Michael Moore's "Sicko" Pirated

[jefferson_dem]

...Not that any of "us" would set out to score a download for screening, of course... :bounce:

Michael Moore's "Sicko" Pirated

NEW YORK, June 15, 2007
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(CBS) The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Michael Moore advocates universal health care, but what does he think about free movies?

The controversial filmmaker will have to deal with that question after a report in Advertising Age that "Sicko," his new documentary on the failings of the U.S. health care system, has been pirated and is widely available for free downloading on the Web.

An Ad Age reporter said he was able to download and watch the film, which won't officially be released for two weeks, "with ease" last night.

Moore, who had worried that the U.S. government might try to suppress "Sicko" because of an allegedly unauthorized trip he took to Cuba, now faces "every film maker's worst marketing nightmare … how to persuade people to go to the theater to see a show that's available free on the Internet."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/15/the_skinny/main2933538.shtml

[BlooInBloo]

1. Sweet!

[LSK]

2. Moore wanted F9/11 pirated

Cant see why this would be any different.

Maybe CBSNEWS should learn recent history???

[hyphenate]

11. That's pretty much what I was going to say

Most of us will still see it at the movies, because it probably is a lot better on the big movie screen than on most televisions. But I would say that it might have been deliberately distributed via the web just like Fahrenheit 9/11 to get more coverage. Not everyone can afford to see it at a movie theatre.

[JDPriestly]

12. Most of us will see it at the theater and then buy the video

to see the extras and show it to our friends and families. Moore will do fine.

There is an up-side to this. Right-wingers who would not go to the theater to see the film will watch it on the internet. I suspect that this is a film they need to see.

Besides, Weinstein has made a mint on movies -- primarily from American moviegoers. He owes us one. He owes the country one.

Nevertheless -- and in spite of seeing the up-sides, I personally despise pirating. It is cheating. It is just like shoplifting -- same thing. The rest of us pay for it in higher movie prices or higher prices at the store. Companies do not lose the money. Consumers lose the money because businesses pass these losses on to consumers. So -- for all of you who can afford to go to the movie but watch it on the internet -- it's wrong to do that.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. They 'might' watch it.

I had a co-worker who refused to pay to see f9/11, but when I offered to let him watch my DVD, at no cost to himself, he still refused. And still continued to spout the Hannity line, without having seen it.

Isn't it unbiblical for a fundie to openly worship Hannity and Coulter?

[Lisa]

35. I gave the local library an F9/11 dvd ...

The librarians later reported to me that a local right-winger had been seen, furtively checking it out at the automated station (presumably he didn't want to walk up to the staffed counter!).

I ended up giving them an extra for the library branch located near the military base, across town ... it was extremely popular.

[KittyWampus]

46. Did same and will do the same for Sicko.

[MadBadger]

3. All movies are pirated.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Tho I can't really understand why.

Movies are made for the big screen. Watching a theatrical film on your TV or computer will not do it justice. People who download pirated films are shortchanging themselves.

Their loss.

[MadBadger]

10. Well, it is free to watch a pirated movie online.

[geomon666]

13. I take it you don't like DVD's.

Believe it or not the theater industry is going down. DVD sales are kicking its' ass and even video game sales are destroying it. Nobody wants to be bothered with it any more.

I love going to the theater but at $7 a pop, I just can't afford it. It's a luxury now.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. Actually, I go both ways on that --

I own 1200 VHS, and 250+ DVDs, which I buy with my earnings from my PT job at a theater, where I can see almost anything I want for free -- I probably spend @ $15/mth on going to movies we don't carry, art house stuff and the like.

And the only mainstream movie I've seen that I thought was improved by being on DVD was "Hulk" that came out a couple years ago. Ang Lee's use of split screen was a little hard to follow on the big screen, but tracked easily on the small screen.

And, yeah, I do feel a little guilty about undercutting theater profit, thus helping push up ticket prices, but OTOH, they get it back by paying me abysmally so it really is a wash.

[Book Lover]

17. I disagree

By watching a movie in my home, I can drink a beer, let my kid speak as loudly as she likes, stop and start the movie at will, adjust the volume to something less than ear-splitting, yell at the screen, etc, etc. I feel no loss since I stopped paying $11 for the "theater experience."

[babylonsister]

33. You can buy pirated movies overseas for a buck, BEFORE they're

released in the US. Usually the quality isn't great, but does improve the older the movie gets/more copies made. And they're discs to use on whatever you're using in your home, not just for computers.

[Radical Activist]

27. So why does it only make the news when it happens to Sikco?

An overt attempt to lower ticket sales perhaps?

[Nomad559]

4. : -)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2882204

:)

[jefferson_dem]

6. d'oh. thanks.

