Renaissance Men in Venice

Acclaimed film directors Oliver Stone and Michael Moore were again throwing their weight around in the international film circuit, and rocking the boat in Venice. The once mighty commercial Republic sunk all the faster as Moore, Stone, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez concentrated their considerable mass (in the spirit of socialism) at the annual Venice Film Festival. Moore’s film, Capitalism: A Love Story, along with Oliver Stone’s latest documentary South of the Border, debuted in a nifty, four-hour, commercial free proclamation of the evils of capitalism, extortion by America, and the virtues of Hugo Chavez and his proclaimed, “Latin American Renaissance”.
Moore’s film unequivocally concluded that, “Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy." Stone echoed Moore’s blatant criticism, particularly targeting the American policies in Latin America while praising Chavez’s counteraction: “I hope you realize how dynamic he is in the movie. What I like about the film is you see how sincere he is on camera. You don't see a guy who is a phony. He's not a dictator." Moore let his standard publicity stunts and political analysis circulate with typically minimal objectivity, but Stone and Chavez really lit up the red carpet scene with their sincere dynamism.
After Chavez’s dramatic entrance, during which he threw flowers, blew kisses, and took pictures—of himself, Stone addressed reporters saying, "I think the movie, if you've seen it, shows very clearly the level of stupidity in the kind of broad statements that are made about Mr. Chavez.” The film itself received criticism for poor editing, sporting several scenes wherein cameramen were unintentionally visible. Apparently, Stone has sacrificed the meticulous approach in film for the bombastic in his PR campaign. According to Stone, his movie will only show things to people who watch it—fair enough—and furthermore will cover up what Stone saw as harsh generalities with more amicable blanket statements of its own.
When asked why he didn’t present any opposing viewpoints of Chavez, Stone coldly replied, “There's a dark side to everything. Why do you seek out the dark side when the guy is doing good things? He is a democrat and there is opposition to him, and he's not perfect”. Fellow filmmaker George Lucas knows more than anyone that the Dark Side is cunning. Two Sith there always are…a master, and an apprentice. It is very curious because, in this instance, the dark side is the generally liberal media and Latin American ex-patriots—some Sith somewhere is acting very duplicitously. Where is that chancellor Palpatine? Obama’s policy on cloning is shaky at best, but he’s already called for a civilian army: "We cannot continue to only rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."…the Jedi are going to feel this one.