Michael Moore

Started by MacGuffin, January 08, 2003, 03:27:41 PM

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MacGuffin

Michael Moore Organizes Film Festival

Director Michael Moore is bringing a film festival to this tourist town in his native Michigan that will feature free outdoor showings of classic movies on an inflatable screen.

Among the films being considered: "Jaws," "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Casablanca."

But no "Fahrenheit 9/11" or any of the other opinionated movies the liberal activist has made, such as "Bowling for Columbine."

The Traverse City Film Festival Committee, with Moore as chairman, received permission from city commissioners Monday to use a park on Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay for viewings, scheduled for July 28-31.

Moore assured the commissioners that the festival, consisting of about 30 movies, will be nonpartisan and dedicated solely to promoting art and culture.

G- and PG-rated films will be shown on a 49-foot-by 24-foot inflatable screen by the waterfront. Indoor selections around town, for which admission will be charged, will range from classics to independent and foreign productions.

Moore, a Flint native whose documentary "Roger and Me" chronicled his hometown's economic collapse during auto industry downsizing in the 1980s, divides his time between New York City and rural Antrim County near Traverse City.

The festival's $150,000 budget will be covered by ticket sales and donations.

Moore said he hopes it eventually will become a leading annual film festival and send a message that Americans crave well-made pictures.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Myxo

Quote from: MacGuffinMoore said he hopes it eventually will become a leading annual film festival and send a message that Americans crave well-made pictures.

..uhm

Lots and lots of people go see shitty movies but I have a hard time believing we all don't want well made films.

MacGuffin

Judge Urged to Dismiss Suit Against Moore

A lawyer for Michael Moore urged a federal judge Friday to dismiss a libel lawsuit against the documentary filmmaker filed by the brother of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

Moore attorney Herschel Fink argued during a hearing that James Nichols' claims "range from the frivolous to the silly," and that Moore only reported the truth and his constitutionally protected opinion in the 2002 film "Bowling for Columbine."

James Nichols' attorney, Kenneth McIntyre, argued that Moore "offered half-truths or total untruths" to accuse his client of being an accomplice in the April 1995 bombing that killed 168 people.

Terry Nichols is serving two life sentences without parole for his role in the bombing. Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 for masterminding the attack.

Among the items in question in Nichols' lawsuit are Moore's use of the term "practice bombs" in the movie to refer to explosives the Nichols brothers and McVeigh made on a farm prior to the Oklahoma City bombing.

James Nichols also claims that Moore incorrectly stated he had been arrested in connection with the bombing. McIntyre said Moore knew James Nichols was only held as a material witness and that later charges against him were not connected with the bombing and eventually were dropped.

McIntyre also took issue with a phrase in the film that alleges federal agents couldn't get "the goods" on James Nichols, so they dropped the charges against him. He said viewers would think Nichols was involved but somehow got out of it.

Fink called Nichols' complaint "the perfect storm of libel suits."

He said Moore's reports are based on documents from court and other sources and items from reliable news outlets. He also argued that Moore's statements are protected because James Nichols, who has written a book, given speeches and appeared in several media interviews, is a public figure.

"When you see a Michael Moore film, you know it's opinion," Fink said. "And it's protected."

Neither Moore nor James Nichols were at the hearing; Judge Paul D. Borman said he will issue a decision after he reviews the case.

The filmmaker was in Traverse City, where tickets went on sale Friday for his inaugural Traverse City Film Festival. Moore, a Flint native who now lives in northern Michigan, announced the lineup for the July 27-31 festival 31 films in total, including classics and independently produced films.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Michael Moore Film Fest Draws Competition

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - A film festival being organized by left-wing director Michael Moore has some right-wing competition.

A local activist and a conservative group from Texas said Wednesday they were putting together an alternative to the Traverse City Film Festival, which Moore and residents of this Lake Michigan community are organizing.

"People are fed up and tired with the extreme left-wing radical fringe — America haters, family haters, Christian haters," said Genie Aldrich, a resident of nearby Suttons Bay and founder of the Traverse Bay Freedom Film Festival. She tried unsuccessfully last month to dissuade the city commission from letting Moore's group show films in a municipal waterfront park.

"I like it when Republicans take ideas of mine," said Moore, a Flint, Mich. native who has residences in neighboring Antrim County and New York City. "I have a few more where those came from, if they'd like to sit down and talk."

Aldrich said the alternative festival would feature a dozen movies, including favorites such as "Top Gun" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The others will be independent, politically oriented productions. Among them: "In the Face of Evil," a tribute to     Ronald Reagan; "Confronting     Iraq," a defense of the war in Iraq sponsored by the conservative group Accuracy in Media; and "Michael Moore Hates America."

The Freedom Festival is scheduled for July 29-30 — overlapping with Moore's festival, which will run from July 27-31.

Moore and fellow members of the larger festival's organizing committee have billed their program as nonpartisan and motivated only by appreciation for artistically superior filmmaking. None of Moore's films, such as the anti-war "Fahrenheit 9/11," are being shown.

The lineup includes 31 movies, among them classics such as "Jaws" and "Casablanca," and recently produced independents including "Broken Flowers," winner of the grand prize at this year's     Cannes Film Festival.

"These are highly acclaimed films," Moore said. "Theirs are works of political propaganda."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Judge Dismisses Libel Claim Against Moore

A federal judge Thursday threw out a libel and defamation lawsuit filed against filmmaker Michael Moore by the brother of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul D. Borman ruled that statements Moore made about James Nichols in the 2002 "Bowling for Columbine" documentary were "factual and substantially true."

