Fahrenheit 9/11

[Jeremy Blackman]

No, those are all quite spoilerish.

[Stefen]

No, those are all quite spoilerish.

What parts?

[Jeremy Blackman]

What parts?

The part at the end, when the world blows up.

[Stefen]

What parts?

The part at the end, when the world blows up.

Yeah I read that part. No thanks to you.

[El Duderino]

"I would love to have a White House screening of this film," Moore said. "I would attend it. I would behave myself."

that's awesome, and will never happen

[mutinyco]

Lookin' like Focus is going to distribute it...

[brockly]

Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Gets 15-Minute Ovation at Cannes

Controversial film-maker Michael Moore's new documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 was given an unprecedented 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. The film - which is vying for the Palm D'Or at the glitzy French event - looks at the links between President George W. Bush and the Bin Laden family, as well as the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners of war by American servicemen. Amid the controversy stirred up by Disney's decision not to distribute the film, the audience - which included Kill Bill beauty Darryl Hannah and rocker Mick Jagger - demonstrated their approval by hollering "Bravo" and clapping the piece for over 15 minutes. Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein - who is vying to buy the film from Disney and distribute it via another company - enthuses, "It was the longest standing ovation I've seen in over 25 years."

[Jeremy Blackman]

The NY Times article says it was a 20-minute standing ovation:

"The audience at the afternoon gala screening responded with a 20-minute standing ovation that the festival's artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, said was the longest he had ever witnessed in Cannes."

[cron]

The NY Times article says it was a 20-minute standing ovation:

"The audience at the afternoon gala screening responded with a 20-minute standing ovation that the festival's artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, said was the longest he had ever witnessed in Cannes."

"Well fuck the Times, I read the Post."

[Pubrick]

um, Antonio Banderas said on letterman that Shrek 2 got a 15min ovation.

so, whatever that means.

[mogwai]

Press Conference: "Fahrenheit 9/11" by Michael Moore

Michael Moore took on a full house of journalists single-handed after the competition screening of his documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, this morning. He fielded questions during a full hour. Here are a few excerpts.

On his intentions: "When I make a movie, it's a movie I'd like to see on a Friday night...I wanted to say something about post-9/11 in America: What's happened to us as a people. This time I was the straight man and Bush had all the jokes...And I hope it will influence people leaving the theatre, encourage them to be good citizens..."

On what is going to shock: "There is footage they have never seen. They will see that things never seen before, starting with Bush's military record, both the year 2000 original document and the 2004 document that has the name James R. Bath blackened...You saw the first abuse segments of Iraqi detainees outside of prison walls; you were the first to see that today...The American people don't like things being kept from them and this film will pull back the curtain on what is going on and they will respond accordingly."

On the theatrical release: "No, it will not be first seen on television; it was made for the screen...It will be released in the US before the election. I am confident that Miramax will make sure they see this film...Miramax has made available the funds and money – before the film comes out - to update it if needed in the next six weeks. It is however a finished film."

If you were President: "We have a president asleep at the wheel...If you have the role of commander in chief, you should pay more attention. I would have tracked down the people responsible for 9/11 and I would bring them down. Why hold back Special Forces for two months? What's going on?"

[Jeremy Blackman]

I'm not sure why every one keeps saying "Moore knew a year ago that he wouldn't get distribution!" He tried to clear it up on his website almost two weeks ago:

A month later, after shooting started, Michael Eisner insisted on meeting with my agent, Ari Emanuel. Eisner was furious that Miramax signed this deal with me. According to Mr. Emanuel, Eisner said he would never let my film be distributed through Disney even though Mr. Eisner had not seen any footage or even read the outline of the film. Eisner told my agent that he did not want to anger Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida. The movie, he believed, would complicate an already complicated situation with current and future Disney projects in Florida, and that many millions of dollars of tax breaks and incentives were at stake.

But Michael Eisner did not call Miramax and tell them to stop my film. Not only that, for the next year, SIX MILLION dollars of DISNEY money continued to flow into the production of making my movie. Miramax assured me that there were no distribution problems with my film.

But then, a few weeks ago when Fahrenheit 9/11 was selected to be in the Cannes Film Festival, Disney sent a low-level production executive to New York to watch the film (to this day, Michael Eisner has not seen the film). This exec was enthusiastic throughout the viewing. He laughed, he cried and at the end he thanked us. "This film is explosive," he exclaimed, and we took that as a positive sign. But "explosive" for these guys is only a good word when it comes to blowing up things in movies. OUR kind of "explosive" is what they want to run from as fast as they can.

According to yesterday's New York Times, the issue of whether to release Fahrenheit 9/11 was discussed at Disney's board meeting last week. It was decided that Disney should not distribute our movie.

[xerxes]

there are some spoilers.

Less is Moore in subdued, effective '9/11'

BY ROGER EBERT FILM CRITIC



CANNES, France -- Michael Moore the muckraking wiseass has been replaced by a more subdued version in "Fahrenheit 9/11," his new documentary questioning the anti-terrorism credentials of the Bush regime. In the Moore version, President Bush, his father and members of their circle have received $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia over the years, attacked Iraq to draw attention from their Saudi friends, and have lost the hearts and minds of many of the U.S. servicemen in the war.

