Michael Moore's movie flops its first weekend

[nobody's_hero]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/09/23/michael-moores-fahrenheit-119-falls-flat-at-box-office-with-dismal-3-million-opening.html


Michael Moore's latest anti-Republican documentary tanked at the box office compared to his movies from a decade ago, as “Fahrenheit 11/9” barely registered with a $3.1 million take on its first weekend.

The title was a play on his 2004 documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” that sought to expose mishandlings in President George W. Bush’s White House following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The latest film, as Fox News previously reported, sought to do the same to President Trump at a key time for the country: the 2018 midterm elections.

“Fahrenheit 11/9” took in $3.1 million in 1,719 cinemas — a large debut for most documentaries but a fraction of the $23.9 million opening of “Fahrenheit 9/11.” That film went on to make $222.4 million worldwide, a record for documentaries.

and. . .

"How Michael Moore lost his audience" (https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/how-michael-moore-lost-his-audience/ar-AAAwHhX?ocid=spartanntp)

[Swordsmyth]

Blue Ebb Tide!

[James_Madison_Lives]

Blue Ebb Tide!

Snowflakes ain't got jobs or money for a movie.

[Zippyjuan]

https://variety.com/2018/film/columns/how-michael-moore-lost-his-audience-fahrenheit-11-9-1202953813/


How Michael Moore Lost His Audience

The films of Michael Moore have been faltering at the box office for several years now. This weekend, though, the lackluster performance of his latest truth-to-power opus, “Fahrenheit 11/9,” was notably dramatic, if not downright stark. The movie is a sequel, of sorts, to “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Moore’s scathing riff on the administration of George W. Bush. That movie, when it was released in 2004, made $119 million, becoming the highest-grossing documentary of all time. It was a special moment, of course. America was still grappling with the shock of 9/11, and Moore’s film became a lightning rod — a catharsis for liberals (or some of them, anyway) and a symbol, for conservatives, of everything that was wrong with liberalism. But one thing, perhaps, that everyone could agree on is that in “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore, for good or ill, had become instrumental in defining the national dialogue.

“Fahrenheit 11/9,” his scathing riff on the administration of Donald J. Trump, will be lucky to gross one-tenth of what “Fahrenheit 9/11” did. That’s more than just a staggering comedown. It symbolizes a couple of things at once: how different the two eras are, but also how Michael Moore’s audience — there’s no other way to put it — has gradually drifted away. It symbolizes that Moore is no longer defining the dialogue. A Trump-era conservative would probably say, “It’s about time! Michael Moore has lied so much that it’s all finally caught up with him.” A Trump-era liberal would probably say, “I still agree with him, but I’ve seen enough Michael Moore movies. I know his message already.”



The Internet has fractured how we get our information. When Moore made “Bowling for Columbine,” in 2002, he put forth essential arguments about the gun debate, and the historical culture of American violence, that people still reference. The movie itself felt like a loaded weapon. (A number of viewers hated his ambush of Charlton Heston, but in that moment I felt that Moore revealed the hypocrisy of gun advocates.) The film grossed $21 million, but even that solid sum barely measured how much it became part of the conversation. Today, by contrast, the conversation about guns is more or less everywhere, rippling through comment boards and news shows and cell phones and, yes, documentaries, some of which have been superb (like 2016’s incisive portrait of the NRA, “Under the Gun”) even as they’ve remained mostly off the radar. It’s much harder for one movie to break through and become a giant billboard of issues the way that “Bowling for Columbine” did.

Moore’s audience has aged out. A generation of liberal viewers grew up with Michael Moore, but it may well be that they no longer go out to the movies. At least, not in the way they once did. He’s like an aging rock star putting out albums that simply don’t mean as much to those who were, and are, his core fans. But what about the next generation? If anything, they’re even more of Moore’s ilk: ardent, progressive, dogmatic in their passion. There’s just one problem: The under-40 generation, raised by technology, has demonstrated that it feels almost no desire to act out its progressive impulses by going to the movies. That’s what their parents did. Remember “Citizenfour,” the Laura Poitras documentary about Edward Snowden? It became a mythical media touchstone. And guess what? Hardly anyone saw it.

