Journeys with George II

April 3, 2003 11:48 AM

So whatever happened to Journeys with George? As mentioned in this previous thread, the documentary aired on HBO last November. Unfortunately I didn't have HBO last november, and never got to see it. If you're in the area, Harvard University is screening it this weekend.

But what about the rest of us? I can find lots of reviews on the web, but no one seems to be selling it. Don't be fooled by imitations.

Any of you mefites seen it? Anyone else want to see it, but can't? Please disclose any relevant business relationships if you review the film in the comments.
posted by zekinskia (9 comments total)

quite an interesting film, saw it last time around and was lucky enough to TiVo it. now i might have to watch it again tonight. basically i came away from the film thinking that GWB would be a great guy to go have a few drinks with, but the film really shows how unqualified he was to be a candidate and hence a pretty unqualified president. but hey, if it only takes 8 years of politics to be president, maybe i should start, i only have 9 years before i'm eligable :)
posted by skatz at 11:54 AM on April 3, 2003

Saw it at the SXSW Film Festival a couple of years back. It's a confection. It's more about the campaign trail than anything. Fluffy, no real news. The Florida Holdup is done as an audio montage of talking heads from the news with video footage of squirrels eating donuts on Austin sidewalks while news crews sit around and wait. About the only real news flash is that reporters eat a lot of bad sandwiches on airplanes.
posted by shecky57 at 11:55 AM on April 3, 2003

we can still only dream of a film version of fear and loathing: on the campaign trail '73
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 1:08 PM on April 3, 2003

saw it, was left with the impression that this guy is the dolt the wacko left claims, but then again it was produced by Nanci
Pelosi's daughter. So it looks like she put all the possible goofing off video footage together and presented it as some kind of example of stupidity. My father acts like dubya, yet is a leading engineer for a major defense contractor. So this documentary is trivial rather than objective and accurate of the man. IMHO saw it, laughed and moved on.
posted by ZupanGOD at 1:12 PM on April 3, 2003

Despite any of the liberal filmmaker's bias (wasn't that the point?), I was left with a positive impression of GW after seeing Journeys With George on HBO. It definitely showed a more human and personal side of the man, and gave me hope that he was a halfway decent pragmatist. I felt that even though I might disagree with many of his views, I might still be able to respect him.

Sadly, much of that positive sentiment has left me in the past few months. I suspect that a re-watching would only leave me sad and bitter at this point in time.
posted by VulcanMike at 1:37 PM on April 3, 2003

I saw it when it first aired on HBO. I thought it showed quite clearly how the Bush Campaign learned to manipulate the Media. When he first started running he and his top people traveled on their own private jet and the press on a commercial plane. The stories about him were not terribly flattering. After McCain beat him in the New Hampshire primary (I think it was New Hampshire?) that changed. They said that the private jet had broken down so Bush would need to travel with the reporters. He shoomsed them and all of the sudden the stories coming out were not so bad. Gore could have learned something from this. If he had maybe we would have gotten a few more stories about Harken Energy or Bush being AWOL during Vietnam instead of all of those phoney stories about Gore saying he invented the internet.

I have to hand it to the Bush team, they learned how to work the reporters really well.
posted by bas67 at 1:41 PM on April 3, 2003

I saw this when it was first on HBO and found it very entertaining. It confirmed two long-standing beliefs of mine.
Firstly, that the media is easier to romance than you'd think.

Secondly, that I'd like to get drunk and do coke with Dubya.

Hmm... I wonder how much I'd need to donate to make that second part happen....
posted by mosch at 1:55 PM on April 3, 2003

Saw most of it...and Bush came across as an engaging, semi-witty, and overall nice guy.
posted by davidmsc at 6:11 PM on April 3, 2003

I went to the Harvard screening, and Alexandra Pelosi (the filmmaker) gave a Q&A session afterwards.

The beginning of my review from my blog:

The movie itself was very funny, and gave a cute, candid glimpse at not only George Bush, but also at the drollery of the entire campaign press corps. It's Pelosi's fellow reporters who appear in most of the footage in the movie, even if George is clearly the movie's focus. George is as cute, accessible, self-effacing and charming as all the reviews of the movie mention, and demonstrates a unique ability to roll with the punches. That said, Pelosi exhibited a clear disdain for the man as President of the United States.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 8:21 PM on April 7, 2003