the pod bay door

¦¦ An interesting take on what might happen in the documentary industry in the wake of both Michael Moore’s acceptance speech at the Oscars, and the success financially of Bowling for Columbine. Has the door been opened for a wave of feature-length documentaries?

The reaction to Moore’s speech has its contrarians, of course. BTW, for the week ending March 25, 2003, Moore was #7 in the Top 10 Gaining Queries list from Google.

Moore is not losing any momentum. His next film, Farenheit 911, will examine the link between Al Qaeda and Dubya Sr.

¦¦ This article pretty much sums up the insanity regarding the Oscar nominations – old news, perhaps, but it’s infuriating to be reminded that Peter Jackson wasn’t nominated for Best Director for Lord of the Rings: TTT. (The error in Devin Gordon’s article appears when he points out that Jackson had been snubbed for the 2002 nomination for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, as well – he wasn’t, he did receive a nomination for that 2001 Oscar.) Also, consider that in 2002, LOTR:TFOTR won Oscars for Best Makeup and Original Score, and LOTR:TTT wasn’t nominated in either category for 2003. Eh??? As David Gordon points out in the article, the work is essentially the same. A backlash against TTT? Duh.

¦¦ My admiration for Michael Moore has gone up a notch, after reading a number of entries on his web site. He has an essay, “I’d Like To Thank The Vatican“, added on 27 March 03, which offers his view of the Academy Awards. Biased I’m sure, but if he is to be believed, then as viewers, we were hosed when the booing began, and when Gil Cates ordered the orchestra to start playing, and his microphone began receding into the floor. In his words:

Why didn’t we see shots of the actors applauding him, like Ed Harris, and apparently many others? In an article that appeared in Democrat & Chronicle, he answered charges that by dissing Bush and the Iraq war during his acceptance speech, he wasn’t being patriotic:

The American national anthem reminds us that the USA is “the land of the free.” At this time, free speech and dissent are under siege in America. Did I expect to read stuff on Moore’s site bashing Michael Moore? Of course not, and I realize he’s posting words and article links that are favorable to him. I wasn’t thrilled with his speech, but I respect his right to make it – others did that night as well, and were not booed. In their own way, Gael García Bernal, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Chris Cooper, and Adrien Brody expressed their concern and fears about the war; however, in the process they didn’t slam Dubya.