A fox news reporter says 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is a "brilliant piece of work"

[The1calledTKE]

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Gets Standing Ovations

The crowd that gave Michael Moore's controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11" a standing ovation last night at the Ziegfeld Theatre premiere certainly didn't have to be encouraged at all to show their appreciation. From liberal radio host and writer Al Franken to actor/director Tim Robbins, Moore was in his element. But once "F9/11" gets to audiences beyond screenings, it won't be dependent on celebrities for approbation. It turns out to be a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail.

As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, "F9/11" — as we saw last night — is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty, and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice. Readers of this column may recall that I had a lot of problems with Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," particularly where I thought he took gratuitous shots at helpless targets like Charlton Heston. "Columbine" too easily succeeded by shooting fish in a barrel, as they used to say. Not so with "F9/11," which instead relies on lots of film footage and actual interviews to make its case against the war in Iraq and tell the story of the intertwining histories of the Bush and Bin Laden families.

First, I know you want to know who came to the Ziegfeld, so here is just a partial list. Besides Franken and Robbins, Al Sharpton, Mike Myers, Tony Bennett, Glenn Close, Gretchen Mol (newly married over the weekend to director Todd Williams), Lori Singer, Tony Kushner, "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt, Jill Krementz and Kurt Vonnegut, Lauren Bacall (chatting up a fully refurbished Lauren Hutton), Richard Gere, John McEnroe and Patti Smythe, former Carter cabinet member and ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Carson Daly, NBC's Jeff Zucker, a very pregnant Rory Kennedy, playwright Israel Horovitz, Macaulay Culkin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kyra Sedgwick, Linda Evangelista, Ed Bradley, Tom and Meredith Brokaw, director Barry Levinson, NBC anchor Brian Williams, Vernon Jordan, Eva Mendez, Sandra Bernhard and the always humorous Joy Behar.

If that's not enough, how about Yoko Ono, accompanied by her son, Sean, who's let his hair grow out and is now sporting a bushy beard that makes him look like his late, beloved father John Lennon?

And then, just to show you how much people wanted to see this film, there was Martha Stewart, looking terrific. I mean, talk about eclectic groups!

Now, unless you've been living under a rock you know that this movie has been the cause of a lot of trouble. Miramax and Disney have gone to war over it, and "The Passion of the Christ" seems like "Mary Poppins" in retrospect. Before anyone's even seen it, there have been partisan debates over which way Moore may have spun this or that to get a desired effect.

But, really, in the end, not seeing "F9/11" would be like allowing your first amendment rights to be abrogated, no matter whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. The film does Bush no favors, that's for sure, but it also finds an unexpectedly poignant and universal groove in the story of Lila Lipscombe, a Flint, Michigan mother who sends her kids into the Army for the opportunities it can provide — just like the commercials say — and lives to regret it. Lipscombe's story is so powerful, and so completely Middle American, that I think it will take Moore's critics by surprise. She will certainly move to tears everyone who encounters her.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_frien...122678,00.html

Wow did hell freeze over or did they hire someone liberal? lol

[Kevin]

They're just being "Fair and Balanced" -- or maybe Fox has a stake in the distribution firm that is distributing the movie?

[cuaphi]

Originally posted by The1calledTKE
Readers of this column may recall that I had a lot of problems with Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," particularly where I thought he took gratuitous shots at helpless targets like Charlton Heston. "Columbine" too easily succeeded by shooting fish in a barrel, as they used to say. Not so with "F9/11," which instead relies on lots of film footage and actual interviews to make its case against the war in Iraq and tell the story of the intertwining histories of the Bush and Bin Laden families.

Interesting. I thought Bowling for Columbine was thought provoking but definitely one sided. And I am a liberal. We'll have to see how this one comes out.

[Pike1483]

Fox news does have some liberals, like Alan Colmes. They really are "Fair and Balanced" unlike CNN and CBS. Haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to because I don't want to contribute any money to a liberal fanatic moron like Michael Moore.

[sigtau305]

Originally posted by cuaphi
Interesting. I thought Bowling for Columbine was thought provoking but definitely one sided. And I am a liberal. We'll have to see how this one comes out.

I haven't seen "Bowling for Columbine". But I might rent it out.

[damasa]

Originally posted by Pike1483
Fox news does have some liberals, like Alan Colmes. They really are "Fair and Balanced" unlike CNN and CBS. Haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to because I don't want to contribute any money to a liberal fanatic moron like Michael Moore.

HAHA. Dude, you said Fox news does have "some liberals" and you name one? Alan Colmes seems to be more middle of the road than anything else. His book was also quite bland.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by damasa
HAHA. Dude, you said Fox news does have "some liberals" and you name one? Alan Colmes seems to be more middle of the road than anything else. His book was also quite bland.

