Lionel Chetwynd, left, and Ted Steinberg, who wrote "Celsius 41.11."
Posted on 09/30/2004 6:14:46 AM PDT by OESY
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 - The Republicans finally have Hollywood's answer to Michael Moore: "Celsius 41.11 - The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die," a documentary made in six weeks that is billed as "The Truth Behind the Lies of Fahrenheit 9/11!"
After its premiere in Georgetown on Tuesday night, there seemed to be two prevailing sentiments among the solidly Republican crowd of 300. One was that the film is a lot more thoughtful and accurate than "Fahrenheit 9/11." The other was that it is not going to gross $100 million.
But then, that was not the point, as the Hollywood conservatives (yes, there are some) who made it kept insisting.
"We could have gone wall to wall with red meat on this, but we purposely didn't," said Lionel Chetwynd, a writer and producer of the film. His credits include the screenplay for "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" and documentaries on D-Day, Vietnam and Sept. 11, and he is billed as a special guest at the Liberty Film Festival, "Hollywood's first conservative film festival," running Friday through Sunday. "The cheap shots may be entertaining in Moore's film," he added, "but we wanted to make the intellectual case and go beyond lecturing to the converted."
Hollywood's version of the presidential campaign seems to be an inverse of the one being waged out of Washington. Democrats have been lamenting that their candidate is too much brain, too little heart, in contrast to the Republicans' emotionally appealing message.
But on the big screen, the Republicans are taking the wonk approach in an attempt to show that their brains have not overheated. "Celsius 41.11" offers a point-by-point defense of President Bush (listed on the screen like a PowerPoint presentation) by politicians, journalists and scholars discoursing on the legality of the Florida recount in 2000, the Clinton administration's record on fighting terrorism and the theory of American exceptionalism.
The film does have a few "Fahrenheit"-style juxtapositions, like an image of the World Trade Center burning as Mr. Moore declares: "This needs to be said on national television. There is no terrorist threat." The discussion of Europe's slow response to Hitler is illustrated with a picture of French antiwar demonstrators in 1938 holding up signs saying "Non" - which inspired a hiss from the Republicans on Tuesday.
Senator John Kerry is serenaded with a new song (written and recorded on deadline last weekend) by Larry Gatlin, the country-music star. Sounding a bit like Pete Seeger, he sings, "John boy, please tell us which way the wind's blowing." But it's not even accompanied by the famous shot of Mr. Kerry windsurfing.
"It would be easy to string together a montage of Kerry footage as the man of athletic leisure, make him out to be a wealthy dilettante, the way that Moore did with Bush," Mr. Chetwynd said, alluding to the recurrent images of Mr. Bush on vacation in "Fahrenheit 9/11." "But we wanted to deconstruct the anybody-but-Bush argument by taking Kerry on his own terms, as a serious man."
The film was financed and produced by Citizens United, a conservative group in Washington. In June it asked the Federal Elections Commission to stop Mr. Moore from running advertisements for his film during the period before the election when political commercials by outside groups are restricted. That complaint was dismissed after Mr. Moore said he would not run the commercials in question.
In a separate ruling this month, the commission refused to allow Citizens United to advertise "Celsius 41.11" or pay to run it on television. David N. Bossie, the group's president, said this week that several distributors were interested in "Celsius 41.11" and that he hoped it would appear in theaters within two weeks.
No one, including its creators, expects the film to have the popular impact of "Fahrenheit 9/11," and the premiere Tuesday lacked the array of Washington celebrities who turned out for Mr. Moore's opening. But those who did show up seemed delighted that someone was finally taking on Mr. Moore.
"This film wins an entry into the debate," said Jerome R. Corsi, an author of "Unfit for Command," the best-selling critique of Mr. Kerry's Vietnam record. "It's going to be talked about."
Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of the airplane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, said she found the film's sober tone a welcome contrast to Mr. Moore's approach.
