Sicko - Michael Moore's Next

[picolas]

and why is the "i" in lower case?

metaphor for american healthcare treating the individual like a lower-class thing?

[hedwig]

i don't know but in this pic it looks like s colon cko.

[Stefen]

Theres a DVD screener of this movie already out. I dled it this morning and I'm watching it now.

Great quality. And Moore won't care if you DL it and don't pay to see it, he'll probably actually be FOR IT, since you aern't giving money to the man!

It's the same as all his other movies, same sense of humor, same use of pop songs playing while asking questions, etc, etc.

[MacGuffin]

Theres a DVD screener of this movie already out. I dled it this morning and I'm watching it now.

Great quality. And Moore won't care if you DL it and don't pay to see it, he'll probably actually be FOR IT, since you aern't giving money to the man!

Moore's 'Sicko' hit by Web pirates
Source: Los Angeles Times

Movie pirates are flooding the Web with bootlegged copies of "Sicko" two weeks before the Michael Moore healthcare documentary is due in theaters.

The renegade filmmaker, who has taken on the system in films such as his General Motors-bashing "Roger & Me" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," his incendiary take on the Iraq war, now finds himself the victim of a group of renegades who are widely sharing copies of the film.

Weinstein Co. spokeswoman Sarah Rothman said in a statement: "We are responding aggressively to protect our film ... but from our research it is clear that people interested in the [healthcare] movement are excited to go to the theater so they can be part of the experience and fight to reform healthcare."

As to whether the pirating of "Sicko" took the studio by surprise, Rothman noted that, "Healthcare impacts everybody right in their homes, and it is not surprising that people are eager to see 'Sicko.' "

Though the Weinstein Co. may be encouraged by the early interest in and pirating of "Sicko," the National Assn. of Theater Owners reacted with less enthusiasm.

"The vast majority of movie theft incidents (over 90%), don't occur until wide theatrical release happens," said NATO President John Fithian. "Studios, theater operators and all our industry allies make extensive efforts to prevent movie theft, or at least postpone it as long as possible."

U.S. theaters faced $670 million in lost revenue last year due to movie theft, according to a NATO study.

"Those kind of losses are unacceptable to any business," Patrick Corcoran, the association's director of media and research, said. Moore's new movie details not only the shortcomings of U.S. health insurance — which leaves tens of millions without coverage and forces the uninsured to make bank-breaking choices about treatments — but also holds up as an attainable option the socialized medicine in France, Canada and Cuba.

There were two screenings of the film in Sacramento on Wednesday, one for politicians, another for nurses. Those showings followed the documentary's much-publicized world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival late last month.

"Sicko" is scheduled for theatrical release June 29.

[Stefen]

Last movie I saw in the theater?

Caddyshack II.

I never go to the movies anymore, I just DL everything.

I support the artists by going to their concerts when they come to town and buying merch.

Fuck the man.

[Julius Orange]

Your strange customs frighten me. Congratulations!

Thanks

[elpablo]

I want to say that this is the best documentary Moore has done thus far. He does a really good job of looking at both sides and answering the "What about those who say this?" questions. It makes me sad that he is in both of the posters for the film because he has successfully made a documentary about a subject that extends beyond his ego and his agenda. I watched this expecting another Michael Moore: Investigative Reporter on the Prowl documentary, but also knowing that it was pretty well received at Cannes, so my expectations were pretty neutral. In the end, I was impressed.

[Stefen]

It's not really a left or right type doc. Well, it's definitely to the left, but it's sole, hidden, veiled agenda isn't to attack the republican party like his other docs were. I hate the repubs as much as anyone, but it's nice to get a doc from Moore that is just about something that everyone should care about.

[MacGuffin]

Michael Moore On 'Sicko' Leak: 'I'm Just Happy That People Get To See My Movies'
Film's distributor, however, is determined to track down, take legal action against Internet pirates.
Source: MTV

"Do they think I did it?" Michael Moore said, his eyes darting back and forth. "Do they think the pharmaceutical companies did it so maybe they could destroy the box office for this movie? No! That wouldn't happen, would it?"

With a conspiratorial laugh, Moore admitted that he has no idea how "Sicko," his new documentary about the health care industry, found its way on the Internet two weeks before the national theatrical release on June 29. But he doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm just happy that people get to see my movies," Moore said. "I'm not a big supporter of the copyright laws in this country. I thought Napster was a good idea."