In the Trump era, people are addicted to the news, but they’re also sick of it. They don’t want to go out to a movie and rehash the Trump presidency they’re already living on a nightly basis on MSNBC. Simple as that. I mean, seriously, who hasn’t felt the burnout? Then, of course, there’s a highly related phenomenon, known as…

The let’s-just-tune-it-all-out factor. Everyone talks about activism, but when it comes down to it many of us would rather just sit around and binge-watch “The Walking Dead.”

[asurfaholic]

I never followed the fahrenheit 911 crap. Did it actually seek to inject truth into the 9-11 lies or was it just a liberal loudmouthing Republicans fest?

[Schifference]

It couldn't happen to a worse person.

[dude58677]

I never followed the fahrenheit 911 crap. Did it actually seek to inject truth into the 9-11 lies or was it just a liberal loudmouthing Republicans fest?


That was the Neocon Party which deserved to be bashed. The Republican Party now is back to its roots and is fact acting like a party out of power. Before Republicans would be for small government and once in office proposed big government on both foreign and domestic policy. This Republican Party has continued the small government rhetoric while even in office.

[TheTexan]

The let’s-just-tune-it-all-out factor. Everyone talks about activism, but when it comes down to it many of us would rather just sit around and binge-watch “The Walking Dead.”

When does the next season start?

[Grandmastersexsay]

That was the Neocon Party which deserved to be bashed. The Republican Party now is back to its roots and is fact acting like a party out of power. Before Republicans would be for small government and once in office proposed big government on both foreign and domestic policy. This Republican Party has continued the small government rhetoric while even in office.

That might be a little too optimistic.

[Anti Globalist]

Good. I like it when Moore makes less money.

[Anti Federalist]

I never followed the fahrenheit 911 crap. Did it actually seek to inject truth into the 9-11 lies or was it just a liberal loudmouthing Republicans fest?

See dannno's remarks.

[Anti Federalist]

How Michael Moore Lost His Audience

He's an old white guy.

To the New Bolsheviks, he is not progressive enough.

Moore is the very definition of "useful idiot", a self loathing leftist white, who, like a spoiled petulant child, is happy to tear down and destroy everything his people have created, only to come to the unhappy realization that, in the end, he is not invited to dance party in the ashes and is not welcome among the new owners of the country that he himself help hand over the deed to.

[Aratus]

Are they all waiting for it to hit NETFLIX or HULU or Amazon Prime? I wonder.... :)

[kpitcher]

I never followed the fahrenheit 911 crap. Did it actually seek to inject truth into the 9-11 lies or was it just a liberal loudmouthing Republicans fest?
Saw F9-11 it in a theater on the opening weekend, it was filled. I don't recall too much of it, although I remember it was showing how we went to Iraq without even reading through the legislation to go to war. Also pointed out the Saudi flights out of the country without questions. I think it was a good thing to have made, showing how the neocons got their war in Iraq that they had wanted for so long.

Regardless of his political stance I think his films actually have been good for the discussion. Bowling for columbine basically said the reason for the school shooting could be blamed on the morning bowling class as much as anything else. Decades later I have no recollection of any stance in the movie other than the summation that you can't explain crazy which still seems to be the case with almost any shooting. F 911 showed the cheerleading for war in Iraq even if it didn't have anything to do with 9-11. His documentaries at least give a reasoned point of view than the now typical talking heads or ranting on the 'net.

What is surprising is there is not a conservative or libertarian equivalent of Moore that I can think of. Something with a cohesive structure for over an hour in a fashion that keeps the viewer watching. Then again I don't know if that would really work in today's sound bite, social media meme world.

[dude58677]

That might be a little too optimistic.



