I mentioned this to KBZ earlier today I thought it would make for a good road trip for some of the members.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/bud_kennedy/9196716.htm?1cComing soon to a bedsheet or TV
By Bud Kennedy
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
What do the Texas cities of Alpine, Greenville, Seguin and Sherman have in common?
Wrong.
This is tough to believe, but Greenville doesn't have a Dairy Queen.
What Greenville and all those other cities do have, though, is Fahrenheit 9/11.
But not Waco.
Waco is larger. But up to now, it has been a Fahrenheit-free zone.
Filmmaker Michael Moore's political broadside against President Bush will finally open Friday in suburban Woodway, its first showing anywhere near his McLennan County ranch.
The movie will come even closer Aug. 14, when peace activists plan to show it on a bedsheet in the front yard of a house in Crawford.
Until now, the nearest Fahrenheit theater has been 40 miles away in Temple. A small movie house in a mall there has the only showings between Fort Worth and Pflugerville, north of Austin.
The idea for the Crawford show started when Waco Tribune-Herald columnist John Young wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter asking Moore to send a DVD for Fahrenheit-deprived fans to watch on a big-screen TV somewhere -- "if it's not a football weekend."
Moore offered to come to show the movie if someone would provide "the sheet and the barn."
The activists camped in Crawford took him up on the idea. They're already thinking about moving the event to the high school football stadium, which might give a whole new meaning to the term "political football."
Now, a Central Texas clash is about to unreel. All because until now no Waco theater has been showing the movie.
Love it or hate it, Fahrenheit is closing in on "blockbuster" movie earnings. It was showing on 2,004 screens nationwide last week and has brought in $93.8 million, meaning it is holding up better than Anchorman or Dodgeball.
I haven't rushed out to see it. From what I've read, Moore argues a few valid points and takes a lot of gleeful cheap shots.
But America has survived 16 years of radio hosts turning politics into showbiz. We can handle one movie.
At least one prominent Waco Democrat is uneasy about the Crawford showing.
State Rep. Jim Dunnam, leader of the Texas House Democrats who bailed for the Oklahoma border during a rumble last year in the Texas Legislature, said he thinks that Fahrenheit is "thought-provoking" and that showing it in Waco is a great idea -- but maybe not at a showboating peace event in Crawford.
"I think that'll detract from the experience for people who just want to go and watch the movie," he said by phone Monday from his law office. "Both sides will create a furor over this. It's unnecessary."
Johnny Wolf, owner of the Crawford Peace House, said Moore's crews visited there when they were scouting scenes.
The movie's message is the same as peace activists', he said.
"I understand that the Democrats have their issues," said Wolf, 49, owner of a business near Dallas that builds stage sets and props. "But if they had been doing their job against the war all along, we wouldn't have the mess we have today."
The movie is regularly selling out a 98-seat auditorium in Temple. News reports brought business from as far away as the northern suburbs of Austin, said Tony Delgado, manager of the Premiere Cinema 12.
One couple drove from Midland, apparently not knowing that Fahrenheit is now showing in Abilene, Odessa and San Angelo. Not to mention Alpine.
"People stop and thank us for running the movie," Delgado said. The sellouts don't reflect criticism of Bush, he said. "The people are smart moviegoers. They know it's just a movie."
A vice president of the Big Spring-based Premiere Cinemas said that if Moore wants to promote the movie near Bush's ranch, he should do it in Temple.
"I'm not sure what he would accomplish" in Crawford, Joel Davis said. "I would think he'd want his movie shown in a proper venue."
After Fahrenheit hit No. 1 the first week, Lions Gate and IFC Films expanded distribution into cities such as Amarillo and Wichita Falls. Outside Texas, it's showing in towns such as Ponca City, Okla.; Russellville, Ark., and Mandeville, La.
In Greenville, northeast of Dallas, theater owner Loyd Brigance said the movie isn't doing much business there.
"Ten, 12 people at a time," he said gruffly.
"Most of the folks who come are disappointed. They expected to see a movie. All this does is bash the president."
If Greenville is big enough to offer Fahrenheit as an option for moviegoers to cheer or ignore, why did it take so long to get to Waco?
Waco's a big city. It has 10 Dairy Queens.
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