DJG's Movie Morning Monday

The Yes Men * * * *
Directed by: Dan Ollman, Sarah Price and Chris Smith / 2003

It’s not that I am apathetic to politics and current events. I just easily become bored and blahed big-time when round tables just keep getting more and more rotund. I think that a subject can only be argued and weighed so much and I feel there are way too many hands involved as it is and my hands are needed elsewhere. The modern world has become a broken record that only works for the brief cases and big bank books of britch-rich MEN. Though, what does raise excitement about what’s actually going on are the insanely awesome actions of The Yes Men. Michael Moore, you are just OK. Although I find you to love your country very much, you still just make movies that move me filmmaking wise over parlor politics. ADBUSTERS magazine, you are OK and try really hard to push design aesthetics and your own leftist branding, but need to just take a breather to hug kittens and puppies as a little goes a long way. In the end both you, Moore and ADBUSTERS, are big money making corporations in your own right and I think that The Yes Men are way cooler and actually do more than both of you. Imposters/Illegal, YES & MAYBE, Unpatriotic/Untruthful, NO & NOT REALLY. The Yes Men are a handful of guys who simply stir the pot and beat the drum in the ho-hum world of politics and corporate business. What started with an imposter website depicting George W. Bush’s true life and times, led to full-time sponsored gigs as in-the-flesh World Trade Organization imposters delivering television round table discussions and big shot corporate conference and university lectures. Handheld documentary “The Yes Men” follows The Yes Men and their means to get blank stare reactions in the not-too-surprising “anything goes” motto of globalization. I won’t even begin to describe what they do as they are pretty wow-wow and laugh-out loud awesome. I will say that one of the awareness pranks involves a highly inappropriately awesome strap-on tv monitor suit to keep track of slaves and to stay fit while another dreams up the stupid-awesome idea of recycling poop to make hamburgers in order to feed third world countries. “The Yes Men” is highly entertaining and a little bit scary at how insane and inhumane the corporation and political world can be. I say YES to The Yes Men, but my concern is how well and secretive The Yes Men can operate today with publicity like a fairly successful film, web site, major magazine and newspaper articles? One thing is for certain, they probably have a bigger payroll engineering pranks now because the world of globalization, corporate culture and political hooplah rarely experiences cut-backs. Even if I still don't invest too much time into the corporate/political climate, maybe I'll at least get a movie sequel?

-djg