Donald Trumps rhetoric doesn’t sound much different then the Tea Party campaigns of 2010 and 2014.

[Aratus]

Are they all waiting for it to hit NETFLIX or HULU or Amazon Prime? I wonder.... :)

Keep in mind NETFLIX cut the recent deal with the Obamas, and that
Michael Moore must have other ambitious projects being dreamt of...

[Schifference]

Michael Moore is what every young man in America dreams to aspire to. He has it all. He is handsome, fit, wealthy, funny......He is a man of the people!

[shakey1]

Michael Moore is what every young man in America dreams to aspire to. He has it all. He is handsome, fit, wealthy, funny......He is a man of the people!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/evilpundit/blog/images/moore-creosote.jpg

[donnay]

Aww, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. :sarcasm:

I really hope he moves to Canada soon, since he hates America so much.

[dannno]

I never followed the fahrenheit 911 crap. Did it actually seek to inject truth into the 9-11 lies or was it just a liberal loudmouthing Republicans fest?

It was a pretty fantastic film, for the most part. He outted Bush's Saudi connections and explained how the Saudis had like 13% of the US economic investments in the stock market.. and how they benefited from 9/11. He didn't get into US involvement, but hinted at their participation in covering it up.

Now we know he was right, ala the 28 pages..

Bowling for Columbine was a pretty good one too, he blamed the defense industry which was centered in Littleton, CO where the shooting took place for helping making the kids violent, they make a lot of bombs and missiles there.. he largely debunked the idea that guns or gun culture in the US caused the shootings, but did go off on the NRA a little bit.

I don't really like anything else he has done tho.

[dannno]

https://www.independent.com/news/2018/sep/26/michael-moore-returns-fahrenheit-119/




Michael Moore Returns with ‘Fahrenheit 11/9’
Documentary Talks Trump Era and Flint Water Crisis
Wednesday, September 26, 2018


by KEVIN C. MOORE


Michael Moore’s latest film Fahrenheit 11/9 is like watching two documentaries rolled into one. The film’s primary thread has already been terrifying moviegoers for months. It dominates the film’s trailer, depicting a democracy in crisis and featuring Moore declaring President Donald Trump “the last President of the United States.” The film picks up this thread at the beginning, retelling the story of Trump’s rise and election from the moment he declared his campaign, which, in Moore’s portrayal, began as a sham publicity stunt because Trump was angry at NBC (how it unnerved the future president when he discovered that Gwen Stefani was better compensated than he was). It then stitches together all-too-familiar news footage of escalating Trump rallies, the surprises of election night (hence the “11/9”), as well as dozens of alarming statements and misstatements by Trump, his family, and members of his administration.


Most of this story will already be well-known to anyone who lives outside the Fox News/Breitbart propaganda silo. Yet Moore’s candid narration does a nice job underscoring, for anyone in doubt, how far and how fast the U.S. has departed from democratic norms in the Trump era. Moore’s credibility on this topic is based upon the fact that he has widely been cited as calling the election for Trump when everyone was convinced Hillary Clinton would triumph. He correctly saw that voters in Mid-Western states were badly neglected if not insulted by the Clinton campaign.
Throughout these components of the film, Moore’s narration is equal parts hilarious and frightening, combining ironic storytelling and cartoonish music with deadly serious politics, as the unsettling past two years of American political history unfolds again before our eyes, narrated by one of the left’s most reliable spokespersons.


The other major story told by Fahrenheit 11/9 — and arguably the film’s more significant contribution to the present political conversation — deals specifically with the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Here, Moore displays impressive investigative journalism, returning to his hometown. Flint was economically devastated by the departure of the auto industry, an earlier crisis that was the subject of Moore’s breakthrough documentary Roger and Me(1989).