While that's a noble statement coming from the country's most famously outspoken liberal filmmaker, the businesspeople behind "Sicko," including distributor the Weinstein Company, aren't nearly as enthused.

"They're out there listening to this right now and they're going crazy that I'm in here saying that it's OK," Moore said.

Going crazy? Maybe. Getting really angry seems more accurate. In a statement to MTV News, Peter Hurwitz, general counsel for the Weinstein Company, said his company is outraged by the illegal pirating of the film.

"Every DVD screener that comes from the Weinstein Company is watermarked and traceable," the statement read. "We are actively investigating those who illegally uploaded 'Sicko' to the Internet, and we will take the strongest possible legal action."

Indeed, MTV News has confirmed that the Weinstein Company has hired Kroll Associates — the internationally famous security firm whose clients include the U.S. government and, before 9/11, the World Trade Center — to track down the Internet pirates.

Yet Moore doesn't seem to care. "I don't understand bands or filmmakers or whatever who oppose sharing, having their work be shared with people, because I think it only increases your fanbase.

"You know, when I was a kid, there were vinyl record albums and then cassette tapes came along, and people started making cassette tapes," Moore continued. "And I remember one day someone giving me a cassette tape of an album called London Calling by a group called the Clash. And I thought, 'Wow, this is really cool.' And suddenly I became a Clash fan. From that point on, I bought their albums and I went to their concerts. And they ended up making money off me — because somebody gave me a free tape of their music."

Perhaps Moore hasn't noticed the declining revenue of the music industry. But he does know what his intentions were for "Sicko."

"Let me say this: I'm a filmmaker, and I made this film for you to see it on a 40-foot screen," Moore said. "If I just wanted to make a TV show on a little screen, I'd do that. Or if I wanted to do something for your laptop or your iPod, I would go do that.

"There's a real visceral, emotional response people have in my documentaries, and I want you to come to the movie theater and have that collective feeling with people," he added.

Bucking tradition, several newspapers on Tuesday (June 19) published reviews of "Sicko." Typically, editors wait until the film's actual release date before printing the reviews.

Moore has taken everything in stride.

"When television was invented, they said, 'Oh, that's the end of the movies. TV's killing the movies.' Didn't kill the movies," Moore said. "Then they invented the VCR. 'Oh, that's gonna kill the movies. People are just gonna stay home and watch movies.' Didn't kill the movies.

"Nothing's gonna kill the movies because people want to get out of the house on a Friday night and go somewhere and do something," he continued. "People are still going to ask people out on dates, and it's a cheap way to go and spend a couple of hours before you go and do the thing you really want to be doing on the date."

That doesn't mean that the liberal baron isn't above a little conspiracy theory on how the film made it onto the Internet.

Moore said that based on his film's opening-weekend gross, his distributor will then decide how many screens to put the film on throughout the country. Therefore, if so many people watch "Sicko" on the Internet that the opening-weekend gross is less than expected, "Sicko" won't be released on as many screens nationwide. Fewer people will get to see the movie.

"Perhaps these people who are downloading it are becoming tools and stooges of these pharmaceutical companies," Moore said.

[MacGuffin]

'Sicko' makes early appointment
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Michael Moore's heathcare documentary "Sicko," which is to roll out nationwide June 29, will open a week early on Friday in New York City, where it will play an exclusive engagement at the AMC-Loews Lincoln Square Theater. Additionally, public sneak previews of the film will be held at more than 40 theaters around the country on Saturday.

Following Monday's night's premiere of the film in New York, Weinstein Co. cochairman Harvey Weinstein, said, "Ever since the film began generating tremendous word of mouth we have been contemplating opening 'Sicko' in one theater in New York City and sneaking the film in the top markets across the country, and last night validated that plan."

[elpablo]

Michael Moore's heathcare documentary

mmmmm, heathcare

[MacGuffin]

Filmmaker Moore wishes Bush well at L.A. rally

Filmmaker Michael Moore on Tuesday launched into the final days before the U.S. debut of his movie "SiCKO" with two things that might surprise his detractors: a call for compassion for others and well wishes for President George W. Bush.

Moore is the director behind 2004's anti-Bush documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11," and he is back on the attack with this Friday's release of "SiCKO," which aims to expose weaknesses in U.S. health care.

