TRAITOR FILMS presents:

Note the last line in this story. They should have added, as long as
they support the LIBERAL position, that is.
-Rich


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- President Bush is getting another
big-screen close-up.

Two films touching on Bush open the same day, one about a country trio
ashamed the president's from their home state, the other chronicling
his fictional assassination.

As Michael Moore's Bush-bashing hit "Fahrenheit 9/11" showed two years
ago, politically charged films are not likely to affect elections. But
"Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" and "Death of a President," both
debuting Friday, are positioned as talking points for the midterm
elections 10 days later.

"Films don't influence elections. People have to," said Barbara Kopple,
who directed "Shut Up and Sing" with Cecilia Peck. "If there's
something they see in a particular film, maybe they'll explore it
further. If it hits at just the right spot, they may go out and help to
change something."

"Shut Up and Sing" recounts the fallout after Dixie Chicks singer
Natalie Maines told a London concert crowd in 2003 that she and band
mates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison were ashamed that Bush is from
Texas, the remark coming on the eve of the U.S. war in Iraq.

Conservative commentators condemned them, country radio stations banned
their songs and fans boycotted their records.

"Death of a President" is a fictional film presented as a documentary
examining the assassination of Bush after an economic speech in Chicago
on October 19, 2007. (Watch the director on controversy: "I think
people jumped to the wrong conclusions" -- 3:27 Video)

Bush is gunned down by a sniper, the film centering on the chaotic
months that follow as conspiracy theories arise, questions emerge about
the government's key suspect and Dick Cheney, sworn in as president,
pushes through an expansion of the Patriot Act to broaden federal
powers of surveillance.

The two films are the latest critiquing Bush and his administration's
policies amid the war on terrorism.

Among them are two released on DVD right before the elections: "The
Road to Guantanamo," examining the plight of British Muslims held
without charges for two years at the U.S. military prison in Cuba, and
the satire "American Dreamz" starring Dennis Quaid as a Bush-like
president targeted for assassination during an appearance as a guest
judge on an "American Idol"-style talent show.

Gabriel Range, the British director and co-writer of "Death of a
President," said the fictional assassination was a plot device to
examine world affairs since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"The intention was not to upset people, but I think there are times
films should be provocative, they should be outrageous. I think the
provocation in this case is entirely justified," Range said. "Whenever
there is a national tragedy of any kind, any horrific event, there's
always a period of reflection. Imagining the assassination of President
Bush was a very potent and striking way of looking at where we've
gotten in the last five years."

Mixing archival footage, dramatized sequences and fictionalized
interview segments, the film mainly deals with the consequences of the
assassination, how it traumatizes America and further provokes a
post-September 11 siege mentality.

"Some people imagined this film would be something other than what it
is. They imagined a kind of sick version of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' in which
there would be kind of a bloodletting," Range said.

"Anyone who buys their movie ticket to get some sort of thrill out of
this I think will be disappointed. Anyone expecting the film to in any
way celebrate this act I think really will be in for a shock. It's
clearly portrayed as what it would be. A terrible, terrible thing for
America."
Hard lines

Newmarket Films, which distributed Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the
Christ," acquired "Death of a President" after its premiere at
September's Toronto International Film Festival. Some cinema chains
have rejected the film, but Newmarket plans to debut it in most major
U.S. markets.

It's unusual for a festival acquisition to hit theaters so quickly,
though Newmarket head of distribution Richard Abramowitz said the fast
turnaround had nothing to do with the November 7 election.

"I can categorically say without hesitation that that wasn't in
anyone's mind when we sat at the table to evaluate the release
schedule," Abramowitz said.

Abramowitz said Newmarket wanted to capitalize on the buzz the film
received in Toronto. Range added that the filmmakers wanted it in
theaters as quickly as possible after it aired in early October on
British television.

"Shut Up and Sing" follows the Dixie Chicks' travails in the three
years since Maines uttered what she felt was a mild slam against Bush.

"We were proud of her and surprised at the swiftness of the backlash
against her, and we understood something had happened that reflected
the state of freedom of speech in our country," director Peck said. "It
galvanized us to want to go and make the film."

One protester in the film suggests Maines should be strapped to a bomb
and dropped on Baghdad. Others tote signs depicting Maines with an X
over her mouth.

The trio went from darlings to pariahs of country music but responded
with defiance and a healthy dose of humor. The documentary has footage
of their Entertainment Weekly photo shoot in which their bare bodies
are covered with such slogans as "Saddam's Angels" and "Dixie Sluts."

The uproar reflects the hard line the Bush administration has taken
since September 11, in which dissent is branded unpatriotic, said
Kopple, a two-time Academy Award winner for the documentaries "Harlan
County, U.S.A." and "American Dream."

"I think there has been no president that has disgraced this country
more," Kopple said. "As Americans, it's difficult to go anywhere
without people feeling a tremendous amount of anger. I think his
policies are not policies that a good deal of the American people
believe in. It just seems like there's a cowboy mentality, dead or
alive, you're either with us or against us.

"No longer is there a dialogue or discussion. We need more than ever to
have people stand up and speak out their opinions."