The basic scenario behind Swing Vote makes for an easy pitch: An average American (Kevin Costner) winds up in the position of casting the deciding vote in a presidential election. Both candidates (played by Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper) fly into town and try to woo him. It's a simple premise clearly aimed at exploring the various quirks of the political process. However, although it is quite a fantastical situation, the filmmakers have put quite an effort into incorporating at least one element from the real world: News anchors. Countless movies have asked Jay Leno and his fellow late night brethren to make cameos on TV joking about this or that bit of plot to add a sense of realism, but Swing Vote brings a slightly different set of rules to the table: The presidential candidates are clearly fictional (and Grammer, the Republican candidate, doesn't have many Bush-like qualities), while the news anchors, for the most part, play themselves. If you ask me, something doesn't quite add up here.

Chris Matthews blares into the camera about the ramifications of the election snafu. Tucker Carlson follows suit. Larry King delivers his trademark monotone. And Arianna Huffington gets a full-blown monologue. How is it that all these people can play themselves in a world with a completely different president, one virtually devoid (as far as we can tell) of modern talking points like the Iraq War and the beleaguered economy? It's almost as if they've been imported from another dimension.

Cinematical has just received this creepy (but oddly adorable) exclusive teaser poster for Igor (click on the image to enlarge), an animated film coming to us via The Weinstein Co. this September. Igor features the voice talent of John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Coolidge, Molly Shannon, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall ... it gets better ... and James Lipton -- playing himself! Talk about a voice cast sent from the comedy Gods! Igor is the story of a mad scientist's hunchbacked lab assistant whose greatest dream is to win the coveted first place award at the annual Evil Science Fair. This one looks like all kinds of fun -- I mean, look at that poster. Look at that face. How do you not love that face? How do you not want to take Igor home with you, cuddle up on the couch, watch a monster movie marathon and -- if time allows -- destroy the world? I know I do ...

Igor arrives in theaters on September 19.

So if you look to your right, you'll notice that I chose to take a moment to remember when National Lampoon actually used to be funny. Now you might be asking why, but believe me, after you finish reading about their latest film, you'll be pining for the old days in no time. Variety reports that National Lampoon has purchased the rights to the romantic comedy One, Two, Many. It was written by Tonight Show announcer John Melendez (you might also recognize him as one of Howard Stern's cronies -- better known as Stuttering John). There aren't many details on the story other than the old chestnut about "one man's quest to find the girl of his dreams." Many also stars Bellamy Young (Dirty Sexy Money), Hudson Leick (Nip/Tuck), Jeffrey Ross (Weeds) and Jim Bullock (Kissing Jessica Stein).

Over the years, the reputation of National Lampoon has suffered. After what many consider to be the magazine's heyday in the mid-70's, they hit the movie business with a bang with the now-legendary Animal House. But corporate buyouts hurt the magazine. Since actor Tim Matheson (who played Otter in Animal House) spearheaded a corporate buyout, and then sold it to Dorf video marketers J2 Communications in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy in 1991, there have been some movie high points, but let's face it -- it's pretty much been downhill since 1989. You might think I'm being a little tough on them all, but before you do, just keep in mind that their next two titles are Jake's Booty Call and Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo. One, Two, Many is set to hit theaters on April 10th, 2008.

John Cusack will officially be lending his voice to tell the story of a brilliant underdog named Igor. Chris McKenna, who wrote for the animated series American Dad, penned the film, which is titled after its main character. Igor tells the story of a gifted scientist that, due to undisclosed reasons (physical abnormalities perhaps?), must live his life in the shadow of the acclaimed Dr. Glickenstein. In an effort to move out from under his oppressive wing he creates a huge monster to win in an Evil Science Fair.

Igor was originally set to be played by Christian Slater (who voiced the character in the short film), though there's no word why he dropped out. Cusack will do wonders with the role and is supported by an incredible cast including Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, and Jay Leno. Who will be playing the huge, prize winning monster? None other than the ridiculously funny Molly Shannon. It is comforting to see Shannon working after her long success on SNL that until recently -- thanks to the likes of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph -- was often times death to a woman's career. I hope to see her in larger roles in the near future. The Weinstein Co. -- still going strong since their split with Miramax in 2005 -- is producing the film and John Cusack will also be starring in another Weinstein Co. produced film later this year. Maybe it's just me, but he's still dreamy even when you can only hear his voice.

