yet. I'll probably wanna see it. Meanwhile, the liberals among the chattering classes hate it, apparently:[/quote] It's likely because in the...
[+1] - nimh - 10/23/2004[quote="Craven de Kere"]It's likely because in the relatively well-balanced arguments about hawks, doves and the "bad guys" (in the film the analogy is "dicks, pussies and...
[+1] - dlowan - 10/23/2004Puppets? Wow!!!!
[+1] - Craven de Kere - 10/23/2004[quote="nimh"] Yeah, not having seen the film myself I thought this bit from the Slate review was interesting, in terms of identifying the politics of it - what do you think?[/quote] ...

I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list. I've heard nothing but great things about it from friends.

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The reviews are mostly favorable (Rotten Tomatoes site is down right now but check with it later). Ebert hated it but the user reviews on the page (click on user ratings) were high:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041014/REVIEWS/40921007/1023

Of course, Ebert loved "Passion of the Christ" which the majority of critics thought was a travesty.
This kind of film is a as much dependent on personal taste and the final judgement should be if it's really funny or not.

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The fact that the "actors' in this feature film are puppets (marionettes) reflects the influence and work of of Frank Ballard. His goal was to make puppetry a fine art rather than "folk" childrens entertainment. This was begun nearly forty years ago when he established the worlds first academic program of puppetry at the University of Connecticut.

http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~wwwsfa/bimp.html

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I can't wait to see it!

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It's not playing here yet. I'll probably wanna see it.

Meanwhile, the liberals among the chattering classes hate it, apparently:

The New Republic

Slate

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Haven't seen it yet. May be something for this weekend. It's gotten mixed reviews locally. As Lightwizard has said, this kind of flick is dependent on personal taste. I'm not much into puppetry, myself, except got Jim Henson's Muppets, of course. I'm passionately in love with Miss Piggy.

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nimh wrote:

It's not playing here yet. I'll probably wanna see it.

Meanwhile, the liberals among the chattering classes hate it, apparently:

It's likely because in the relatively well-balanced arguments about hawks, doves and the "bad guys" (in the film the analogy is "dicks, pussies and assholes") the film comes down on the side of the hawks very slightly.

And it pokes fun at some more extreme liberal icons (Michael Moore, the "Film Actor's Guild - F.A.G.).

Where it pokes fun at hawks is more subtle (the corny "America, fuck yeah!" song, how the terrorist fighters destroy more of the cities than the terrorist attack would have destroyed...).

The analogy made, was interesting, if imperfect. In reality, a lot of the "bad guys" (a-holes) would be the "dicks" in the analogy, just on the other side.

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Craven de Kere wrote:

It's likely because in the relatively well-balanced arguments about hawks, doves and the "bad guys" (in the film the analogy is "dicks, pussies and assholes") the film comes down on the side of the hawks very slightly.

Yeah, not having seen the film myself I thought this bit from the Slate review was interesting, in terms of identifying the politics of it - what do you think?

Quote:

That's the part that has Sean Penn wringing his hands and must have puzzled a lot of people who assume that Parker and Stone, with their toilet talk and blasphemy and camp sensibility, are flaming lefties. But they're not; they're Cato Institute-level libertarians. They actually hate liberals as much if not more than their right-wing counterparts.

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Puppets? Wow!!!!

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nimh wrote:

Yeah, not having seen the film myself I thought this bit from the Slate review was interesting, in terms of identifying the politics of it - what do you think?

I think it's spot on. They are certainly not liberals, and yet are not what I'd call conservative either.

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The message may mean we're all puppets.

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