Posted on 02/28/2005 3:35:20 AM PST by knighthawk
First, Michael Moore threw his creative weight and his celluloid into defeating President Bush's re-election. Then he made a big push for an Oscar nomination. He lost on both counts.
So, why didn't the former golden boy of Hollywood who championed the anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-America movement with his dishonest propaganda piece "Fahrenheit 9/11" garner an Oscar nod? Is the Hollywood crowd wising up, or has Moore worn out his welcome?
With characteristic zeal, Moore campaigned vigorously for a Best Picture nomination. "He was at every Oscar party and screening," said Moore's former manager Douglas Urbanski, a critically acclaimed 25-year veteran of the entertainment industry most recently known for the movie "The Contender," starring Gary Oldman, Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges. "He took out full-page ads, cut his hair, bathed and even wore a suit. [Moore was] very present around town."
But the Hollywood elite turned their surgically sculpted noses up at Moore's flick. Urbanski explained that Hollywood has had it with Moore. Many blame him for John Kerry's defeat in the presidential election. He's become the No. 1 favorite target of leftists.
"In certain [Hollywood] circles he is a shutout," Urbanski said.
Why would Moore's former manager be so forthcoming in his criticism?
"Michael Moore makes a substantial living going into people's private lives, sneaking up on them," Urbanski said. So he feels no compunction in talking about the only client he ever fired. And he fired Moore with a ten-page letter.
"A more dishonest and demented person I have never met," Urbanski wrote me in an e-mail, "and I have known a few! And he is more money obsessed than any I have known, and that's saying a lot."
Urbanski believes that Moore hates America, hates capitalism, and hates any normal concept of freedom and democracy. This seems odd considering that if it weren't for America, freedom and capitalism, Moore's brand of expression and capitalistic success would be impossible, if not illegal. "Michael Moore could not withstand ‘Michael Moore's' scrutiny for more than fifteen seconds," Urbanski said.
Has Hollywood figured out what Moore is really about? Was that why he was snubbed?
Urbanski has given some thought to Moore's methods. "Moore has an interesting racket. A Jessie Jackson-like shakedown. He figured out he could shake down his own type of thinker, his own constituency, for his own enrichment."
Did Moore lose his golden boy status because of Kerry's defeat? The land of Hollywood is harsh, and it has been known to devour its young for lesser offenses. Or was it his nasty methods that did him in? Past history is known to be the best indicator of future behavior, so Hollywood should beware. Moore may turn his camera on them and call the film "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Narcissist Scorned."
Regardless, let's hope that the Democrats will be more discriminating about whom they seat next to a former president at their next convention. And hopefully we'll all wise up to snake-oil hucksters like Moore, who will say or do anything to make a buck.
Kathleen Antrim is a weekly columnist for The San Francisco Examiner and author of the political thriller "Capital Offense." www.kathleenantrim.com.
I thought it ( the movie-farenheit 911) wasn't qualified because the movie was shown on TV..and that is why it wasn't considered...nothing to do with the fat man's politics....but he did break the rules for a nomination.
Throwing Moore under the bus is a ugly image... might wreak the bus in the process!
He's obviously part of the 'in' crowd.
The "Oscars" are a farce anyway. People that make movies and the movies themselves are are fakery. What's funny is when someone like Rock or Babs or Alex Baldwin comment on reality. Something they are far removed from but don't seem to realize they are.
By the way, Chris Rock will never be the Oscar host again. He was a disaster. Not that it matters in the scheme of things to those that realize that movies and TV are almost 100% disconnected from reality.
The Academy are a bunch of "wimps and losers" and "lazy" "cowards"!!!-Mike
P.S. So are the Democrats!
The conservatives/right were also snubbed (i.e., Passion of the Christ)
WHen a movie that is the 2nd grossing of all time is snubbed, that is a real snub.
I forgot how good looking he was in his swashbuckler days...
Newt Gingrich said it best in his book, WINNING THE FUTURE, when he wrote; "We need to broadcast our civic culture so that the Arab world gets a different view of the West than what it gets fron Al Jazeer and Michae Moore." Alex Wysocki--Delaware Conservative Caucus.
I'll bet you have, Doug.
"...and that's saying a lot."
I'll bet it is, Doug.
Meanwhile, the Left is baffled--baffled--by what the American people could possibly mean by moral values.
Really? Who knew
Too bad for Michael. . .had Kerry won. . .this Hollywood/Liberal PATSY; would be, today. . .a great American PATRIOT. . .
In Hollywood. . .you play. . .you win. . .you lose. . .
Sure. . .said he 'learned a lot!'. . .and then proceeded into his Bush Bashing. . .and I proceeded on to other entertainment.
The bottom line is that Europe is decadent. So is the American Left; Hollywood is a symptom.
Thank God for the American Heartland.
Michael Moore made a bumper sticker and put it out there as a movie. It failed to get the job done and so, like all bumper stickers, it got tossed. I couldn't care less about any of these movies, but from what I've read, maybe Hollywood's new cause is euthanasia and Eastwood's movie is a more current bumper sticker.
Tuning in to the Oscar ceremonies is about as useful as watching a documentary on the bathing habits of the French.
Last night he was referred to as a hero in the opening of the show. They were showing scenes from different movies with a narration and said something like "we discovered new heros" when Moores pic was up. That was about all we saw of the show, other then Jamie Fox winning for Ray.
I do like to watch the red carpet just to see what everyone was wearing. I was disappointed with the dress Star Jones wore...very unbecoming IMHO.
All the Carson clips that surrounded his passing did that for me. It really showed us that Jay Leno ain't no Carson!
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