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AL CALLS

An Inconvenient Truth continues cooling:

Momentum appears to be slowing for Al Gore’s lecture-doc on global warning, An Inconvenient Truth, which took in $1.7 million from 404 screens but fell out of the top 10. The weekend number was just slightly higher than the previous frame, when it was showing on a third as many screens. Its total gross stands at $6.4 million.

Perhaps some friends can help Al improve these numbers. But who? Gore’s home state voted against him in 2000, and his old running mate, Joe Lieberman, isn’t likely very close to Gore these days. Just as well Al remains on good terms with the phone-spamming robot community:

If you live in a hotly contested election district, you’re likely familiar with “robo-calls”—the prerecorded pleas from pols that litter answer machines in the weeks before an election.

But on July 7, around 300,000 people in Gotham and four other cities received calls from Al Gore urging them not to vote but to see his global warming pic “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Several execs say it’s the first time they’ve heard of the technique being applied to a film.

Given it was Gore, are people certain the calls were prerecorded?

Posted by Tim B. on 07/18/2006 at 02:50 AM
  1. Well, they tried using his good friend Stephen Hawking, but Gore thought the voice was too sexy…

    Posted by cuckoo on 2006 07 18 at 03:10 AM • permalink

  2. “Pay attention to me! Pay attention to me!”

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 07 18 at 03:23 AM • permalink

  3. Yowza!. Al’s movie has grossed almost as much as his house is worth (not counting the gross value of Gore himself, of course).

    Posted by localharbor on 2006 07 18 at 03:24 AM • permalink

  4. Completely OT - can someone tell me why, no matter what browser I use, I periodically lose all of my bookmarks? I’m using Netscape now, and it happened with Firefox also. I run Norton and Ad Aware and Spybot regularly. I’m tech-inept, so any suggestions must be dumbed way down.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 07 18 at 03:27 AM • permalink

  5. Hello. I’m Al Gore and I’m calling from India. I hope I’m not calling while you’re eating dinner. But the Indian call center rates are so much cheaper than home and well, I really need to tell you about my new money making venture movie about saving the world…..........

    Posted by Bonmot on 2006 07 18 at 03:39 AM • permalink

  6. $1.7 million from 404 screens averages $4,207 per screen. At say $7 per viewer, that’s 600 people per screen, or about 240,000 in total.

    Not exactly sweeping the country.

    Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2006 07 18 at 03:46 AM • permalink

  7. Given it was Gore, are people certain the calls were prerecorded?

    You know, Tim has a point.  Hark back to the 2000 debates with George Bush.  Didn’t that seem like a robotron doing the speaking?  And yet that was a real live Al Gore.  At least that’s what the MSM has told me.

    Posted by wronwright on 2006 07 18 at 04:54 AM • permalink

  8. Hicks In Sticks Nix Al’s Flicks!

    But if this Newsweek cover story truly signaled a national trend and not just an obsession of their writers, shouldn’t Al’s movie be packing ‘em in nationwide?

    Posted by Ed Driscoll on 2006 07 18 at 04:56 AM • permalink

  9. It’s too bad that the message probably didn’t include the phrase “You are hearing me talk.”

    Posted by Sean M on 2006 07 18 at 05:24 AM • permalink

  10. When Hollywood Liberals give Al an academy award for his “picture,” Al can sell it on EBAY to help pay the production costs of this disaster.

    Posted by perfectsense on 2006 07 18 at 06:00 AM • permalink

  11. #4 Dave S

    Completely OT - can someone tell me why, no matter what browser I use, I periodically lose all of my bookmarks?

    From what I’ve seen, this can happen if the browser does not close properly.  So if say you just switch off the computer of if the computer crashes, or the operating system freezes in turn preventing the program from exiting properly, you can lose your bookmarks.  It’s almost certain to happen if you have a power failure.

    Netscape Browser allows you to export your bookmarks to a back up file.  Key strokes are Bookmarks / Manage / File / Export. I guess you could export regularly to the same file then import the whole file if you lose the bookmarks.  Actually I’ve never bothered to do this as I’ve used an occasional ‘crash’ as a forced mechanism to clean up my bookmarks.