At a rally on Tuesday on the steps of Los Angeles' City Hall, the fiery filmmaker recalled his grandfather as a doctor who "wanted to help people, not make a buck."

Moore remembered nuns who schooled him as a boy and taught "the most important lesson, which is we will be judged by how we treat the least among us."

After his speech, a reporter asked if he had one thing to say to President Bush, what it might be. Moore replied in a soft voice: "I would wish him well, and ask him to please bring the troops (in Iraq) home."

To be sure, his speech had its share of barbs for politicians as well as U.S. health care providers. Moore compared Americans' payment of health insurance premiums to gamblers betting in a Las Vegas casino because, he said, insurors try to avoid paying claims.

But the compassion that sometimes filled his voice was noteworthy and in tune with the more humanistic tone of "SiCKO," compared to the combativeness of "Fahrenheit."

"This is the movie where Michael Moore gets a few Michael More haters off his back," wrote a review in show business newspaper The Hollywood Reporter. "Not that 'SiCKO,' ... avoids Moore's usual oversimplification and cute stunts. But the gist of his arguments is sound, and only a wealthy HMO executive would claim no problem exists in American medical care."

Audiences will likely find it difficult to be unsympathetic toward the numerous people Moore introduces in "SiCKO" who have had health problems and failed to receive adequate care or were bankrupted by paying bills that insurance companies denied.

After more than a month of promotions at festivals and screenings around the United States, "SiCKO" lands in roughly 440 theaters on Friday, but box office watchers said not to expect the lofty numbers of "Fahrenheit" given the low theater count, less controversial subject and competition from family film "Ratatouille" and adventure "Live Free or Die Hard."

"I just hope it ignites the spark that will lead to health care for all Americans," Moore said of his hopes for the film.

[Kal]

I really liked this. I think his last three films, which I saw, were very good. This one in particular explores different points of view. Although there are many experiences and things that I know that are not true, it makes a good point on healthcare which is the main topic.

I hope it gets a lot of attention and viewers like Farenheit 9/11... a lot of people need to be aware of how things are.

[cron]

i got the pirate copy but i stopped watching after the first ten minutes or so. and then i erased it.  his way of narrating is ludicrous.  i fucking dislike michael moore.  i can't believe i thought farenheit was good at some point of my life. 

[MacGuffin]

Borat helps Moore make 'Sicko' side trip

Michael Moore looked to his friend Borat to help muster the nerve to sail into Guantanamo Bay.

Moore met "Borat" creator Sasha Baron Cohen at last fall's Toronto International Film Festival. Cohen was there to screen "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," which went on to become a $100 million hit, while Moore showed off footage shot for his health-care documentary, "Sicko," which was to open nationwide Friday.

Cohen told Moore he had drawn inspiration from the filmmaker's documentaries, in which Moore doggedly pursues corporate and political bosses and puts himself into uncomfortable situations.

Moore said Cohen thanked him for helping to provide the courage for his own daring adventures on "Borat," in which Cohen's Kazakh alter-ego wrestles naked with his portly producer and draws the ire of a rodeo crowd for butchering the national anthem.

"I said to him, 'But yeah, I've never done anything like wrestle naked with another guy on the floor of an insurance-brokers or mortgage-brokers convention," Moore told The Associated Press. "So after I saw 'Borat,' if he says I was an inspiration for those things, I now have to up the ante for him. So we sailed into the mined waters of Guantanamo Bay with sick 9/11 workers and a bullhorn."


The scene in "Sicko" features Moore calling to guards at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, which houses terror suspects captured in military operations.

After seeing news reports about quality medical treatment the prison provided detainees, Moore went there to seek similar care for ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers who were having trouble getting health coverage in the United States.

Moore got no response from Guantanamo, so he took the workers to Cuba, where they received treatment. The U.S. Treasury Department began an investigation in May on whether Moore's trip violated the trade embargo prohibiting travel to Cuba.

What was Moore thinking as he stood on the boat, calling through a bullhorn outside Guantanamo?

"Two thoughts. I've never seen anybody sail a boat into Guantanamo Bay in a movie or on TV. I've never seen that," Moore said. "And the second thought: What the hell am I doing? There's mines. This whole bay is mined, I think, by the Cubans and the Americans on each other's sides. There's guard towers, there's soldiers with guns. How crazy is this?"