The perfect Fan Made content for the day after our second presidential debate, above you will see the Barack Obama poster that's been around for awhile, but next to it you'll see a new Star Wars-inspired poster created by David Friedman. "A long time ago, in a political campaign far, far away, this poster was hanging in campaign offices across the galaxy...," says Friedman. (But does Skywalker care about Joe Six Pack and those of us on Main Street?) If you'd like to own a piece of this Star Wars pie (I actually think it's a pretty cool dorm room poster), you can purchase this image on either a poster or a t-shirt, courtesy of Zazzle.

... I dig the Skywalker poster and all, but I'm waiting for these bumper stickers (also courtesy of Friedman) to hit my local online shop ...



[via Super Punch]

"Well, this is the biggest depression since The Notebook." -- Paris Hilton

I'll be the first to bash Paris Hilton on any given day of the week, but I must admit these fake presidential videos starring Hilton have brought us one or three actual laughs. In her latest video, just posted over at Funny or Die (watch it after the jump), Paris Hilton is joined by one of our greatest fake presidents, Martin Sheen, as the two discuss what it takes to become the nation's next fake president. Both take on such issues as the economy, foreign policy (which Hilton calls FoPo) and Iraq. Toward the end even Charlie Sheen makes an appearance, but then bails to take in a jacuzzi. While I'm not so keen on the word 'president' being associated with Hilton in any way, shape or form, part of me wouldn't mind watching her host a debate. The girl has a larger fanbase than either candidate, and I'm sure she'll choose questions that keep them on their toes. "Prada or Gucci ... and why? Senator Obama, we'll start with you." What say you?

It was kind of a boring weekend, so I thought I'd have a chat with two of my good pals and then foist it off as an actual article. Our topic of discussion was An American Carol, its reception from film critics and moviegoers, and the aggressive ways in which people often communicate through the internet (our review is currently up to well over 100 comments). Joining us today are my esteemed colleagues Eric D. Snider and William B. Goss. Let's listen in, shall we?

Scott: You both saw and reviewed An American Carol. What can you tell us about readers' reactions to your articles? (Eric's review here. Will's here.)

Will: Reader reaction was, for the most part, violently contrarian, with many equating the lack of laughter on my part to some sort of deep-seated anti-American sentiments, and not due to David Zucker's anti-humor stance.

Eric: Mostly the same for me. A lot of comments were posted within a very short span of time, and they said basically the same thing as each other, making me wonder if there was an organized effort somewhere urging people to make their voices heard.

Scott: Would you say you walked into the film with any prejudice or bias?

Eric: I was predisposed to liking David Zucker. I even liked (for the most part) the last two "Scary Movie" films, which he directed, which I think put me in the minority. I was wary of how good a comedy would be when it was made with such a specific goal in mind -- usually you gotta let the humor come first, then the ideology, not the other way around -- but I was curious to see what would happen.

Will: While I LOVE Airplane!, really like the first Naked Gun, and genuinely enjoy Scary Movie 3, I didn't laugh during the trailer and couldn't recall if I was ever pleasantly surprised by any film that went unscreened for press.

Eric: Good point... Not screening is almost always a bad sign. I'm sure that dampened my expectations somewhat.

If you happen to already be of the opinion that Michael Moore is not the lovable man of the people he appears to be, then this news probably won't be changing your feelings about him anytime soon. One month after Moore offered up free downloads of his latest documentary, Slacker Uprising, Torrent Freak reports that "In a letter dated September 25th, lawyers representing Westside Productions LLC, owner of the Slacker Uprising copyright sprang into action, demanding the removal of a torrent linking to the movie from any and all international sites."

Moore's latest was compiled of footage from his recent college tour -- a tour in which he traveled to colleges in the so-called 'swing states' to speak to students in an attempt to energize young voters. The film is a re-edited version of Moore's 2007 doc, Captain Mike Across America, which screened at TIFF in '07 to lukewarm reviews. Moore initially said the reason behind the free download was both a reward to fans who have supported him over the years, as well as a way to get out his message prior to the upcoming presidential election.

