Michael Moore in TrumpLand

Although his name is in the title of this filmed one man show, Trump isn't in any way the focus, however Clinton very much is – starting with the large pictures of her mounted all around the stage. I had come to this show not knowing what to expect but interested by what little I had heard – and for context I was watching it on the weekend where the FBI dropped the shock announcement that they were looking into more electronic information they had found related to the Clinton email investigation earlier this year.

Moore starts his show with honesty, about not being a Clinton voter, and not being a big fan of hers. He also delivers quite a passionate piece about why he understands people would turn to Trump as a rejection of a failed system, as opposed to Hillary – the manifestation of every politician to many people. It is ironic that this bit that he delivers seems to be the clip that has taken off – ironic because it shows how bang on the money he was, but at the same time it seems to be a rallying cry now more than a reflection (tellingly the use of the clip I have heard all cut off at "feels good" and loses "for a day, or a week" etc). From here he focuses on Clinton, to sell her as a person, to examine why she is disliked and how she has been treated. Unfortunately at this point the film goes from an engaging discussion style, into very much a sales pitch.

He is not helped by events in this election moving so quickly that his thoughts are already outdated. The leaks of the Podesta emails, the discovery of more information on electronic devices belonging to Carlos Danger, and the general opening up to public view of the feelings of those around her, and the big money dealings of the Foundation – all of these things are understandably absent from the film. However, Moore also skates around some other issues too, and it does feel like he is trying to sell Clinton as a person – something she has been roundly terrible at doing herself.

I did enjoy the clips from her graduation speech, and I did take a lot from his presentation on her treatment and sacrifices as a woman, but in the end the presentation starts to boil down to owing it to her, or owing her to America. This election may well be a 'through gritted teeth' for many people on both sides, but it doesn't make for a persuasive argument when spelt out. Trumpland ends up being this though; it does have moments of interesting discourse and content, but in the end it is an emotional appeal to vote for Clinton without enough in the way of reflection and consideration of the whole picture.

In 2016 American voters have been witness not only to the ugly presentations and personal invective from the absolute worst presidential candidate in modern US history. We have also seen the spectacle of the Republican Party, one of our two major political bastions for the past 2+ centuries, overtaken and dominated by a fringe element that has been percolating for the past two decades right in front of us. And in GOP presidential nominee and entitled bullyboy Donald Trump, we have amazingly seen the personification of everything the present-day conservative movement in our nation has actually stood for over the past 20 years, only writ very, very large.The national Republican Party has had the "Trump Look" for years. He has simply magnified it past all recognition and sanity.

Nobody in their right mind on either side of the aisle could have envisioned the turmoil, white-hot (pun intended) anger, as well as sheer lunacy that Donald Trump has foisted on us over the past year. America's voters could have ideological differences and disagreements with recent/past Oval Office candidates ranging from Mitt Romney, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush (obviously) on any number of issues, without having their basic "Americanness" being in question. There was always a level of decorum, intelligence quotient and competence present…we could all disagree with each other without calling into question our own decency, current-events' acumen, and even rationality.

Donald Trump is the enemy of all our daughters, wives and girlfriends, and undoubtedly has nothing but contempt for even the American women who are still going to vote for him, except for the ones he deems "hot" enough to interest him. His degrading comments and unwanted physical actions with various females and their angry response has been recorded in full, but a point that seems to have been missed is that his foolish excuse of it being "locker room talk" and that these trash conversations are routine with men is an insult to every decent male in America. No Donald, we DON'T spend our time talking about all the sex we're having with our wives and girlfriends. Nor do we dwell lasciviously on descriptions of our daughters' bodies. Not just because you do.

Trump is the scourge of every single minority demographic in America, African-American, Hispanic and Muslim, home-borne or not, save for the gay population. He leveled some of his most acerbic and notorious kiddie-insults and nicknames against Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and his other Republican primary competitors as his adoring fans guffawed along with him, dividing his own political party in the process. And Trump is the last president that our allies have ANY desire to have to deal with in either friendly or contentious issues, a schoolyard bully/loose cannon who has no business discussing issues of import, domestic or external, with any of the world's real leaders.

Donald Trump is an exaggeration, not an aberration. So don't be fooled by all the phony hand wringing being done currently by all those caught-in-the-spotlight "disaffected" Republicans. Many of them from Paul Ryan to Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell to Marco Rubio have already announced that they will support Trump on Election Day despite their absolute knowledge of what a destructive candidate he is. Most of the rest will without question be swinging back to his side over the next week and will pull the lever for him, forgetting all the insults to both themselves and their other conservative partners, along with the rampant ignorance and ever-present hate displayed every time he opens his mouth, no matter the topic. Viewers finally lost count of all the times he called the Obama administration "stupid" during the (thankfully) final debate. And this proves unquestionably what most of us have known for years that the national GOP cares not a whit for America's well-being as long as "their boy" gets in, no matter the dire consequences that will explode across the United States and the world if he does.

There are certainly one or two legitimate attacks against Hillary Clinton one can cull from her near-40 years in the national spotlight, but none of them rises even close to the level of incompetence and evil that Trump represents, and certainly don't equal the rape culture and xenophobia for every demographic except for the angry white male that he espouses. And his latest rabble-rousing canard is his lying claim that the upcoming election is somehow "rigged" in Clinton's favor, while offering exactly zero proof for his whining allegation. Leaving Trump sycophants Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich out of the equation, even the most conservative Republicans in government are refuting this one.

