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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Control Room (2004)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Station to Station

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Control Room on DVD.

I caught up with this documentary near the end of the year at awards season. It's a canny and clever look at the Arab television news station Al Jazeera, which was criticized by all sides for its biased reporting of the war in Iraq. Directed by Jehane Noujaim, this fascinating, explosive film -- utilizing plenty of American news footage of President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld in the days leading up to the war -- carefully shows how both Al Jazeera and American news coverage use the exact same methods to spin their version of the war. Even an American lieutenant stationed in Iraq comes to understand the nuances of propaganda-as-news from both sides. This film will continue to be relevant long after the bickerings of 2004 are over.

Starring: Samir Khader, Josh Rushing, Hassan Ibrahim, Deema Khatib, Tom Mintier, David Shuster
Written by: Julia Bacha, Jehane Noujaim
Directed by: Jehane Noujaim
MPAA Rating: NR
Running Time: 84 minutes
Date: December 27, 2004