An American Carol: Difference between revisions
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==Michael Moore's response== |
==Michael Moore's response== |
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The character Michael Malone is a [[parody]] of the [[United States|American]] filmmaker, [[author]], and [[political commentator]] [[Michael Moore]]. |
The character Michael Malone is a [[parody]] of the [[United States|American]] filmmaker, [[author]], and [[political commentator]] [[Michael Moore]].<ref> http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-10-01/film/airplane-director-david-zucker-talks-about-the-left-and-his-new-movie-an-american-carol/</ref> On September 5, 2008 Moore was a guest on ''[[Larry King Live]]'' and was shown a clip from the film where Malone (while lying down on his bed, drinking a [[Big Gulp]] and watching archival footage of [[inaugural address of John F. Kennedy|JFK's inaugural address]]) is startled by JFK, who materializes out of Malone's [[television]] screen, and confronts him on his misguided views of American history. Moore said that he was vaguely familiar with the film, and then jokingly said he thought it was [[Viggo Mortensen]] that would be portraying him. When King asked him his opinion, Moore shrugged his shoulders and said "I hope it's funny." |
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== Promotion by conservative media personalities == |
== Promotion by conservative media personalities == |
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Revision as of 03:57, 7 October 2008
| An American Carol | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Zucker |
| Written by | David Zucker Myrna Sokoloff |
| Produced by | David Zucker Stephen McEveety John Shepherd |
| Starring | Kevin Farley Kelsey Grammer Jon Voight Dennis Hopper Leslie Nielsen Jillian Murray |
| Cinematography | Brian Baugh |
| Edited by | Vashi Nedomansky |
| Music by | James L. Venable |
| Distributed by | Vivendi Entertainment |
Release date | October 3, 2008 |
Running time | 83 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
An American Carol is a 2008 American comedy film, directed by David Zucker and starring Kevin Farley. Presented from a conservative perspective, the film "lampoons contemporary American culture, particularly Hollywood."[2] It uses the framework of A Christmas Carol but moves the setting of the story from Christmas to Independence Day. It is written by Myrna Sokoloff and Zucker. The supporting cast includes Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper, Trace Adkins, Jillian Murray and Leslie Nielsen. [3] The film was released on October 3, 2008.
Plot
Left-wing activist and filmmaker Michael Malone (a parody of Michael Moore) is campaigning to end the celebration of the Fourth of July. Malone truculently argues to the American people that America's past and present are offensive, and therefore should not be celebrated. Malone's nephew is a naval officer about to deploy to the Persian Gulf, and Malone treats him with contempt. Malone is then visited by three ghosts, Presidents George Washington and John F. Kennedy and General George S. Patton, who try to make him rethink his view of America. They try to show him that sometimes war is necessary for the greater cause. For example, Patton shows him an alternate world where slavery is still in existence because Lincoln chose not to fight the Civil War. He also shows the filmmaker how British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeased Adolf Hitler. Malone is also visited by the spirit of George Washington (played by Jon Voight) who takes him to the very church in New York where he was sworn in as the 1st President. Washington tells him how the dust in the church is the dust from the World Trade Center on 9/11. In the film's end, Malone is a changed man who loves America and realizes how precious freedom is.
Michael Moore's response
The character Michael Malone is a parody of the American filmmaker, author, and political commentator Michael Moore.[4] On September 5, 2008 Moore was a guest on Larry King Live and was shown a clip from the film where Malone (while lying down on his bed, drinking a Big Gulp and watching archival footage of JFK's inaugural address) is startled by JFK, who materializes out of Malone's television screen, and confronts him on his misguided views of American history. Moore said that he was vaguely familiar with the film, and then jokingly said he thought it was Viggo Mortensen that would be portraying him. When King asked him his opinion, Moore shrugged his shoulders and said "I hope it's funny."
Promotion by conservative media personalities
Even before the scheduled release of the movie, "An American Carol", had been strongly advertised by notable Republicans and conservative leaning people, such as radio personalities, Rush Limbaugh[5], Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin. On October 3, 2008, actors Kevin Farley and Kelsey Grammer appeared on the FOX News program the O'Reilly Factor to promote their film. "An American Carol" has also been hailed by newspapers such as the Dallas Morning News as being, "for the right wing". [6]
Reception
Critical
The film was not screened for critics. Director David Zucker explained this was because the studio did not believe it would get a fair hearing from critics due to its conservative political viewpoint. [7]
The film currently has a rating of 18% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews[8], while it holds a strong 75% from the RT community,[9]and a score of 23 out of 100 at Metacritic based on 11 reviews. [10]
Commercial
An American Carol made $3.8 million from 1,639 theaters in its opening weekend, placing it ninth among movies that week, it had a per-screen average of $2,325. By comparison, the film's diametrically opposite competitor released around the same time, "Religulous",[11] was the tenth-ranked movie, grossing $3.5 million in just 502 theaters, an average of $6,972 per screen, although the data on Religulous was collected over a 5 day period (the first 2 in NY and LA only) vs. a 3 day period for An American Carol. [12][13]
Cast
- Kevin Farley as Michael Malone
- Kelsey Grammer as General George S. Patton
- Serdar Kalsin as Ahmed
- Robert Davi as Aziz
- Jon Voight as President George Washington
- Paris Hilton as Herself
- James Woods as Michael's agent
- Chriss Anglin as John F. Kennedy
- Leslie Nielsen as Himself / Grampa
- Jillian Murray as Heather
- Simon Rex as Himself
- Dennis Hopper as The Judge
- Kevin Sorbo as George Mulrooney
- Travis Schuldt as Josh
- Trace Adkins as Himself/The Angel of Death
- Bill O'Reilly as Himself
- Gary Coleman as Slave
- Benton Jennings as Adolf Hitler
- Christopher McDonald as Lab Technician #1
- Karri Turner as Lab Technician #2
References
- ^ An American Carol Movie Overview
- ^ An American Carol - ComingSoon.net Film Database
- ^ An American Carol (2008)
- ^ http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-10-01/film/airplane-director-david-zucker-talks-about-the-left-and-his-new-movie-an-american-carol/
- ^ http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=187903
- ^ http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-carol_1003gl.ART.State.Edition1.2699bd1.html
- ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/10/are-critics-too.html
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/an_american_carol
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/an_american_carol/reviews_users.php
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/americancarol
- ^ http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-carol_1003gl.ART.State.Edition1.2699bd1.html
- ^ http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jb68x_tOGx8QHjI0Cr6C-Vy79OGgD93KG9980
- ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117993541.html?categoryid=13&cs=1