33
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasWarrick 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.
- 60New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThis thought-provoking but overlong doc wins points for being all-inclusive.
- 60Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneBoxoffice MagazineRay GreeneProgramming the Nation is a lo-fi, issues-driven documentary carried along by the strength of its ideas rather than its artless desktop aesthetic.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleBesides 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).
- 42The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayIt's tough to keep track of everything Jeff Warrick's subliminal-advertising documentary Programming The Nation? does wrong.
- 38Slant MagazineBill WeberSlant MagazineBill WeberA 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.
- 30Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe results are irritating, occasionally educational, and frustratingly insight-free.
- 20Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThis haphazard "exposé" only proves that hackery plus hot air [time] does not equal skillful muckraking.
- 20The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFusty 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.