Thumbs Up for Michael Moore In Trumpland

After a week of client work travel, last Friday night in Manhattan I decided to check out a new film released last Tuesday.

The title: "Michael Moore In Trumpland." 

Image via Dog Eat Dog Films

The venue: IFC Center in Greenwich Village. 

I first learned about Moore's latest work through the Oscar-winning filmmaker's Facebook page, a favorable criticism in The New York Times and a rave review in New Yorker magazine. 

Informed by these appraisals, expectations were high but in check. 

Moore is one of my all-time favorites -- it's tough to beat the documentary power of the Pets or Meat scenes in "Roger & Me" or the emotional wallop of the Flint, Mich., kindergarten shooting in "Bowling For Columbine." 

One of the last films my mother and I watched together before her ALZ diagnosis was "Fahrenheit 9/11" and during a shared trip to Washington in early 2007 we both screamed/jeered in the direction of The White House, inspired by and much like the film's distraught military mother, Lila Lipscomb, who lost her son in the Iraq War. 

Moore's autobiography (specifically his narration of the audiobook version) is a highlight from several road trips to and from Oklahoma. I'd be delighted if Moore would turn his documentary lens in the direction of the Olympic movement like other great (and sports-minded) documentarians Leni Riefenstahl and Bud Greenspan. 

So, when the couple beside me at IFC Center mentioned they "heard Michael might actually be here" it was exciting. Would he show up?

There was barely time to build anticipation for only a minute later ... there he was! From my seventh row and center seat, I had a clear view of Moore's introduction by the theatre's manager. 

Moore spoke to the audience for about 10 minutes, pausing only to make sure his mobile phone live stream to a theatre in his home state of Michigan was still on the line. The IFC manager held Moore's phone aloft while Moore described the short journey taken to complete his "Trumpland" project.

My eight minute audio recording of his remarks includes a few gems:

"By the end of Thursday, over 100 theatres in 100 cities called us wanting this film in their theatres, so we're gonna make it happen," said Moore. Here's hoping this film will be available in wide release by this coming Friday.

This enthusiastic response was the result of "a zero-inch ad" in The New York Times, indicative that only publicity and buzz is taking this film for a rocket ship ride.  

"To paraphrase Barack Obama, I think one of the things that will save the cinema is if we all have more fierce sense of urgency about it," said Moore. "I really learned a lot in these two weeks about what you can do. No, you are not going to see a lot of car chases or a lot of production value, but this great art form ... especially with documentary, there is nothing wrong with being entertained and to laugh while we are learning."

Moore then explained the timing of the project.

"I did something I had not done before, which is to film myself in a one-man show I wrote. I spent time writing it much of this year."

Moore went on to explain his team secured funding then a performance venue in an Ohio town only to learn the right-minded political machine voted them out of the community. By dumb luck or divine intervention, the team eventually found a new venue in nearby Clinton County and got things moving again, eventually booking "about 750 people" for the live audience. 

"Probably about a hundred, 150 of them are leaning toward Trump," said Moore. "Another couple hundred were people who were thinking of not voting or voting third party."

Additional insights are included in the brief video I captured during Moore's unscripted remarks:

But what of the film itself? Would it live up to the hype spreading online? 

"Let us know what you think of the movie," wrote one of my cousins, in response to my elated Facebook posts from Moore's appearance. 

Image via Dog Eat Dog Films

For this viewer and writer, "Michael Moore In Trumpland" may not be Moore's best work, or his most popular (though opening week stats indicate it's rising like a bullet in cinema stats for documentaries). But I do think it is Moore's most timely, and though its rushed assembly leaves a few rough edges, this film is a crowd pleaser bound to earn a lot of thoughtful discussion and accolades. 

As noted in the aforementioned New York Times review, "Trumpland" is not so much about the real estate tycoon turned presidential candidate. Rather, the name is derived from the Ohio farmland awash in pro-Trump signage as Moore's crew arrived in The Buckeye State. 

What's missing from the new film are the fun soundtrack elements, stock footage and quirky visual setups that typically bring chuckles across Moore's work. There's no cartoon describing "A Brief History of the United States."

