As promised a couple of weeks back, Michael Moore's new documentary, "Slacker Uprising," is available for viewing (and download) for free as of today at slackeruprising.com.

Touted by Moore as a "gift to his fans" and distributed online by blip.tv, the movie documents Moore's tour through 62 US cities in swing states during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, in which he rallied youngsters to vote (read: he rooted for the side that didn't win). Perhaps he'll have better luck this time.

Blip.tv's CEO Mike Hudack has an interesting statement about the release:“It is a watershed moment that a film by a major American filmmaker is being put in wide release on the Web - not in theaters, not on television, and not on DVD. The Web is quickly becoming a legitimate means of distribution, and it no longer plays second fiddle to theatres and television. Web-based distribution puts artists in control and prevents any single studio or network boss from giving thumbs up or down to particular productions. Now the market can decide,” he says, and I wholeheartedly agree with the last part - at least when it comes to controversial documentaries. *The download, however, is available only for US and Canada residents, which doesn't go well with all that freedom of the web thing Mike's talking about. Thanks to Mirco who noticed this in the comments.

See the long trailer for the movie below, and sign up at slackeruprising.com to see the movie in its entirety.





