ShempMyMcMalley

Refreshlingly styliized, well-paced & an affecting film. Easy to follow & easy to learn from, in entertaining form. You will be learning a thing or two indeed.

The cast is great. Bale & Gosling shine brightest. No surprise there.

This is also a telling (except a few Hollywood moments, perhaps) that is accurate to the Financial Crisis in 2008 and how the seeds were sown before, by years if not decades.

It should be noted that actors speak diectly to camera / audience & break the fourth wall in this film. This is done very well. This connects this feature directly to the pipeline to those directly affected or the general populace.

This is a magnificent film. Please give it a chance. Great to be rewatched. This is surprising, considering the subject matter.

Dare I say it's "fun?"

This is a documentary in which the camera barely pans or zooms and consists of Professor Stephen Hicks lecturing directly to the lens with varying backdrops and is intermittently spliced with historical photographs or art works from the time of the Renaissance. It's best broken down and seen in its three parts, as it's very dense and comprehensive, they include: 1) National Socialism (and Collectivism vs. individualism) philosophy and how the Nazis took over democratic Germany in early '33, 2) Nietzsche's background and works such as 'Beyond Good and Evil' and 'The Will to Power', and 3) arguments for and against how/if he influenced Nazism. The first part is an excellent and thorough explanation of how a country slowly fell into a horrendous situation. Moreover, a lot of the info on Nietzsche and his philosophy is good too, however, Hicks fails to mention how Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche manipulated some of his last unpublished work, 'The Will to Power', changing lines, adding text and rearranging the chronology to appease members of the Nazi party. In the '60's, Mazzino Montinari and Giorgio Colli rearranged and put back chronologically what was Nietzsche's final work, seemingly, and maybe Hick's argument is from this reference edition, however, the fact he fails to even mention this relationship with his sister to the Nazis renders his argument philosophically weak. He argues in philosophical terms, so it is legitimate to henceforth critique it so; it is the Informal Fallacy of False Cause. I will be generous on this one with six stars just 'cause the first two hours are very interesting. The third could be called highly questionable.

Yes, this is a couple of lectures and an interview in which production values leave something to be desired. I have read reviews of people writing they had a hard time staying awake or paying attention (is it really that hard to pay attention to someone simply speaking for awhile??), but the production is easily tolerable. Moreover, the content within is exceptionally informative (although sometimes a little dated) and supersedes the aforementioned faults. I heard everything just fine and was so entranced by Chomsky's substance (and occasional sarcasm) time went quickly and I was justly rewarded. This should be required viewing for every American as intellectual Chomsky challenges/questions modern media and written history with compelling examples (see one of his books to see just how believable and thorough his footnotes are). It is not a matter of bipartisanship or the right or the left, but a matter of imperialist (almost feudalistic) corporate and governmental enterprises pulling the strings of countries all over the world, sometimes creating oppressive dictatorships. Topics include Monroe Doctrine philosophy, currency control, Neo-Reaganites within the current administration, Geneva Convention violations and much much more. Watch this!!!