    Posted by Wand on 2006 07 18 at 06:49 AM • permalink

  12. Just as well Al remains on good terms with the phone-spamming robot community:

    I reckon Al’s missed the boat with this one too!  Advertisers’ latest [nasty] trick here is to call a mobile phone (cell phone for Americans) that only results in a missed call, because not enough time is given for the call to be answered.

    The user will often call the number back only to be spammed with advertising or whatever at his own expense.

    So Al, if you want to make an impression I’d say you need to get with the times and this latest inconvenient scam.

    Posted by Wand on 2006 07 18 at 06:58 AM • permalink

  13. This celluloid horror has the legs of the original March of Dimes kid.

    Posted by ushie on 2006 07 18 at 07:20 AM • permalink

  14. So what are the chances that Joe Lieberman does a Zell Miller and has a prominent speaking spot at the 2008 GOP convention?

    Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2006 07 18 at 07:29 AM • permalink

  15. #4 - Dave S.

    Google is your friend:

    http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=258366

    Scroll about a third of the page for detailed instructions. Hopefully some of those will be of future assistance.

    You can also install the Bookmark Backup extension from here:

    http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/?extension=bb

    Just click on the appropriate link on that page to initiate install (this is a Firefox extension, so will not work in Netscape/Mozilla). You may have to enable software installation from that site in order for the extension to be installed.

    It’s also a good idea to upgrade to the latest version of Firefox from

    mozilla.com

    JPB

    Posted by JPB on 2006 07 18 at 07:48 AM • permalink

  16. “You can’t talk about my child Al (Lot #6,400,001) that way!” Message from Universal Robot Mama, #666,Lot #6,400,000, product line 0001.

    Posted by stats on 2006 07 18 at 08:09 AM • permalink

  17. Obviously, Karl Rove is monkeying around with the reports of box office ticket sales. And in Florida, minorities are being kept away from theatres due to the prevalence of security guards. WHEN WILL AL GORE EVER GET JUSTICE???

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 08:19 AM • permalink

  18. O/t Hey guys although I would love to shoot the messenger (the must to avoid Red Kezza)
    -this is a desperate plea for help for a new Aussie in Perth.
    His name is Muthir Lafta and he is from Iraq..his brother Assad,an engineer with the Americans in Iraq-has been abducted for ransom.Any youse guys give a helping hand?
    Very sorry if I’ve spoken out of line.

    Posted by crash on 2006 07 18 at 08:20 AM • permalink

  19. “Hello, Choir. This is Al Gore, and I’ll be preaching to you for a while. And it will cost you ten bucks a ticket, not counting Goobers and/or Raisinettes.”

    Posted by SoberHT on 2006 07 18 at 08:44 AM • permalink

  20. #18 Crash: Rusty Shackleford frequently publishes news of kidnappings by terrorists on his blog, The Jawa Report. You can e:mail him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). His blog link is here. This will at least start to get the word out.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 08:53 AM • permalink

  21. I’ve always wanted to know how to make money from 404 screens ... I get them regularly ... for someone who invented the internet, it should be a breeze ...

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 07 18 at 09:05 AM • permalink

  22. Grassy ass Paco…Thanks.

    Posted by crash on 2006 07 18 at 09:39 AM • permalink

  23. #18 what help exactly could we give crash????

    Posted by casanova on 2006 07 18 at 09:43 AM • permalink

  24. #21,

    And people think the Bush and Plastic Turkey falsehood won’t die…over 2500 days and still going with the “invented” thing.

    Posted by sam on 2006 07 18 at 09:43 AM • permalink

  25. sam, the difference is we know Al didn’t invent the internet, nor that he “took the initiative” because ARPANET was around when Al was granted his BA in Government. (My Dad was using it at the time because he was a member of the military-industrial-WMD complex.) Moonbats seriously think the turkey was plastic.

    Anyway, Al’s 2 acre, carbon-neutral place in Belle Meade was appraised at $3,021,400. Same zip code as my house, yet worlds apart.

    I’m proud to be one of his “home” staters who prevented his election in 2000.

    Posted by Some0Seppo on 2006 07 18 at 10:06 AM • permalink

  26. Robo-spam calls are ridiculous.  What are the chances anybody actually stands there and listens to them?  I can’t hang up fast enough when I get one.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 07 18 at 10:11 AM • permalink

  27. Telemarketing is illegal if the recipient has signed up for one of the no-call lists.

    What are the odds that Al’s little telemarketing operation is not calling these people?

