When Will the Red Meat Start to Stink?

You ate them up before the election. But can you stomach them now? They’re the docu-propagandas spawned by the success of Michael Moore’s loopy “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which made $119.1 million in theaters. Most of these rotted on the vine -- “Celsius 41.11,” a parboiled “Fahrenheit” response earned a mere $100,000 on its opening weekend -- but they’re still out there. So, as a public health gesture, we took a guess at the agit-schlock’s probable shelf life.

“Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal”

(released Sept. 15; 42 min.; free online)

The Dish: Sinclair Broadcasting spurred a mini-scandal when it proposed to air Vietnam POWs’ emotional tales of torture -- and attacks on John Kerry. “Histrionic, often specious and deeply sad,” wrote the New York Times. The real scandal was Sinclair’s sinking stock price.

Made By: Carlton Sherwood, a Vietnam War veteran and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who quit as a TV reporter in 1984 over a series about funding for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

A Taste: “As I heard John Kerry speak, I could feel an inner hurt no surgeon’s scalpel could ever remove.” -- Carlton Sherwood.

Shelf Life: Fresh squid. 1-2 days.

*

“Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry”

(released Oct. 1; 87 min.; free online)

The Dish: Slick hosanna to Kerry’s service in and opposition to the Vietnam War. Unexciting bonus material: the rest of Kerry’s career.

Made By: George Butler, the director who helped launch Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting career with his documentary “Pumping Iron.” Based on Douglas Brinkley’s book “Tour of Duty.”

A Taste: John F. Kennedy’s speeches played over footage of Kerry as a young man.

Shelf Life: Cut Camembert. 2-3 days.

*

“Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism”

(released July 13; 87 min.; $9.95, online or in stores)

The Dish: Former Fox staffers and earnest liberal pundits say the Republican-run network plays pinball with the truth, tilts news machine to the right. Alarms should sound when the film claims Fox is a threat to free speech that should be silenced.

Made By: Robert Greenwald, the director who has also made “Unprecedented,” “Uncovered” and “Unconstitutional.” MoveOn.org led a coalition of left-wing funders and organized “house parties” to promote the film. Can you say “Unsold”?

A Taste: “Ronald Reagan’s birthday was, for Fox News Channel viewers, something akin to a holy day.” -- Jon Du Pre, former Fox News anchor.

Shelf Life: Cooked turkey. 4 days, unless frozen and remarketed at Trader Joe’s as “Casseroles for the Recount.”

*

“Bush’s Brain”

(released Oct. 12; 80 min.; $14.99, online or in stores)

The Dish: If President Bush had a brain, it would look like ... Karl Rove. Lots of political corpses, but we never see Rove with a smoking gun.

Made By: Directors Michael Paradies Shoob and Joseph Mealey, who based it on the bestselling book of the same name. “Bush’s Brain” and “Super Size Me” sold out the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. Big cheese “Super Size Me” went on to make more than $11 million. Small fry “Bush’s Brain” opened on three screens in August.

A Taste: “There’s a dark part of Karl. There’s this thing that moves within him that I don’t think is in most persons.” -- James Moore, “Bush’s Brain” coauthor.

Shelf Life: Canned spinach. 4 years.

*

“George W. Bush: Faith in the White House”

(released Oct. 5; 70 min.; $11.21, online and in stores)

The Dish: A nuanced look at Bush’s faith that stops short of calling him a prophet or his opponents baby-killing atheists.

Made by: Director David W. Balsiger, who says he has distributed 450,000 copies. Balsiger’s Grizzly Adams Productions has also examined the End Times (a.k.a. right now), space aliens, Bigfoot, the murdering Clintons, the government conspiracy against Gen. Custer and the military conspiracy to keep dolphin-speak secret.

A Taste: “Will the faith of George Bush be sufficient to keep us in God’s hands today? Perhaps -- if we all join our faith to his.” -- Janet Parshall, narrator and religious broadcaster.

Shelf Life: Fruitcake. Good until the Rapture.

*

“Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which

the Brain Begins to Die”

(released Oct. 12; 72 min.; $16.49, online)

The Dish: Occasionally thoughtful, mostly bilious expose of how Michael Moore, Hollywood liberals, Dan Rather and especially John Kerry will let terrorists kill you. Unlike Bush.

Made by: Written by Lionel Chetwynd, director of the 1987 docudrama “Hanoi Hilton.” Citizens United, the conservative group that funded the $1-million film, made 4 million phone calls to publicize it.

A Taste: “The reality is there is no question that the linkage between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein existed.” -- Mansoor Ijaz, financier.

Shelf Life: Fresh haggis. Several hours.

-- Compiled by Brendan Buhler