The film premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival to a series of near-riot scenes, as overbooked screenings were besieged by mobs trying to push their way in. The response at the early morning screening I attended was loudly enthusiastic. And at the official black-tie screening, it was greeted by a standing ovation; a friend who was there said it went on "for at least 25 minutes," which probably means closer to 15 (estimates of ovations at Cannes are like estimates of parade crowds in Chicago).

But the film doesn't go for satirical humor the way Moore's "Roger & Me" and "Bowling for Columbine" did. Moore's narration is still often sarcastic, but frequently he lets his footage speak for itself.

The film shows American soldiers not in a prison but in the field, hooding an Iraqi, calling him Ali Baba, touching his genitals and posing for photos with him. There are other scenes of U.S. casualties without arms or legs, questioning the purpose of the Iraqi invasion at a time when Bush proposed to cut military salaries and benefits. It shows Lila Lipscomb, a mother from Flint, Mich., reading a letter from her son, who urged his family to help defeat Bush, days before he was killed. And in a return to the old Moore confrontational style, it shows him joined by a Marine recruiter as he encourages congressmen to have their sons enlist in the services.

Despite these dramatic moments, the most memorable footage for me involved President Bush on Sept. 11. The official story is that Bush was meeting with a group of pre-schoolers when he was informed of the attack on the World Trade Center and quickly left the room. Not quite right, says Moore. Bush learned of the first attack before entering the school, "decided to go ahead with his photo op," and began to read My Pet Goat to the students. Informed of the second attack, he incredibly remained with the students for another seven minutes, reading from the book, until a staff member suggested that he leave. The look on his face as he reads the book, knowing what he knows, is disquieting.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" documents the long association of the Bush clan and Saudi oil billionaires, and reveals that when Bush released his military records, he blotted out the name of another pilot whose flight status was suspended on the same day for failure to take a physical exam. This was his good friend James R. Bath, who later became the Texas money manager for the bin Laden family (which has renounced its terrorist son).

When a group of 9/11 victims sued the Saudi government for financing the terrorists, the Saudis hired as their defense team the law firm of James Baker, Bush Sr.'s secretary of state. And the film questions why, when all aircraft were grounded after 9/11, the White House allowed several planes to fly around the country picking up bin Laden family members and other Saudis and flying them home.

Much of the material in "Fahrenheit 9/11" has already been covered in books and newspapers, but some is new, and it all benefits from the different kind of impact a movie has. Near the beginning of the film, as Congress moves to ratify the election of Bush after the Florida and Supreme Court controversies, it is positively eerie to see 10 members of Congress -- eight black women, one Asian woman and one black man -- rise to protest the move and be gaveled into silence by the chairman of the session, Al Gore.

On the night before his film premiered, Moore, in uncharacteristic formalwear, attended an official dinner given by Gilles Jacob, president of the festival. Conversation at his table centered on the just-published New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh alleging that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld personally authorized use of torture in Iraqi prisons.

Moore had his own insight into the issue: "Rumsfeld was under oath when he testified about the torture scandal. If he lied, that's perjury. And therefore I find it incredibly significant that when Bush and Cheney testified before the 9/11 commission, they refused to swear an oath. They claimed they'd sworn an oath of office, but that has no legal standing. Do you suppose they remembered how Clinton was trapped by perjury and were protecting themselves?"

Would something like that belong in the film?

"My contract says I can keep editing and adding stuff right up until the release date," Moore said. He said he expects to sign a U.S. distribution deal this week at Cannes; the film's producer, Miramax, was forbidden to release it by its parent company, Disney.

After the first press screening on Monday, journalists noted on their way out that Moore was more serious in this film and took fewer cheap shots. But there are a few. Wait until you see Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz preparing for a TV interview. First he puts a pocket comb in his mouth to wet it and combs down his hair. Still not satisfied, he spits on his hand and wipes the hair into place. Catching politicians being made up for TV is an old game, but this is a first.

[Raikus]

I'm not sure why every one keeps saying "Moore knew a year ago that he wouldn't get distribution!"

Mostly I say it because Moore said it himself in a CNN interview. You're confusing making a movie with the distribution of a movie. Maybe Moore didn't receive the final confirmation that Disney wouldn't be handling the distribution until a few weeks ago, but when the chairman of the parent company says "we will not distribute this movie" a full year before then you should have a pretty good idea what to expect.

Regardless, this is all one big business ploy that amounts to all sides winning. Moore with the drummed up controversy to push the movie, Disney with selling the rights and looking like heros to the Republicans, and Harvey to make even more money off the film.

[Jeremy Blackman]

You're confusing making a movie with the distribution of a movie. Maybe Moore didn't receive the final confirmation that Disney wouldn't be handling the distribution until a few weeks ago, but when the chairman of the parent company says "we will not distribute this movie" a full year before then you should have a pretty good idea what to expect.

They were the angry words of a man who hadn't seen (and still hasn't seen) the movie, and he doesn't decide things without the board, especially only a month after shooting started. But I'm sure Moore did have a pretty good idea that Disney wouldn't distribute. He took advantage of the media, but since the board only recently officially voted down Disney distribution, his timing isn't completely arbitrary.