It’s 868 theaters, not screens. My local theater is showing it 20 times a day, selling out two days in advance. That theater has broken it’s one-day record, taking in $43,000. Still, $40 million is too high; they’re estimating over $16 million for the weekend.
Got back from a morning matinee as well, and the movie has definitely lived up to all the hype. This is easily Moore’s most disciplined movie yet; he lets his targets and his subjects speak for themselves, and the stuff they say is very damning by itself. Moore doesn’t need to embellish his material, which will make it that much harder for his critics to attack it (though I’m sure they’ll try).
As Snag mentioned, it was very creepy watching al Gore presiding over Congress, and using the technicalities of the law to knock down protest after protest after protest from Florida representatives who felt the election was a shams. It’s a testament to Gore’s character that he resisted the temptation to bend the rules in his favor, and a damning shame on the Senate for not having a single member join in the protest.
And as others have noted, tehre isn’t much in the movie that isn’t already known (though I was surprised at the peace protesters having a mole in their midst). What makes Fahrenheit 9/11 damaging to the Bush Administration, however, it that it reminds people of all these tidbits – instead of having three dozen data points scattered to the winds, Moore draws them together, shows the motivations behind the war, and reveals the lies used to justify it. This could have easily been a special on 60 Minutes or 20/20, if the news media would actually do their jobs…
The showing I went to see was about 98% full; I got there ten minutes before the movie started, and my group had to get a seat in the front rows because all the other seats were taken. When we got out, the other six showings of the day were already sold out, and the theater had opened an extra midnight showing to handle the overflow. I’ll still be surprised if Fahrenheit 9/11 gets the #1 box office for the weekend, but given the turnout it’s getting, who knows?
Easily the must-see movie of the week, if not the year. Karl Rove is not sleeping well this weekend…
Just got back from the film.
Since 2000, Bush has been in the “Appellate Court of the Electorate”. Unlike a normal trial, where the jury is screened and sequestered, we have the American people, many highly biased, with every distraction modern civilization can throw at us.
Moore has taken on the role of prosecuting attorney, and “Fahrenheit 9/11” is his closing argument. Like a typical trial’s closing argument, he takes all the stuff that has been presented during the past four years, and uses it to paint a picture. He has a hell of a lot of evidence on his side, plus some character witnesses and some theatrics, just like any good trial attorney. He’s put together a hell of a case.
Also unlike a typical trial, the defense gets to sum up last. For those wishing to “convict” Bush, they have little to worry about there. There is little they can do to cast “reasonable doubt” on the evidence presented. They’ll certainly put on a good show. The only people who will still be on their side in the end will be the unconvinceable, most of whom won’t come within ten miles of the film.
The only thing after that will be the “jury vote” at November’s elections. that will be scary. After this film, the election will be seen around the world as final judgement of the Americans ability to be honest with themselves.
I won’t say EVERYONE SHOULD see this film. It’s just that kind of anti-democratic, top-down thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. I will suggest, however, that every American owes it to themselves to see it before they cast their vote.
The main power of the film will probably not be to change minds, although if it does, I will not be surprised. It will be to galvanize and perhaps coalesce the Anti-Bush faction in this country. The man has put the screws to everyone who lives here, especially those on whose support he should traditionally be able to count. I think that, especially if the film is successful, it will remind us that good, sane people really are the majority in this country, and we deserve representation in the Federal government.
Bingo.
I’ve heard that Moore made this movie in part thinking of the 50% or so of eligible voters that don’t show up in November. If anyone on either side can rally a modest fraction of that number it could swing the vote.
I think if the DNC has any smarts, they already have a big pre-order put in for the DVD. They ought to give 'em away as door prizes, stock 'em in libraries, get 'em in grocery stores at a special discount price. It could be cheaper than running ads…
Well, I’m afraid you will find my answer less than satisfying. I have not decided anything as yet. Unlike many of the posters to this board (and this does not necessarily include you), I know what I don’t know and I realize that I’ll have to wait until history reveals the truth to know for sure what that truth is.
I should probably add that I don’t necessarily agree with the premise that incompetence or mendacity are the only answers to your question.
Nice try, though.
I’ve seen projections that the film took in over $8 million on Friday, which was ahead of Bowling for Columbine, that did something like $21 million it’s first weekend.
