This idea came to me before I actually saw Argo on Tuesday night, but now that I have seen Ben Affleck's gripping, well-directed film, I can't let it go. When I learned about the plot of the movie — in which a CIA agent (Affleck), a Hollywood make-up artist (John Goodman) and a movie producer (the wonderful Alan Arkin) — gin up a fake movie to rescue a group of diplomats trapped in Iran during the hostage crisis — it struck me that Argo was the inverse or the flip side of another fake movie that got a lot of press this past summer: Innocence of Muslims. more »
The Washington Post caught up with Jon Voight, Hollywood's "new senior Republican," while the 73-year-old actor was stumping for his favorite candidates down in Tampa, FL: "'The Hollywood community is historically conservative,' he said. 'All the people that I so admired growing up were very patriotic and loved the country.' But then came the left-wing 'nonsense' of the 1960’s, which Voight admits he also got caught up in it. 'I'm quite ashamed of it, actually. . . I know as much as anybody about this stuff and I know how poisonous it is.'" [Washington Post via Salon]
Good morning! By which I mean just go back to bed: "'Bane' is the terrorist in the new movie who drives the caped crusader out of semi-retirement in the final Batman movie. Democrats, who believe they have Romney on the ropes over the president's assault on his leadership at Bain Capital, said the comparisons are too rich to ignore. 'It has been observed that movies can reflect the national mood,' said Democratic advisor and former Clinton aide Christopher Lehane. 'Whether it is spelled Bain and being put out by the Obama campaign or Bane and being out by Hollywood, the narratives are similar: a highly intelligent villain with offshore interests and a past both are seeking to cover up who had a powerful father and is set on pillaging society,' he added." [Washington Examiner via Big Hollywood]
The Campaign pits funnymen Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis against one another in a landscape filled with comic potential: The American political system, as embodied in the Presidential race. After the jump, watch the first videos from the August comedy in the form of attack ads "starring" rival candidates Cam Brady (Ferrell) and Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), and decide if you'll endorse the Jay Roach-directed pic this August.
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Though the internet sensation "Texts from Hillary" Tumblr has officially come to an end (creators Stacy Lambe and Adam Smith are going out while they're on top of the meme world after receiving the ultimate submission from Hillary Clinton herself), they did get to meet the Secretary of State in the flesh when she invited them for a thank-you meeting. Between photo ops and LOLZ, Clinton let slip her favorite of the Texts from Hillary: the one with Ryan Gosling, of course. See how the Madame Secretary deals with the Baby Goose's "Hey girl" after the jump and commemorate the best political pop cultural meme of April 2012.
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“Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” Zing! Still a true master. Related: Irrelevant blob Newt Gingrich is upset. [TPM via @raypride]
So sorry to have missed this: Noted Newt Gingrich supporter Chuck Norris last week attempted to shore up his candidate's standing ahead of presidential primaries in Southern states including Mississippi and Alabama, contributing his own riff on the automated telecommunications scourge known as the robocall. As you likely know, Gingrich lost. Hell, we all lost.
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To say nothing of the Journey 2, G.I. Joe 2, and Fast Five star's definition of "impact": "Right now the best way that I can impact the world is through entertainment. One day, and that day will come, I can impact the world through politics. The great news is that I am American, therefore I can become President." [Huffington Post]
A gaggle of right-wing functionaries is furious with Clint Eastwood and Chrysler, with no less than Karl Rove calling out the actor-director-inspirational halftime huckster for a Super Bowl ad that Rove and others perceived as a thinly veiled reelection endorsement for President Obama. Wait, what?
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It was cute a few weeks ago, but now it's just sort of embarrassing: "As a six-time undefeated middleweight world karate champion, I have a pretty good idea what makes a warrior. And there’s presently one particular presidential candidate in the political ring who wears those gloves better than the others. Even when he’s knocked down, he has astounding agility and rebound. It’s one thing to enter a ring with a single opponent, but what if you had to enter with three: one candidate with unlimited reservoirs of wealth and two titans of political swing to back him? That is exactly what former Speaker Newt Gingrich is facing right now." [WND]
It's official: Comedienne-activist Roseanne Barr is a Green Party Presidential Candidate. "As POTUS I will forgive all student loans and ALL HOMEOWNER DEBT AND ALL CREDIT CARD DEBT [sic]," she Tweeted shortly after her candidacy was announced. "As potus, I will pursue all lawbreakers-financial terrorists first," she continued, adding an aside to a follower regarding health tips: "u will have 2 stop using diet coke if u r to survive." Let's follow this woman into the future! [@therealroseanne]
Today in the NY Times, David Carr has an intriguing look at the notorious 28-minute "documentary" When Mitt Romney Came to Town, a piece of presidential-campaign propaganda so slick and evocative that it brings to mind the work of contemporary Hollywood pros. Perhaps most notably, Carr writes, the film implicates Romney in a kind of "vampire capitalism" -- which calls for some perspective from the Oscar-winning director of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Bill Condon. Naturally.
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Candidates campaigning for the Presidential ticket usually opt for safe campaign songs carefully chosen to align themselves consciously and subconsciously with certain sets of values, but last night, Ron Paul went a different route: He and his supporters celebrated their second-place victory in the New Hampshire Republican primary to the sounds of "The Imperial March" from Star Wars. Yes, Darth Vader's theme song.
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