How many Fortune 500 CEO's will be interviewed by Michael Moore for his next film about Wall Street?

I wish a more credible film maker were approaching this issue. Although Moore often makes good points he is establishing a reputation as more of a producer of propaganda than of documentaries.

Borat aka Ali G uses many of the same techniques.

c2r
Will it count if a CEO appears on camera only briefly? What I mean is in a situation whereby Moore confronts him/her on the street, they exchange a few words and the CEO tells Moore to blow-off and die. Or another instance where Moore gets to ask a question or two and then is shown abruptly to the door. Are we counting only genuine sit down interviews that go on with Q & A's lasting several minutes? Or are we just counting the number of CEO's he captures on film, like a body count?

Can't wait to see this movie. I really liked Sicko.

My official opinion is that the CEO must appear to be agreeing to having a camera pointed at him. So if you have Mike chasing him down the street while he tries to flee it's a no. And I see that coming....

But we're shooting for a CEO that is willing to be quizzed, so while they probably don't HAVE to be in a sitting position it should appear this is a confrontation that is welcomed by the CEO. I'm sure Mike will say 'so and so agreed to see us, meet with us, gave us an appointment' or something like that. Hostile encounters will not count.

I'm looking forward to the flick too. Always a great grin with the spin he puts on his expomentaries. When I think of "Faranheit 9-11", I always envision the scene that cuts to Bush just as the song "Cocaine" comes on....his soundtracks are good. Say what you want bout Moore, he makes a great film.

Thanks c2r. It was your question, so I wanted your answer and not the Cat Ed's answer. As usual you gave a clarifying answer.

@mork: how can you say that? Sasha Baron Cohen--Borat, etc.--pretends to be someone he's not to elicit (usually) humorous social commentary and satire; Moore appears as himself, almost always announced ahead of time. Cohen--who I find hilarous--is a comedian; Moore is a great documentary filmmaker in the mold of all the great ones.

@sqlman
I am a fan or Cohen too. I am primarily referring to his character Ali G. He has interviewed many prominent figures in a pre-arranged setting with this character. The 'victims' obviously have agreed the interview based on the belief that he is a legitimate interviewer. They are unaware that the interview is solely going to be used for the production of comedy.

The similarity lies in that these interviews or 'situations' are arranged on false pretenses. The opening scene of Bowling For Columbine for example;

In Michael Wilson's refutative documentary Michael Moore Hates America, bank employees from the branch at which Moore is given a free hunting rifle assert that they were misled during the filming of this segment. They say that the bank's policy was to conduct background checks on rifle recipients and mail the rifles to a licensed gun dealer, but Moore's agents, under the pretext of "doing a story on unique businesses across America," are accused of convincing bank employees to have his rifle presented to him on camera the morning after filming his account opening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore_controversies

Another example I can think of off-hand is how he convinced Charleston Heston to allow him into his home in that same film. Disingenuous at the least.

Sasha Baron Cohen uses these methods for our comedic pleasure and I am sorry his cover is now blown because hilarity often ensued. Moore, on the other hand uses these methods to misinform the viewer, which I find disturbing. I often agree with the point Moore is trying to make but to be honest can't stand the guy. If the matters he challenges are serious enough to warrant our concern then he shouldn't feel a need to exaggerate them. By doing so he insults his viewers intelligence by assuming that they will not challenge his presentations authenticity and also hurt legitimate causes because now the hordes of people who are spreading the lie he presented end up appearing as liars themselves or stupid for not being properly informed whilst repeating the lie.(usually in a somewhat passionate but ill-informed manner.)

This annoys me a great deal because now debate over these legitimate concerns is clouded with lies and half-truths which is detrimental to the attempts at resolving these problems. I think Moore is intelligent enough to understand the damage he may be doing so I have concluded that his concern is not as much the causes themselves as his desire to make millions off of these 'documentaries'.

sorry sqlman, while moore's movies generally have high production values, I don't think they qualify as documentaries. The definition of documentary according to princeton university is as follows:

1. relating to or consisting of or derived from documents

2. a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event

3. objective: emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation; "objective art"

Moore's films certainly do not fit that description, as he very often (as mork pointed out) shows things in a fictional context in order to strengthen his point, rather than simply revealing facts. Furthermore, he often will mix selected parts of two or more speeches together without informing the audience, to give the appearance that his subject is saying exactly what Moore would like him too. This is an outright lie, and in my opinion completely discredits Moore as a documentary film maker.

