Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Politics: Best Picture

Well, we'll see if the esteemed members of the Academy have any balls. Michael Moore is nominating "Fahrenheit 9/11" for Best Picture and bypassing the Documentary category...
Moore to Pursue Best Picture Oscar
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Moore says he won't submit ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' for consideration as best documentary at this year's Academy Awards. Instead, he's going for the bigger prize of best picture...

..."For me the real Oscar would be Bush's defeat on Nov. 2,'' Moore told The Associated Press during a phone interview Monday from New York...

...In the midst of the presidential campaign, Moore's announcement is a strategic move for his Oscar campaign. Documentaries and animated films have their own categories, but the conventional wisdom in Hollywood is that those niche awards can limit a film's appeal in the overall best picture class.

Moore said he and his producing partner, Harvey Weinstein, agreed ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' would stand a better chance if they focused solely on the top Oscar.

The best news? Right here. This would be awesome:
Moore also hinted in a recent interview in Rolling Stone he would like the movie to play on television before the presidential election. According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, playing on TV would invalidate its contention in the documentary category, but not for best picture. With the movie coming out on DVD Oct. 5, it's not clear whether the TV deal would happen.

Oh, man that would be amazing if he can pull it off. Screw the DVD sales, they've already made a fortune on this film. Get it on the air! I'm not sure how much it would hurt sales anyway. I'm sure it would hurt Blockbuster, but I cannot care about that.

A Sunday October 31st 'Movie of the Week' on a major network would have a tremendous effect on the election. So much so that I cannot imagine a network having the courage to do it. Moore will probably end up on a premium channel (HBO, Showtime, etc.) or perhaps a basic cable USA, TNT instead. Anything that gives further exposure is bad for Bush and good for us. It might not convince everyone to vote for Kerry, but I'm sure it will erode votes from Bush.

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