Click to read the article
Orwell Rolls In His Grave (2004)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:19
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.8/10
Theatrical Release:Jul 23, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: Director Robert Kane Pappas’ ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE is the consummate critical examination of the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy. Asking whether America has entered an... Director Robert Kane Pappas’ ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE is the consummate critical examination of the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy. Asking whether America has entered an Orwellian world of doublespeak where outright lies can pass for the truth, Pappas explores what the media doesn’t like to talk about: itself. Meticulously tracing the process by which media has distorted and often dismissed actual news events, Pappas presents a riveting and eloquent mix of media professionals and leading intellectual voices on the media. Among the cast of characters in ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE are Charles Lewis, director of the Center for Public Integrity, Vincent Bugliosi, former L.A. prosecutor and legal scholar, film director and author Michael Moore, Rep. Bernie Sanders, Danny Schecter, author and former producer for ABC and CNN, and Tony Benn, former member of the British Parliament. ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE provides a vital forum for ideas that will never be heard in mainstream media. From Globalvision’s Danny Schecter: “We falsely think of our country as a democracy when it has evolved into a mediacracy – where a media that is supposed to check political abuse is part of the political abuse.” New York University media professor Mark Crispin Miller says, “These commercial entities now vie with the government for control over our lives. They are not a healthy counterweight to government. Goebbels said that what you want in a media system – he meant the Nazi media system - is to present the ostensible diversity that conceals an actual uniformity.” From the very size of the media monopolies and how they got that way to who decides what gets on the air and what doesn’t, ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE moves through a troubling list of questions and news stories that go unanswered and unreported in the mainstream media. Are Americans being given the information a democracy needs to survive or have they been electronically lobotomized? Has the frenzy for media consolidation led to a dangerous irony where in an era of more news sources the majority of the population has actually become less informed? ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE reminds us that 1984 is no longer a date in the future. -- © Sag Harbor-Basement Pictures [More]
Starring: Michael Moore
Starring: Michael Moore
Director: Robert Kane Pappas
Director: Robert Kane Pappas
Screenwriter: Robert Kane Pappas
Producer: Robert Kane Pappas
Get This Movie
Reviews for Orwell Rolls In His Grave
The war against the neo-fascists still goes on, and the outcome at this point is far from certain. Mr. Pappas' film does its part.
...it sometimes goes off into areas that, while interesting, are pretty tangential. Still, it makes a good (and scary) case.
A vivid and distressing documentary examination of the state of the fourth estate... a deeply fascinating must-see for anyone interested in the news, politics and civic life.
Folks, Orwell probably is rolling in his grave, not because 1984 has come to be, but because his name is attached to such a lousy movie.
Attacking network news seems almost quaintly beside the point at a time when the networks are hemorrhaging viewers, losing more and more eyeballs to cable, the Internet and, apparently, our nation's new habit of staring blankly into space.
Get ready for a cultural wake-and-shake you won't forget for a long, long time.
Comes across as a political science course videotape rather than a movie to fully engage a general audience.
If Pappas's aesthetic is on the rudimentary side, it's more than made up for by his sheer force of will.
Offers little that is not also explored in current agit-docs like Fahrenheit 9/11, The Corporation, or Outfoxed.
Presents the bad news about the media monopolies and the many ways they are busy shredding the most precious principles of democracy.
Even though he refuses to excise about 15 to 20 minutes of unnecessary material, Pappas is nonetheless a steady editor who, less intrepid than dogged, pieces together a sustainably intriguing, suitably distressing exposé.
Every incident mentioned in the film was reported in the media, sometimes ad nauseam, and the polls show that about half of Americans like where things are going.
For some, Pappas' film will simply confirm everything they've suspected of the fourth estate. For others, it will be a reiteration of points they make themselves. Those who've never thought about these issues may be in for the shock of their lives.
A bracing eye-opener to anyone who hasn't considered the full implications of recent Congressional debates advocating further media deregulation, debates that, unsurprisingly, have been strikingly underreported by mainstream news outlets.
The persuasion of Pappas’ argument lies in the accumulation of original documentation, allowing the political perps to condemn themselves with their own words.
Professors, pundits, journalists and one elected official, Representative Bernie Sanders (I-VT), rigorously examine the issue of maintaining a free press in an environment in which journalists are increasingly the employees of major corporations.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Orwell Rolls In His Grave at Rotten Tomatoes
- Orwell Rolls In His Grave at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