The download was offered only to those living in the US and Canada, but it didn't take long for the film to start popping up on numerous torrent sites outside of North America. Moore's lawyers inexplicably sent their letter to the DNS service (easyDNS) of one of the international sites pirating the flick, which is not required to comply with US law. A co-founder of easyDNS responded to Moore's lawyers with the following: "...Anybody with half a clue knows the net doesn't work like that. In any case, I've sent them our standard 'we're not the web host, we're just the lowly DNS service', but I did point out this seeming contradiction in Michael Moore's message vs. his lawyer's actions."

So while Moore may have every right to control how his film is distributed, maybe someone should have explained that old saying about the internet and pee in a pool.

In Miracle at St. Anna, four African-American soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines in Italy near the end of World War II; caught between indifferent leadership and hostile troops, the four fight to survive -- and protect the Italian villagers they've come to know during their exile. Director Spike Lee spoke with Cinematical from New York about the challenges of film financing in modern Hollywood ("it's hard to get stuff made today that's not superhero, comic-book, TV show, sequel stuff. ..."), shooting in an 800-year-old Italian town (" ... all we had to do was take down the satellite dishes ...") and the challenges his new film faces (" ... historically, women do not run to see, or even walk to see, or even crawl to see World War II films ..."), The Wire ("'Omar's Coming!'"), sequel possibilities for Inside Man and more.

Lee even touched on politics and race in the here-and-now: "I'm optimistic. We're going to have a Black president. The 44th President of the United States is going to be a Black man ... I think this is a definite indication of how far America has moved in how it views race. ..."

Cinematical: I was very curious if you could talk a little bit about the genesis of what brought you specifically to Miracle at St. Anna as a film?

Spike Lee: I needed something to read; I went into my wife's office; looked up on her shelf upon shelf of books (laughs) and the spirit told me to go to this one book -- all the time my head is twisted to the side, trying to read the titles -- read this title, Miracle at St. Anna; that sounds interesting; take the book off the shelf, see the cover of a Black soldier with a young Italian kid, World War II, said "Let me read this. ..." After the first chapter, I said "I want to make this into a film, called up James McBride, we met ... and here we are. That's the abbreviated version. ...

I guess when you make a movie about the Irish Republican Army and Northern Ireland's infamous "Troubles," you're bound to court some controversy. Fifty Dead Men Walking, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival despite legal threats from the man whose life it's based on (he has since dropped his suit), has now drawn more fire because of comments made by one of its stars, Rose McGowan.

During an interview in Toronto last week, McGowan, who plays an IRA operative in the film and whose father is Irish, said: "I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100 percent have been in the IRA.... My heart just broke for the cause. Violence is not to be played out daily and provide an answer to problems, but I understand it."

This has caused a bit of a hullabaloo in that part of the world, where the IRA was officially classified as a terrorist group. (Its proponents saw themselves more as freedom fighters, striving to throw off the shackles of British rule.) Martin McGartland, the British secret agent whose infiltration of the IRA is the basis of the film, said, "Rose McGowan's comments were insulting to victims of IRA terrorism and she should apologize. It's easy to say this sort of thing when you live in L.A." A victims' advocacy group leader said, "She may as well add that she would have joined al-Qaeda and flew those planes into the Twin Towers had she been born a disgruntled Muslim."

Do you remember a George Clooney project, green-lit in May, Men Who Stare at Goats?
Not only does it boast the coolest title in the world, but it's racking up a cast of equal greatness. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges are joining Clooney, under Grant Heslov's direction.

The film is based on Jon Ronson's book of the same title, and follows his investigation into the secret wing of the U.S. First Earth Battalion, a paranormal research unit created in 1978. Its goal was to create "Warrior Monks," supersoldiers who could do all sorts of comic-booky things like walk through walls, become invisible, read minds, and kill creatures by staring at them long enough. One soldier in Ronson's book claims he killed a hamster and a goat doing just that.