[Bandit]

5. While Moore of course likes the money he wants even more to effect change

He was more than willing to give Farenheit 9-11 away free to all and I am sure he will not be too upset by this either. Remember Moore is not a Republican and somethings mean more to him than money. His country is one of those things. Republicans could care less about country except as a campaign slogan..They only want money and power. Moore wants what is good for America..

[gatorboy]

7. Why would it be his worst nightmare?

He was already paid for the work (ALOT!), plus he wants to get his message to the widest audience possible, I assume.

And considering he's already admitted worry that the U.S. might suppress his work, Hell, maybe he snuck it out early.

[KurtNYC]

8. Did the Ad Age reporter confess to any other crimes?

CBS is advocating video piracy just because they hate Michael Moore?? Sicko: available free on the Internet .

[taught_me_patience]

16. Piracy sucks

Everytime you download a pirated movie on the internet or buy pirated DVD's, you are stealing from hard-working people at the studios.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Most movies suck.

Every time they charge seven bucks for poorly written, CGI written garbage, they're stealing money from hard-working movie fans.

[taught_me_patience]

22. Good thing you don't live in LA, where a movie is $11

But there is a lot of information on the web about which movies are good and which are bad. Just don't go to the bad ones!

[Beaverhausen]

19. Here here

signed, someone employed by the film industry. :hi:

[taught_me_patience]

21. shouldn't you be working?

and not posting? LOL... j/k... we are hard-working people of the film industry.

:hi:

[gatorboy]

23. You people need to work harder.

Everything's sucked so far his Summer. ;)

[Beaverhausen]

25. You must not have seen "Ocean's 13" yet. It's great

Pirates and Spidey 3 were OK too - if a bit overblown! But worth seeing in a big theatre IMHO.

[gatorboy]

43. Oy! They were WAY overblown.

In Pirates one of the British soldiers, commenting about Jack, said, “Do you think he makes it up as he goes along?” And I was thinking, “Gee I think he’s commenting about this film.” :rofl: I think both films suffered from Matrixitus. They tried to pack too much in, tried to make their stories too dense and they lost the fun of the originals. Which is too bad. Davy Jones was why I went back. That was incredible effects work. And


And 28 Weeks Later was a HUGE disappointment. Boyle was so spot on with the first and they seem to throw out everything that made it unique.

Nope, haven’t seen Ocean’s 13 yet. I didn’t like 12 as much and wasn’t sure if 13 would be worth the admission, but I do have my list ready for the rest of the year (And hopefully the rest of the year will be an improvement):

The Mist
Hot Fuzz
Harry Potter
Transformers (Even the wife said, “Ooooo! Cool!” At that trailer).
The Simpsons
Sicko
Die Hard 4.0 (Mmmmaybe)
No Country for Old Men (Hellooo, Coen Bros.!)
I Am Legend
Once
30 Days of Night
Ratatouille
Sunshine
The Bourne Ultimatum
Resident Evil: Extinction
Beowulf

I could on. I do love cinema so much. I love seeing this stuff on the big screen. But I gotta admit, it’s getting pretty expensive these days to see something that’s sub par.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. You see 'Bug'?

I thought it was fantastic.

Of course, I tend to identify with paranoid schozophrenics living on the edge of sanity.

[gatorboy]

44. You didn't just give it away, did you???

;)

[Hippo_Tron]

24. Moore doesn't care if his films are pirated

And considering that most movies are profitable I don't see how it undermines the ability of the hard-working people at the studios to make a living.

[Javaman]

26. do you work in the industry?

the reality is, after the movie is made, the only people you are stealing from if you download a movie is the distributors, producers and the directors. All of which are directly responsible for the high ticket prices at the theater.

The crew gets paid on a contractual basis. They make their money and once the show is done shooting and post is finished, they go on their merry way with their pay.

The actors who get paid via a contract, will get a bit short changed because they won't get the residuals they are guaranteed via SAG and the same goes with the director and the asst director via the DGA.

Beyond that. the hard working crew really doesn't loose a dime.

I love when people say this ridiculous line, it's more propaganda that the film industry feeds the ignorant public at the little previews at the theater.

If they want to stop piracy just try lowering the ticket price or work with peer to peer companies.

the fact is this will keep happening until dinosaur hollywood gets a clue. They don't seem to have an issue with charging 10+ bucks for really shitty films, to me that is a much bigger crime.

[walldude]

30. Wow man, talk about great minds.. see my post below.

I love how people who have no idea how the industry works make these ridiculous claims...

[Javaman]

37. Indeed great minds. :)

Because we both have worked in the industry.

