120 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
120 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 10 Num. 84
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=======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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CONSPIRACY THEORY
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=================
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Starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts
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-------------------------------------
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Review by Conspiracy Nation
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---------------------------
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This movie is very well done. This may be the first and even
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perhaps only review of "Conspiracy Theory" which gives a solid
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"thumbs up." You may be thinking, "Well of course... Conspiracy
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Nation *would* like such a movie." (Or you may be thinking,
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"Ah-hah. I'm just a tad more intellectual than you; I didn't
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like it.") If so, understand that I watched this movie with a
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critical eye and if it were garbage I'd tell you so. This film,
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"Conspiracy Theory," is *not* garbage and I recommend it.
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Early radar signals picked up by this underground news outlet
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indicated that establishment-type film critics were all voting
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"no" on this flick. This raised the question, "Are they putting
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the film down because it really *is* bad? Or are they all
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locking arms against the subtext of this movie, afraid that
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potential movie-goers might think something like, 'Maybe there's
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something to this conspiracy stuff?'" Even Kenn Thomas, editor of
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a fine magazine which covers conspiracy theories, derides the
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movie. My question to Kenn is, Did you arrive at your negative
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judgement *before* or *after* you saw it? Hillary Clinton also
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reportedly turned thumbs down on "Conspiracy Theory," her reason
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being supposedly that co-star Julia Roberts smokes a cigarette in
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it.
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Some overly bitter and skeptical conspiratologists have
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complained about Mel Gibson being "cute" in this movie; to them I
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say, How else do you draw crowds? Should Harold Weisberg have
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been the star?
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If you see "Conspiracy Theory" (and I urge you to do so, since
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you cast a vote for it if you do), you will be like me:
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wondering how on earth one of the film critics could give this
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movie only 2 stars out of a possible 10. This movie is *not*
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about gimmicks, although yes there are action scenes sprinkled
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in. Yet to hear some supposed film connoisseurs, the movie is
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nothing but high-tech studio special-effects. It's not. What's
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*great* about "Conspiracy Theory" is that the viewer initially
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perceives main character Jerry Fletcher as a lunatic; then, as
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the story unfolds, the viewer experiences a dawning awareness
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that Fletcher is not so totally crazy as it seemed. This dawning
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awareness is shared, in the film, by co-star Julia Roberts who
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also metamorphises from knee-jerk skeptic toward an increased
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understanding.
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A clue to what the story involves is "MK-Ultra," the CIA's
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mind-control program designed to produce remote-control
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assassins. It doesn't really go into all the horrors of that
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U.S. government project, assuming instead that most viewers
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already know enough about it. One other minor critique I have is
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the film's obligatory love story, something it seems all movies
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must have in order to get funding these days. However this
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hardened critic even found that aspect of the movie to be well
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done, with good chemistry between Gibson and Roberts and a
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touching "Beauty and the Beast" motif.
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This movie, "Conspiracy Theory," is also sprinkled with humor,
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which balances perfectly with the underlying fear and horror of
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what has gone on. Star Mel Gibson is the sort who you don't know
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when he's being serious or otherwise. On a recent "Tonight
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Show," Gibson gave the impression he doesn't generally believe
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conspiracy theories, yet on a subsequent appearance on the "E!"
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channel he seems to believe just the opposite: friends tell how
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talking with him at length "really got them believing this
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stuff." Gibson reportedly has done a great deal of research into
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the various conspiracy theories, and has stated that "human
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nature doesn't change" and that "conspiracies have been going on
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since the time of Cain and Abel."
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Preliminary reports have the movie, "Conspiracy Theory," nudging
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out "Air Force One" as number #1 money-making movie this past
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weekend. The people involved with this latest entry into the
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conspiracy genre must have known they were taking a risk in
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daring to present conspiracy theories in a positive light. Will
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their financial and career risks in daring to challenge
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prevailing orthodoxy be rewarded, thus signalling other producers
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that the genre can make money? Let's hope so.
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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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For related stories, visit:
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http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html
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http://feustel.mixi.net
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Mailing List Yanked for "Policy Reasons." New Mailing List Planned.
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DONATIONS APPRECIATED
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Send to: Brian Redman, 310 S. Prairie St. (#202)
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Champaign, IL 61820
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?
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(1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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