I saw it! You should too.

I really didn't expect it to be so difficult to see Fahrenheit 9/11. Yes, it was opening night, but I've seen plenty of films opening night. This was the first time I had to go to three differnt theaters to find one with tickets still available.

I got to the Barton Creek theater at about 7:45 after hitting the Dobie (sold out) and the Arbor (sold out). Turns out Barton Creek still had tickets for the 10:20 show, so I bought one, and headed out to kill a few hours at the mall.

How much I hate the American institution of the shopping mall is really a topic for another post. Suffice it to say, I spent an almost uniformly irritating two hours wandering around. The one bright spot was the Apple store, which was actully pretty relaxing, until I realized that there is no way I can afford all the Apple gear I want.

So, when the mall shops closed at 9:00, I grabbed a bite in the food court (some of the counters were still open). Then I headed down to the theater to find a place to sit and wait for the movie.

When I got there I was shocked by the number of people in line outside the doors, many of them in the rain because there wasn't room for everyone in the small area of the entrance plaza that's covered. It was about 9:20, so I figured that these people were in line for the 10:20 show. That sucked, I figured I'd never get a decent seat. I asked a woman waiting in line, and she told me it was actually the line for the 9:30 show. They hadn't started seating yet. In fact the 7:00 show hadn't gotten out of the theater yet. That group began trickling out of the auditoriums (yes, plural, by this time it was on 6 screens) around 9:45. They didn't start seating the 9:30 show until after 10:00.

As soon as all the 9:30 people were through the doors, the ushers started lining us up for the 10:20 show. Luckily we got to stand inside since the mall was closed and we could block the doors to the shops without causing traffic problems. The theater staff, a pretty cheery and courteous group considering the crowds they were dealing with, started to get us into auditoriums around 10:15. That's when I noticed all the mall security and what looked like a couple of APD officers, though I didn't get a close look at them.

Then the real waiting started. Times like that make me glad that I have so many ebooks on my Visor. The lights dimmed for the pre-show "entertainment" at around 11:10. They made a new Phantom of the Opera movie, who knew? The film itself started about 10 minutes later to a smattering of applause. I think most people were too interested in catching every second of the film to applaud and risk missing anything.

The film itself is hard to quantify. I certainly can't sum it up neatly in a few sentences. I laughed, which I knew I would. Michael Moore is a terrifically funny man. His greatest skill in this area is demonstrated in the juxtapositions of archival footage, music, and voice over. I'm not the first one to say this, but the real strength of this movie is the editing. Well, the first section is fairly typical Moore. It's a recap of the 2000 election debacle, with a few well placed digs at Fox News, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, and the Supreme Court. There are other funny moments later on in the film, especially when Moore tries to get members of Congress to have their children enlist in the Armed Services.

Here's the thing, you know Michael Moore can be funny, or you should by now. I'd rather tell you about the parts of this film that made me cry, and the parts that made me sick to my stomach.

I was a little suprised to find myself with tears streaming down my face during the footage of the World Trade Center bombing. We didn't even see the towers, just the people on the streets of Manhattan that day, and their reactions. I was there that day, too. This just brought it all back to me, the fear, the uncertainty, the helpless feeling that I was watching a tragedy and I couldn't help.

Okay, I got to this point and I had to stop. It's too depressing, and I think I need to see this film again and take notes to really do it justice.

For the time being, I will leave you with three of the shots that are burned into my mind. A small Iraqui child, lying on a gurney screaming, with his left arm torn open to the bone from elbow to wrist. An American soldier caught in a bomb blast somewhere in Iraq, lying on the ground screaming, with wounds on his head leaking blood while his fellow soldiers try to stop the bleeding and get him out of harm's way. George W. Bush sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office, mugging for the camera and getting his hair done, moments before telling the nation that the invasion of Iraq has started.

Farenheit 9/11

I'm off to see Michael Moore's newest film tonight after work. I'm pretty excited, and hoping for a good crowd at my local indie theater. I may post a reveiw after I see it. Or I may be on the first flight out to Canada to escape the scariness that is the Bush administration.