The Public Image

FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (B+) - Michael Moore somehow maintains his equilibrium for his strongest polemic in years, this time taking on both sides of the political system that collapsed in 2016. He makes powerful lucid points about where we are as a country and how democracy gets thwarted in so many ways. (Follow the money.)

He embeds with the Parkland students, and he listens to them instead of lecturing to them. Oddly, he spends nearly half the film talking about Flint, Mich., the hometown that launched his career (in "Roger and Me"). The water crisis there was a metaphor for corporate rule and the blueprint for Trumpism. Moore is still not above cheap gimmicks, like spewing Flint water from a firehose onto the lawn of Gov. Rick Snyder. He hasn't lost his playful sense of humor.

Moore hammers President Obama and the Democrats nearly as often as he rails against his true enemy, the Republican establishment. He still could use a healthy dose of fact-checking. He famously issued a wake-up call in early 2016, warning that Trump was likely to win Michigan and even the national vote. His blue-collar spidey-sense was depressingly accurate. We didn't listen to him then; will we listen to him going forward?

THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN (B) - This is a surprisingly tender and thoughtful biography of John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, who surveys his irascible career with the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. The documentary is essentially a reunion of grouchy middle-age men who somehow harbor little bitterness toward each other.

Bassist Jah Wobble is on hand to explain how he stole PIL master tapes to make his own solo album in the '80s. Drummer Martin Atkins (PIL, Ministry, Pigface) is stoner hilarious as the most insightful talking head. Lydon, a lifelong contrarian, returns repeatedly to his rough childhood as an explanation for his fussy public behavior (including being famously petulant on the old Tom Snyder talk show) and his strict oversight of the band.

The music is a true delight. From the band's thumping eponymous anthem to the many howls of outrage from Lydon, now thick around the middle but still passionate. We see him mellowed by the duty of raising grandchildren and proud to have carried out his career on his own terms.

BONUS TRACK
The title track from "Rotten":