barack obama Tagged Articles at Cinematical

After the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, naturally everyone's mind turned to the next logical step: Does this mean a black man could play James Bond, too?

At least that's where current Bond Daniel Craig's mind went. At a Rome press conference for Quantum of Solace, which opens in the U.S. on Friday, Craig said, "After Barack Obama's victory I think we might have reached the moment for a [black]* 007. I think the role could easily be played by a black actor, because the character created by Ian Fleming in the '50s has undergone a great deal of evolution and continues to be updated."

He also joked that the idea of a black 007 might have Fleming spinning in his grave. Fleming was considered by many to be racist -- just Google the words Ian Fleming racist to find plenty of people making that assertion -- and the U.K. Telegraph observes that his Bond novels "were laced with the racial prejudices of his era."

Surely there's nothing specific about the Bond character that couldn't just as easily apply to a black actor. There have been a few black Bond Girls romanced by white Bonds. Race doesn't generally play a part in the stories, at least not in the last several films. Then again, some people freaked out when Daniel Craig was cast solely because he was blond (if you can imagine the heresy). Would a complete makeover totally ruin it for the purists? What do you think? And if they did go with a black 007, who should play him?

*The word he actually used was "coloured," which apparently isn't quite as offensive and outdated in Europe as it is in America, as none of the news outlets covering the press conference expressed surprise over Craig's usage of it. He obviously didn't mean it with racist intent, anyway, so let's not dwell on it, mmkay?

What are you doing for tonight's debate? Will you be watching? And did you know the very super awesome Hofstra University was hosting it (and I'm not just saying that because I went there or anything). Over on Fark, they're hosting a pretty hilarious photoshop contest in which folks are taking existing movie posters and re-tooling them to include John McCain and Barack Obama. One of my favorites has to go to the above poster for Dude, Where's My Car -- and if you look closely at those girls in the background, you'll notice a familiar face (and so what if I've been crushin' on the gal -- she's purty and stuff). Very funny nonpartisan humor.

Check out a group of these posters in the gallery below (the first one is nutty and freaky), then tell us your favorites. Additionally, feel free to send us your own creations and we'll post them at a later date. Get creative people! This is why we have imaginations!

Gallery: Obama/McCain Movie Posters

It didn't take Obama supporters long to jump on the whole Star Wars-themed bandwagon, and so in the spirit of t-shirts like this Luke Skywalker one, comes a new t-shirt created by Barack Obama supporters. On the front of this one (see above), you get Obama and R2-D2 (shoulda been R2-Biden) in an X-wing being chased by a few tie fighters, and then on the back you have a drawing of the Death Star ... but if it was run by John McCain and Darth Vader. (Check out both images enlarged in the gallery below). They're telling us that all proceeds for this particular shirt -- which runs at $19.95 -- will go directly to the Obama campaign.

Who's behind it all? From the website (where you can purchase the shirt): We're a group of people based in Santa Cruz, CA and New York City who desperately want to see Obama prevail. We've created this t-shirt because we think it captures how so many of us feel about the upcoming election and the way the other side operates. Our goal is to unite people all across the country around this sentiment and to raise as much money as we can to defeat this Empire that's been running our country for the last 8 years."

Personally, I'm still waiting for someone to doctor-up an image of Obama as Lando ... (ahem, creative readers ...)

What with the firestorm over John McCain's ad calling Barack Obama a hollow celebrity akin to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, you'd think someone would have pointed out that McCain actually has Obama beat in the "number of Hollywood movies appeared in" category. Here's a video -- unearthed by Movie Moron via SlashFilm -- of John McCain's amusing cameo in Wedding Crashers, shaking hands with Christopher Walken's remarkably well-connected Secretary Cleary at his daughter's wedding. And yes, that's James Carville next to him, but Carville shows up in everything.

Just a bit of harmless fun for McCain or despicable participation in a BOOB RAUNCH FEST? You be the judge.

Also: Number of cameos on 24: John McCain: 1; Barack Obama: 0. You can check that video out over here. What's that old saw about glass houses?

And you thought Wall-E was political. JibJib, the interactive e-card site founded by brothers Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, have returned to the scene that originally brought them fame. The duo first received national notice during the 2004 presidential campaign, when their riotous spoof This Land presented the two candidates (and a variety of secondary players) as rotund heads on animated bodies spouting rhetoric in rhythmic harmony. Since then, the JibJab site has placed more focus on the e-card business, but now it's back to the good old days with Time for Some Campaignin', a jolly tune to set the stage for the Obama/McCain face-off in the weeks to come.

The new video is similar to This Land in that it opts not to spoof either candidate more than the other, instead focusing on the larger campaigning process. It's hard not to laugh at the goofy visuals and smartly composed lyrics (especially those involving the Clintons), but it seems to me that the Spiridellis' work will never attain the degree of insight offered by the satire on The Daily Show (or The New Yorker, for that matter) because of this resolutely non-partisan approach. What do you think?

From global warming to toasting a presidential candidate? Davis Guggenheim, who won an Academy Award for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, is reportedly working on a film about Senator Barack Obama that will be shown during the Democratic National Convention in late August, according to The Huffington Post.