    I know if I got one of these calls I’d be filing complaints.

    Posted by R C Dean on 2006 07 18 at 10:16 AM • permalink

  28. thankfully i don’t think we have any crap like that here in Oz???  getting damn telemarketers calling at all hours from India is bad enough…

    my inclination would be to automatically do the opposite of whatever such annoying intrusions on my privacy suggested, hopefully that would be everyone’s and so not only would they be ridiculous, but counter productive…

    Posted by casanova on 2006 07 18 at 10:16 AM • permalink

  29. I wonder if they called people on the do not call list.

    Posted by aaron_ on 2006 07 18 at 10:18 AM • permalink

  30. #25, no the word “invented” is used. People seriously think he claimed to have invented the internet, just like people seriously think bush served up a plastic turkey.

    Yes he badly worded an off-the-cuff answer to a question, but those who did in fact do some of the fundamental work (Kahn and Cerf “inventors” of TCP/IP) have said of Gore and the internet: “No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater. contribution over a longer period of time”.

    But that’s irrelevant, the point is every time you imply that Gore claimed to have invented the internet you are doing the same that those who claim Bush served up a plastic turney are doing: repeating something as truth when ten seconds of research shows it’s obviously false, in order to insult Gore or Bush.

    Posted by sam on 2006 07 18 at 10:25 AM • permalink

  31. #27 I’d assume the odds are pretty high, since it’s simple to do and they probably outsourced it to a company that already has that set up.

    Unless somehow it complies with the political exlcusion - politicians always leave themselves the slack they might need…

    Posted by sam on 2006 07 18 at 10:28 AM • permalink

  32. OK, we get it.  Al didn’t say he invented the internet.  Now, about Love Story.

    Posted by JDFlanagan on 2006 07 18 at 10:34 AM • permalink

  33. Yes, I know he didn’t invent the internet ... now about Love Story ... did Al Gore invent love?

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 07 18 at 10:39 AM • permalink

  34. The Gorebot is getting his own children’s movie!  Working title: The Iron Midget…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 07 18 at 10:59 AM • permalink

  35. #3, #6, & #21
    Oh, no, folks, Variety says it’s a winner. Don’t you read Tim Blair’s blog?

    Paramount Vantage’s global-warming doc bowed Memorial Day weekend to a boffo $367,311 at just four theaters, giving it a three-day average of $70,333 per play, the highest ever for a documentary.

    Which reminds me: I only see about one movie in a theatre every three years (for example, Master and Commander was the last one I’ve seen), so if I go to see An Inconvenient Fraud Truth, that will mean it’s gotten 100% of the annual Andy ticket sales. And that would be quite a coup de main for any film, as Variety recognizes, despite the actual low money count. (You know, if I were going to see it.)

    Posted by andycanuck on 2006 07 18 at 11:02 AM • permalink

  36. OT ... any of you bloggers coming to Honkers in the next month or two? ... if so, send me and email ... I’m into hiking the MacLehose &  Wilson Trails here.  Expect to do a few stages of the Lantau Trail this weekend ... the difficult ones.  Followed by a few beers.

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 07 18 at 11:19 AM • permalink

  37. I once got one of those pre-recorded calls from Carmen Electra pushing her new website or TV show or sex tape or whatever it is she’s up to these days.  I thought that was pretty weird.

    Posted by EmilyJones on 2006 07 18 at 11:28 AM • permalink

  38. Wand, JPB, much thanks!

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 07 18 at 11:45 AM • permalink

  39. #33 Yes.

    Posted by sam on 2006 07 18 at 11:52 AM • permalink

  40. Regarding the crank calls from Al Gore, does he apologize for interrupting people’s dinner? Or does he simply claim that “no controlling legal authority” prevents the calls?

    Also, does he sing or quote any verses from “Look for the Union Label” during the message?

