US government trying to seize new Michael Moore film,Weinstein

[cal04]

Harvey Weinstein fires latest shot in battle over healthcare documentary


Cannes is smacking its lips in anticipation of filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore's latest jeremiad against the US administration, which receives its premiere at the film festival today. Sicko, a documentary tackling the state of American healthcare, focuses on the pharmaceutical giants, and particularly on health insurers.

The film has already caused Moore - who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2004 with Fahrenheit 911 - to clash with the American authorities. Now, according to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the film, the US government is attempting to impound the negative.

According to Weinstein, the US Treasury's moves meant "we had to fly the movie to another country"- he would not say to where. "Let the secret service find that out - though this is the same country that thought there were weapons of mass destruction, so they'll never find it." He added that he feared that if the film were impounded, there might be attempts to cut some footage, in particular the last 20 minutes, which related to a trip to Cuba. This, said Weinstein, "would not be good."

In March, Moore travelled to the Caribbean island with a group of emergency workers from New York's Ground Zero to see whether they would receive better care under the Castro regime than they had under George Bush. He had applied for permission to travel in October 2006 and received no reply.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2007/story/0,,2083430,00.html

[NashVegas]

1. They Should Put It Online As a Flash Movie

And charge for the stream.

[devilgrrl]

2. "provocateur"????? Bollocks!

Michael Moore is fat. :sarcasm:

[Lerkfish]

3. you just can't buy that kind of publicity

LOL

[Cha]

11. Ya can't!

Ragin' Priceless Publicity!~

[uppityperson]

4. k&r for Michael Moore

[bamacrat]

5. Fuck our current government..

Im suprised the Loose Change guys havent "accidentally" been hit by a train or disposed of.

[skiddlybop]

6. Shouldn't have hired Lehane.

Lehane did a shitty job for Wes Clark in 2004 and is not worth a penny in getting the right message out.

[MH1]

8. Wasn't Lehane also behind the attempt to smear Kerry

with the "intern" lie leaked to Drudge?

Edit to add: Lehane also had a bit in "Iraq for Sale" and I about fell out of my chair when I saw that. I'm surprised any liberal or Democrat would hire the guy!

[Rex]

7. So MM is an enemy combatant now or just his film?

Will they torture the movie (if captured)? Does the movie get any kind of legal represent...oh wait this is America. :rofl:

That's like when Jerry said Larry was an evil porn dealer and made him his first million. Larry too.

[Mika]

9. I'm feeling that its time for another Cuba/WMD accusation. n/t

[Cha]

10. I loves me some Michael

Moore and the Weinstein Bros and their latest, "SICKO"!~ B-)

[Double T]

12. You can't buy this kind of hype and publicity at any price............

now 'WE' may have a taste of bushco's 'war on truth' in the form of film or movie censorship.

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Weinstein and MM have hired David Boies to represent them?

Interesting. He was Al Gore's attorney in Bush v. Gore.

[ananda]

28. uh oh

"Weinstein and MM have hired David Boies to represent them?

Interesting. He was Al Gore's attorney in Bush v. Gore."

[Dem_in_Nebr.]

32. uh oh, is right!

Boies et al, are the ones representing the SCO Group in various lawsuits. You can read about their performance on the website known as Groklaw, http://www.groklaw.net. Suffice it to say, no one who reads Groklaw on a regular basis is very impressed with the Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP firm.

