Credited cast: | |||
Cenk Uygur | ... | Self | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
George W. Bush | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
Connie Chung | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
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Wesley Clark | ... | Self (as Wes Clark Jr.) |
Bill Clinton | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
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Jesus Godoy | ... | Self |
Al Gore | ... | Self | |
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Tom Hanc | ... | Self |
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Jayar Jackson | ... | Self |
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Ana Kasparian | ... | Self |
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David Koller | ... | Self |
Howard Kurtz | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
David Letterman | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
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Lawrence Lewitinn | ... | Self |
The Young Turks, one of the most popular online news shows in the world, has amassed a YouTube network consisting of millions of subscribers and billions of views. But that wasn't always the case. MAD AS HELL documents the tumultuous, at times hilarious and altogether astonishing trajectory of Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks' main host and founder, as he traverses from unknown Public Access TV host to internet sensation by way of YouTube. When he ventures into national television by landing the 6 PM time slot on MSNBC, Cenk's uncensored brand of journalism is compromised as he becomes a thorn in the side of traditional news media; his unwavering dedication to speaking the truth puts him at the very nexus of the battle between new and old media, and makes MAD AS HELL not only entertaining, but incredibly timely as well. Written by Oscilloscope Laboratories
I had gotten a freebie to see a screening of this last Spring from a Turkish American pal.
I wonder if the film makers realize how ironic it is to do a non critical puff piece of a show and guy they are trying to portray as a hard hitting journalist? Look, the phenomena of Young Turks was interesting. A old story Howard Beale (the raving lunatic from "Network") imitator; combined with an old story yellow/sensationalist journalism; combined with a new story internet dissemination is an interesting combination of the old and the new.
I get why it was popular, middle-low brow, few facts, lots of indignation and bombast. On style and substance Cenk Uygur is kinda like what you'd expect if Bill O'Reiley and Keith Olbermann had a fat baby. That is in fact entertaining -- for a while.
The film lap dogs this guy's arc, but doesn't address why it burned out, not address place his phenomena occupies in partisanship (and he went from one kind of partisan to another with the wind) taking over the news business and the dumbing down that represents.