Michael Moore’s anti-Bush “Fahrenheit 9/11” became the highest-grossing documentary of all time on its first weekend in release, taking in $21.8 million as it packed theaters across the country this weekend.
(NYT: “The Political ‘Fahrenheit’ Sets Record at Box Office” by Sharon Waxman [June 28, 2004])
Q. In Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft is shown performing a song he composed, “Let the Eagle Soar.” Does this mean Ashcroft will earning songwriting royalties and indirectly profit from the film?
Jonathan Young,
Tampa, Fla.A. Michael Moore tells the Answer Man: “Could be. Warner Records wants to release the soundtrack. I told the lawyers if he wants his fee, we should give it to him.”
(Note: Ebert’s “9/11: Just the facts?” is also an interesting read.)
(Chicago Sun-Times/Movie Answer Man: “Bowling for ‘Fahrenheit’: The 411” by Roger Ebert [May 30, 2004])
“I fully intended not to see Fahrenheit 9/11, even though I criticized Disney for refusing to distribute it… [part of entry left out] So I’m completely at a loss when a reviewer for Fox calls Farenheit 9-11
‘a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail … a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty — and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice.’
(Mark A. R. Kleiman: “WTF? Fox News Likes F9/11?” by Mark Kleiman [June 16, 2004]; the FN article in question is Fox News: “‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Gets Standing Ovation” by Roger Friedman [June 15, 2004])
“A few years ago, Michael Moore spoke with then-Governor George W. Bush, who told the muckraker: “Behave yourself, will ya? Go find real work.”
…
“In one sense, Michael Moore took George W. Bush’s advice. He found ‘real work’ deconstructing the President’s Iraq mistakes. ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ is Moore’s own War on Error.”
(Above quote drawn from the first and last sentences of the Time article; Time: “A First Look at Fahrenheit 9/11” by Mary Corliss [May 17, 2004])
“No human being of any political stripe can watch this film and be unmoved. It’s a brilliant film and it disturbed me very deeply.”
(Reuters: “Notable Quotes” [June 25, 2004])