The first trailer for Surfer, Dude, starring Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson has just surfaced over on Moviefone, and, well, I suddenly have the urge to take off my shirt and run into the water. The film stars McConaughey as surfer Steve Addington, who, upon returning home for summer, discovers the waves have disappeared and "The Man" wants him to star in new Virtual Reality Video Games. Dude has a hard time comprehending all this sudden change, and so he turns to his manager (played by a high-as-a-kite Harrelson) and his guardian-angel (Nelson) for guidance. Looks innocent enough; anyone up for catching some waves with McConaughey and friends?

I know I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion, but Matthew McConaughey really does seem to have a charmed existence. Sure, he makes some crappy movies, but they keep paying him to star and we keep paying to see them in theaters. Coming Soon reports that the perpetually shirtless actor (I'm not complaining, mind you) has struck a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment to release Surfer Dude, a comedy that he produced.

McConaughey stars as Steve Addington, a surf bum who returns home to Malibu after a world tour. The good times don't last long, and when the waves disappear for the whole season, Addington starts to go off the rails. In true stoner fashion, producer Mark Gustawes was quoted as saying, "Matthew plays a character who's a throwback to the '70s: Peace, love, and a righteous wave is what 'Surfer, Dude' is all about. Anchor Bay dug it -- and we decided to surf it, together." Classic, brah. McConaughey scored some (kinda) big names for the film including Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson -- I can only imagine the dust clouds of smoke coming out of those trailers.

Anchor Bay will release the film in theaters this summer, but they're also planning to release the film onto DVD shortly after. Back in the old days, when a studio jumped on the home video release it meant the movie was no good. Luckily, these days a studio can spin it into a bright shining example of the new face of film distribution.

Surfer Dude will coast into theaters in late summer.

Disney might be the last studio I'd trust to get behind a political comedy, but Disney's Touchstone Pictures has picked up distribution rights for Swing Vote, an indie starring Kevin Costner that began filming last month. In the movie, Costner plays a single father whose vote will determine the outcome of a Presidential election. Disney chairman Dick Cook likens the film to a Capra classic, which hopefully doesn't mean it will be as bad as Disney/Hollywood's Mr. Smith sorta-remake, The Distinguished Gentleman.

As the candidates, Dennis Hopper is the Democrat contender and Kelsey Grammar is the Republican (in my imagination: Frank Booth vs. Sideshow Bob -- who would be the better Prez?). As reported previously, the cast also includes Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, George Lopez and little Madeline Carroll. Variety now adds Judge Reinhold (hopefully as a Supreme Justice -- "Mr. Reinhold's Courtroom"!), former Brat Packer Mare Winningham, NASCAR racer Richard Petty (as himself) and Willie Nelson (returning to political comedy after his great cameo in Wag the Dog). The IMDb also lists Deja Vu's Paula Patton in a major role.

You may remember that Disney refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 due to its politics. Sure, Swing Vote is likely very far from being so specific in its attacks or its comedy -- it may not even be meant as a relevant or biting satire -- but I'm still surprised the studio would want to touch anything political. Costner, who is co-producing and financing Swing Vote, considers himself a conservative, so maybe the movie is closer to Disney's interests. But then again, CelebPolitics.com rates the actor as "somewhat liberal" and he's reportedly been voting for Democrats since the mid-90s (he's registered as Independent). I guess real politics don't need to come into play with a comedy like Swing Vote and I'm simply letting my mind wander with regards to all this information. The movie, which is scheduled for release next year (in time for the 2008 elections, perhaps?) was co-written by Jason Richman (Joel Schumacher's terrible Bad Company) and Joshua Michael Stern, who is directing.

Look out, America: The country music stars are coming! Both Tim McGraw (Flicka) and Toby Keith (Broken Bridges) have movies coming out this fall, and Paramount Classics is planning to sell the hell out of Keith and his film. According to this morning's Variety, Paramount is teaming with Ford Trucks (which is sponsoring the whole thing), Big Screen Concerts and CMT Films for a big fancy world premiere on September 7.

For the small fee of $12.50, fans in about 100 cities (as well as soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, who one assumes will get in for free) will get to see a special screening of the film, preceded by a 30-minute feature consisting of "taped performances by Keith and his co-star Lindsey Haun" and red-carpet interviews with Keith, Kelly Preston, Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds, as well as other cast members. (The red carpet is outside a theater in Tennessee, where I guess the movie is being show. Or maybe they're all going to see a concert -- is Madonna playing Nashville?)

While this fan-friendly premiere successfully targets Keith's current audience, one wonders how necessary it actually is -- won't his fans go see the movie, even without all these bells and whistles?