    Posted by Jim,MtnViewCA,USA on 2006 07 18 at 12:44 PM • permalink

  41. Well, I haven’t gotten any phone calls from Al, but I received an e:mail from him indicating that there was a stand-by letter of credit that had been issued by the New York branch of the National Bank of Nigeria to secure loans made to him during his presidential campaign, and that due to a collateral overage, there would be money left over from paying off the debts, but that the tax laws in Tennessee prevented direct reimbursement to him, so if I would permit him to use my checking account in Virginia, I would receive a fee of $100,000, and all I have to do is send him $2,000 to cover the fees on the loan satisfaction agreement. Is this for real?

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 01:06 PM • permalink

  42. I am click beautiful. I am a buzz~click decommissioned Al Gore-issue BarbarellaCindy™ call center click chick.

    In am in need of tender click~buzz click~click

    Posted by splice on 2006 07 18 at 01:24 PM • permalink

  43. paco, #44.

    Yes.  ACT NOW!  Before global warming climate change means its too late….

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 18 at 01:24 PM • permalink

  44. #43: Hmmm. Well, ok, but I think it’s kind of strange that you seem to be in on this. Is it alright if I draw the check in Guatemalan quetzales? On my Uruguayan demand account? Post-dated?

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 01:38 PM • permalink

  45. sam does make a good point.  And it’s not like there aren’t plenty of perfectly valid Al idiocies to mock mercilessly.

    Posted by Achillea on 2006 07 18 at 02:05 PM • permalink

  46. Strange, my Paco Heavy Industries BarbarellaCindy™ telephony automaton is making strange clicking sounds. A bodgy algorithm, probably. I do hope this is covered under warranty.

    Posted by splice on 2006 07 18 at 02:05 PM • permalink

  47. #35—completely O/T—For me as well, Master & Commander was the last flick I paid for at a movie house! Too funny.

    Posted by Forbes on 2006 07 18 at 02:13 PM • permalink

  48. paco at # 44.  The fact that I’m in on this shows you can trust us completely and I’m getting a 50% cut.

    But sorry, we only take US$, cash or negotiable securities.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 18 at 02:41 PM • permalink

  49. Really good article in today’s The Australian newspaper, debunking UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change bullshit on global warming.

    Worth a read in full (eco-nut trolls especially).

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 18 at 02:43 PM • permalink

  50. Just $6.4 million total on less than 2 millions last week? I forget, who was the troll that tried to tell us it would easily pull in tens of millions and become the highest-grossing docu ever? I’m tempted to say it was drpoll. Maybe hal_thall will make a guest appearance in this thread and explain this apparent discrepancy.

    Posted by PW on 2006 07 18 at 03:18 PM • permalink

  51. #46: All Paco Products are covered by our unique 90-minute warranty.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 03:40 PM • permalink

  52. Hey! My PacoMatic Bassmaster Combination Rod ‘n Reel ‘n Smoothie Machine only lasted 87 minutes! What in tarnation…?

    Posted by SoberHT on 2006 07 18 at 03:48 PM • permalink

  53. #52: That’s “ninety minutes from the time it leaves the production line”.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 18 at 04:18 PM • permalink

  54. Here’s an inconvenient truth for ya, Gore - No one cares!

    Posted by Quentin George on 2006 07 18 at 05:02 PM • permalink

  55. Who needs GoreBot, when America can be saved by The Amazing Screw-On Head?

    Posted by Evil Pundit on 2006 07 18 at 06:03 PM • permalink

  56. Paco!  I just went into the mail room.  It’s jam packed with boxes of stuff that the mailroom supervisor said he’s sending out for you.  He said he was using John Kerrey’s franking privilege and running everything through the mail machine.

    I need to mail out my “Wronwright’s Top 10 Accomplishments for 1st Half of 2006” to the top leaders of the RWDB.  I used fancy letterhead made of compressed rain forest hardwoods and gold emboss.  I spared no expense.  My promotion to Full Member is riding on them.  They’re ready to go.

    But the supervisor says he can’t get to them until Friday.  What in sam hell are you mailing out?

    Posted by wronwright on 2006 07 18 at 09:21 PM • permalink

  57. wronwright — The nice man from the DEA says those fibers weren’t exactly hardwoods…

    Hmmm… wonder how long it would take me to post another 4000 comments with one a them al gore gizmos…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 07 18 at 10:43 PM • permalink

  58. Funny, I must have missed it at birch CC…?

    maybe I should have checked dendy ( add subtitles and R rated ‘gore’ factor).

