Posted on 08/23/2007 5:45:11 PM PDT by Reaganesque
"This handsome indie Western damningly recounts the 1857 slayings of 120 settlers passing through Utah, but the didactic presentation, grim speechifying and tacked-on love story all signify a less-than-healthy regard for the audience's intelligence."
Variety Justin Chang
1/4 "The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." Minneapolis Star Tribune Colin Covert
"September Dawn has the ham-fisted lyricism of political ads and pharmaceutical commercials." Village Voice J. Hoberman
"When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history...it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...and there's a deep sweetness to the subplot of Jonathan and Emily falling in love." Film Journal International Frank Lovece
1.5/4 "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response." Salt Lake Tribune Sean Means
1/5 "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous." Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore
2.5/5 "The real problem is that September Dawn isn't a very good movie. It moves too much like a public-school history pageant and gives us mono-dimensional characters who speak dialogue that fairly reeks of printer's ink." Arizona Republic Richard Nilsen
1/5 "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." Orlando Weekly Brett Register
1/4 "Forget Grindhouse. September Dawn is the year's first honest-to-goodness exploitation flick." Slant Magazine Nick Schager
1/4 "Bombastic, slow-drying dramatization with lead-weight dialogue and a turgid romantic subplot." Newsday Gene Seymour
D- "Has serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." One Guy's Opinion Frank Swietek
"Even if one gets past the movie's controversial depictions, there is the matter of its second-rate, made-for-television fare -- the poor battle choreography, the wooden editing and the cheesy writing." Washington Post Desson Thomson
2.5/4 "If September Dawn is a kind of Western, it's a Western utterly devoid of heroism or the usual archetypes. But the core message transcends time: Hatred laced with religious fanaticism is a toxic blend." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dave Tianen
1/4 "Doesn't even measure up to an episode of your typical, cowboy TV show from the Fifties like Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger. Get my drift, Kimosabe?" NewsBlaze Kam Williams
Click here for links to the full reviews.
I’m glad to learn that I was not the only one upset at the director of Bourne#3!
I want to go in at Buckskin and walk from there someday!
‘We can probably count the days until this shows up for sale on fringe Christian TV channels, its virtues trumpeted by some minister or other marketing his or her version of “The Truth.”’
Uh, hello?
Make that “fringe Leftist sites”, trumpeted by some “Christian-bashing welfare pimp” marketing his version of “the Truth”.
Especially given the fact YOU KNOW WHO is on the “anti-left” side running for Pres.
“”” However, it’s hard to find a good conservative film critic.”””
Libertas is conservative, if you scroll down far enough you will see the review of the movie (scroll past the Jon Voight picture)
http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/
Some of them obviously liked it.
I didn’t say there were none. I just said they were hard to find.
BYU is a private religious college. Would you protest if a Catholic university expelled professors who advocated homosexuality and abortion for the Catholic Church as a whole? A religious institution has the right to set it's standards. The ACLU sued BYU when I was there because they wouldn't allow a student to post nude girl pictures in his room. They also claimed the "Free Speech" argument.
Here is a link which discusses the issue of Academic vs. Religious Freedom in another context. Perhaps since this is a "Catholic" Univ. it will help you see the issue more objectively.
Wiki- The Catholic University of America
[edit] Academic freedom- The University has made a general statement of policy that the academic freedom of its faculty and students will be respected.[4] It considers academic freedom a "fundamental condition for research and dissemination of information."[4] The policy sets forth its respect for the right and responsibility of its faculty and students to (i) conduct research, (ii) publish their findings, and (iii) discuss ideas according to the principles, sources and methods of their academic disciplines.[4] The University further "sanctions" the investigation of "unexplored phenomena, advancement of knowledge, and critical examination of ideas, old and new" and "accepts the responsibility of protecting both teacher and student from being forced to deny truth that has been discovered or to assert claims that have not been established in the discipline."[4] However, the University specifically provides that "theologians" in the University are "expected to give assent to the teachings of the magisterium in keeping with the various degrees of assent that are called for by authoritative teaching."[4]
[edit] AAUP censure - In 1990, the American Association of University Professors first censured the Catholic University of America due to its failure to adhere to the AAUP's Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and that it found that "unsatisfactory conditions of academic freedom and tenure have been found to prevail" at the Catholic University of America.[5] As of today, the Catholic University remains on the list of censured institutions.[6]
[edit] Speaker Policy - The University as a policy does not allow outside guests to speak on campus to any audience if they have previously expressed an opinion on abortion rights (as well as other issues) that conflicts with the Catholic Church's official position. That policy in 2003 prevented District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton from speaking in the University bookstore, after she had been invited. [7] In 2004, CUA came under fire for forbidding Stanley Tucci from presenting in a seminar about Italian cinema (after he was already scheduled to do so), because he had lent past support for Planned Parenthood, a pro-choice organization. [8]
In a letter to the campus that next month, CUA President David O'Connell wrote:
I consider any pro-choice advocacy — whether deliberate or accidental, whether presented under the guise of academic freedom or right to free speech — as incompatible with that fidelity and not worthy of The Catholic University of America. [1]
The next year, in 2005, the school was criticized for initially rejecting an application for a student chapter of the NAACP; one of the reasons officials cited in its rejection was the national organization's pro-choice stance [9]. In 2006 the CUA administration barred a student-run on-campus performance of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The Editorial Board of the student newspaper The Tower, in supporting the decision to ban the production, stated that "as much as we love variety, diversity and open-mindedness, this University is not the best place for that to flourish." [10]
I'm heading that way next WEEK!!
