Programming the Nation?
International Film Circuit | Release Date: August 19, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
4
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasSep 22, 2011
Warrick finds subliminal messaging in political campaigns, military operations and even in the music played in big box stores. Warrick is also rightly concerned by the power of media conglomerates to manipulate the news. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneAug 19, 2011
Programming the Nation is a lo-fi, issues-driven documentary carried along by the strength of its ideas rather than its artless desktop aesthetic. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 19, 2011
This thought-provoking but overlong doc wins points for being all-inclusive. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisOct 27, 2011
Besides the fact that the film is flabby (way too much time is spent on history), its efforts to tie subliminal messaging to a vast array of political, media and pop cultural events turn the proceedings a little hazy (or a lot hazy, depending on your worldview). Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayAug 17, 2011
It's tough to keep track of everything Jeff Warrick's subliminal-advertising documentary Programming The Nation? does wrong. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineBill WeberAug 15, 2011
A pseudo-investigative documentary shakily committed to the subject of subliminal messaging in America, but curiously indulgent about giving the singer of Queensryche time to spout off about whatever enters his head. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMark HolcombAug 17, 2011
The results are irritating, occasionally educational, and frustratingly insight-free. Read full review
30
VarietyJohn AndersonAug 15, 2011
Being pissed off isn't enough to convince in a film that reveals very little that's new; the picture's personalized approach and kitchen-sink structure don't help, either. Read full review
20
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 19, 2011
Fusty research, aging interviewees and decades-old advertising campaigns offer background to the uninitiated, but Mr. Warrick's muddled, undisciplined approach destroys even the possibility of a cogent overview. Read full review
20
Time OutDavid FearAug 16, 2011
This haphazard "exposé" only proves that hackery plus hot air [time] does not equal skillful muckraking. Read full review
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