Haven’t found any place in Hawaii that’s showing it, dang it all, so I’ll have to wait for video.
For now, I’d just like to say that I’m incredibly thrilled to see someone post the other point of view. One of the things that’s been lost in this whole War on Terror fiasco is the fact that a lot of Iraqis are suffering greatly. And I can’t think of ONE mainstream news outlet that gave a single normal Iraqi the time of day.
Frankly, the responses I’m hearing to this movie say a lot about some Americans’ truly unbelievable capacity for self-denial…and its success is an indication of just how many more reasonable Americans have had it up to their eyeballs with that crap. No, Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Yes, if we allowed the UN to complete their investigations, we’d have found that out. No, you shouldn’t expect the families of the 800 and counting servicepeople killed for a lie to just laugh it off. No, you shouldn’t expect anybody to laugh off the billions we’re squandering on this. No, there is no connection between Saddam and Al-Quaeda. Yes, if you invade a country, trash the cities, allow looters to run wild, disband the entire army, and cruelly torture prisoners, there’s a pretty good chance that they’re going to hate your guts. Pigs is pigs! You shouldn’t need a documentary to point this out!
Anyway, I’m pumped as hell that this movie is doing so great. And who knows, maybe it’ll inspire other producers to grow a little backbone and follow suit. Nothing talks like money.
Went to visit some friends stationed at Camp Zama (US Marine base just west of Tokyo) this weekend, and took their kids to the movie theater. Usually, the bases get the new movies well before they’re released in Japan, but for some reason F 9/11 hadn’t made it out there yet.
Yes, I find that even few of the war’s opposers mention the thousands of Iraqi civilians that have been killed. Many mention the coalition forces that have been killed, but it seems like the Iraqi civilians don’t count to some.
I gather this thread is supposed to address F9/11’s popularity, so apologies if this is a hijack…
It was interesting to see the Bush family’s relationship with the Bin Ladens so doumented, as I didn’t know the extent of their dealings. But, Moore hints that even though the Bin Ladens disowned Osama, they still maintain ties with him, and Osama was a guest of the Bushes before 9/11. He supports this with a clip of an interview an Arab diplomat had with Larry King, in which he says that he knew of several Bin Laden family members who attended the wedding of one of Osama’s sons.
First of all, I know many families who despise each other but will still go to each others’ weddings just to get that dagger working further into each others’ backs. Second, is Moore implying that the Bushes had a deal with Osama to attack the US just so they could have an excuse to conquer Iraq? He doesn’t outright say so, but the implication is there.
He shows a lot of footage of Bush on vacation, swinging his golf club and shooting skeet, portraying him as an aloof Nero who fiddles while Rome burns. Again, Moore doesn’t outright make any statements. He just makes sure the implication is there.
By the second half of the movie however, Moore stops with the snarkiness, as he portrays life from the POV of the soldiers, their families, and the families of the victims. There is also the stunt that he pulls with trying to get congressmen to sign a petition to have their children enlist first in the event of war that’s hilarious.
I will say the clip of Ashcroft singing is unreal.
going into a sold out movie by purchasing a ticket to a different movie equals being an jerk.
Someone showed up on time and paid for a seat to that show, and you took it from them.
Sorry, but buy a ticket for the next available show, and come back when its playing.
And if you want to make your movie, get there earlier.
anyway. . .
for 22M on 868 screens means this movie had like a $24,000 per screen average. That’s just about as good as you can do. That would be the equivalent of like Harry Potter (on 3500 screens) making about 85M over a weekend. A big big number.
(of course, it doesn’t exactly translate, because moore’s average probably would not have held up if he had opened on 3500 screens, but you get what I’m saying).
I must have missed that part. I remember that some members of the bin Laden family were guests, but not Osama.
I don’t see how you could interpret it that way. The way I saw it was that after the attack, the Administration allowed the bin Laden family members to leave the country. As Moore pointed out with his Dragnet clips, this meant that they could not be interviewed by investigators. So I saw no implication that the Bushes “had a deal with Osama to attack the U.S.”; but that because of the Bush’s close ties to the bin Laden family, people who might have been able to provide us with valuable information (like where Osama likes to hide, maybe), to leave the country without the routine questioning that happens in other crime investigations.
So . . . you’re saying that the Dope’s leading (well, shrillest) critic of a film not only hasn’t seen it, he has no intention of seeing it? Wow. Wish I had those reserves of nerve. How Republican, indeed.
