Michael Moore rebuts CNN on Sicko, calls for apology. Cory Doctorow: Last week, Michael Moore appeared on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show, The Situation Room, to talk about his stirring new movie, Sicko. Blitzer opened the segment with a taped "debunking" that purported to show that Moore "fudged the facts" in the movie. Moore has posted a point-by-point rebuttal to the debunking, showing that CNN was just shilling for the HMOs (a significant advertiser to the network). He's calling on fans of the movie to write to CNN and demand an apology.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN: "(Moore says) the United States slipped to number 37 in the world's health care systems. It's true. ... Moore brings a group of patients, including 9/11 workers, to Cuba and marvels at their free treatment and quality of care. But hold on - that WHO list puts Cuba's health care system even lower than the United States, coming in at #39."

THE TRUTH:

* "But hold on?" 'SiCKO' clearly shows the WHO list, with the United States at number #37, and Cuba at #39. Right up on the screen in big five-foot letters. It's even in the trailer! CNN should have its reporter see his eye doctor. The movie isn't hiding from this fact. Just the opposite.

* The fact that the healthcare system in an impoverished nation crippled by our decades-old blockade (including medical supplies and drugs) ranks so closely to ours is more an indictment of the American system than the Cuban system.

* Although Cuba ranks lower overall than the United States, it still has a lower infant mortality rate and longer life span.

Link

See also:
BlueCross's internal talking points memo for Sicko
MoveOn needs help handing out action-fliers at Sicko screenings
Sicko inspires grassroots action in Dallas cinema
Moore's "Sicko" leaks onto P2P
Google to HMOs: pay us and we'll defuse "Sicko"
More on Google vs Sicko

'They were heroes that history forgot'. A film about north Africans fighting the Nazis has reopened old wounds about France's attitude to its former colony, Algeria. [Guardian Unlimited]
8:07:15 AM  
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ILM animators take home the Oscar. Video: ILM animators take home the Oscar. From the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco: Industrial Light & Magic's Hal Hickel and John Knoll took home an Oscar for Visual Effects Sunday night, and their peers awaited their arrival for a surprise bash. CNET.com's Veronica Belmont was on hand to check out the scene and talk with the winners.
[CNET News.com]
1:39:14 PM  
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‘The Departed’ Wins Best Picture, Scorsese Best Director. Seven snubs after his first Oscar nomination, Martin Scorsese was named best director and his murderous mob thriller “The Departed” was named best picture. By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and SHARON WAXMAN. [NYT > Arts]
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Scorsese, Mirren take Academy Awards. · Director finally honoured· Departed takes 4 awards· Mirren wins best actress [Guardian Unlimited]
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BFI archives to be free to public. The British Film Institute archives are to be opened up to the public, who will be able to watch items for free. [BBC News | UK | UK Edition]
9:04:45 AM  
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Maltese Falcon swiped. David Pescovitz:

An official replica of the Maltese Falcon used in promo photos for the 1941 film has been stolen from John's Grill in San Francisco. The statue was nabbed out of a locked cabinet where it was on display with signed Dashiell Hammett books and other rarities. John's Grill proprietor John Konstin has put up a $25,000 reward for its return. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The black statue was signed by actor Elisha Cook Jr., a San Franciscan who played the role of Wilmer the Gunsel in the movie. He presented it to the restaurant after Konstin and San Francisco private investigator Jack Immendorf failed in their attempt to buy the original bird that was used in the movie.

PirateBay's OscarTorrents - download the Oscars. Cory Doctorow: OscarTorrents is an audacious new site from The Pirate Bay: a search-engine for torrents of this year's Oscar nominees:

To those worried about downloading in case they get sued: by our calculations, your chances of getting nailed are way less than your chances of winning the lottery. Don't think twice about it.

To all intellectual property landlords: we are aware that OscarTorrents might annoy you -- but contain your righteous indignation for a while, and think: we're only linking to torrents that already exist. Face it: your membrane has burst, and it wasn't us who burst it. Your precious bodily fluids are escaping.

You haven't beaten us, so why not join us? Think of a new business model that doesn't involve overpriced pieces of plastic and skanky cinemas hawking cheap carbohydrates while relying on $6/hr projectionists who can't keep a film in focus -- not to mention insulting your audiences by (to pick a few examples) surveilling us with nightvision glasses, searching bags, 30 minutes of commercials and bombarding us with ridiculous anti-piracy propaganda. Take a look at yourselves. Is it really any wonder we're winning?

Link

(Thanks Hoag!)

Mirren adds Bafta to awards haul. Dame Helen Mirren adds the best actress Bafta to her awards for The Queen, also named best film. [BBC News | UK | UK Edition]
12:57:37 PM  
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