Thursday, 24 June 2004
Michael & Me
Last night I went out to do the grocery shopping, and I walked right past a whole mess of tv cameras and red carpet style hubbub. Turns out it was the US Premiere of Fahrenheit 911.
This was all happening at the Uptown movie theatre - an old-school 1940's style movie house/Washington DC icon which just happens to be right across the street from our apartment.
I didn't get to see the movie, but Fiona and I did get to shake hands with Michael Moore. It was like shaking hands with a glove full of ground beef - meaty, yet surprisingly firm.
The next morning Fi woke up and went online to read the news. There was a Yahoo slideshow of the premiere, and guess who's photo got picked up by Reuters:
(Reuters)
We're just chillin, as you can plainly see. Here's how it went down:
MM: Yeah, this kinda blows.
Me: My pad's across the street. There's a Miller Lite there with your name on it.
MM: Are you my caucasian or what? Let's get outta here.
We spent the rest of the night drinking beers and watching Enter the Dragon.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on June 24, 2004 at 10:32 AM in Current Affairs, Film | Permalink
Oh Bull
Posted by: ange ramsey | Jun 24, 2004 6:55:35 PM
only you...
Posted by: carin | Jun 25, 2004 3:01:08 PM
You are cuter than Michael.
Posted by: Elyn | Jun 28, 2004 12:29:06 PM
Jeremy,
What a coincidence. I saw Farenheit 9/11 yesterday afternoon and stopped to tell your mom that she should see it as soon as she's up to going to the movies. And she told me about your encounter.
Just remember, now you can never wash your hand!
Say "Hi" to Fiona!
Posted by: Margaret Levy | Jun 28, 2004 1:40:24 PM
I have four free movie tickets that a friend gave me for Christmas (I accepted telling her I am a BuJew, but hey; thanks for the gift!) I have used one for "Lord of the Rings, Return of the King", "Shrek 2", and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."
Guess what movie I used for the fourth ticket? Yep, Fahenheit 9/11". And I live in California where all the movie stars supposedly are. Crappola, so I am in Silly Con Valley, a few hundred miles from Holy-wood, but hey, those stars got cars and planes, don't they?
Shit, what a time to be clean, sober, and abstinent. 23 years later and I still don't drink, use, and am 167 pounds thinner. Life's NOT fair, damnit. And now I am blonde, again, must be the Cali air or sumthin?
Guess I will make do with seeing President Bill Clinton again at Barnes and Noble later today. Yeah, it's my second time seeing him, but he never asked me to hide under a desk or have a beer or even watch Bruce Lee movies with him!
Jeremy you are so kewl, cute, and Moore is lucky to have had you nearby. I am so excited for you, I am sending this URL to all of my friends. They all will definitely appreciate your picture and your hutzpah!
'Sides, with such wonderful parents who are adorable, cute, sharing, caring, and sexy, you couldn't turn out any diff!
Posted by: Joan Mirsky | Jun 28, 2004 2:22:52 PM
Hey Jeremy,
If you are going to start picking up guys you can do better. I know he is a big hollywood director and all but you're too cute for him. Hope all is well with you and give Fiona a big kiss for me.
andre
Posted by: Andre | Jun 28, 2004 8:52:14 PM
I'm cuter than Michael Moore? Isn't that like saying somebody's sweeter than Mike Tyson or more masculine than Prince?
Of course, I'll take what I can get. Besides, I guess "Moore is lucky to have had you nearby" ain't so bad. I tried to tell him that, but he just smacked me and told me to go get more Doritos.
Posted by: smooveJ | Jun 29, 2004 10:07:06 PM
You're now a hero to some of the people who work with me! One girl says Michael Moore is a "god" and now you are too...
:)
Posted by: erin | Jul 1, 2004 3:52:01 PM
FAHENHEIT 911 DEGREES IS HOTTER THAN 451
Ray Bradbury is pissed at M. Moore, claiming he wants his title back. Duh???? It's not the same title, Ray. True, paper burns at 451 degree but it takes 911 degrees to burn up the U.S. Constitution. That is what Moore claims Bush has done in attacking Iraq.
Moore's piece is a satirical cartoon. Still he is attacked for distorting the truth. Duh???? No cartoonist is ever held to any standard of realism. Their craft is based on distortion—the morphing of people into ideas. Which is exactly what Moore does in F-911.
His first attempt at satire is to ask: Are Americans sleep walking? Are the last four years but a dream? He implies that if Americans don't soon
wake up to what is happening, figures like Donald Rumsfeld will soon morph into past figures that were named, for example, Hermann Goering, Hitler's Reich-Marshall.
At the Nuremberg Trials after WW II, Goering said the following: "But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, ....All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." (April 18, 1946, interview with Gustave Gilbert in his book, NUREMBERG DIARY.)
Moore is clever in making Bush the star of his movie. Sure he must drag the lines spoken out of context to make his points, but that is the fodder for all current political ads. What he does best is to graphically show how the nation of sheep followed the leader into this abyss. For example, he shows two Marine recruiters rounding up the needed cannon fodder like a pimp at the bus station stalking runaway teenage girls.
Make no mistake, the hundreds of audiences from coast to coast who took time to applaud after watching F-911, got the message and woke up. There are, of course, many in Iraq who will never awaken again. They did not, however, die in vain.
And no, Ray Bradbury, you can't have your title back.
Posted by: Eugene Goheen | Jul 4, 2004 5:42:06 PM
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