The adaptation is already switching things around a bit -- it's set in Iraq (where some of the supersoldiers have been reportedly deployed), and McGregor will be playing a stand-in for Ronson named Bob Wilton. He's desperate for a story, and stumbles upon the craziest one of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, played by Clooney, who claims to be a secret psychic soldier, reactivated after 9/11. As they travel through Iraq, investigating the story, they meet Bill Django, played by Bridges, who is the founder of the program and Cassady's mentor. Spacey will play Larry Hooper, another former psychic who is running a prison camp in Iraq.

While the topic of psychic supersoldiers seems to lend itself to comedy, Iraq and prison camps don't, so who knows what tone this will strike. Every actor in this can switch effortlessly from dramatic to quirky -- it's going to be a treat seeing them all in one film. Especially one with psychics and goat murders.

When Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, people were quick to name the lookalikes who could play her in a movie. But it took Matt Damon to tell us what kind of movie it would actually be. Fearfully predicting that McCain will die in office, the actor says Palin's advancement to the presidency would be like the plot of a bad Disney movie. He even imagines a scene from the movie involving Palin's showdown against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink." Basically he's described something along the lines of King Ralph, only with a hockey mom president instead of an American slob turned British monarch.

Of course, Damon's snide comments are probably meant to be a joke, even if he looks 100% serious while saying it. But the thing he fails to realize is that America loves these kinds of "bad" Disney movies involving fish out of water stories and simple folk characters who rise to the top. "The Hockey Mom" would certainly be a bigger hit than Damon's non Ocean's and Bourne movies. So, his attempt to humorously describe a bad scenario may in fact be welcomed as a heartwarming and crowd-pleasing possible future. Either way, his intended criticism of Palin is just the latest in useless political commentary from celebrities, something we can't get away from listening to, whether because of the media's attention to it or due to our own obsessions with what's on movie stars' minds.

To hear the rest, check out the clip after the jump. And to see Gina Gershon portray Palin in new Funny or Die spoof, click here.

Click image above for hi-res scary Alba gallery

Well, she's done it again. Yesterday I overheard two people talking in the street about "the actress who went topless in a Declare Yourself bondage billboard" ... and I immediately thought of Jessica Alba, who's made a name for herself lately more for the wacky photos she's posed for than her actual movie roles. First, there was Jessica Alba re-enacting classic horror movie moments, then it was Jessica Alba posing as Charlie Chaplin -- and now we have my personal favorite: Jessica Alba posing as the victim of a serial killer for a billboard that's supposed to get people to vote. ("It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.")

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for voting. By all means, please vote and have a say in who our next elected officials are. (And check out the Declare Yourself website for info on how to do that) But really? The last presidential election brought us P-Diddy's Vote or Die (another brilliant slogan that made no sense), and now here's Alba straight out of Saw VI. What's next? [Insert A-list actor here] with his throat slashed holding up the bloody spine that's just been ripped from his body, with the phrase, "Vote Now You Spineless American Moron" underneath?

Can't we just get the folks behind The Dark Knight's viral campaign to come up with something a little more clever ... and less freak-ish?

The Hurt Locker sees director Kathryn Bigelow craft a big, booming tale of tension based on journalist Mark Boal's experiences and interviews with bomb disposal experts in the streets of Iraq. Toronto didn't just see The Hurt Locker earn raves from many critics; it also saw the film get picked up by Summit Entertainment for distribution. Cinematical spoke with Bigelow and Boal in Toronto about breaking the audience's unconscious link between an actor's salary and a character's destiny, whether or not their film is really apolitical, the fun and excitement of blowing things up on-set, how making the movie yourself is the best way to be sure you make the movie you want to and much more.Cinematical's podcast content is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.