But that's OK! Instead of these elements, Moore cleverly establishes a rapport with the Ohio audience, quickly admitting that -- in spite of several floor-to-ceiling photos of a youthful Hillary Clinton as the main stage decorations -- he is not a Hillary fan, but rather a die-hard supporter of Bernie Sanders who had to come to terms with a different candidate earning his party's nomination (like most of, say, the audience members, regardless of their party).

In place of the grin-worthy video clips, Moore sets up two big laughs by introducing the audience members sent to the segregated balcony attendees. On one half of the upper floors, Hispanics are walled in by cardboard bricks, while to their right are several Americans of Middle Eastern descent who have their own "security drone" hovering in the rafters as an eye-in-the-sky protector of all other audience members. 

I don't want to spoil one of the most poignant moments of the film, so let's just say a very surprising Hillary supporter makes a cameo appearance that left my New York theatre audience, and the Ohio attendees in the film, audibly gasping (perhaps worth the entire price of admission). From here Moore goes to work building a case, much like that faux-brick wall upstairs, reasoning why more voters should give Mrs. Clinton serious consideration before Nov. 8. Moore makes this case very succinctly and without put downs nor yelling about her opponents. And his crescendo that calls out many of Hillary's worst "crimes" again and again is hysterical. 

Image via Dog Eat Dog Films

Like many of Moore's other documentaries, "Trumpland" is a thinking persons' film; it's not for everyone, but like "Bowling For Columbine" or "Sicko" and "Where To Invade Next" it is perhaps intended for everyone and should be entertaining and informative for anyone with the same open mind they profess to possess.

I found myself disagreeing with Moore more often during this film than some of his previous work, but "Trumpland" earned my respect for its ability to inform without insulting its opposition. Perhaps Moore does not write as sharply as Aaron Sorkin in "The American President" or "The West Wing" but Michael does play in the same ballpark as, say, Sorkin's monologue for "Newsroom." 

Should folks see "Michael Moore In Trumpland" soon, before the election? Absolutely! And I hope they savor and enjoy it, but more importantly, talk about it with friends, co-workers or anyone planning to vote. 

After the film I asked the theatre manager to share Moore's publicist details, and submitted a phone interview request. No response so far, but I'm ready with a few questions should that welcome call arrive. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver unless otherwise captioned for Dog Eat Dog Films.

Meet London Champions FIRST

 

As readers of this Olympic blog may know from past posts, five-ringed feature films appear across this writer's best picture lists.

After shaking hands with Bud Greenspan in 1997 and again in 2010, it was sad to learn of his death after the Vancouver Games. What would it mean for the official Olympic film of London 2012?

We'll get a peek at the answer when the U.S. Olympic Committee, National CineMedia (NCM) Fathom Events and New Moon present the premiere screening of "FIRST: The Story of the London 2012 Olympic Games" on Thursday, May 30, with tickets available at select theatres across the USA.

Though this blog is Atlanta-based, the screening site for my viewing is at Cinemark Tinseltown in Oklahoma City (readers in OKC, please join me!).

According to the premiere press release and trailer, "FIRST" is the only IOC-sanctioned film of London's Games, and it "follows a dozen first-time Olympic athletes on their journey from their homes in different corners of the globe to meet their fate in London."

Sounds good to me!

Though there are dozens of Olympians who briefly appear in "FIRST" -- including Michael Phelps, Jessica Ennis, Usain Bolt and Oscar Pistorius -- here's the rundown of Olympians who viewers will get to know in more detail via behind-the-scenes access at London Olympic venues:

• Qiu Bo of China (men's diving 10m platform)
• Caroline Buchanan of Australia (women's BMX)
• Chad le Clos of South Africa (men's swimming)
• Missy Franklin of the USA (women's swimming)
• Majlinda Kelmendi of Albania (women's judo)
• Christophe Lemaitre of France (men's athletics 200m)
• John Orozco of the USA (men's gymnastics)
• David Rudisha of Kenya (men's athletics 800m)
• Heena Sidhu of India (women's shooting 10m air pistol)
• Katie Taylor of Ireland (women's boxing lightweight)
• Laura Trott of Great Britain (women's track cycling)
• Queen Underwood of the USA (women's boxing lightweight)

I was privileged to meet Franklin at the USOC Media Summit last year, Orozco at USA House in London and Trott at the Olympic Stadium on one night of the 2012 Games -- can hardly wait to learn more about their journeys in particular, and also for the introduction to the other Olympians on screen.