I'll be in the Grand Gulch area (southeast 15-20 miles) of National arches park, and about 50 miles south of Moab in the canyonlands region (Hatch Canyon, looking for remains of a downed test rocket from the 60's)
I think the real reason September Dawn hasn’t been released yet is because it is such a poorly made movie. Some in Hollywood saw a chance to poke a finger in a religious group’s eye, and coincidentally, Mitt Romney announced his intent to run for President. I think there will be more curious viewers than anything else.
Hate the shaking psychotic camera.
But that was big in the ‘90s; less so now, thank God.
As it was, all these pretentious “artistic” ways of shooting film make me sea-sick.
Defend them Catholics instead of picking on us!
--MormonDude
“I didn’t say there were none. I just said they were hard to find.”
I wasn’t attacking you, I thought I was contributing by mentioning the only conservative movie site that I know of, I wanted the excuse to post the link for freepers in general, it is a site that could use more exposure among conservatives.
Coming form the one who promotes the "September Six" all open Liberals. D. Michale Quinn is an openly homosexual man who claims he was excommunicated for his ideas not for his openly sexual relationships with other men. He promoted homosexuality in the Church then tried to claim the victim stance "I was persecuted for my ideas".
And then there are the openly feminist abortionists in the crew of six.
I was responding to a specific question. I wasn't suggesting BYU doesn't have the right to fire whomever they want. Your response is a straw-man.
The September six were excommunicated. What does that have to do with BYU.
Fine with me. :)
All I did was mention the September six. I don't even know what their studies or opinions are. It is irrelevant to the discussion I was having, and frankly to this discussion.
That family tree is really interesting. Thanks for posting it! Gordon Smith is related to the Udalls? Who knew. :)
It does have some good things to say about the production values and comments about the event itself, however it seems to be a mixed review about the actual movie itself. It only got 2.5 stars.
___________________
September Dawn is a highly fictionalized account of these events framed around a Romeo and Juliet love story
On the other hand, the Mormons are portrayed as all-or-nothing fanatics. And this one-dimensional characterization is troubling.
Is the film unfair to Mormons? I don’t think the film’s a hit job, but its lack of context is glaring. Most people don’t know a whole lot about the Mormon faith and this is an awfully ugly introduction. The filmmakers do stick to the facts; this horrible event did occur and Brigham Young did say all those things about “blood atonement,” but this is a soda straw look at the faith, and through a soda straw Mother Teresa could look bad.
Where the film will find most of its controversy is in its implication of Brigham Young as being behind the massacre. In reality no evidence was found proving he even knew about it. More context regarding the Mormon faith and way of life would’ve helped as well. Not only with the coming controversy, but the overall film.
A benefit of September Dawn could be it starting a two-part conversation; one about our current battle against religious fanaticism, the other about the Mormon faith as a whole.
I read that J. David Lee married two daughters of John D. Lee, Louisa and Lela, polygamously. The offspring of Louisa are the Democrats, while the offsping of Lela are the Republicans....interesting.
Excellent!
However, I have extensive experience backpacking in the area and IMHO you couldn’t pick a worse time of year.
The most efficient way to stay cool is to hang out in a canyon with water, and just submerge yourself every half hour or so. The water evaporating from your clothing is like a portable AC.
You get away from water and heat stroke and severe dehydration are quite distinct possibilities.
If you’re interested in a neat cliff dwelling not far from Grand Gulch that isn’t at all well known but is easily accessible, freepmail me.
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