Guggenheim was seen accompanying Obama during his visit to Butte, Montana, on Friday afternoon. Guggenheim said only that he was traveling with his son and doing some interviews, though a tipster told a reporter the film shoot was on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and the convention. An Obama staff member later told the New York Post that "elements of what [Guggenheim] is shooting may be used," but declined to be more specific.

The Huff Post article says that Davis Guggenheim's father, Charles Guggenheim, chronicled John F. Kennedy, though IMDb shows that Charles Guggenheim won an Academy Award for Robert Kennedy: Remembered, a live action short subject that was compiled from footage that Guggenheim had shot over the years.

An Inconvenient Truth didn't move me as it did many others, but it would be interesting to see if Guggenheim could make something that would liven up the convention broadcast. No word on whether Senator John McCain has recruited any Academy Award-winning documentary filmmakers, though Variety described him as "a major movie freak" back in January 2007; he picked John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate as his favorite political film.

When it comes to sifting through all actors responsible for portraying the most powerful man on the planet, there's no shortage of options. John Travolta did a great Bill Clinton impersonation in Primary Colors and Timothy Bottoms delivered a near-perfect imitation of George W. Bush in both D.C. 9/11: Time of Crisis and That's My Bush! Neither one comes across as particularly flattering, so presidential nominee Barack Obama has chosen a safer bet: At a recent party in Los Angeles, Obama revealed that he prefers Jeff Bridges' conflicted commander-in-chief in The Contender. Granted, he may have said this simply to keep his audience happy -- in this case, Contender director Rod Lurie, one of the attendees who was willing to plop down $28,000 for the event. "'I just plugged your movie," Obama told Lurie, according to a report the director sent to Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells.

Still, when you're under the kind of intense scrutiny that Obama currently endures, Bridges actually seems like a pretty safe choice. Choose Anthony Hopkins in Nixon and it sounds like you're endorsing the bad guy. Choose Kevin Kline in Dave and you come across as disingenuous. Choose Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove and somebody will call you incompetent. Bridges, on the other hand, plays a fierce leader bound to his moral convictions. Of course, Obama also expressed sympathy over Lurie's short-lived television show Commander-in-Chief, which featured Geena Davis as the first woman president. Perhaps it's no coincidence that he and Hillary have publicly made amends.

He might be struggling with Marvel over the edits to The Incredible Hulk, but going green isn't the only thing on Edward Norton's mind. Variety reports that he, along with his Class 5 Films, are planning to "shop a feature documentary about the historic presidential campaign mounted by Sen. Barack Obama" to get released in 2009.

The untitled picture is being directed by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, who started shooting footage before Obama even declared his candidacy. That's some political faith! Norton says that this isn't about glorifying the subject, even though he and other involved parties are Obama supporters, but rather this came out of a discussion after a speech the man made in 2004.

"We were all so struck by Barack's speech and talked about how exciting it was to see someone from our generation, not our parents', make his presence felt in such an inspiring way. It was akin to the way I remembered my dad describing how he felt when Kennedy gave his inauguration speech." The speech led them to the project, before any of them were Obama supporters. I can see why. If the man makes it to the top, and they're there, it'll be one huge chunk of history that they've captured.

Rice and Sams will follow Obama along the entire run of his campaign for the White House, so a timetable is far from finalized.

Getting tired of all this Clinton/Obama stuff yet? Look, regardless of who I'm voting for, I think it's pretty disgusting how some people compare Obama to a terrorist because of his name. A pimp? Totally. A terrorist. No. When asked what his three favorite movies of all time were, Obama recently named The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Lawrence of Arabia. Not for nothing, but if you're running for President, do you think naming two Godfather films as your favorites might scare off a few people? Great films, no doubt, but in such a tight race why bring up your love for fictional mafia families?

Anyway, Obama also admitted that if a film based on his life were ever made, he'd want Will Smith to play him. Of course! Who wouldn't want Smith to play them in a film? Heck, I'd want Smith to play me too ... and I'm not even black! On why he'd want Smith and not, say, 50 Cent, Obama notes, "Will and I have talked about this because he has the ears!" Surprisingly, however, Smith is not one of Obama's favorite actors. They include Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, John Q. Obvious, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon and Angela Bassett. Looks like someone's definitely got their groove back.

With all the money put into political campaigns these days, you've got to wonder if politicians should just go viral. Considering the knock-out first-week take for Cloverfield, imagine what that could do for presidential hopefuls! It hasn't happened yet, but as MTV shares, we're about to get something similar. There's a political musical short on the way called Barackula: The Musical. It is as it sounds -- a web film that features Barack Obama as a vampire fighter.

The premise of this film, which should pop up in the next few weeks, is that Obama is a vampire fighter (played by Justin Sherman) who has to "stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990." Will he go Blade on their arses? The short, coming from Mike Lawson, is being described as a cross between one of the coolest music videos ever made, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Jesus Christ Superstar.

There's no word yet from Obama's camp about this project, but I would love it if his campaign tune ended up coming from this project. One of the songs, "This Is Our Time," says: "We can talk about it/ We can compromise/ You don't have to suffer life that makes the man inside/ We don't need any violence/ We just need to unite/ We can join together to make our future bright." Watch out, vampires of the world!