Perhaps Trump's simply setting himself up for a bunch of lawsuits against the federal government if he loses. But judging from both his thinly-veiled comments urging his masses to appoint themselves enforcement officials and congregate at voting places, monitoring closely for any "clandestine activities", as well as the many recent violence-promising quotes from his white male fans across America, it looks more and more like there'll be plenty of potentially-tragic displays we can all look forward to on November 8th. He's obviously using this tactic to target and frighten away minority voters as they attempt to practice their Constitution-given right. So there'll probably be lots of available overtime pay for all the extra police security that will be necessary due to his latest incendiary posturing, this being maybe the only real example of job creation that Trump has been able to come up with in his specifics-starved campaign.

This is the awful imitation of America that the Trump supporters want. It's up to the rest of us to stop him. He will take America on a straight trajectory to hell if he's elected, a hell that would make the eight disastrous Bush/Cheney years last decade seem like a smooth cakewalk by comparison.

This is not like producer-director Michael Moore's other, award-winning documentaries. While the opening is cinematic, the bulk of this material could best be described as Mr. Moore performing "stand-up comedy" for a movie theater audience. He sits down, too, on a sparse stage set. His language is frequently vulgar. There are a few interludes that include video, tape and photographs of 2016's US Presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Moore appears to have done this film quickly, with his "TrumpLand" being Wilmington, Ohio. His initial aim is obvious; of course, Moore is working to defeat Mr. Trump. Anyone who thinks "Michael Moore in TrumpLand" is going to support Trump doesn't know Moore. He is not going to give you a "fair and balanced" view of Clinton and Trump. Moore is an admittedly liberal (or progressive) filmmaker and presents himself honestly...

What may be surprising is Moore's persuasive argument for Ms. Clinton. This is a film about her, not him. Moore's conversion includes his sometimes mixed feelings about Clinton and her long biography. Interestingly, he enlarges old photographs of Hillary Rodham as set backdrops. After all the demonic contemporary photos and older "hippie" pictures on social media, it startling to see Hillary was quite a beautiful young woman...

The main point of "Michael Moore in TrumpLand" is to garner votes for Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump. No surprise, there. Moore treats his audience with calculated respect. As aforementioned, he is honest about his personal views and how they developed. He hopes Clinton will be more liberal in office than most assume, as was the case with the present Pope Francis. However she governs, Moore prefers Clinton to Trump...

Moore directly appeals to older white males who have suffered economically and must now live in a county where they are a dwindling minority. The voters who believe President Obama is a Muslim born in Africa, and Hillary Clinton is the Anti-Christ, are not going to be convinced. Moore amusingly siphons those voters off and goes for the voter he believes might vote for Clinton, after a persuasive argument. He separates the bigots with visual allegories by "building a wall" around Mexicans (Guatemalans count, too!) in the audience and separating Muslins into a section guarded by a symbolic drone. Moore appears to have researched his target voter very well and the film shows heads nodding in agreement. Those nods mean the staged and directed voters on screen were convinced. We will have to see if real voters agree on November 8, when the new President wins election. Everyone should get out and vote.

******* Michael Moore in TrumpLand (10/18/2016) Michael Moore ~ Michael Moore, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump

Michael Moore in Trumpland (2015)

** (out of 4)

Even though I rarely agree with Michael Moore, I do enjoy his pictures. As much as I would love to debate him myself, there's no question that he is a talented filmmaker and on that level alone I will respect him even if I don't respect what he often does with his movies.

With that said, MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND is without question his least entertaining film. This really isn't a film but instead Moore held what's basically a stand-up act in Ohio where he brought Trump and Clinton supporters together to talk with them. The majority of the rather short running time is baslcally Moore talking about why Clinton should get your vote.

My problem with this film is that it just seems rushed and it certainly doesn't have the quality of Moore's previous pictures. Just check out how nervous Moore seems at the start of this chat. Just listen to how awful his jokes are. He's certainly not a comedian and some of the jokes told are just beyond awful. Even his speech about Clinton isn't nearly as good as you'd expect from him.

The only time that his passion really comes to life is when he's talking about the people who have died due to not having medical coverage. Had the entire film been more of him talking in a serious manor like this then perhaps the film would have had more of an impact. As it stands, it's pretty much the worst film of his career and looks even sillier considering what happened at election time.

Michael Moore is one of those documentarians that I've been aware of for a long time, yet never took the time to watch anything he's done. Until now, that is. The premise is pretty simple: Michael Moore went into a solidly Republican/conservative part of Ohio (ironically, in Clinton County) and made a pitch for Hillary Clinton. You will not find any Trump-bashing here (at least no vitriol), and what little of him does feature served a purpose. Things started off kind of shaky with Moore doing an occasionally awkward stand-up routine, but once he got the audience's attention/respect and delved into his case for a Hillary Clinton presidency, things smoothed out quite well, and even got quite emotional at times. The only parts that had me rolling my eyes were some of the early jokes and a concluding stunt (I'm guessing/hoping that it was) where he promises to run in 2020 if Hillary doesn't live up to the promise he sees in her. It had the feeling of those hackneyed high school debate speeches where the candidate promises junk food for lunch (or something similarly ridiculous). Even still, he made his point very well (and positively). The technical details of the film weren't necessarily the best, though, probably due to the film's quick production. There are many noticeable points where the audio changes in quality, and some of the editing seemed just a little off. Other than that, I thought that MICHAEL MOORE IN TRUMPLAND was an effective film that made its case without resorting to negativity, and with a minimum of theatrics.