Damn! I was beaten to the punch again! Just more proof that good ole Michael Moore is a lying windbag.

Same story, different article.

quote:

Michael Moore admits Disney 'ban' was a stunt 07.05.2004 By ANDREW GUMBEL in Los Angeles Less than 24 hours after accusing the Walt Disney Company of pulling the plug on his latest documentary in a blatant attempt at political censorship, the rabble-rousing film-maker Michael Moore has admitted he knew a year ago that Disney had no intention of distributing it. The admission, during an interview with CNN, undermined Moore's claim that Disney was trying to sabotage the US release of Fahrenheit 911 just days before its world premiere at the Cannes film festival. Instead, it lent credence to a growing suspicion that Moore was manufacturing a controversy to help publicise the film, a full-bore attack on the Bush administration and its handling of national security since the attacks of 11 September 2001. In an indignant letter to his supporters, Moore said he had learnt only on Monday that Disney had put the kibosh on distributing the film, which has been financed by the semi-independent Disney subsidiary Miramax. But in the CNN interview he said: "Almost a year ago, after we'd started making the film, the chairman of Disney, Michael Eisner, told my agent he was upset Miramax had made the film and he will not distribute it." Nobody in Hollywood doubts Fahrenheit 911 will find a US distributor. His last documentary, Bowling for Columbine, made for US$3m pulled in US$22m at the US box office. But Moore's publicity stunt, if that is what is, appears to be working. A front-page news piece in The New York Times was followed yesterday by an editorial denouncing Disney for censorship and denial of Moore's right to free expression. Moore told CNN that Disney had "signed a contract to distribute this [film]" but got cold feet. But Disney executives insists there was never any contract. And a source close to Miramax said that the only deal there was for financing, not for distribution.

Don't worry, if you want to waste your money, the film will most likely still be distributed by someone.

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Damn! I was beaten to the punch again! Just more proof that good ole Michael Moore is a lying windbag. Don't worry, if you want to waste your money, the film will most likely still be distributed by someone.

I'd like to say I'm shocked, but of course I'm not. Moore's a douchebag, despite some of the issues he brings to the table in his movies and commentary.

Not to discredit the story itself completely, but it's strange that only the New Zealand Herald is the only one running the story. If no one in the AP Press (or even Fox News) picks this up, I think the credibility of the story will be a little suspect.

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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

quote:

Originally posted by MisterOpus1 I'd like to say I'm shocked, but of course I'm not. Moore's a douchebag, despite some of the issues he brings to the table in his movies and commentary. Not to discredit the story itself completely, but it's strange that only the New Zealand Herald is the only one running the story. If no one in the AP Press (or even Fox News) picks this up, I think the credibility of the story will be a little suspect.

Well here's the CNN article:

quote:

CNN) -- Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has said the Walt Disney Company is blocking distribution of his new film critical of U.S. President George W. Bush. He spoke to CNN anchor Hala Gorani about the controversy. Gorani: What was your communication with Disney? Moore: Almost a year ago after we'd started making the film, the chairman of Disney, Michael Eisner, told my agent that he was upset that Miramax had made the film -- Disney owns Miramax -- and he will not distribute this film. Miramax said don't worry about that, keep making the film, we'll keep funding it. The Disney money kept flowing to us for the last year. We finished the film last week, and we take it to the Cannes film festival next week. On Monday of this week we got final word from Disney that they will not distribute the film. They told my agent they did not want to upset the Bush family, particularly Gov. Bush of Florida because Disney was up for a number of tax incentives, abatements ... whatever. The risk of losing this -- we're talking about tens of millions of dollars -- they didn't want to risk it over a little documentary. Arguing Disney's point, Michael Eisner said, look we don't want to take part in a partisan film right before the election in America. So to be fair to the company, if they feel it hurts their bottom line, why haven't they the right to say they don't want to distribute it? Our media companies are invested with the public trust. That trust states that they're there to allow all voices to be heard. We live in a free and open society where dissent is not to be stifled or silenced. They have violated that trust. We have only got a few studios left, right, and if we get to a point where they can decide that only these voices can be heard, how free and open is our society at that point? So Disney signed a contract to distribute this, they got cold feet, they're afraid. Yes, the Bushes will not like this movie ... they will really not like this movie. Because we're going to show things like they haven't seen before about the Bush family, about the war in Iraq and a number of other things. So what's your next step? You don't have a distributor now but you've had so much publicity in the last few days out of this, you've probably had people calling you to say they're willing to distribute this movie and internationally will it be seen? The good news is that internationally we already have distributors in much of the world. So it will be seen outside of America for sure some time this year. But I hope it doesn't happen where an American film maker makes a film about America and it can't be seen in America. What is the message to the rest of the world then? It's not a good message so I'm hopeful we'll shortly have an American distributor. One good thing about Americans regardless of their political stripe is that they don't like to be told they can't see something -- that's what Disney has said. And I'm pretty confident we'll prevail here. http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ...sney/index.html

Odd that Moore didn't bring up the issue a year ago when Eisner explicitly told him he wasn't going to distribute the film. The timing is somewhat suspect that he releases this info right before his film is being screened. Furthermore, I think it's telling that a Miramax source, who has stood by Moore all along, stated that there was never any contract to distribute the film. Disney is well known to distance itself from controversial films, for obvious reasons, by seeking third party distributors.

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Retro ...

