Michael Moore comes to town

[image]

Michael Moore was distressed that the journalists lined up to interview him hadn't seen the film he was in Minneapolis to promote Friday night.

The original plan was everyone would see the film "Capitalism: a love story" and then he would do interviews.

The plan got changed when someone realized he wouldn't make the last plane out to get him back home to Michigan. He thanked everyone for being flexible, and said the set up allowed would allow him to sleep in his own bed for the first time in three weeks.

Moore says he began making "Capitalism" six months before the economic crash, because it seemed obvious to him that something bad was on the way. His film examines the causes and effects of what happened from an unabashedly leftist viewpoint.

We meet people who have lost their homes to foreclosure, pilots who are so poorly paid they have to augment their income with food stamps, and hear Moore's analysis that the worst may be still to come. He's particularly concerned about the mountain of credit card debt out there and the crippling healthcare costs hanging over the heads of many working families.

Occasionally as we talked Moore looked tired, and he admitted the past few years have taken a toll. He has to travel with a couple of security guys because he has been so vilified on talk radio and other right-leaning media he fears for his safety.

"They have created a fictional character called Michael Moore and they lie about him," he told the crowd at the Lagoon Theater during a q and a after the film.

However he says he hopes his film will encourage people to take action. He jokes that he's assuming theaters will be stocking up on pitchforks and torches to replace Twizzlers and Goobers at the concession stands.

Back at the interview room Moore was still concerned that the journos were missing the film. As each interview finished he looked at his watch and said, "OK this is what has happened so far," and then caught every one up. He may be wanting to hand out pitchforks, but Michael Moore is very much a film maker at heart.

• After five years, State of the Arts comes to a close
• Park Square’s second stage to open Friday
• Most critics find ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a dreamy delight
• Michael Kareken fills two galleries with ‘Parts’