Well, when it comes to animation, voice actors are definitely out, to the chagrin of some popular voice actors like Billy West. As the years go by, Hollywood actors have waltzed in and whisked up the juicy roles, one by one, successfully taking over the biggest piece of the pie. There were the days when professional voices were big; then some stars took on a few key roles; and now, even the last-billed characters seem to be getting famous voices. Continuing with this new tradition, the upcoming CG tale Igor has added two more big names to its cast.

To get up to speed about this tale that takes place on Malaria, you can check out the Cinematical timeline. The news started way back in July of 2005, and continued through October of 2006. Based on a short film, the feature will follow a mad scientist's assistant who wants to win at an Evil Science Fair. Christian Slater is the assistant Igor, John Cleese and Jeremy Piven both voice doctors, Steve Buscemi is a lab rat and Molly Shannon is the giant monster named Eva, that Igor invented to win big at the Fair. As for the new names... Of course, no fairytale landscape is complete without a King, so Jay Leno will voice Malaria's Machiavellian ruler, King Malbert. And for the complete opposite of surprise casting, Jennifer Coolidge will bring life to a village vixen named Gretchen (although it says Sybil in some news clips) -- the girlfriend of Dr. Schadenfreude (Piven). At the very least, in a world where "Philosopher" becomes "Sorcerer" and "Minimoy" becomes "Invisibles," I'm glad that Igor isn't afraid of a little schadenfreude.

When Gene Siskel died, Roger Ebert was left without a co-host on their weekly movie review show. For awhile, it got a bit interesting, as Ebert welcomed other film critics to appear with him. On one great episode, Bill Clinton even sat in to talk cinema. And then, finally, it was decided that Richard Roeper would feature permanently as co-host, and the respectability of "two thumbs up" went away forever. Now, with Ebert in the hospital for awhile, the show is in need of guest co-hosts once again. But instead of getting primarily critics this time, the show is featuring a few people even less qualified than Roeper to stick out their thumbs. So far Jay Leno, Kevin Smith and screenwriter/novelist John Ridley have appeared, and in the next few weeks we will be seeing entertainment reporter Toni Senecal, actress Aisha Tyler (on two episodes) and actor Fred Willard.

As much as I find Willard to be funny in everything he's in (hmm, I should write a guilty pleasure post about Moving Violations), I don't really see how he fits here. He's not as bad a choice as Leno, who can't be too harsh a critic since his regular job is to kiss entertainers' asses, but really why should we be interested in his opinions of new films? At least one of the scheduled hosts is Michael Phillips, who reviews movies for Ebert's paper's rival (just as Siskel had), the Chicago Tribune. Be sure to check your local listings to see who is hosting when. You know, so you can avoid watching the show until Ebert returns.

(As part of our constant efforts to not stop thinkin' about tomorrow, we at Cinematical are going to try yet another new thing: MovieMail. For a week, Kim and I will post small missives to each other about Ice Age 2 and whatever came up for us off the top of our heads ... and next week, two other Cinematical writers will talk about, uh, something else. -- J.)

Dear Kim:

It's not like this job offers immense possibilities for existential hand-wringing and angst; we're not transplant doctors or social workers, after all. But the one thing I do wonder is if, in fact, having kids makes you see kid films in a different way. I know you saw Ice Age 2, and I know you took a few progeny to it last Thursday night; I slumped in, childless and tired, for a 10:00 am screening here in SF last Saturday.

And when I watch a movie like Ice Age 2, I have to -- or, rather, I try to -- think like a parent. I know my nieces were traumatized by the opening of Finding Nemo; so when I watch a kid flick I wonder "Might there be anything in this that would be too intense for a kid? Any grown-up jokes that I might not want a hypothetical kid asking questions about? Could a kid follow the storyline?"

I guess what I'm asking is, does having kids there make reviewing a kid's film easier … or just different? Oh, and how'd you like it? And isn't it interesting that Jay Leno can be unfunny in almost every medium?

Yours,

J.

Whenever Jay Leno says to a guest after interviewing them, "I know you have to go...", that means the guest doesn't have any place to go but is much too big and important to bother sitting around on the couch for the rest of the show while the lesser stars are on.