Last night we went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 and damn if it wasn't almost like attending a rock concert (the air was charged with a very palpable excitement) except for the part where there wasn't really anything to be celebrated except for the fact that so many people turned out to see Michael Moore's film and the hope that this film might get some people off their asses to vote. In any case, I made damn sure that we saw the film over the weekend because I wanted to be part of the effort to make it the number one film over the weekend. Props to Oakland's Grand Lake theatre for deliberately defying the MPAA's "R" rating for the film.

In the end, not only was Fahrenheit 911 the biggest movie of the weekend, but, according to the New York Times it became the highest-grossing documentary of all time. (Requires free registration).

OK, as for the film itself....it's very engaging, engrossing and informative. And yes I know it's leftist propaganda. I know it's an unbalanced view of the events leading up to and beyond September 11th.

But that's the point really. For the last nearly three years the Bush administration has given us one side of the picture and with this film it's as if Moore is jumping up and down on the political see-saw to tip it back the other way. It's unbalanced - there's little in the way of defense/explanation from Bush and Co. - but I'd say that after all these months of White House spin, it's only fair. In fact, I think that should be the film's tagline: Fair and Unbalanced.

OK, so perhaps I'm not cut out for marketing....

Last week, Newsweek writer Michael Isikoff squared off against some off Moore's Fahrenheit allegations; now Michael Moore's site has a mostly blow-by-blow response to Isikoff's accusations - most notably the allegation that Moore was wrong about whether, in the days immediately following September 11th, prominent Saudis --including members of the Bin Laden family -- were allowed to leave the U.S. without extensive questioning. Read both reports for yourself and decide. Better yet, read both reports and see the film and then decide.

I'll be happy to pony up $9 for the cost of a ticket to the first conservative who asks me.

Any takers?