Boston Globe bashes 'Beer Wars'

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That was one of the worst articles I've read in a long time. He called Ben Stein a basset hound? Does he make it a habit of comparing celebrities to various animal species? If Ben Stein is a basset hound, then his feces is Alex Beam! The article was wrought with personal emotions and apparent vendettas.

The bottom line is this... he's a "big time" journalist with the Boston Globe. How dare they refuse to give him a DVD! So he wrote a bad review. Real mature. He's probably a wine snob too.

menschmaschine's updated sh!tlist:
1. Alex Beam
2. Ben Affleck (he's just so smug!)
 
I actually gave some serious thought to not watching the movie after I heard Ben Stein was involved. I mean this is a guy who has made it his personal crusade to wage war on evolution and science as a whole. I mean he basically said the theory of evolution led to the holocaust. He went off the deep end a few years ago.

But, I'll probably go see it anyway.
 
There is a good deal of legitimate concern about the film and it's underlying premise.
For example, beer writer Andy Crouch has been critical of the movie and its early praise by the blogosphere.

http://www.beerscribe.com/2009/03/16/rethinking-the-blog-love-fest-over-beer-wars/

At the outset, one critical note that keeps ringing in my head is that the independent brewer versus big corporate player dynamic would have been spot on five to seven years ago.
...
It’s an anachronistic exercise to continue to view the beer industry through the prism of us versus them, small versus big. Case in point: ask any craft brewer you know about their access to market concerns five years ago compared to today. It’s the difference between having trouble getting a space on a big brewer’s truck versus finding enough time to return all of the new distributor inquiries from around the country. Access to market is no longer the looming problem. Deciding which markets to turn down and how to keep fresh product on the shelves are the problems today.
Access to markets is the premise of Beer Wars.

Andy even has a take on the Op's originally cited Review.
http://www.beerscribe.com/2009/04/03/the-boston-globe-reviews-beer-wars-sort-of/
 
I just read about how much of a nutjob Ben Stein is. I had no idea, the guy represents my only real enemies (religion and ignorance) in this world. That said, if he keeps it on the topic of beer, I'm still gonna check it out.
 
His reviewed seemed fine to me, as he brings up some good points. Besides, if they won't let critics review the movie, bad press is to be expected. On the other hand why review something you haven't seen?
 
People read newspapers?

You can't line your cat box with a web page....

...which is about all most newspapers are good for.

The fact that that old media bunch of asses is going tits up just makes a tear run down my leg.

:rockin:
 
I definitely can see this being a Moore-esque one sided affair, which would be too bad (I agree with what Michael Moore tries to say but he does it so badly). I think saying 'well they wouldn't give us a review copy!' is about an unprofessional as you can get, though. Pay the damned $15 if you want to see it.
 
I agree that news papers are going the way of the dodo bird.
I also agree that it is pompus for the rewiew guy to whine about not getting a copy.
I was all on board to go see the movie, but i was a little off put by the "one night only" and the $15 price. Seems a little used car salesman-ish, "buy now it will be gone tomorrow!!!!"
If it really was a good movie she could have released it to small indie theatres charged a normal price and distributed preview copies to create a buzz. The fact she didn't and is in a way self distributing the film leads me to believe no one with a good film eye wanted to touch it with a 10ft pole....
Maybe I'll netflix it when it comes out.
 
I'm reeeaaaallly missing something here. In two words, "who cares". I brew, judge, and drink beer. I rarely watch documentaries, and never make them. So who really cares if Modevino was a great flick and Ben Stein a great ass. It won't change the flavor of beer one iota. Incidentally, I really respect the great breweries, but would never brew their flavors for my own.
 
I'm reeeaaaallly missing something here. In two words, "who cares". I brew, judge, and drink beer. I rarely watch documentaries, and never make them. So who really cares if Modevino was a great flick and Ben Stein a great ass. It won't change the flavor of beer one iota. Incidentally, I really respect the great breweries, but would never brew their flavors for my own.

I agree 100%. Beer is beer. There are markets for ALL kinds of beers. If its 110 degrees out and I've been bailing hay all day I would KILL for a cold Coors or Bud. But I don't drink it on the regular and I never pay money for it.

The article has a point that the movie is comparing apples and oranges, though.
 
The user comments didn't seem to bad to me. I think this review is honest but a little slanted towards giving it an honest but bad review. I'm sure there are a lot of interesting points in the film, the reviewer just didn't want to talk about them, even if he only saw a portion of it...
 
What I saw was Michael Moore 101: Little craft breweries like Dogfish Head and MoonShot = Good. Anheuser-Busch, a.k.a. "the soulless machine," the "monopoly," the "corporate behemoth with their insatiable appetite for growth" = Bad.

Great thats just what we need... a new generation of beer snobs.

For ever good craft beer there are 10 terrible ones. I still search for unique flavors and brews but I am used to disappointment. I typically stay away from craft lagers, they are just too hard for small breweries (in my area at least) to get right.
 
Michael Moore is a ****ing idiot. I lost all respect (very little to begin with) when I saw the scene in Bowling for Columbine where he gets the kid to try to return the bullets to K-Mart. Disgusting exploitation of the child, disgusting attempts to get the refund, disgusting everything. Man, what a *********.
 
I have said it before and I will say it again:

It is not about selling the not so craft beer that they make ie. shock top or Michelob amber bock, it is about the shelf space they can lay claim to in order to get everyone else out of the cooler.

In doing so they up their chances of there beer being the one purchased. Is there a real concern people who appreciate craft beer will pick up shock top instead of a local micro selection? No, probably not. But what about the person that says, you know, i want to be cool and want something different.....hmmmm what is this shock top stuff that is cold. I know I know, hard to imagine but it happens every day. My brewery does not have to deal with this yet as we sell kegs only to bars, but i have friends in other breweries that deal with this issue every day.

The second point is this. There are some breweries that have sold a portion of their business to AB in order to get in on there awesome distribution contracts. Letting them buy a portion is the only way to acheive this. In doing so they help limit the amount of different selection allowed into various markets and of course the ones they do let in they make a profit from.

Is this evil? No. Does it hurt small craft brewers? Yes
Is it legal? yes. Is it the american way? Yes

If they want to highlight a rip off lets talk about the 30 dollars a distributor gets for one of my kegs when it moves literally 10 ft to a cooler that is owned by the brewpub and not the brewery...........:drunk:

Here in NE breweries are not allowed to self distribute:mad:
 
I'm with fastricky, I'll watch it when it comes to DVD.

That said...the definition of a bad review article is reviewing something you haven't seen/tasted/experienced...

Oh, and I'm going to go drink a beer. All this talk of craft beer made me thirsty :)
 
Well, his comments are possibly dead on. I mean, he might have been upset by not getting a copy, and perhaps he actually prefers Bud Light? The fact is, it seems as though the filmmaker was trying to create more tension and conflict than there actually is.

I might watch it, but if so it will be a bored day at the rental store. I can brew my own beer and I patronize the local craft breweries more than any other beer. I'm already doing my part, and the fact it, I can go to Meijer and buy many different brands of craft beer (not in the cooler, though...) I now have a local corner store who stocks a small selection of local beers, and a store nearby with a real good selection of local and import beers. I think the small breweries are gaining ground all the time and I'm glad to see it.
 
I'm planning on checking out this movie on Thursday night. I think the live panel discussion including Papazian and others should be pretty cool. I've never seen something like this before where a movie is debuted and then we get to watch insiders chat/debate it live immediately after.
 
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