The Republic of T.

Moore's Film Nears Release

It looks like Americans may just get to see Michael Moore's Fahrenhiet 911 as it's now one step closer to being released.

Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" moved a step closer to U.S. theaters on Friday as Miramax film studio founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein personally bought rights to the picture from Walt Disney Co. .

Miramax had funded the film but Disney, which owns the art-house studio, had declined to distribute the movie, saying the documentary and its criticism of President Bush's war on Iraq were too politically charged.

After more than three weeks of talks, the Weinsteins bought rights to the film for costs to date, estimated at about $6 million, and will arrange for theatrical and home video distribution, both sides said in a statement issued on Friday

It may even be in theaters before the November presidential election.

By clinching a deal now, the movie could still be on track to get into theaters by the middle of this summer, despite a crowded field of U.S. releases, distributors have said.

That fast-track release would capitalize on the recent surge of interest in the film and give Moore a chance to influence the November presidential election with his unflattering portrait of Bush.

Winning the Palme d'Or award at Cannes virtually assured that this film will be a money maker if it gets released, thus finding a distributor won't be a huge problem.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" won this month the Palme d'Or, the highest award of France's Cannes film festival , with its portrayal of families affected by the war and U.S. government policies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that felled the World Trade Center.

It is also expected to meet or beat the box-office performance of "Columbine," which set a record for a U.S. documentary with $21.6 million in ticket sales. [emphasis mine]

Would it be going too far to suggest that another Oscar win may be in the works here? I think a nomination is a definite possibility, but it's questionable whether the Academy would give the thumbs up to such a political film. But, of course, I haven't seen it yet.

Parents Passion-ate

Via DCSOB.

You wanna see passion? Let me find out that my kid's teacher showed excerpts of The Passion in class.

As a teacher showed sixth-graders at the District's Malcolm X Elementary School parts of the movie "The Passion of the Christ," 11-year-old Cutairra Ransom was growing upset by the violence unfolding in front of her.

... She was one of the 16 to 20 students who were shown the movie Tuesday at the public school, which is in the Congress Park neighborhood of Southeast Washington. D.C. school officials, who said sixth-graders should not be shown R-rated movies at school, have placed the teacher, Ronald Anthony, on leave with pay pending an investigation.

Sorry, but that movie has no place in a public school classroom. If I were one of those parents, I'd be camping out in the principal's office on this one. At least the teacher got suspended. But if he showed that much of the movie (which he must have pirated, to have his own copy), without notifying parents or the principal, I think firing wouldn't be too much. I'm sure a private, religious school somewhere would be glad to have him.