Best of Enemies

2015 "Buckley vs. Vidal. 2 Men. 10 Debates. Television Would Never Be the Same."
Best of Enemies
7.6| 1h27m| en| More Info
Released: 31 July 2015 Released
Producted By: Magnolia Pictures
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Budget: 0
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Official Website: http://www.magpictures.com/bestofenemies/
Synopsis

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

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Tomus7 Interesting and well done doc, but came away with a negative impression of both Vidal and Buckley, and no interest in seeing any more of those debates.
MarkSeanOrr Best of Enemies An awesome documentary which looks at the debates and personal rivalry between conservative, pretentious talking head pundit William F. Buckley Jr., and liberal antagonistic Gore Vidal in the tumultuous year of 1968. Very well done documentary. I wish they had showed more of the actual discussions and a little less of the media hype surrounding this great feud between two geniuses who just happened to have completely different views regarding nearly everything political. There should be debates like this today between learned and interesting pundits instead of the brainless, media grabbing news whores we have today on almost every news channel, and I use the word "news" sparingly when referring to the likes of FOX and MSNBC. It's interesting to note that although there were some radically different things going on in 1968...one could easily compare the premise of the two ideologies today in 2016. Definitely worth the watch.
Mary Mangan Whoa. It's like time travel, into the recent past, but that so clearly laid the path to our current state of drama and politics. The historical framing is helpful and contextual. And of course the cat-fights are fascinating. But the most compelling part is how this relationship between two American Brahmins was putting the foundation in place for the framework we have today, with intractable polarization and he said/he said political commentary. It manages to consist of both sepia-toned nostalgia and contemporary issues that remain hot-buttons today. While others--like queer lifestyles--are clearly accepted in the mainstream. Mesmerizing.
Paul Allaer "Best of Enemies" (2015 release; 88 min.) is a documentary about the infamous 10 televised debates that took place during the 1968 Republican and Democratic Presidential Conventions (in Miami and Chicago, respectively), between conservative William Buckley Jr. and liberal Gore Vidal. As the documentary opens, Vidal is commentating about old pictures hanging up in his house and one of them is showing Buckley and Vidal at one of those debates. We then get some background as to who these 2 guys are, and why ABC veered away to bring the "unconventional Convention" coverage. And then we get to the first debate... To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by Morgan "20 Feet From Stardom" Neville and Robert Gordon, who is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. If you think that means the documentary is kinder to Buckley that to Vidal, think again. The two men are pitted against each other, and vehemently disdain each other, even before these debates, and much more so afterwards. "It was a confrontation of life styles", as someone comments. Yes, it was, but as it turns out, these debates had another unexpected consequence: ABC's ratings went through the roof, and the other mainstream networks quickly realized they had to have their own versions of these "point-counterpoint" programs. In other words, the Buckley-Vidal debates set into motion what would eventually become the Fox's and MSNBC's news channels. Apart from the historical legacy created by these debates, the documentary also examines the long shadows cast be the debates over the personal lives of both Vidal and (even more so) Buckley. If you have any interest in politics and/or in TV history, you will not want to miss this documentary. It makes for completing viewing, period."Best of Enemies" made quite a splash at the Sundance film festival earlier this year. The movie's been out for months and I didn't think it would reach theaters here in Cincinnati, but then out of the blue t showed up this weekend at my local art-house theater here. I figured this would not be playing very long and went to see it right away, The matinée screening where I saw this at turned into a private screening, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. A shame, as this is a riveting documentary. If you get the chance to see this, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, do not mist it! "BEst of Enemies" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!