Moore doesn’t look back

Chopping logs. Taking long walks in the woods outside his home in Northern Michigan. Reading the latest Robert B. Parker detective novel. Going to church on Sunday. And catching up on sleep.

That’s how filmmaker Michael Moore is spending his time these days. He’s no longer sparring with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly or trying to sway opinion with his Bush-bashing “Fahrenheit 9/11,” but is instead watching “Desperate Housewives” with his wife, Kathleen Glynn.

Taking a post-election breather before launching into an Oscar campaign that he hopes will earn his documentary a best picture nomination, Moore is also preparing to work on a new documentary about the worlds of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, tentatively titled “Sicko,” after the start of the new year.

Since the election, the highly visible Moore has retreated to his two-bedroom cabin on a four-acre spread in Michigan, where he and his wife are adjusting to life without their 23-year-old daughter, Natalie, who recently moved to the Bay Area.

On Sunday, Moore, 50, headed to the biannual meeting of the Democratic Party, where the mood, he reports, was “remarkably upbeat.” The last gathering had only four participants, he said, and this time there were 40. A big fan of movies (“I go to everything”), he has recently caught up with “The Incredibles” and the “Bridget Jones” sequel and drove 45 minutes to the nearest six-plex to see “National Treasure.”

There’s also a potential follow-up, Moore said, to “Fahrenheit,” the highest-grossing feature-length documentary ever with $250 million in ticket sales worldwide. The same threesome that backed the documentary -- Miramax co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Lions Gate Entertainment and IFC Films -- is behind him again, giving him “a pretty good foot in the door,” he said. Though no deal is in place for “Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2,” they’re all committed to the project in theory.

The original, meanwhile, won’t be considered for an Oscar in the best documentary category, although it had been considered the front-runner (he won that award in 2003 for “Bowling for Columbine”).

He became ineligible for the documentary category with his decision to maximize the impact of his film by airing it on TV before the election. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences prohibits films eligible for best documentaries from being televised within nine months of release.

Plans to air “Fahrenheit” as part of a pre-election special never materialized, though. A subsequent arrangement was worked out with DISH Network, the satellite TV company owned by EchoStar Communications Corp., and the movie was available for download on the Web. Though it wasn’t what he’d hoped for, Moore says he’d take the same gamble again.

“The film is still eligible in other categories” including editing, direction and best picture, he said. “No documentary has ever been nominated for best picture, so that would be a great boost for all nonfiction filmmakers.”

While he’s depressed that President Bush was reelected, he said the Republican victory could help at Oscar time. He theorizes that if Sen. John Kerry had won, Hollywood -- and the country -- would want to move forward instead of rubbing salt in the wounds. With four more years of Bush, the best picture vote could give the movie industry one more referendum, he points out. But he insists that such handicapping is not in the forefront of his mind.

Part of the Democratic loss, he said, was due to the party’s inability to come up with a simple story that spoke to the masses. Republicans, on the other hand, were deft in their creation of Bush as a post-9/11 hero who protected the country from further attack. Moore counters the notion that the entertainment industry’s support worked against Kerry at the polls. Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks collectively prevented what would have been a landslide victory for Bush, he claims. It was star power that put “The Terminator” in the governor’s seat in the bluest of states -- and thrust Ronald Reagan, George Murphy and Sonny Bono into the national arena. The Democrats should embrace the entertainment community, he says, instead of running away.

“The way to win is to run someone people are familiar with, and trust: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Martin Sheen,” he said.

What of charges that “Fah- renheit” is not a documentary but an op-ed piece, or even propaganda? All movies have a point of view, the director said -- that’s “artistic vision.” “Why didn’t I point out the good stuff about Bush? Because the president has gotten a blank check from the press and we see that every night on the news.”

If he wins another statuette, Moore says, half in jest, his wife, who also produced the film, will give the acceptance speech in order to maintain the peace. His antiwar comments at the 2003 awards triggered a chorus of cheers and boos.

Moore recalls an incident from that night: A crew member came out of nowhere to mutter an expletive in his ear.

“That guy came up to me last month on ‘The Tonight Show,’ where he’s working now, and held out his hand,” Moore said. “ ‘You were right,’ he told me ... ‘We weren’t told the truth.’ ”

The Truth According to Moore, however, has been pouring out nonstop. His books, including “Stupid White Men ... and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!” have been bestsellers. And by his own estimates, he continues to get 6,000 to 10,000 e-mails a day from supporters.

While he has no problem being a “designated hitter” in the political game, he’s not interested in being the coach or becoming most valuable player.

“Being a figurehead is a responsibility and a burden,” he said. “Still, people have gone to my movies and read my books and I’m not going to let them down. We got to the 3-yard line -- only 3 million votes short. We’re not going to pick up the ball and go home. Democracy, in the end, isn’t a spectator sport, but a participatory event.”