Without rehashing what everyone else has said (most of which I agree with), one thing that dissapointed about the film as it was showing was a bit in the beginning about the 2000 election that seemed to imply that the media were in on a big pro-Bush conspiracy. He shows clips showing Dan Rather at CBS calling Florida for Gore, followed by some others, only to have the Fox network as the first news source calling Florida for Bush… and some guy in charge at Fox had some kind of close connection to Bush (sorry I don’t remember the particulars)!
He didn’t actually SAY that this was some sort of big conspiracy, but he sure implied it.
Excuse me, but I don’t see how the networks’ predictions of how the election is going to turn out affects in any way the actual election. Perhaps if something incorrect was announced while the polls were still open it could have an effect, but that was not the case here. This bit just got a big reaction of “SO WHAT?” from me. All or most of the other stuff was far more compelling.
Another complaint I had was that his reach was so broad, he didn’t have time to focus on many details that could have “proved” his points a lot better. I realize this was a stylistic choice, but all the same there were more facts I’ve read about the way blacks were disenfranchised in Florida or the evidence that there are no WMD that he didn’t use, instead using as his “proof” brief statements (that did prove his point, mind you, just IMO not as well as backing up those statements with proof showing more details).
Probably minor points, as overall the movie was very effective, very funny in places and very moving in others.
That being said, I agree with those who say this isn’t going to change many minds. We all know that before the film even came out, many claim Moore is dishonest in the way he presents his facts (some accuse him of downright lying in other films he has done) and much of his entertainment comes from public stunts, that don’t really prove anything other than he is able to make a jackass out of himself to comedic effect trying to make his subjects look stupid.
Case in point: in the trailers you can see him ambushing congressmen trying to get them to sign up their kids for the Iraq war. Come on. Even the most ardist Bush supporter would willingly admit that congressmen can be a tad hypocritical, especially where their family is concerned. I would think most of us would expect even the most liberal democrat would do the same thing. I was actually dissapointed that none of his ambushed congressmen just told him they would be proud to have their kid serve in Iraq, but it was their son’s decision whether to enlist or not. Or perhaps the ones that did say that just didn’t get edited in.
The superimposition of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al on the cast of Bonanza was very funny, but hardly anything more than editorial comment. He sure did show Bush as an idiot (but what skill is needed for that?)
Anyways, my point is that since they see some tactics like this in the film, they can (and will) just dismiss EVERYTHING as supect and twisted out of context. I don’t think any Bush supporter who sees this film will have their minds changed.
Of course, if some of the issues brought up are now discussed by enough people that the facts are given light outside the film, then it will have done a good thing.
Divine intervention? Kind of running out of possibilities.
Bowling for Columbine made $209,148 in its first weekend. The most theaters it ever played in was 248, and its total gross was $21,576,018 during its entire run.
Fahrenheit 9/11 will make nearly as much, if not more, it its first weekend than BfC made in total.
Michael Moore’s Box Office Track Record
Thanks in no small part to a lot of free publicity, of course.
The Voter News Service, the consortium the nets had set up to do the state-calling, had Florida going for Gore based on exit polling - which was accurate, btw, since the plurality of Florida voters did think they had voted for Gore. The nets called Florida for Gore accordingly, then VNS and they retracted their calls when actual returns didn’t match exit polls sufficiently well.
Fox’s election-night coverage was directed by John Ellis, *Bush’s first cousin * as well as a staunch supporter, who had spent the evening in constant telephone contact with his cousin’s campaign and with his other cousin, the Governor of Florida. During the night, after much of that conversation but without any new input from VNS, Fox called Florida for Bush. The other nets, in monkey-see, monkey-do fashion, followed suit rather than look like they didn’t know something Fox did. Those are the facts - the inferences follow below.
The suspicion is that Bush and Ellis both knew that Florida was going to a recount, Jeb made sure they understood it was going to be a mess and that public opinion would be critical, but that it would be easier for them if their guy could look like the rightful, or at least presumptive, winner. The nets’ call gave Bush that image.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I do know it’s a movie.
Well, maybe. To the extent that someone’s support of Bush is emotional, or even dependent on cognitive dissonance, anything that shakes that condition up may be effective. When more-intellectual arguments based on facts and reasoning and historical comparisons etc. haven’t broken that shell open, maybe a sledgehammer approach can.
Hear, hear.
What? No argument about Bush sitting there after being notified of the attacks? The thread in Cafe Society had lots on this, but I figured this was a better place to argue it.