"Michael Moore actually used footage of the Pentagon in flames as a sight gag," said Ms. Burlingame, a founder of a group of relatives of Sept. 11 victims who are supporting Mr. Bush. "It was really hard to sit there in the theater listening to people laugh at that scene knowing my brother was on that plane. I wish more people would see this film instead."
Lionel Chetwynd, left, and Ted Steinberg, who wrote "Celsius 41.11."
It's surprising that the NY Times even reviewed it, and reviewed it moderately favorably at that.
Needless to say, the liberal establishment gave Michael Moore months of free publicity, while for the most part this film will be ignored.
God bless 'em. WHEN AND WHERE WILL THIS BE SHOWN? Let's get the word out.
This article was in the New York Times? I'm surprised they'd print a review this sympathetic. (Heck, I'm surprised they'd print a review at all. They usually just pretend conservatives don't exist, and ignore us.)
Quick! We need to get copies sent to all the young impressionable soldiers that got F911 inflicted on them over in Iraq. They need Moore's lies deprogrammed as quick as possible.
Uh, yeah. That must be why NO HUMAN BEING ON EARTH can make any sense of his Iraq position. He's just... uh... TOO SMART. Yeah. Yeah. That's the ticket.
Awesome Video Link to Celsius 41:11
New Anti-Michael Moore Movie
Posted by Roger from TI
On News/Activism 09/29/2004 4:33:14 PM PDT · 30 replies · 819+ views
citizensunited-interactive.org ^ | 9/29/94 | Celsius 41:11
God bless 'em.Celsius 41.11 will be shown TOMORROW - in Los Angeles:WHEN AND WHERE WILL THIS BE SHOWN?
Let's get the word out.
Ann Coulter, Protest Warriors, Charlton Heston, Reagan, Iraq:
LIBERTY FILM FESTIVAL (Oct. 1-3)
www.LibertyFilmFestival.com ^ | September 26, 2004 | RonDog [and FRiends]
Posted on 09/26/2004 9:34:55 AM PDT by RonDog
LIBERTY FILM FESTIVAL!
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
October 1, 2 & 3
Put your MONEY where your HEART is...
...and support these CONSERVATIVE films!!!
Please JOIN US for ONE (or ALL) of these thirteen (13)
separate film events, all shown in the EXTRAORDINARY
SilverScreen Theatre
Pacific Design Center (a.k.a. "the blue whale")
8687 Melrose Avenue - 2nd floor Center Green
West Hollywood , CA 90069
Ticket Information:
All tickets and passes are non-refundable, and must be purchased online in advance.
Please bring your on-line ticket receipt to the check-in desk in front of the Silver Screen Theatre lobby
fifteen minutes before the event begins, in order to receive your event ticket or pass.
Please arrive early, as no late entries will be permitted once the event has begun.Full Festival Pass: $105
Individual Tickets $10.50-$15.50
Tickets will NOT be sold ON-SITE!
Tickets are ONLY available ONLINE, at:
www.LibertyFilmFestival.com
Parking: $6.00 per vehicle - pay upon arrival Please note: No food or drink, except for bottled water, is allowed inside the SilverScreen Theatre.
friday, October 1, 2004
EVENT 1 6:00 PM “Greg Wolfe: Republican Jew” Comic Short by Greg Wolfe 6:10 PM Festival Greeting by Jason Apuzzo & Govindini Murty 6:15 PM Sponsor's Introduction by Paul Harberger, Foundation for Free Markets
6:20 PM Special Guest Introduction 6:30 PM “The Clinton Legacy” Comic Short by Evan Maloney, Brain-Terminal.com 6:40 PM "In the Face of Evil"
Documentary Screening
WEST COAST PREMIERE
Epic documentary chronicles Ronald Reagan's forty-year struggle against communism - in light of America's present confrontation with Islamic Fascism.8:30 PM Q&A with Writer/Director Steve Bannon
8:45 PM Break
EVENT 1A 9:00 PM "Celsius 41.11"
Documentary Screening
WORLD PREMIERE
A powerful documentary response to the lies behind Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."10:15 PM Q&A with Writer/Producer Lionel Chetwynd
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