[KurtNYC]

34. did Boies defend Napster?

googlin... yep:

Microsoft - Years later famously took the "other side" by representing the Justice Department in the United States v. Microsoft case. Although the trial was a victory for Boies, Microsoft won many issues on appeal.
Major League Baseball - Boies represented New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in a suit against Major League Baseball. This would involve an action against all the teams. The Atlanta Braves were owned by Time Warner, a longtime Cravath client.
CBS - He defended CBS in the action brought by William Westmoreland. The general abandoned his case during the trial.
Bush v. Gore - Following the 2000 U.S. presidential election, he represented Vice President Al Gore in Bush v. Gore.
Napster - He also defended Napster when the company was sued by the RIAA for facilitating copyright infringement.
Enron - In November 2003, he has represented Andrew Fastow, deposed Chief Financial Officer of Enron.

edit to credit source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Boies

[Selatius]

37. Boies is the wrong man for the task. n/t

[silverweb]

14. Is anyone following the IMDb message board on this?

You have to be registered, but it's well worth it to be able to read some of the comments.

Check out the IMDb site for Sicko here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386032/

I'll be especially interested in following the thread entitled, "Right-wingers...bring it on, and bring it here."

:popcorn: Refreshments, anyone?

Diosa, I can't wait to see this movie! :D

[MuseRider]

15. Oooo thanks

I had not thought to look there. This should be fun!

[silverweb]

20. Yup, should be fun!

:D

[conspirator]

16. THE REICH is finally showing its true face nt

[Mend]

17. sounds like the gov tried to set up MM by not responding and now will

claim he went "without permission". Zeig heil you shit-for-brain fascists. I can't wait to buy the movie.

[earth mom]

18. My how * & Co just love Freedom of Speech, now don't they?

:sarcasm:

:puke:

[dweller]

19. Bob?

"Weinstein named no suspects in this putative political interference, but referred to outspoken critics of Moore on the Republican right - who tend to accuse him of peddling propaganda rather than of undertaking serious journalism - including presidential hopeful Bob Thompson."


Freddy Bob?
dp

[frogcycle]

21. M Moore email today

Sicko" Is Completed and We're Off to Cannes!

May 17, 2007

Friends,

It's a wrap! My new film, "Sicko," is all done and will have its world premiere this Saturday night at the Cannes Film Festival. As with "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11," we are honored to have been chosen by this prestigious festival to screen our work there.

My intention was to keep "Sicko" under wraps and show it to virtually no one before its premiere in Cannes. That is what I have done and, as you may have noticed if you are a recipient of my infrequent Internet letters, I have been very silent about what I've been up to. In part, that's because I was working very hard to complete the film. But my silence was also because I knew that the health care industry -- an industry which makes up more than 15 percent of our GDP -- was not going to like much of what they were going to see in this movie and I thought it best not to upset them any sooner than need be.

Well, going quietly to Cannes, I guess, was not to be. For some strange reason, on May 2nd the Bush administration initiated an action against me over how I obtained some of the content they believe is in my film. As none of them have actually seen the film (or so I hope!), they decided, unlike with "Fahrenheit 9/11," not to wait until the film was out of the gate and too far down the road to begin their attack.

Bush's Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, launched an investigation of a trip I took to Cuba to film scenes for the movie. These scenes involve a group of 9/11 rescue workers who are suffering from illnesses obtained from working down at Ground Zero. They have received little or no help with their health care from the government. I do not want to give away what actually happens in the movie because I don't want to spoil it for you (although I'm sure you'll hear much about it after it unspools Saturday). Plus, our lawyers have advised me to say little at this point, as the film goes somewhere far scarier than "Cuba." Rest assured of one thing: no laws were broken. All I've done is violate the modern-day rule of journalism that says, "ask no questions of those in power or your luncheon privileges will be revoked."

This preemptive action taken by the Bush administration on the eve of the "Sicko" premiere in Cannes led our attorneys to fear for the safety of our film, noting that Secretary Paulson may try to claim that the content of the movie was obtained through a violation of the trade embargo that our country has against Cuba and the travel laws that prohibit average citizens of our free country from traveling to Cuba. (The law does not prohibit anyone from exercising their first amendment right of a free press and documentaries are protected works of journalism.)

I was floored when our lawyers told me this. "Are you saying they might actually confiscate our movie?" "Yes," was the answer. "These days, anything is possible. Even if there is just a 20 percent chance the government would seize our movie before Cannes, does anyone want to take that risk?"