Like they say on the set: "I'm a mushroom" LOL

[RaleighNCDUer]

31. maybe they should charge by quality -

kind of like with live professional theater - the top shows cost an arm and a leg, but the off-off broadway that has more people on stage than in the audience are dirt cheap.

Charge $5 for all tickets, and raise the price $.50 for each day it runs after the opening weekend.

[Occulus]

38. It's even more amusing than that

"If they want to stop piracy just try lowering the ticket price or work with peer to peer companies. "

How about, oh- STOP GIVING DVD TO REVIEWRS BEFORE THE FILM HITS THE THEATERS! Or, STOP GIVING REVIEWERS ADVANCE COPIES- PERIOD!

The industry is itself perpetuating their own piracy "problem" by doing this. Those DVD rips via BitTorrent before the film is in theaters is one hell of a tell-tale that it's an inside job.

I just love it when people use that line. It's as though they want you to think that the cash the cast and crew and whatnot get paid just suddenly magically appears after the first tickets are sold.

I wonder how they put food on their families in the meantime...

[Javaman]

39. Exactly. that is the best idea yet. most of the copies come from the

"academy" members.

[JDPriestly]

45. If you want distributors to distribute Moore's future films,

go see his movie in a theater and buy the DVD. It's called economics. Distributors want to make money. That's why they distribute films. If the film will not make money, it will not be distributed -- or at least not widely distributed. Money talks and walks.
Support this film with your money so that distributors will be motivated to distribute similar films in the future.

[walldude]

28. LOL.. what a crock, what do you work for a movie studio?

I've worked on a number of movies, and no matter how it did at the box office and no matter how many pirated copies hit the net I still got paid. Along with everyone else. The only people piracy hurts are the studios and the distributors, and if you take a look at the current box office, they aren't feeling a whole lot of pain. 3 movies in the last 3 weeks will cross the $300 million threshold and we still have Harry Potter, Transformers, Simpsons and Die Hard coming. The studios are drowning in cash. I take my family to the movies at least once a week, at about $100 bucks a pop for all of us with popcorn. I spend between 5 and $600 a month on movies, not to mention the nearly 1000 DVD's I've bought over the years. I saw F911 at the theaters, I downloaded a pirated copy and I bought the DVD when it came out. The myth that pirates are ruining the indusrty is just that a myth. Most pirates are the biggest consumers of entertainment out there. Sure there are a few who can't afford to go to the movies, but they certainly aren't costing anyone anything, they are just getting to see something they otherwise wouldn't be able to.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. He's probably seen that commercial.

The one with the set painter that talks about how bad piracy is, the one that you sit through when you just paid way too much for a movie.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

41. You Are 100% Correct.

[Madspirit]

20. He Will Be Happy

MM makes movies to educate people, not to make money, something by now he has plenty of. I think the wider distribution will please him.

Lee

[Lisa]

34. part of the enjoyment of a Moore film is the shocked gasps/laughter from the audience

I remember one of the early F9/11 screenings. At first the crowd was timid, but eventually someone plucked up the courage to yell "Moron!" when Bush appeared onscreen, and from then on the applause and snorts of derision became more and more frequent. It was quite a different experience from viewing it at home.

[RaleighNCDUer]

36. Same experience here.

Kind of reminiscent of watching 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' at home or at the theater - the audience is half the show.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

40. Yup. Just Checked. Didn't Download It But It's Definitely There.

[Cronopio]

42. "every film maker's worst marketing nightmare"?

Fortunately, this film isn't for the marketers, so who cares?

As for the "fat f*ck" comment on the pirate site, that just makes me more determined to download it AND pay to watch it in a theater. AND get a copy when it comes out on DVD.

So much for your plans to impoverish Michael Moore, dumbf*ck piraters.

[Frank Cannon]

47. I really don't think Moore cares very much

I think that the vast majority of the people who would have paid to see this movie in the theater and/or or rent/buy the DVD will still do all that. And I think the vast majority of the people who will download the movie are those that weren't inclined to pay to see it in the first place--and maybe they'll learn something, which is what Moore wants them to do anyway.

If anything, this just gives Michael Moore more publicity and word-of-mouth. It's not like Sicko is the next Star Wars movie, where people are just dying for plot spoilers.

[Lisa]

48. ***plot spoiler*** -- a lot of Americans end up without access to health care!

Yup, that one's a real shocker, isn't it!

[HuffleClaw]

49. its hardly only 'sicko' that is being pirated. what movie DOESN'T?

but of COURSE the corporate media chooses to focus onthis one.

'hey, isn't it awful that michael moore's new movie is being pirated AT THESE WEBSITES?'

they sure aren't fooling me.