According to at least one Facebook post, this film actually debuted overseas a few months ago, with May 30 as the U.S. premiere.

The film's comprehensive IMDB listing makes me wonder the extent to which the USA version was edited for American audiences (if this is the case, here's hoping they let the Olympic drama speak for itself and they don't crap it up as NBC Sports sometimes does with over-the-top USA-USA-USA sentiment).

Multiple versions or not, this Olympic documentary appears to be a directorial first for Caroline Rowlands, who previously produced other films, according to IMBD. Can't wait to see what directorial cues she took from Leni Riefenstahl, Greenspan, Hugh Hudson and other Olympic film directors while putting her own spin on Olympic cinema.

Photos via NCM Fathom Events

Olympic Filmmaker Bud Greenspan

Saddened to learn that Bud Greenspan died Dec. 25 in New York, according to published reports over the weekend.

Greenspan's series "16 Days of Glory" from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics solidified my interest in the Olympic Movement during my early teens, and it was an honor to meet Greenspan more than once, starting in 1997 at the premiere of his documentary film for the Centennial Olympic Games of Atlanta.

I was also lucky to be in the room when the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) presented Greenspan with an award on the eve of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic opening ceremony. Greenspan's health was clearly deteriorating but he was in good spirits.

The Olympic Family lost a major contributor. Fortunately, Greenspan's work will remain accessible for future generations.

Photo via AP.

International Society of Olympic Historians Presents Awards in Vancouver

Today in Vancouver's historic Gastown neighborhood, in a cozy coffee shop/basement restaurant named the Salt Tasting Room, the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) presented three awards for lifetime accomplishment in the preservation of Olympic history.

The 2009 ISOH Award was presented to author/historian Robert K. Barney, while two 2009 Vikelas Plaque (named for the first IOC president) awards were presented to Olympic Order recipient/Emmy Award winning filmmaker Bud Greenspan and former USOC press chief (and so much more) C. Robert Paul, Jr.

This was the second time I've seen Mr. Greenspan in person, and though he is much older (now 83, unfortunately unable to speak) than our first conversation -- in Atlanta in 1997 at the premiere of his Centennial Games film -- he was in good spirits and visibly appreciative of the honor. The film company he founded in the 1960s, Cappy Productions, apparently provided some consulting to VANOC for capturing footage of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

His more senior fellow honoree, Mr. Paul, shared some amazing stories, as did ISOH officer and Olympic author/NBC contributor David Wallechinsky, who introduced the pair of honorees by explaining that Mr. Paul helped a young and then-Olympic-first-timer Greenspan to secure his last-minute media credentials at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

As a public relations practitioner, I was fascinated by Mr. Paul's additional stories from the front lines of old-school media relations on behalf of Team USA. He shared that at the Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympics there was an "incident" (P.R.-speak for S.N.A.F.U.) when the last-place ice hockey team trashed a restaurant and they had to sneak the players out of town to avoid an international incident (over lunch we briefly talked about how their sneak-away tactics might now be foiled by instantaneous social media posts).

Also of note was how Mr. Paul invented the tradition of a U.S. Presidential phone call to gold medal winning athletes.

As the story was told, Mr. Paul planted that idea with a New York Times sports writer (Paul knew the White House press chief read The Times religiously) by convincing the reporter to include a closing paragraph about the lack of presidential attention to top Olympic performances (wouldn't you know it, the next day President Ford telephoned the day's U.S. gold medalist!).

Wallechinsky also noted that Mr. Paul was the USOC archivist when the younger historian began work on his first Olympic book, and the pair concurred that "the camaraderie is not the same as it was back then" (early 1980s) at the Team USA home office in Colorado Springs.

The biggest surprise of the event: Spotting IOC Member to Canada Dick Pound, who arrived just in time for lunch! (HELLO!!!) Pound took time to answer a couple of questions for this Olympic blog. THANK YOU, Mr. Pound! (and thank you, ISOH, for hosting a great event!)