I was on the verge of tears throughout the whole movie. Well, except for the funny parts It was an extremely touching yet disturbing film. Lila crying in front of the White House was heart wrenching. What did her son die for? The dead and injured children in Iraq, the attitudes of the soldiers. The Congressmen and women who couldn’t get a senator to sign their petitions. It was an incredible movie. I was very depressed afterward. But it made me want to do something…Outside the theater before the movie were some John Kerry campaign workers. I signed up on their list as a possible volunteer. I definetly think I am going to do some volunteering.
Oh by the way, in the Northern Virginia area, right outside DC, everything was sold out…we managed to get some 11:30 p.m. tickets online.
NO…shit. Robyn, do you get to wear shoes to the movie? And will you be home in time to make Airman dinner?
You say you put ‘let’ in quotes because you’re obviously going to go, but the fact is, he’s putting restrictions on HOW you can go see it and under what circumstances. That’s him…LETTING you. I’ll put a dollar down that says something comes up on July 5th that means you can’t go.
Robin, I really hope you’re kidding here…If not, I am very very sad for you
There is a lot I could say about this, but it’s not the pit so I will hold my tounge. But, you know that kind of behavior from a spouse is just not right, don’t you? I really hope you realize that.
I am pretty sure you are in school right now, right? Well I really hope that when you’re done with school, you get a good job that pays more than Airman, (probably won’t be hard) then you can decide to “let” or not let him do stuff. Give him a taste of his own medicine
I didn’t see anything in the movie that substantiates this claim.
Moore says (and has footage to support) that members of the bin Laden family (not Osama) were guests and friends of the Bushes, and that a Taliban leader had a friendly visit with Texas oil barons and officials of the Administration (but not Bush himself) earlier in 2001.
But I don’t recall anything in the movie suggesting Osama bin Laden has even met the Bushes.
a35362, Hitchens did indeed used to write for The Nation. But after 9-11 his mind seems to have snapped.
Amazing how few theaters in Alabama are showing this movie.
That sort of thing, combined with the news that the Carlyle Group has just purchased Loew’s Theaters gives me pause. (The Carlyle Group being one of the conservative power bases criticized by Moore in his film.)
Hitchens* is * on the left. His argument (as I understand it) is that Moore, by putting forth such a slanted polemic, is undercutting the credibility of the left (in much the same way that Rush Limbaugh might be seen as undercutting the credibility of the right).
As a centrist Democrat myself, I’m sort of torn on this issue. On the one hand, I dislike propaganda whether it is coming at me from the left or from the right. On the other hand, maybe someone like Moore is needed to help balance out all the crap being spouted by Limbaugh, Hannity,* et al.*
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I doubt Moore implied anything of the sort. It’s not in keeping with anything I’ve ever heard or read from him. He may be out there politically, but he’s not that far out. Not by a long shot.
The AMC Empire 25 Theaters in Times Square, where sell-out crowds gathered all weekend to see Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE.
With sold-out shows in numerous theaters Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” exceeded industry expectations and topped the weekend box office with an estimated $21.8 million and a huge $25,000 per screen average on 868 screens. Final numbers are due today and the film will likely top the entire $21.5 million “Bowling for Columbine” theatrical gross, after just a few days in release. During a conference call with journalists Sunday, Michael Moore, Lions Gate’s Tom Ortenberg, and IFC’s Jonathan Sehring talked about the opening weekend and confirmed that the film will expand to more theaters in the coming days.
“These are mind-blowing numbers,” Moore said during the call yesterday, “All of the predictions that the movie would only speak to the choir, would only be for those who don’t like Bush, I don’t think have turned out to be true.”
I don’t think Moore intended for the wedding to be the only example of continued ties between Osama and his family, just that they were still conjugal up to several months before 9/11/2001. IIRC, there are more examples of continued ties between Osama and his family in House of Bush, House of Saud.
No, he never says or implies as such. He does imply that Bush soft-pedaled US treatment of Saudi Arabia because of extensive financial and family ties, and sorta implies that Bush didn’t launch a balls-out attack on Osama/Afghanistan/the Taliban due to the family relationships, but I didn’t see anything to suggest George and Osama, cackling over a campfire, coordinating their moves.
Someone mentioned that Bush was “on vacation” more than Clinton or Bush Sr. were at comparable times during their terms of office. While you can argue that the POTUS is always working, George’s extensive absence is worthy of a raised eyebrow, IMO.
It was an extremely touching yet disturbing film. Lila crying in front of the White House was heart wrenching. What did her son die for? The dead and injured children in Iraq, the attitudes of the soldiers. The Congressmen and women who couldn’t get a senator to sign their petitions. It was an incredible movie. I was very depressed afterward. But it made me want to do something…Outside the theater before the movie were some John Kerry campaign workers. I signed up on their list as a possible volunteer. I definetly think I am going to do some volunteering.