Last edited by occrider on May-07-2004 at 16:03

quote:

Originally posted by occrider Well here's the CNN article: Odd that Moore didn't bring up the issue a year ago when Eisner explicitly told him he wasn't going to distribute the film. The timing is somewhat suspect that he releases this info right before his film is being screened. Furthermore, I think it's telling that a Miramax source, who has stood by Moore all along, stated that there was never any contract to distribute the film. Disney is well known to distance itself from controversial films, for obvious reasons, by seeking third party distributors.

Welp, that's that I guess.

Like I said - douchebag.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

Not that I think it will make a difference to this idiot, but I felt compelled to write him an email. If he seriously wants Bush out of office, he needs to fucking wise up and stop sensationalizing and lying to the public in efforts to gain a buck.

Here is my email. Note my kiss-up a little bit to draw attention:

quote:

Dear Mike- I want to first say that I am a registered Democrat and supporter of the majority of their policies and issues. I would also like to say that I visit your site often and greatly appreciate your contribution to issues on your links page (“Must Read”). Our current President is not someone whom I could ever support, nor will I ever believe any of his policies could ever benefit the greater good of Americans as a whole. That being said, I must say that I am somewhat disappointed with what has come to light in your CNN interview recently in regards to your new movie. More specifically, it was revealed that you were well aware for at least a year that Eisner and Disney were not going to produce your film. Yet prior to the interview you have made great efforts to indicate your “surprise” that the Disney was only recently going to block the release of your movie with Miramax. I find this deceiving on your part, and I am fairly disappointed with you failing to disclose this vital piece of information. You must understand that I am vehement with the Conservative majority currently running our government. And you might also say that I am equally angered, if not more angered, by the ultra-Conservative mouthpieces in the media influencing public opinion with misleading and inconclusive evidence. Unfortunately, it is exactly this kind of deception from you that does nothing more but give them gasoline to add to the collective fire against the Progressive movement. I do anticipate your documentary coming out this summer. While I believe that the information contained in your movie will be telling about this administration’s connections to foreign oil, I will be happy if it sheds new light on any new information for individuals such as myself, who have understood and followed this unfortunate connection for some time now. I sincerely hope, however, that information given in your documentary is as accurate as possible without innuendo or questionable premises. I also hope that you give complete facts to this connection between the Bush and Arab families without holding vital information that may refute such facts. We certainly cannot give more fuel to the Conservatives about deliberately misleading in efforts for your personal financial gain. This would be a most unfortunate situation, especially when it’s release will be a few months prior to a national election. I am confident that you will take corrective measures where necessary in the future. Thank you for your time. Sincerely,

BTW, I only registered with the Dems. a few years ago. For the record, I've been independent prior to that - voted for Clinton in '92, Dole in '96, and (*gasp*) nearly voted for Bush in 2000, but went to Gore at the end.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

hehe good job opus post the reply if you get any

hey Opus--not to be the grammer police, but since you're actually sending that letter to someone, "vehement" is an adjective and is incorrectly used in the context above. Perhaps "vehemently outraged with..." would work better. Nice letter though. Hope you get a reply that's not some form letter.

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka hey Opus--not to be the grammer police, but since you're actually sending that letter to someone, "vehement" is an adjective and is incorrectly used in the context above. Perhaps "vehemently outraged with..." would work better. Nice letter though. Hope you get a reply that's not some form letter.

Crap, I already sent it! Thanks for the correction, albeit a little too late.

___________________
Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...

Oh well. I bet Michael Moore doesn't know the difference.

quote:

Originally posted by occrider Anything Moore touches is the kiss of death. He'll skew the facts in such a way that the right will be able to credibly attack his main points (and rightfully so) and drive a wedge between moderates who may be trying to objectively analyze the issue. My prediction is that the film will infuriate lefty criticism of bush and draw the usual lefty praise for Moore, some moderates may be initially swayed by some things they didn't know, the righties will start pointing out the fallacies of Moore's film, and once the moderates hear the other side they'll become suspicious/wary of the leftist criticism of Bush. Personally I think that a strong connection between the Bush and Saudi family would have very little impact on my vote for him (if i were to hypothetically vote for him) simply because I'm a realist about it. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that every american president we vote into office is going to want to maintain extremely strong ties to a country that is a major contributor to the lifeblood of our country and is also one of the most influential voices in OPEC. The Saudi governemnt is not going to want to do anything to fuck up our relationship. But at the same time they can't appear to be bending to our will or "helping" us out of fear of extremist lashbacks from within their own country. Therefore I anticipate there are significant amounts of back door dealing between our two countries in an effort to acheive common goals, and I can't imagine things operating any other way under any other administration. So I guess to sum up my argument ... secret dealings with the Saudis are going to be a fact of life, somewhat similar to the secret dealings between Israel and Jordan since Israel's inception or Israel and Egypt post Arab-Israeli wars.

just curious what you meant by "would have" ...it makes it sound as if you're discounting the connection as merely an allegation

was that what you meant?

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"All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem." --Martin Luther King, Jr.
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quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Oh well. I bet Michael Moore doesn't know the difference.

hahaha, i agree with whoever said he was a douchebag, his films are good when there not about politics but more about corprate america. he dosnet know anything about politics, im not even sure if he graduated from high school

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quote:

Originally posted by Shakka hey Opus--not to be the grammer police, but since you're actually sending that letter to someone, "vehement" is an adjective and is incorrectly used in the context above. Perhaps "vehemently outraged with..." would work better. Nice letter though. Hope you get a reply that's not some form letter.

It's actually grammar ...in case you were wondering.

...not to be the spellink police or anything.

___________________
"All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem." --Martin Luther King, Jr.
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