Mkey’s Got A Brand New Film

Um, OK:

Inspired by Neil Young and Radiohead, Michael Moore will release his new film online and for free.

The film, “Slacker Uprising,” follows Moore’s 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. It will be available for three weeks as a free download to North American residents, beginning Sept. 23. An official announcement of the film is planned for Friday.

Moore said he considered releasing “Slacker Uprising” theatrically as “Michael Moore’s big election year movie” as he did with 2004’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which was highly critical of President Bush.

Instead, Moore opted for a symbol of gratitude to his fans as he approaches the 20th anniversary of his first film, 1989’s “Roger & Me.”

“I thought it’d be a nice way to celebrate my 20th year of doing this,” Moore said. “And also help get out the vote for November. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do to help with the election this year.”

Wait.  Wasn’t this “Captain Mike”?  I’m confused.  I guess you might as well release it for free since it’s likely that no one will pay to see it.

But this is what makes life beautiful:

The 97-minute long “Slacker Uprising” will be the first major film to be released in such a way. Last December, “Jackass 2.5” was streamed online and for free, but that was only a collection of left over material from “Jackass 2.” Companies like ClickStar, which Morgan Freeman co-founded, have made films still in theaters — such as 2006’s “10 Items or Less” — digitally available for purchase or rental.

Jackass 2.5.  Slacker Uprising.  If the symmetry were any more perfect, I suspect one of us would burst into tears.

The good thing about the film being free is that we can now watch it without having to give Michael a penny.  Maybe we should have a Moorewatch festival complete with drinking game.  To steal a line from P.J. O’Rourke, you just turn the movie on and boy, do you need a drink.