Loose Change: Second Edition (2006)

First of all, I want to say that I do not support the rhetoric that was presented in Loose Change. I think that blaming the government for 9/11 is utterly ridiculous, but I decided to hear the infamous conspiracy theory that will not go away. That there are internal memos amongst government officials to stage fake attacks against the United States. I don’t know credible their “sources” are, bit I am not buying it.

The documentarian Dylan Avery gives faint examples in history of high-ranking officials staging attacks circa the Cuban Missile Crisis, the military manning remote control Boeing jets, the Twin Towers encircled in crosshairs, military jets were pulled from being close to the Pentagon, there were training exercises to crash planes into the Towers and the Pentagons.

There are some phone interviews with different people giving their descending opinions on the motives of the attack. There was an interview with Hunter S. Thompson that was spliced in that talks about his opinion that President Bush had an agenda on that day.

Avery tries to paint a picture that events that had been relayed on the news were inaccurate. Talking about the flight training of one of the hijackers, painting a picture that a missile was fired upon the Pentagon, not a 747 jet. Avery is also saying that the intense heat the planes did not make the buildings collapse, but it was explosive devices implanted in the towers when the planes hit to make the falls quickly.

Okay, let’s say that all of Avery’s fact are correct. Bombing devices were at the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers, why would the government do this to their own people, why the cover it up?

Throwing a bunch of quotes taken out of context will not convert me to the other side of the argument. Where there a bunch of inconsistencies with the news report covering the story? Of course. One station could say one thing; another will say something different. It’s not new.

People were in shock and they convey what they thought they saw or heard. Was it an accurate depiction of what happened? Probably not, because they were under stress. I heard people said it sounded like firecrackers when shots rang out. It doesn’t mean that a prankster lit a couple of firecrackers. I want Mr. Avery to be at the WTC site on that day and tape himself on camera about what he thought he saw.

I have theory of my own. Did Mr. Avery forget to mention about the aborted terrorist on the WTC back in 1993? If it was an inside job that he says, what if an Al Queda agent infiltrated and planted the explosive devices in the buildings? He was so certain that the government was entirely behind the attack that he didn’t explore all the possible explanations? If commercial airplanes were not used on all of the attacks, what happened to the passengers and crew of those American 11, 77, United 175 and 93 planes? Did they simply disappear? Were they killed?

Is this propaganda? Absolutely. Is what Dylan Avery saying could be taken a fact? Not certainly. There is reasonable doubt. Conspiracy theorists almost had me convinced that the moon landing 1969 was no real. They would trick you with their distorted facts, doctored images and misquoting sources. He was even taking his quotes from Wikipedia. Yes, the most credible of sources. You are reaching, sir. You think we created a real version of Wag the Dog or Dr. Strangelove.

Should we ask questions about that day? Yes. Should we get all the answers? No. The public will be in a panic that the government is coming to get them. Some secrets need to be hidden the American people.

Judgment: I don’t agree with the statements presented here.

Rating: **

Trick r Treat (2009)

Wait. There’s another tradition.  Always check your candy.

— Steven

A lot of buzz has been said about Michael Dougherty’s film Trick ‘r Treat for over two years. It was initially supposed to come out in 2007, but it was shelved for unspecified reasons. The movie was intending to get a theatrical release after the positive buzz it has gotten, but it was decided that the film would go straight to DVD. Personally, I think that was a wise decision.

In the same vein as Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt, this movie interweaves five storylines taking place during Halloween night in Warren Valley, Ohio.

The first shortly deals with a married couple, Emma and Henry (Leslie Bibb, Tahmoh Penikett) coming home from there trip. Emma wanted Henry to take down the Halloween decorations. Henry doesn’t want to, but Emma is too anal about the decorations. She decides to do it herself. Henry goes upstairs while Emma takes down the decorations. She realizes that she is being watched.

The next deals with a bored fat kid, Charlie (Brett Kelly) knocking over pumpkins until he goes up to Steven Wilkins’ (Dylan Baker) house. Charlie is gorging over Halloween candy when he eats some tainted candy. There are some hilarious things going on in the Wilkins household.

Another storyline deals with Laurie (Anna Paquin) trying to find somebody to take her virginity. Her sister, Danielle (Laura Lee Smith) and her friends, Maria and Janet (Rochelle Aytes, Moneca Delain) try to encourage her as well. Left alone, Laurie realizes that there is a mysterious figure following her.

Then there is a group of trick-or-treaters; Macy, Sara, Chip (Britt McKillip, Isabelle Duluce, Alberto Ghisi) who pick up a girl with special needs, Rhonda (Samm Todd) to take her over to the rock quarry. Another friend, Schrader (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) catches up to them with a shopping cart full of jack o’ lanterns over as an offering to the kids that part in the Halloween School Bus Massacre.

The last story deals with the cantankerous neighbor of the Wilkins’, Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) who feels that something is in his house. It is the mysterious figure with burlap pumpkin head stalking the people of the neighborhood.

I want expected to be scared. I wanted to have a good time with this movie. I was mildly entertained.

Judgment: The movie is not good. It’s B-movie schlock. Really lame effort.

Rating: **