Fantastic news: M. Moore's new documentary!

[Andrew]

I'm a fan. Sometimes propaganda is a good thing. A few accusations of minor facts being mishandled in previous films does not invalidate his very good and very important work. From Michael Moore's mailing list:

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"Sicko" Is Completed and We're Off to Cannes!

May 17, 2007

Friends,

It's a wrap! My new film, "Sicko," is all done and will have its world premiere this Saturday night at the Cannes Film Festival. As with "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," we are honored to have been chosen by this prestigious festival to screen our work there.

My intention was to keep "Sicko" under wraps and show it to virtually no one before its premiere in Cannes. That is what I have done and, as you may have noticed if you are a recipient of my infrequent Internet letters, I have been very silent about what I've been up to. In part, that's because I was working very hard to complete the film. But my silence was also because I knew that the health care industry -- an industry which makes up more than 15 percent of our GDP -- was not going to like much of what they were going to see in this movie and I thought it best not to upset them any sooner than need be.

Well, going quietly to Cannes, I guess, was not to be. For some strange reason, on May 2nd the Bush administration initiated an action against me over how I obtained some of the content they believe is in my film. As none of them have actually seen the film (or so I hope!), they decided, unlike with "Fahrenheit 9/11," not to wait until the film was out of the gate and too far down the road to begin their attack.

Bush's Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, launched an investigation of a trip I took to Cuba to film scenes for the movie. These scenes involve a group of 9/11 rescue workers who are suffering from illnesses obtained from working down at Ground Zero. They have received little or no help with their health care from the government. I do not want to give away what actually happens in the movie because I don't want to spoil it for you (although I'm sure you'll hear much about it after it unspools Saturday). Plus, our lawyers have advised me to say little at this point, as the film goes somewhere far scarier than "Cuba." Rest assured of one thing: no laws were broken. All I've done is violate the modern-day rule of journalism that says, "ask no questions of those in power or your luncheon privileges will be revoked."

This preemptive action taken by the Bush administration on the eve of the "Sicko" premiere in Cannes led our attorneys to fear for the safety of our film, noting that Secretary Paulson may try to claim that the content of the movie was obtained through a violation of the trade embargo that our country has against Cuba and the travel laws that prohibit average citizens of our free country from traveling to Cuba. (The law does not prohibit anyone from exercising their first amendment right of a free press and documentaries are protected works of journalism.)

I was floored when our lawyers told me this. "Are you saying they might actually confiscate our movie?" "Yes," was the answer. "These days, anything is possible. Even if there is just a 20 percent chance the government would seize our movie before Cannes, does anyone want to take that risk?"

Certainly not. So there we were last week, spiriting a duplicate master negative out of the country just so no one from the government would take it from us. (Seriously, I can't believe I just typed those words! Did I mention that I'm an American, and this is America and NO ONE should ever have to say they had to do such a thing?)

I mean, folks, I have just about had it. Investigating ME because I'm trying to help some 9/11 rescue workers our government has abandoned? Once again, up is down and black is white. There are only two people in need of an investigation and a trial, and the desire for this across America is so widespread you don't even need to see the one's smirk or hear the other's sneer to know who I am talking about.

But no, I'm the one who now has to hire lawyers and sneak my documentary out of the country just so people can see a friggin' movie. I mean, it's just a movie! What on earth could I have placed on celluloid that would require such a nonsensical action against me?

Ok. Scratch that.

Well, I'm on my way to Cannes right now, a copy of the movie in my bag. Don't feel too bad for me, I'll be in the south of France for a week! But then it's back to the U.S. for a number of premieres and benefits and then, finally, a chance for all of you to see this film that I have made. Circle June 29th on your calendar because that's when it opens in theaters everywhere across the country and Canada (for the rest of the world, it opens in the fall).

I can't wait for you to see it.

Yours,

Michael Moore

P.S. I will write more about what happens from Cannes. Stay tuned on my website, MichaelMoore.com.

[bluesron]

well other than create some buzz for a couple news cycles, i'm not sure what Mr Moore's films really accomplish.

Bowling for Columbine and Farenheight 9/11 were both controversial and needed to be made.

But there are still just as many guns, VA Tech proves that it can still happen, and the Monkey Boy is still president.

He's the darling of the far left and a fabricator to the far right.

Not sure what he is to the majority of us in the middle.

Maybe he ought to remake Roger and Me and talk about bread and butter issues. Like jobs, health care, quality affordable education for everyone and an economic tide that lifts all the boats and not just those at the top.

Maybe the politicians will start to do the same.

[robertaxel]

I believe that 'Sicko' is supposed to be about health care, as big a bread and butter issue as there is in the US today. What he will say about it, is another matter, however..

[bluesron]

bluesron said:

well other than create some buzz for a couple news cycles, i'm not sure what Mr Moore's films really accomplish.

Bowling for Columbine and Farenheight 9/11 were both controversial and needed to be made.

But there are still just as many guns, VA Tech proves that it can still happen, and the Monkey Boy is still president.

He's the darling of the far left and a fabricator to the far right.

Not sure what he is to the majority of us in the middle.

Maybe he ought to remake Roger and Me and talk about bread and butter issues. Like jobs, health care, quality affordable education for everyone and an economic tide that lifts all the boats and not just those at the top.

Maybe the politicians will start to do the same.

By the way I just wanted to make clear that I oppose any efforts to confiscate Mr Moore's film or suppress it in anyway, People have the right to see it and make up their own minds.

[erik]

It has to be said that, while FAHRENHEIT 9/11 may have been unsuccessful at mobilizing enough voters to kick Bush out in 2004 (partly because of some GOP voting shenanigans in Ohio), it did plant the seeds of doubt in millions of people's minds about him, and reminded people of the guy's arrogance and disdainful nature towards the basic tenets of our Constitution--things that probably would not have cropped up to the surface had that film never been made.

[Andrew]

One thing I didn't like about Roger and Me: I think he went too far in implying how much blame GM had for things.

The scene I'm thinking about is one in which a single-parent family is being evicted. The mother is out of her mind, screaming and yelling and definitely committing emotional abuse on her kids. In the context of the film it seemed to me that this terrifying scene was all Roger's doing.

Sorry, but stressful as was that situation, she was still the parent, and whether or not her behavior is understandable, the effect on her kids is on HER and no one else.

It kind of colored the rest of the documentary for me.

I didn't like the rabbit-skinning scene either. The rabbit was more a victim there than the woman selling them.

[Andrew]

Fahrenheit 9/11 seemed very bread and butter to me. There was considerable coverage about the tactics used to trick underpriviledged youth into enlisting into the military.

I don't think any documentary would completely change society...but it does offer information and commentary. Freedom of the press is perhaps THE most important aspect of US citizenship, because the inability to report on what may or may not be the crimes of even the most powerful people in the government would be many steps closer to dictatorship than what we experience now.

People will go to films like this (or refuse to go) based on their own preconceptions/opinions. Strong opinions are hard to change. But no one can blame Moore for not trying and going against the grain. I'm grateful for it, because for a while there it was downright scary to say anything negative about US militarism.

[Andrew]

I saw Sicko when it came out on DVD just a couple weeks ago. Well-made and yep, I was ticked off as I watched it. Some things just seem like common sense...