Product Details

• Actors: Al Franken
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Unknown), Spanish (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 21, 2006
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BBOU9K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,221 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Left of the Dial" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Produced for HBO, Left of the Dial tracks the growing pains behind the nation's first liberal radio network. Longtime Michael Moore associates Patrick Farrelly and Kate O'Callaghan (The Awful Truth) take a "fair and balanced" fly-on-the-wall look at the major players behind and in front of the mic at Air America, established to "challenge the right wing dominance of talk radio." (Moore, surprisingly, turns out to be one of the venture’s harshest critics.) The filmmakers began shooting 12 days prior to the March 2004 launch and kept going for the next few months. They start by aiming their cameras at Evan Cohen, the chairman, and David Goodfriend, the general counsel. Like the duo depicted in Startup.com, theirs isn’t a partnership built to last. Other subjects include hosts Randi Rhodes, Marc Maron, Chuck D, Janeane Garofalo, and Al Franken. Most hadn't worked in radio before and things quickly begin to unravel: Rhodes feels left out of the press coverage, while Maron feels the staff is incompetent. Then Ralph Nader hangs up on Rhodes and there's a scandal regarding airtime payments. What do their competitors think? Sean Hannity (FOX News) opines, "These people are not bright...they really are dull." Fortunately, enough listeners felt otherwise that Air America eventually found their footing and grew out of that awkward stage. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

LEFT OF THE DIAL - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Documentary, February 22, 2006

By 

Reelbuff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left of the Dial (DVD)

This HBO documentary about the early days of Air America Radio is a pretty amazing piece of work. It's a real edge of your seat film with plenty of twists and turns to keep your attention. It's a total roller coaster ride with internal meltdowns, allegations of fraud, very funny political on-air stuff and loads of drama. Even if you're not a fan of Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Janeane Garofalo (which I am) you'll find this behind the scenes documentary really compelling. The stuff with Randi Rhodes in particular is awesome -- she's a total revelation in this film. For anyone interested in re-visiting the political passions of 2004 this film is a must.

Highly recommended.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, Passionate, Honest, and Surprising!, February 26, 2006

By 

Zapp B. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left of the Dial (DVD)

I've been a listener of Air America (esp. The Majority Report) from Day 1 but missed the broadcast of "Left of the Dial" on HBO. Thank goodness they released the DVD!

As mentioned by reviewers, Randi Rhodes is THE surprise of the film. I find her radio show to be fun and energizing...but only in small doses. She can be rather shrill & grating to my ears but I was very glad to see her in a more intimate light.

The DVD has two audio commentary tracks, #1 with Randi and Marc Maron, #2 with filmmakers Farrelly and O'Callaghan (BOTH TRACKS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) but sadly, no subtitles/close captioning of any kind. There are several excellent special features: Deleted Scenes, Interviews with Randi, Chuck D, and Janeane Garofalo but the 20-minute Q&A segment with the filmmakers at the Jacob Burns Film Center is a special treat.

The film and commentaries revealed some of the massive internal problems - deception, infighting and clash of personalities / philosophies - which, by all accounts, should have sunk this venture. The fact that Air America is very much alive and growing is a testament to the passion and commitment of the staff, and to the very real need that they serve in an America with policies and doctrines that Thomas Jefferson would neither recognize nor approve.

(4-1/2 Stars)

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Air America Documentary, February 23, 2006

By 

Janedoer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left of the Dial (DVD)

This is the real deal story about the founding of Air America Radio with no punches pulled. Even though you get to see the non-stop crisis in the first few months it's also a very inspirational story about how the people who worked there managed to overcome huge obstacles to build the progressive talk radio network. I had a lump in my throat watching the presidential election night when the Air America folks realize that Bush is going to win again. Fans of Marc Maron will love this film. He is hilarious and completely crazy and it reminds you what a huge loss he is to Air America.