Ch. Sun-Times Gives Path to 9-11 Zero Stars; "Deserves to Bomb"

[JPZenger]

http://suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-elf08.html

Accuracy aside, ABC's '9/11' deserves to bomb

BY DOUG ELFMAN TELEVISION CRITIC

"I once sat in a car forever waiting for my mom to come out of a grocery store. I thought that was the definition of "interminable." I had no idea "The Path to 9/11" was in my future....This is the most anticlimactic, tension-free movie in the history of terrorist TV.

... "Path" is the dullest, worst-shot TV movie since ABC's disastrous "Ten Commandments" remake. It substitutes shaky handheld cameras and dumb dialogue for craftsmanship. It could not be more amateurish or poorly constructed unless someone had forgotten to light the sets.

An appalling secondary concern is the tone makes almost every pre-9/11 American look like a fool...
Excuse us all, writer Cyrus Nowrasteh and director David L. Cunningham, for not acting like Hitler Youth in the glory days before ordinary Americans knew commercial planes could be turned into missiles....If you read some of the investigations into 9/11, you realize fault spreads far and wide, from FBI and CIA agents to politicians of both parties. "Path" depicts most of these Americans as villainous morons, rather than as flawed people committing errors.

...Ground Zero is a sobering soil worthy of facts, not flimsy fiction. The victims of 9/11 deserve 2,996 times more careful and compelling filmmaking than what Nowrasteh, Cunningham and ABC have bored together. They are bearing false witness to the memory of the fallen."


The article then describes some of the lies in the film.

[Kber]

1. At the risk of promoting yet another path thread

this one made me laugh.:)

Thanks!

[ShortnFiery]

14. Outstanding!

:applause:

[Joe for Clark]

2. It had a $40,000,000 budget too -

I do wonder where that money really came from, personally.

You know this was the day "Pirates" was supposed to go over a billion dollars in sales - it was supposed to be a great day for Disney - But Oh no - hit their ticker symbol for news and this story comes up in the top five.

Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Somebody is going to get fired over this, I have do doubt. This is really stupid, from many standpoints.

Joe

[Kikosexy2]

5. May ABC and all...

who had a hand in its production be sued up the ass...

[EVDebs]

12. I think it comes from the Afgan heroin crop, currently on the rise

Taliban Twists Shrub With Poppy Politics
Bush's Opium Bender

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0125,ridgeway,25704,6.html

""Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists and destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously. That’s the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today.

The gift, announced two weeks ago by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the United States the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban’s estimation, are most human activities, but it’s the ban on drugs that catches this administration’s attention. Never mind that Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his base in Afghanistan, from which, among other crimes, he launched two bloody attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998.

Sadly, the Bush administration is cozying up to the Taliban regime at a time when the United Nations, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul government will not turn over bin Laden.""

Bush Administration Cut Faustian Deal With Taliban
http://cannabisnews.com/news/10/thread10954.shtml

[greenman3610]

3. the kind of one dimensional, simplistic thinking

you'd expect from a fundy director.
He should stick to "Left Behind" sequels.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. At least Birth of a Nation and Triumph of the Will were well-made films

Apart from the fact that the first was a love song to the Ku Klux Klan and the second to Adolf Hitler.

It sounds like there nothing good to say about this thing. It's both distorted history and bad art.

[Canuckistanian]

8. Excellent point

If you're going to make a propaganda vehicle, then at least make it compelling.

The author should be roundly criticized for both bad documentary writing and bad cinematic style.

From what I hear, it sounds like a mix of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and "Fahrenhype 9/11"

Lots of shaky handheld camera shots combined with shaky writing.

[C_U_L8R]

6. that's what i saw

on the clips previewed on tv... it was evident that
this "film" was not only poorly written.. but the
direction was pathetic... the acting flat...
and the editing was gimmicky.

Yes it was truly unbearable...
and that was just 30 seconds worth.

Even if this thing airs.. viewers (even dumb old freeps)
are gonna leap for the clicker.
No wonder there are no advertisers... ABC's 911 blows chunks.

[ShortnFiery]

15. Yes, this bears repeating ... often!

"ABC's 911 blows chunks."

Further ABC's "The Path to 911" is thought to consist mainly of Monkey Vomit and Camel Snot! :rofl:

[gully]

7. Perhaps they should pull it just to save themselves embarrassment?

LOL

[StrictlyRockers]

9. Not just RW propaganda, BADLY DONE RW propaganda.

Whoever spent $40 million bucks on this stinker should ask for a refund.

[PinkyisBlue]

10. "Path to 9/11" is so bad,

it will make Bush's speech (to be aired live in the middle of the docu-drama) look coherent and almost riveting.

[EVDebs]

11. Letterman should have a Top Ten List for THAT, pinkyisblue !

It's SOOOOOOOO bad even conservatives are jumping ship on 'staying the course' and gullibility. Even conservatives gag on too many lies.

[rodeodance]

13. the RW will NOT let this one bomb: 'marketplace capitalism" will take

a back seat.

[sarcasmo]

16. Kick to the top for this fabrication.

[Singular73]

17. Really? Most conservative filmmakers I know are quite excellent...

...though not a single one comes to mind...

Are there any conservative filmmakers?

[Skittles]

18. Mel Gibson

ROFL

[ovidsen]

19. Check out the review's final sentences

Scene: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush officials are shown taking no action at pivotal moments when terrorists may have been stopped.

Reaction: Bush officials have not complained to ABC.

I'm not going to declare that "we're protesting too much", because I'm as ticked off about this revisionist piece of crap as anyone and haven't been silent about it.

But...