This time, Moore tells the urgent story of how corporate greed and government corruption brought about dangerous lead contamination in Flint’s water supply, where approximately 10,000 children have been put at risk of serious health problems. Moore shows the disturbing racial dimensions of the present crisis, which he calls a form of “slow-motion ethnic cleansing” against the city’s majority African American population. According to Moore, the project was deliberately coordinated by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Snyder’s deceptive “run-Michigan-like-a-business” promises are presented as a prototype for Trump’s “plain sight” lies and dishonesties. Not insignificantly, Moore points out, Trump was the only major presidential candidate to make a visit to Flint, albeit for devious reasons, not least of which was the chance to buddy up with and learn from his crony Snyder.


Throughout this sequence, Moore is at his best as he interviews victims of the water crisis, even confronting Snyder and his administration directly. In one memorable scene, Moore shows up at the Michigan State Capitol to make a citizen’s arrest of the governor, offering Snyder a glass of water he personally transported from Flint. When the governor declines through a nervous representative, Moore brings a full tanker of Flint water to the governor’s mansion and hoses down the driveway.


Given Moore’s status as an outspoken celebrity, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would pay to see Fahrenheit 11/9 without having some preconceived idea of his politics. Moore’s films are well-known to be impassioned rallies for the left, and on this note Fahrenheit 11/9 does not disappoint.


Outside the Flint sequences, the film casts a broad net, describing many dire problems facing America but also highlighting signs of hope. The film covers broadly ranging topics: 9/11 and the public-emergency culture it generated, the scandal and shame of the DNC’s dismissal of Bernie Sanders’ legitimacy, the rise of galvanizing new political figures such as Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as the Parkland, Florida, school shooting (familiar territory for Moore, whose Bowling for Columbine (2002) galvanized the nation) and the March for Our Lives student movement.


In the Santa Barbara theater where I viewed the film, the experience was one of considerable solidarity. Certainly, for those on the left, it feels good to watch Moore replay a speech by Adolf Hitler at a rally from the 1930s, only superimposed with Trump’s voice. Yet the over-broad, often propagandistic elements of this film could alienate some viewers who might otherwise be interested in hearing more about the details of the Flint crisis.

If no one seems to walk out of a Michael Moore film offended, that is probably because those who might disagree — as well as those who might feel uncomfortable when presented with any form of highly-persuasive propaganda — are self-selected out of the audience in advance.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of Fahrenheit 11/9 occurs during the Flint sequence, where Moore is at his combative best on behalf of those his investigative journalism serves. When a security officer monitoring a Flint water-rights protest is asked if the protestors have any “weapons,” the man’s candid response could hardly be more perfect: “Michael Moore is here.”

The riskiest moment, on the other hand, is a clip from over a decade ago featuring former White House Chief Strategist and terrifying white nationalist Steve Bannon, who calls Moore a “great filmmaker” even though he disagrees with Moore’s politics. When Moore remarks, satirically, that he is not sure what to make of this compliment from Bannon, he undermines his own credibility more than he ought to. In 2018, where media is so often consumed within rigid partisan filter bubbles, propagandists, including Moore — at least when he enters this rhetorical mode — really only preach to the choir. This is unfortunate, because the anger-inducing reporting Moore provides in Fahrenheit 11/9 about criminally impoverished, poisoned Flint should be required viewing for all Americans.

[dannno]

The latter.

Did you watch it??

It was no loose change, but I got the impression from the film that he thought there was a lot more to 9/11 than the 19 hijackers and Bin Laden.. like the Saudis were involved (which turns out to be true) and that they were good friends with the Bush's and had a lot of business dealings with them (also true..). He spent a lot of time connecting all those dots.

[Anti Federalist]

Did you watch it??

It was no loose change, but I got the impression from the film that he thought there was a lot more to 9/11 than the 19 hijackers and Bin Laden.. like the Saudis were involved (which turns out to be true) and that they were good friends with the Bush's and had a lot of business dealings with them (also true..). He spent a lot of time connecting all those dots.

I'll admit to having only watched clips...I withdraw my remark.