    Posted by william°­ on 2006 07 18 at 10:58 PM • permalink

  59. Either Tim has been arrested after that good tracher chap sued him OR he’s gone off to some car race. 

    Either way I see a party coming up.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 18 at 11:44 PM • permalink

  60. I’ll get the mountain howitzer doorknocker…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 07 18 at 11:47 PM • permalink

  61. Let’s look at Merriam Webster.

    “create”—to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior
    “initiative”—of or relating to initiation.
    “initiation”—the act or an instance of initiating
    “initiate”—to cause or facilitate the beginning of : set going
    “invent”—to produce (as something useful) for the first time.

    So, when he said “I took the initiative in creating the Internet,” he said he caused the production of the Internet—that he caused the Internet’s invention.

    That can be reasonably interpreted as either a claim of invention (he was the direct cause of the Internet’s creation), or a claim that he started the program that invented the Internet (indirect cause).

    Thus, saying Al Gore claimed to personally invent the Internet is only half-true, lterally speaking; it is equally possible he was claiming to have “merely” started the project that produced the Internet.  However, since both are falsehoods, it seems rather silly to quibble that he might have meant a different faleshood than the one for which he was made fun of.  The essence—that Gore told a falsehood that exagerated his (otherwise honorable) role in Internet history—is true.

    On the other hand, the turkey displayed by Bush was absolutely, unquestionably, a genuine turkey that was killed and cooked.  It is not even half-true to claim it was “plastic” or “fake”.

    Posted by Warmongering Lunatic on 2006 07 19 at 12:25 AM • permalink

  62. #6 O&I I get 404 screens all the time and it doesn’t cost me anything. Doesn’t make me any money, either, worst luck.

    Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2006 07 19 at 05:49 AM • permalink

  63. “...Al Gore’s lecture-doc on global warning” (sic)

    Oh, so that’s what his movie’s about.

    The earth is TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING.  And GOre is just trying, rather overheatedly, to warm us.

    Posted by arrowhead ripper on 2006 07 19 at 07:56 AM • permalink

  64. #56: Well, Wronwright, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I’m mailing out nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. I figure if 10,000 “individuals” nominated you, you would have a good shot at it. And then we could split the cash. There is cash involved, isn’t there? I mean, it’s not just some dumb loving cup or medal, is it?

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 07:56 AM • permalink

  65. Paco, i think mostly what you get is a kiss on the cheek from the King of Norway, who smells of herring.

    Posted by trexkilla on 2006 07 19 at 08:29 AM • permalink

  66. Oh, dear—looks like the Gorebot 2000 is malfunctioning again.

    “Grootings, Citizen! This is Al Gore spooking to you on behalf of my new hoot movie, ‘An Inconteenent Tooth.’ I sure hoop you’ll take the whole felony down to see it soon; it’s playing at a tooter near you tonight! It’s snore amazing than you can imoogine! So don’t forgoot: Al Goo, in ‘An Intermediate Sooth!’”

    Posted by SoberHT on 2006 07 19 at 08:48 AM • permalink

  67. #65: Well, damn! That’s not worth it. Good thing I’ve been using John Kerry’s franking privileges.

    Wait! How about a kiss from that Danish Princess? The one who was born in Australia? Is there a Danish prize I can nominate Wronwrightmyself for?

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 08:51 AM • permalink

  68. #66: Priceless, Mark. I am quite literally lol!!

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 08:53 AM • permalink

  69. paco, trexkilla - there’s US$1 mill for the winner(s)

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 09:32 AM • permalink

  70. And its handed out by the Norwegians, not the Danes.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 09:33 AM • permalink

  71. And I want US$300,000 cash as the spotter’s fee.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 09:34 AM • permalink

  72. #69: For that kind of loot, Wronwright ought to be able to stand a peck on the cheek from the King of Norway, even if the latter hasn’t shaved.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 19 at 09:35 AM • permalink

  73. paco, where’s my 300K?

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 19 at 07:06 PM • permalink

  74. #72: Payable from the proceeds of Wronwright’s prize (not yet awarded).

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 20 at 08:37 AM • permalink

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