It's a good question, Ben.
Timing is everything. Movies such as these take time to plan, make, edit, produce, and distribute. Michael Moore has done this a few times, and planned the movie with the exact timing needed to take Bush out. (He isn't shy about mentioning his intentions.) It's pretty difficult to have the same effect at this point with so little time left.
There's another phenomenon as well, which is seen in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Positive findings will get you a publication several orders of magnitude easier and faster than negative findings. For example, the kind of work I did at camp with John Morenski to debunk "empty force" is very important, but it isn't "sexy." The original concept gets lots of press, even if it's all garbage. The rebuttal is nothing more than letting the air out of the tires of the sports car. People shrug and walk away. Oh well...
Another point... This isn't the only counter to Moore's political piece. Check this out.
Celcius 41.11
And here's a commentary (not review) from the New York Times, as well as a commentary on the commentary.
Like That 'Fahrenheit' Film, Except Bush Is the Hero
By JOHN TIERNEY
There are other films. Bottom line - any one film's message is getting lost in the cacophany of responses.
Did we mention that Hollywood is a tad left of center? That wouldn't have anything to do with a film's success now, would it?
And finally... These film makers have it all wrong. It's one thing to do an accurate film; it's quite another to do an
effective one. The approach is all wrong. If you want to get an audience, do a satire like
Airplane!.
The 1980 movie Airplane! is probably the best farce ever produced. There were films that followed that tried to emulate its success. There was Airplane II - The Sequel, the Naked Gun series, and Hot Shots, for example.
Well meaning but totally confused advocates of political correctness should avoid this film. Then again, any advocate of political correctness is totally confused.
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker admit that this is a low budget movie and every precaution was taken to avoid spending too much money. It is a lampoon of practically every disaster movie ever made but it mostly intended to be a parody of the movie Zero Hour. Many of the lines in the film are directly from Zero Hour.
There's no point in having a party if nobody comes, right? Get them in the theatre with a comedy, and then get your message in the back door. That's effective communication and filmmaking.
Hmm... Maybe I missed my calling.
Not!
- Bill
A rebuttal movie comes out October 5, 2004... 