James Nichols claimed in the suit that the statements could be misinterpreted by viewers to inaccurately link him to the bombing. He also claimed the film invaded his privacy and inflicted emotional distress.

Borman rejected the claims in 25-page page ruling granting Moore's request for summary judgment a ruling without going to trial. Moore's attorney Herschel P. Fink called the decision a "home run."

"The thing that is most pleasing to Mr. Moore is that the judge agreed with our argument that ... the statements were not false and that they were accurately reported," Fink said.

A message seeking comment left with Nichols' lawyer wasn't immediately returned.

Borman said Nichols, a Sanilac County farmer, is considered a public figure for the purposes of the lawsuit, because he "voluntarily injected himself into the public controversy surrounding the bombing" by such steps as granting interviews and helping write a book.

Terry Nichols is serving two life sentences without parole for his role in the April 1995 bombing that killed 168 people. Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 for masterminding the attack.

James Nichols' farm was raided two days after the bombing, after his brother and McVeigh were identified as suspects. James Nichols was arrested that day and held for 32 days, then released for lack of evidence. Charges against him were later dropped.

McVeigh had listed James Nichols' home as his address on some forms and said when he was arrested that Nichols was his next of kin.

Among statements in the film that James Nichols took issue with were those alleging that federal prosecutors formally linked the Nichols brothers to McVeigh, that the brothers made "practice bombs" before Oklahoma City, that both were arrested in connection to the bombing and that they both were charged with conspiring to make and possess small bombs. Also at issue was a statement that the feds "didn't have the goods on James," so charges were dropped.

Moore, an outspoken liberal activist, is known for such films as "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Roger and Me." "Bowling for Columbine," a scathing look at the gun culture in America, won the Oscar for best documentary of 2002.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Michael Moore Checks In at Fat Farm

Maverick film-maker Michael Moore has enrolled on a crash course at a $3,800-a-week celebrity fat farm in a bid to loose weight. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director has booked into the Pritikin Longevity Center And Spa in Aventura, Florida, where he is learning to cook healthy meals and will undergo "life re-education", according to PageSix.com. Moore is reportedly aiming to loose 12 pounds during the first three weeks.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Ravi

$3,800 a week, holy shit.

Myxo

He should just get his stomach tied. He's the perfect canidate for it.

hedwig

Quote from: macageMichael Moore Checks In at Fat Farm

Maverick film-maker Michael Moore has enrolled on a crash course at a $3,800-a-week celebrity fat farm in a bid to loose weight. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director has booked into the Pritikin Longevity Center And Spa in Aventura, Florida, where he is learning to cook healthy meals and will undergo "life re-education", according to PageSix.com. Moore is reportedly aiming to loose 12 pounds during the first three weeks.


hahha awesome, i live near there, maybe i'll see him jogging or something

Pubrick

Quote from: Ravi$3,800 a week, holy shit.
hey, it's what he was spending on food.
under the paving stones.

The Red Vine

Quote from: Pubrick
Quote from: Ravi$3,800 a week, holy shit.
hey, it's what he was spending on food.

muhahahaha

Nobody really cares about Michael Moore now I think. He's burned a lot of bridges and just rambles on about stuff and doesn't do anything to help. He's become more of a joke now than a guy who makes important speeches. I'm sure his next Fahrenheit movie will be just more rambling (as if he hasn't done that enough) and I bet it won't make near as much money as his other films did. He's a very artistic filmmaker but at times he's so full of crap.
"No, really. Just do it. You have some kind of weird reasons that are okay.">

matt35mm

Quote from: Hedwig
Quote from: macageMichael Moore Checks In at Fat Farm

Maverick film-maker Michael Moore has enrolled on a crash course at a $3,800-a-week celebrity fat farm in a bid to loose weight. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director has booked into the Pritikin Longevity Center And Spa in Aventura, Florida, where he is learning to cook healthy meals and will undergo "life re-education", according to PageSix.com. Moore is reportedly aiming to loose 12 pounds during the first three weeks.


hahha awesome, i live near there, maybe i'll see him jogging or something
I can't even begin to imagine how much money you could sell a photo of that for.  Shots of fat people running almost always look terrible, and magazines pay tons to see celebs looking terrible.  Go Paparazzo on him!  Now!

Myxo

Moore To Capture Katrina on Film?[/u]

Controversial film-maker Michael Moore is planning to make a hard-hitting documentary based on Us President George W. Bush's handling of the Hurricane Katrina rescue operation. Moore grabbed international acclaim with his scathing 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, which studied Bush's handling of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The Oscar winner is now "seriously considering" documenting the catastrophe in America's Gulf Coast region. He tells the New York Daily News, "There is much to be said and done about the man-made annihilation of New Orleans, caused not by a hurricane but by the very specific decisions made by the Bush administration in the past four and a half years. Do not listen to anyone who says we can discuss all this later. No, we can't. Our country is in an immediate state of vulnerability. More hurricanes, wars, and other disasters are on the way, and a lazy bunch of self-satisfied lunatics are still running the show."

Alethia

and, once again, he'll make millions by using an unspeakably tragic event as an excuse to take cheap shots at the president

Ravi

Quote from: ewardand, once again, he'll make millions by using an unspeakably tragic event as an excuse to take cheap shots at the president

How else is he going to fund his trips to the upscale fat farm?