Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

I've always aspired to be an ! myself. ;)

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

The movie has now premered on the East Coast, I would go tomorrow if it played locally.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

Personally I think Moore should go after link between major U.S. corporations and the Bin Laden family. Fox News reported this recently. Aparently there is about fifty family members and its hard to do bussiness in Sadia Arabia without working with a Bin Laden. Then there is the habit of the United States army reserves recruiting kids that aren't even out of high school. My friend was getting shot at with live ammo and he was a brand new senior. In fact he probably dropped out so he wouldn't have to go back. The ironic fact is that the army ended up promoting him even though he technically deserted. :confused:

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

There's also a scandal, I can't remember where, where the Army recruiting office sent a letter of enlistment to a kid who said he didn't want to join. then they told him if he didn't show up for duty, he would be given a $50,000 fine and a jail term, and he would never get a good job in this country.

Back on topic, though, has anyone seen it yet?

Oh, and I saw the guy who wrote the Slate article on Hardball on Wednesday (he's a long-time critic of Moore, so you know that story was clearly biased), next to a friend of Clinton's, he pretty much reiterated what was in the article, however.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

See, I personally don't think any Iraqi parent affected by the war ever gave their children parental consent to see people getting shot, buildings being blown up, and cities being bombarded [by either side]... Having kids/teens see that here, even on film, would be a good way to show them why war is not cool. Might change some opinions... It's definitely better than mindless movie violence that gets a PG13 rating. And as for language/profanity, what 10 year old hasn't already learned it all from friends/family/movies/TV, etc?

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

Unfortunately at that point the parents don't have a say in what their son/daughter does. They are grown adults. If they did that would be really really really scary. All I can think of is Principal Skinners from the Simpsons.I would think that Saving Private Ryan would have more of an effect than this film. One look at the violence is enough to turn anyone away.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

So true. Many kids see many worse things than a little gore and some bad language. Heck, even VP Dick Cheney used the "F-Word" on the Senate Floor (Fox News, CNN, MSNBC). And kids fantasize about war and being soldiers and all that, so why don't we show them the gruesome reality that is war, maybe then they won't mindlessly enlist and get killed.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

Saw it today... Wow is all I can say.

Moore makes alot of connections that frankly were kind of scary. Go see it... you know you want to.

-Aaron

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

No... but that's war for you. Look at all the other wars we've been in, you think civilians haven't seen attrocities? Please.

I could care less if it was was a sci-fi movie - the point is movies that have violence and language in them should get a just rating, no exceptions. Period.

I'm surprised some people weren't complaining when The Passion of the Christ got an R rating... and it's easily been the hardest thing I've watched in my entire life. Is there a reason it should have not been rated R?

Just get over the fact that it's rated R... can't change that now, considering the movie has opened... this is probably a movie young people should see with their parents anyways.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

Saw it a few hours ago; I can honestly say it wasn't saying anything new. That is, same content as what we've been fed, but interesting form (by the way, the rating is justified). This documentary/movie consists of mostly information we knew already (or are in denial of in some cases), supported by fact that we never cared to go into, all in an interesting format. It is inferior to Bowling for Columbine, but retains a lot (but not all) of the interesting style senn there. It should be noted that Moore resorts to distasteful badgering in this movie too, but of course it's very entertaining, so he gets chuckles and claps from the audience. The way he antagonizes the senior Bush Administration officials at the start is wickedly clever, and you can only truly appreciate it in a movie theatre.

In fact, as many of the Republican loyalists here will be quick to point out, it is simply a lot of anti-Bush rhetoric, much of which is founded but has no relation to the original thesis, which basically deals with the sinister and real connection between the United States' elite, economy, the Bush Family, the bin Laden family, and Saudi interests. There are a lot of specific facts that support things we already knew that go against the Bush Administration and Bush himself, but this connection should have been explored more. By the end of the movie, we are left thinking not of 9/11, but of the folly of the government. The thesis by then has abstracted to basically, "Bush sucks, here's why." Compelling, yes, but it's not a very credible documentary for that reason. It also uses a lot of images we really didn't need to see to understand a given situation, but that also goes into the entertainment/random info factor.

As is always the case with this kind of material, moviegoers at Kennedy Commons AMC Theatre 9 all witnessed someone who didn't have the personal fortitude to sit through something he didn't agree with, that was raising point after point against. If you go to see this movie, expect nothing more; some people just can't listen to a differing argument. Now about bias, my lesson is just chill. Of course it's this movie is biased! It's a thesis, with rationally developed arguments (weak though they are in some cases). But if you still put objectivity on a pedestal, you have much to learn about learning.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

I got to watch Michael Moore talk at Portland State University earlier this year, and I got my copy of "Dude Where's My Country" autographed. Inspiring. Simply inspiring. (By the way, he is HUGE in real life. I don't know if it is just because I was meeting him, or what).

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

I pretty much agree with what you said, Jonathan, especially about the ‘R’ rating. There was some pretty gruesome imagery in the movie, but that shouldn’t be any reason to skip it. It’s something you have to see.

Another great point that was covered in this movie was that the poor people are more likely to enlist in the military for the possible benefits (paid tuition, and just having a job period), and not middle or upper class citizens. I thought it was a very important thing for him to point out that it’s the upper class sending the lower class off to fight in their place. It’s almost like revisiting the slave owners paying a fee that the lower class couldn’t afford so that they didn’t have to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. I especially liked the part of the movie with the recruiters going around the low income mall trying to sign up a few stragglers.

I thought it was well worth my $7.75 student rate to see this movie. By the way, every single showing in Washington D.C. Friday was sold out, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the same thing happened today (every showing at the theatre I went to today was sold out). I also heard that a lot of shows were sold out back home in CA.

I thought it was funny that the quickest path back to my dorm room from the theatre was between the Watergate and Kennedy Center, and then past the Saudi Embassy (it looks bigger in the movie). We chuckled and made a mental note of that scene in the movie on the way back.

I can’t wait to see how much money the movie made this weekend.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

I believe it's already breaking records for documentaries, I can't remember what Friday's was, but it had already made a profit.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

I most likely am going off to see it today with my uncle (He is a political annalist). I can’t stand body parts being blown off but I guess I will just have to stomach it.

I think its an important movie to see no matter what side of the fence you are on.

I saw a piece on MSNBC today about the movie and I think they got more facts wrong about the movie than the movie itself got wrong. That’s just my opinion though.

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11
 

Can you post a link to a story? I doubt $58 million in one day. It'd be great if it made that much this weekend.

For those of you who have seen it, were your showings sold out? Do you know if a lot of showings have sold out in your area?

Thanks in advance.