IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

Register | Log In | What is RT?
It's our 10th birthday, so you get presents!
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
 
MOVIES / ON DVD / AMERICAN BLACKOUT
American Blackout

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
See Pictures
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy DVD
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

American Blackout (2006)

73%
71%
100%
N/A
N/A
N/A
73 %
Reviews Counted: 11 Fresh: 8  Rotten:3 Average Rating: 6.2/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 86 mins

Theatrical Release: Nov 30, 1999 Limited

Synopsis: Ian Inaba's American Blackout is a stylish, intelligent, and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia). George W. Bush's narrow victory... Ian Inaba's American Blackout is a stylish, intelligent, and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia). George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000 launched an historic investigation into Florida's election process. Public focus was on dysfunctional ballots and the Supreme Court litigation, but Inaba's inquiry leads him to Congresswoman McKinney, who investigated the private company hired by the state of Florida to generate voter lists, which effectively shut out the black vote and handed Bush an unlikely victory. While tracking McKinney's career, Inaba reveals a host of ways in which black political power is systematically squelched, ranging from the slander that assailed McKinney when she stood up to the Bush administration on 9/11 and Iraq, to the political machinations that disempowered the black vote in the Georgia Democratic primaries and the Ohio presidential election in 2004. Inaba reminds us that African Americans have long fought a war inside our country for their right to vote, and unfortunately that war rages on today. American Blackout emotionally revitalizes the core of our power as American citizens–the right to vote–and effectively reveals that the fate of black voters is inextricably tied to the fate of all Americans. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]

Genre: Education/General Interest

Starring: Greg Palast, Bernie Sanders, Bob Fitrakis, John Conyers, John Lewis

Director: Ian Inaba

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 26, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 0
  • NTSC
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • (unspecified) - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Additional Footage: Deleted Scenes with discussions on the Carlyle Group and AIPAC
  • Featurettes - 1. "Capitol Hill Police Officers Speak Out on McKinney Incident"
  • 2. "American Blackout: Ohio 2004"
  • 3. "True Lies Animated Short"

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 11 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image
1.9/5

The film is by far the most hypocritical thing I have seen in ages.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/30/06
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
Ratings Image
N/A

A raised-fist documentary on black voter disenfranchisement which loses some, but definitely not all, its punch by morphing into a paid ad for Cynthia McKinney.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/06
Chris Barsanti
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
3/5

Ian Inaba assembles compelling evidence to support his claim that African-Americans -- who are traditionally more likely to vote Democratic -- are being deliberately and systematically excluded from the political process.

comment Comment
09/22/06
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/4

The movie includes a postscript about [McKinney's] loss, blaming it on more dirty tricks. That may be true, but it doesn't put the steam back in the film.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/22/06
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

McKinney's basic truths remain convincing.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/19/06
Melissa Levine
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

American Blackout makes a credible case, with some of its most damning evidence coming from the mouths of the conservatives themselves.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/06
Neva Chonin
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

An illuminating, infuriating document that paints McKinney as a true American heroine and patriot and confirms your worst fears about just how rotten our 'democratic' process is at its core.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/07/06
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly
Ratings Image
B-

A powerful piece of political cinema that effectively documents the disenfranchisement of black voters in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/04/06
Bob Townsend
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Extremely limited and almost without purpose except as an organizing tool for party foot soldiers.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/31/06
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/5

American Blackout exposes a few issues we have already known about for years (the voting situation) before finally turning towards greater things by focusing itself on a truly remarkable individual.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/31/06
Michael Ferraro
Film Threat
Ratings Image
N/A

Well structured and fast paced, the film uses news footage, interviews with voters and congressional leaders, poignant images of Ohio voters standing for hours in the rain, only to be told it was too late to vote.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/26/06
Sura Wood
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
1 - 11 (sorted by date)
Text View
See More Topics...

Related Forums

The "Blame Bush" campaign goes little screen in the new racist documentary American B
by: kams912 11/7/06
all

Pictures

Around the Network

• American Blackout at Rotten Tomatoes
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.