Colmes is not only a moderate by society's standards, but he's described himself as such. If anything, Colmes is proof of Fox's unbalanced reporting -- how else could you describe a show where the conservative vs. liberal showdown takes place between a conservative and a moderate?

[Rudey]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
Colmes is not only a moderate by society's standards, but he's described himself as such. If anything, Colmes is proof of Fox's unbalanced reporting -- how else could you describe a show where the conservative vs. liberal showdown takes place between a conservative and a moderate?

But Fox is the least biased...

-Rudey

[damasa]

Originally posted by Rudey
But Fox is the least biased...

-Rudey

I'll agree with that (I read your other post about the survey but I didn't post).

I have no problem owning up to the fact that liberal media is very biased. Eventhough Fox is least biased they are still biased in my eyes and it's sickening that people continue to claim this "fair and balanced" bs.

Anyway, I'll give you three points.

[Corsulian]

It bothers me that people just lump together 'liberal' and 'conservative' as the two defining viewpoints of everything. It's a diverse world, there's no need for dichotomy.
And "Bowling for Columbine" did not have with it an anti-gun thesis. Michael Moore does, but the movie did not. The scene with Charleton Heston didn't support the rest of the movie so much as it allowed Moore to be a jackass.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by Rudey
But Fox is the least biased...

-Rudey

I didn't check the survey results you posted, but needless to say, other surveys on the same topic have shown mixed results, so I'm not going to weigh in one way or another. Like I've said before, I imagine that many news networks do present news in a way that is liberally-skewed, but that the skewing comes from the reporters' personal bias (reason poll result: only 7 percent of journalists consider themselves conservative; the rest are self-described moderates and liberals) rather than executive orders (which many have claimed, both justly and unjustly, is the case with Fox).

At any rate, my previous point was just pointing out that Colmes is hardly a liberal and doesn't even see himself as one. If Fox News is truly the least biased of all major news networks, there should be better examples of their "balanced coverage" than him.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
I didn't check the survey results you posted, but needless to say, other surveys on the same topic have shown mixed results, so I'm not going to weigh in one way or another. Like I've said before, I imagine that many news networks do present news in a way that is liberally-skewed, but that the skewing comes from the reporters' personal bias (reason poll result: only 7 percent of journalists consider themselves conservative; the rest are self-described moderates and liberals) rather than executive orders (which many have claimed, both justly and unjustly, is the case with Fox).

At any rate, my previous point was just pointing out that Colmes is hardly a liberal and doesn't even see himself as one. If Fox News is truly the least biased of all major news networks, there should be better examples of their "balanced coverage" than him.

I posted a study by academics, not a survey. Other surveys on the same topic? Please point them out. Or you could just leave it as is and drop this whole Fox is super biased bullshit.

-Rudey

[sugar and spice]

Honey, please. You're a smart kid. You know that one study based on limited variables does not tell the entire story, especially in cases like this where there are so many variables being ignored.

For example, Al Franken did an "academic study" for his most recent book that "proved" that the so-called liberal media was much tougher on Al Gore than they were on GWB in their 2000 election coverage. Am I not supposed to take that with a grain of salt?

You're not even arguing the same point that I'm arguing. Like I said, I'm not arguing that other news station might not be biased -- maybe even more so than Fox. What I have an issue with is that Fox still tells its viewers that its coverage is "fair and balanced" despite the reports that keep piling up from former Fox employees that they are told to spin stories with a conservative slant. If Fox came out and said, "Hey, we're supposed to be a conservative alternative to the rest of the liberal media," I'd be totally fine with that.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
Honey, please. You're a smart kid. You know that one study based on limited variables does not tell the entire story, especially in cases like this where there are so many variables being ignored.

For example, Al Franken did an "academic study" for his most recent book that "proved" that the so-called liberal media was much tougher on Al Gore than they were on GWB in their 2000 election coverage. Am I not supposed to take that with a grain of salt?

You're not even arguing the same point that I'm arguing. Like I said, I'm not arguing that other news station might not be biased -- maybe even more so than Fox. What I have an issue with is that Fox still tells its viewers that its coverage is "fair and balanced" despite the reports that keep piling up from former Fox employees that they are told to spin stories with a conservative slant. If Fox came out and said, "Hey, we're supposed to be a conservative alternative to the rest of the liberal media," I'd be totally fine with that.

I'm telling you that you have no studies sweety.

-Rudey

[KellyB369]

Originally posted by Pike1483
Fox news does have some liberals, like Alan Colmes. They really are "Fair and Balanced" unlike CNN and CBS. Haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to because I don't want to contribute any money to a liberal fanatic moron like Michael Moore.

I want to see it but I don't want to contribute any money to him either. I can get around that with Pledged by getting it at the library, but it will take a lot longer for "F 9/11" to get to the library.