Starving the Beast

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Starving the Beast

Released Sep 2, 2016

1h 35m

Documentary

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94%

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17 Reviews

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50+ Ratings

An exploration into the philosophy and the players behind the recent push to cut state support for higher education.

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Sheri Linden

Los Angeles Times

Amid all the hand-wringing about student debt, Mims offers a jolt of chilling clarity.

Sep 15, 2016

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Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Starving the Beast does an admirable job of making even the most arcane of arguments and abstruse alliances plain and clear.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 15, 2016

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Daniel M. Gold

New York Times

Academics used to joke that campus politics were so vicious because the stakes were so small. That's no longer the case, at least where the stakes are concerned, as "Starving the Beast" makes clear.

Sep 8, 2016

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Sean Mulvihill

FanboyNation.com

Starving the Beast is a standout documentary due to its ability to educate and infuriate while still understanding that this is just one aspect of an ongoing debate about the size and role of government.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 1, 2018

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Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

This film is about the little-known national battle between the idea of education being a service to benefit the nation provided by governments, or education being a commodity sold to the few who can afford it.

Rated: B

Feb 7, 2017

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Charles Steinberg

Under the Radar

By and large, Mims and Banowsky succeed and anyone who believes in the sanctity of knowledge, and the role of public schools to make its pure pursuit accessible to anyone so willing, will feel blood start to boil.

Rated: 8/10

Sep 28, 2016

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Audience Member

An eye opener into the forces that threaten choice in what studies are deemed "worthy" and those that are seen as elitist. History for instance is elitist as it presumably wouldn't serve to get a job at the end of studies. We have always seemed to look down on technical schools for some reason and the ideas herein would render all higher education but a means to learn a skill. Or, forget ideas that might solve problems for the greater good.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

If you get the chance, this is a real eye opener on our universities.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Steve Mims

Director

James Carville

Actor

Siva Vaidhyanathan

Actor

Steve Mims

Writer

Bill Banowsky

Producer

Graham Reynolds

Original Music

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Synopsis

An exploration into the philosophy and the players behind the recent push to cut state support for higher education.

Director: Steve Mims
Producer: Bill Banowsky
Screenwriter: Steve Mims
Production Co: Railyard Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 2, 2016, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017
Runtime: 1h 35m

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