Certainly not. So there we were last week, spiriting a duplicate master negative out of the country just so no one from the government would take it from us. (Seriously, I can't believe I just typed those words! Did I mention that I'm an American, and this is America and NO ONE should ever have to say they had to do such a thing?)

I mean, folks, I have just about had it. Investigating ME because I'm trying to help some 9/11 rescue workers our government has abandoned? Once again, up is down and black is white. There are only two people in need of an investigation and a trial, and the desire for this across America is so widespread you don't even need to see the one's smirk or hear the other's sneer to know who I am talking about.

But no, I'm the one who now has to hire lawyers and sneak my documentary out of the country just so people can see a friggin' movie. I mean, it's just a movie! What on earth could I have placed on celluloid that would require such a nonsensical action against me?

Ok. Scratch that.

Well, I'm on my way to Cannes right now, a copy of the movie in my bag. Don't feel too bad for me, I'll be in the south of France for a week! But then it's back to the U.S. for a number of premieres and benefits and then, finally, a chance for all of you to see this film that I have made. Circle June 29th on your calendar because that's when it opens in theaters everywhere across the country and Canada (for the rest of the world, it opens in the fall).

I can't wait for you to see it.

Yours,

Michael Moore

P.S. I will write more about what happens from Cannes. Stay tuned on my website, MichaelMoore.com.

[sellitman]

24. Hey MM

Maybe you should of voted for Al Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004 ?

You reap what you sow.

[1monster]

31. Maybe my memory's faulty, but I believe he did vote for and support Kerry

in 2004.

[John Q. Citizen]

35. Your comment is inaccurate, anti-democratic and just plain mean spirited.

Is that why people should vote as you wish they would, because you are inaccurate, anti-democracy, and mean-spirited? Good luck with that.

[dickthegrouch]

26. Congratulations, MM, on the birth of your most recent baby

May it cause much embarrassment and self reflection among the vultures who pose as guardians of the public health.

May it cause even more embarrassment in the halls of privilege and hypocrisy known as the government.

Go get 'em

[provis99]

22. how about prosecuting those republican assholes who brag about their Cuban cigars?

I'm thinking, "Gropenfuhrer" Schwartzenegger, Rush Limbaugh, and Fred Thompson in particular. Hypocritical assholes.

[Eugene]

23. Kick for Saturday morning

and a serious :wtf:

Recommended

[pberq]

25. Kick & Nominated - Go Michael!!

[LibertyorDeath]

27. Can't wait to see it !

Moore always delivers the goods....

Hope he gets another Palme d'Or at Cannes.

A real American Patriot IMO......

Rec!

[EVDebs]

29. We gotta get TV Nation back on the air

http://www.tv.com/tv-nation/show/9951/summary.html

The show ended in 1995 but was hilarious. I loved the Tourism North Dakota episode (Lawrence Welk museum in middle of winter) and the NY Sludge To Texas episode (with a county in West TX using shit-flinging trucks to unload the sludge).

[BrklynLiberal]

30. Just one more K&R. Kudos to Moore and Weinstein for their courage and tenacity.

[Prophet 451]

33. On what grounds?

What's the legal basis for an attempt to impound? Are they claiming national security?

[John Q. Citizen]

36. I think the legal frame of reference is to the Cuban embargo. n/t

[Prophet 451]

38. Don't see how that stands up

The physical film stock wasn't manufactured in Cuba so unless they declare the data encoded onto teh stock to be indistinguishable from the physical stock itself (which would be VERY interesting in light of the software industries near-criminal licensing agreements), I really don't see how that one can stand up.

[John Q. Citizen]

39. Spending money in Cuba is a crime, unless one has obtained prior permission.

As is visiting Cuba.

We have truly become the home of the slave and the land of the FWY

[Prophet 451]

40. Good Lord!

Didn't know it was THAT bad!