Several apologists for Bush said “Well it was stunning news! I would have just sat there in amazement also!” My response to them is “Yes, but you are not president. We expect the people we elect to be able to respond to emergencies.”
While I do not know what useful things Bush could have done at the time, I do know that he couldn’t have done anything LESS useful than stay in that classroom.
Favorite movie moment: When soundtrack played a few bars from “Cocaine” when first mentioning Bush not taking his physical.
This was cited over in cafe society, but I didn’t see anyone cite it here yet. My appologies if it already has been. It’s a rebutal of sorts to the forementioned article. A good read that brings up some interesting points.
I disagree that he implied it. I think he was simply saying that Fox News delivered a breathless “exclusive,” and then the other networks tripped over themselves to say “Me too!” in the process. That is, the need for ratings trumped the need for accuracy, an all-too common problem with the news media today.
I definitely didn’t get the vibe that Moore was trying to paint the picture of a Vast Media Conspiracy™, at least not beyond the general theme of “the media has been a bunch of spineless lapdogs for the Iraq war.”
I think he omitted those merely as a matter of expediency. The movie is already clocking at two hours, and throwing assorted details for every point would have dragged it out further. I would venture a guess that Moore figured the audience would be sufficiently convinced by all the Florida representatives trying to protest the Florida results (“They must know something if they keep trying to raise the issue”), and the lack of Iraqi WMDs should be something everyone agrees with at this point.
Stunned, schmunned. He was informed that the first airplane had hit before even entering the classroom. That was the time to be stunned. By the time the second plane hit, the only conclusion any reasonable person could draw was “It’s a terrorist attack” – and to sit through that is simply inexcusable.
In related news, on Friday morning I heard movie industry analyists project that White Chicks would be #1 for the weekend, and Fahrenheit 9/11 might be lucky to get fifth, because of its smaller number of screens. This afternoon, I heard that Fahrenheit was already #1 for Friday, and stands a good chance of being the #1 movie of the weekend…
I think mhendo does a much better job than this article at debating Hitchen’s points. A much more worthwhile read in our own treasured pit! Head on down to “The Lies of Michael Moore” second page.
Personally, I was more bothered by the fact that the SS didn’t react faster. The President spent almost half and hour in a known, mappable location, while terrorists were dropping planes on people. They should have gotten him to leave as soon as they realized this, not allowed the Bush team to confer and then hold a press conference in the same known location.
Come on: even though a joke, can’t you admit that that’s just a LITTLE despicable? If Moore is going to defend his film as factual (though biased), don’t touches like this that imply unproved allegations about people basically make the “factual” claim irrelevant?
And that wasn’t even the end of his demonstrated lack of leadership capacity during the whole crisis.
What amazed me about his sustained approval ratings during that time was that you had a direct comparison available minute-by-minute. As Bush made one bumble after another, revealing to all that he simply was not up to the task of handing the disaster, there on the self-same TV screen you had Rudy Giuliani, the very picture of a capable leader in a crisis, regardless of whatever his track record as mayor might have been to that point.
If he’d been running for president at that moment, hell, I would have voted for him.
It was that time that made me fear that as a nation, we might not be collectively smart enough to realize what an idiot Bush really is. This film gives me hope.
Regarding the Cocaine sound bite:
As a confirmed lefty and avid blogreader (Curse you Atrios for wasting so many of my evenings!) I knew most of the facts and opinions presented in the movie. I was looking for entertainment. This certainly provided it. Moore makes his money by making his supporters happy. Free market and all.
If you did not know of allegations that Bush did cocaine when he was young, then you may never have made this connection based on the movie, so I don’t think it was terrible for his track record of dealing with facts. And much to my surprise, he did stay relatively fact based for a good portion of the movie. Sure sure, some were twisted to imply things, but by and large pretty factual. What is despicable to me is how Bush was born again, and now voila! his past indiscretions are swept under the table as no longer relevant.
Moore is selling a point of view. He isn’t running the country or getting us into unecessary wars.
What I find despicable is the continued exaggeration by the administration. Cheney keeps on his running exaggerations about WMD and Iraq-al Qaeda. He has learned well the truism that if you just keep repeating your misinformation sooner or later your opponents will get tired and your story is the only one left.
Or as an alternative you can use the offices of the federal government to dig up dirt on your opponents and out their family members as clandestine CIA agents. Whatever works.