The film "Michael Moore Hates America" is a good documentary. His actions and words speak for themselves in that one.

@ironman: that's an issue you may want to take up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences--which gave him an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (Bowling for Columbine).

@mork: "Michael Moore Hates America" is a piece of conservative pablum barely worth noting, so I won't. However, I'll say this: if you're going to quote something, quote thje whole thing. It's disingenuous in the extreme to speak of the bank incident in comment #6 without the end of that passage: "Moore emphatically denies that this sequence was staged but acknowledges the timing was compressed for production reasons. He reminds his readers that North Country Bank is a licensed firearms dealer, and in addition to its ATF license number, he produces out-takes where bank employee Jan Jacobson appears to confirm on camera that rifles are secured locally on bank premises".

Here's a great Moore quote (http://www.alternet.org/story/130458/):

The American people agree with me, not Rush [Limbaugh]. The American public believes that health care is a right and not a commodity. They want tougher environmental laws and believe that global warming is real, not a myth. They believe that the rich should be taxed more. They want to go after the crooks on Wall Street who got us into this mess and the politicians who enabled them. They want more money invested in education, science, technology and infrastructure—NOT in more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. They believe that, whether Democrats or Republicans have been in power, wealthy corporations have been calling the shots for the past few decades and the American people's voices have not been heard as their country has slowly been driven into the ground. Our politicians and our media have been bought and paid for by the highest bidders and we don't trust them anymore. Finally—they want us to get the hell out of Iraq and to investigate the criminals who sent us there for fictitious reasons.

Michael Moore is my hero.

He's one of my fav filmmakers. I buy all his movies, I buy all his books. I agree with most of his sentiments and share the same ideology. And I'm from Lansing, not so far from where he began in Flint, Michigan. I witnessed first hand what happened with the Auto Makers. Used to be you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting an auto worker. Not true any longer.

I rejoice at the venom he causes the right to spew and I hope he continues to crank out his left wing exposé's on the deceptions and fallacies of Corporate America and POS politicians.

Damn, sqlman....he might be my hero as well.

His productions reek of biased propaganda. I see him in the same light as Rush Limbaugh except I agree with most of Moore's points. I see them both a overly dramatic divisive characters.

Boy, I don't see him on a par with jabba AT ALL. limbaugh is a screamer. Moore doesn't cram himself in everybody's face repeating obnoxious talking points to advance his agenda. He's a left leaning centrist and you're comparing him to a far right racist with an ego bigger than the Hindenburg. Their styles are extremely different. And Moore solutions to problems extend beyond 'just say no' for political and societal solutions. Not to mentioned he's never been fired for making racist comments, scammed for prescription drugs or been divorced.

Besides which, he released his 'Sicko' flick online for free for people....has Rush ever given a freebie of that magnitude away?

The only thing I see they have in common is their weight problem.

Both these men mock their opposition. People on both sides of the spectrum of ideology may feel this justified and it will provide a moment of satisfaction to them but this tone is actually counter-productive to the debate. This tactic draws the debate to an emotional level and polarizes people. I am grateful that Moore brings these issues to light and I always look forward to viewing his films however I do not look forward to what I find to be an obnoxious and egotistical tone that he delivers them in.

"... The American public believes that health care is a right and not a commodity. They want tougher environmental laws and believe that global warming is real, not a myth. They believe that the rich should be taxed more...They want more money invested in education, science, technology and infrastructure—NOT in more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans...Finally—they want us to get the hell out of Iraq and to investigate the criminals who sent us there for fictitious reasons."

I wonder who "they" are..."they" aren't me.

If you think you pay a lot for health care now, just wait and see how much you'll be paying when it is "free"!

"They" aren't me either.

@notable - I think that health care quote came originally from P.J. O'Rourke, and is dead on correct. Just wait til the rationing starts - I can see Michael Moore put on a long long wait list to deal with his upcoming heart attack / diabetes / stroke / whatever else overindulgers like him get afflicted with - he'll be screaming about the wait, and of course blame it on 'greedy doctors' or some damn thing other than the system itself which he will have helped bring about.

Oh for the love of God (or is it money?)....much as I enjoy O'Rourke's sarcasm and wit, he's a Libertarian for pete's sake. Those people thrive on the disparity exisiting between have's (them) and have not's (anybody that's not them). Funny, ya just never see a homeless, indigent Libertarian.