Thursday, August 2, 2018

All Governments Lie (2016)



All Governments Lie



All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I. F. Stone is a documentary film about the US government and the US media. Here is some basic information about this film which premiered in 2016:

** Directed by Fred Peabody
** Based on Myra McPherson’s book All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F. Stone (2006, 2008)
** Run time: 88 minutes

As the title says, this documentary film is about the life and work of I. F. Stone (1907-1989), who was a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism. But not only that. It is also about Stone’s legacy; and about some of the reporters who want to follow in his footsteps.

Many people are interviewed in the film. Here are their names in alphabetical order:

** Carl Bernstein
** Dick Cavett
** Noam Chomsky
** Jeff Cohen

** Desmond Cole
** Tom Engelhardt
** John Carlos Frey
** Amy Goodman

** Glenn Greenwald
** Chris Hedges
** Myra McPherson
** Michael Moore

** Ralph Nader
** Jeremy Scahill
** Jeremy J. Stone (son of I. F. Stone)
** Matt Taibbi

Some people will like this film, because they agree with what is being said, while other people will hate it, because they disagree with what is being said.

Whether you agree with the film or not, I think it is worth watching, because it presents a lot of information; information that is important; and information that you may not hear or see anywhere else.

What do reviewers say about it? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

** 63 per cent = Metacritic
** 72 per cent = IMDb
** 92 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes

As you can see, these average ratings are quite good, quite high. But if you ask me, they are not high enough. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. For more information, see the following items:

** Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996) (111 minutes). This film about George Seldes (1890-1995) is not available from Amazon UK.

** The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee (2017) (90 minutes). This film about Ben Bradlee (1921-2014) is available from Amazon Prime Video.

*****

 StoneApril1972.jpg

I. F. Stone (1907-1989 )

*****



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