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Spin Zone

Once-of-this-parish Eric Pfeiffer reviews Outfoxed, here. (Hat tip: Bill.) I’ll probably get around to watching Outfoxed eventually, although it sounds pretty dire. However, it made me think wistfully of my favorite documentary ever: Spin, which it turns out is available for download here.

Made by Michael Moore acolyte Brian Springer (see, I’m giving Moore credit for something!) Spin takes a look at the manufacture of news throughout the 1992 election cycle. By monitoring cable news feeds, Springer creates a wonderful montage of found moments – commercial breaks, make-up sessions, Larry King’s surpassing deviousness, Pat Robertson being a gigantic asshole – and ends up, in the climactic Tipper Gore interview, with a twist ending that is absolutely golden. And no, he’s not the guy who did The Usual Suspects.

  1. Olly says:

    Done. (I think I probably made that mistake at least once while putting together the original post…)

  2. Kevin Rafferty says:

    In my August 2, 2004 posting I inadvertantly added to the confusion about my friend Brian Springer by spelling his name “Singer”. Can you fix this?

  3. Olly says:

    Kevin, many thanks for setting us straight. (“Us” here mostly meaning “me”.)

  4. Kevin Rafferty says:

    In regard to “Spin” and its creative origins everybody got it wrong. My friend Brian Springer is not an acolyte of Michael Moore or me (Kevin Rafferty – “Feed”). He made a similar shorter project using feeds of politicians in 1988 which our mutual friend Rick Prelinger turned me on to in 1991 as James Ridgeway and I were preparing to make a film about the 1992 New Hampshire primary. I contacted Brian, we got together and he subsequently provided us with trove of intercepted feeds, 25 minutes of which we used in our 76 minute long “Feed”. Brian Springer originated the concept and provided the footage. So your acolytes would be Rafferty and Moore.
    Kevin Rafferty

  5. Olly says:

    There you go. It’s a conspiracy.

  6. Tyler says:

    A piece of apocrypha for the J-school? Hardly. You’re thinking of the fraternal twins of American journalism: the LA and New York Times. As much as the J-school profs. espouse the virtues of creating a viable underground media, they have a slavish obsession with the these bohemoths.

    As for the film’s release in the UK, I can only guess that the licensing laws are much different over there. However, it does strike me as odd that Feed — whose concept and follow through are nearly identical as Spin’s, albeit with different “raw” footage — was given a major theatrical release in the states while Spin was shunted off to the bowels of the internet and state-run European television (this is not necessarily a bad thing, for the film has gained notoriety for its semi-legal, bowel-inhabiting status). I guess thats the best you can hope for when you make a movie like that for a dollar and a prayer.

    Also, the co-director of Feed, Kevin Rafferty, is a cousin of George W. Bush. Just an interesting tidbit.

  7. Olly says:

    The licensing issue is interesting – it was shown on the BBC many years ago without any apparent problems. Was it ever broadcast stateside, or is it just a piece of apochrypha for the J-school? (Unfortunately, my VHS copy won’t play over here…)

  8. Tyler says:

    I would hardly call Singer a Michael Moore acolyte. Sure, Singer gave Moore a shout out in the credits to Spin, but this is common practice among novice directors theyll give a special thanks credit to seasoned filmmakers who helped polish their movie, which could mean doing as little as smiling vacantly at the finished product. If anything, Singer is a Kevin Rafferty acolyte because Spin is a rather clear continuation on his 1992 documentary Feed (which, in contrast to Spin, is available at video stores), and because Rafferty receives the same special thanks credit.

    But I agree with Bill, the film is terrific. Its pretty clear that he intended it to play on the local PBS affiliate (before he encountered licensing problems), and it probably would have won awards had it run. According to IMDB, the guy hasnt done anything substantial since Spin, which is a damn shame, but Im sure hes gotten work elsewhere a major market TV station Im guessing but at least he has Spin to act as a testament to his talent and devotion to interesting journalism.

  9. WWB says:

    Wow, thanks for finding that — I was resigned to probably never getting ahold of it. Damned good flick, even if he does have the worst PBS/BBC monotone delivery I’ve ever heard.

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