Even if you don't have any idea who Che Guevara is, you probably know what he looks like. His face has graced everything from t-shirts to bikinis to cigarette packs to beer. You know he's a symbol of ... something. But you're just not quite sure what.

So, who is Che Guevara? And how did that picture of him become so damned famous? Those questions, and other issues, are addressed in the excellent documentary Chevolution, which debuted at Tribeca on Friday.

In the documentary, producer/director Trisha Ziff and director Luis Lopez explore the Che phenomenon from all angles, including the revolutionary's early life, his fateful encounter with Castro, the Cuban revolution he helped make happen, to his life trying to foment revolutions in other countries. But it also examines how he crossed paths with photographer Alberto Korda, the fashion photographer/photojournalist who took the famous picture of Guevara that was the basis for the icon we know today.

UPDATE: The Daily Variety story was incorrect; the MPAA actually rejected a trailer for Taxi to the Darkside, and not the poster. Here's the Variety clarification: "The MPAA did not approve a theatrical trailer for Alex Gibney's documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side" that contained scenes with nudity and images that the org deemed inappropriate for all audiences. ThinkFilm has not yet officially submitted the one-sheet art referenced in a Dec. 19 story, but Daily Variety failed to indicate that it was the trailer that was rejected and not the one-sheet artwork."

ThinkFilm is prepping an appeal to the MPAA, but this one doesn't concern a film's rating. It's about a poster. The poster art for Taxi to the Dark Side -- a documentary about the pattern of torture practice that is on the short list for Academy Award consideration -- is causing a stir due to its depiction of a hooded man being led by American soldiers. The original news photo was taken by photographer Shaun Schwarz, and had been censored before -- when the military erased it from Schwarz' camera. (He later retrieved it from his hard drive.) Variety is reporting that the MPAA has officially rejected the poster, and if ThinkFilm goes forward with the marketing, they could have their "R" rating revoked. Taxi to the Dark Side is due for release on January 11th.

An MPAA spokesman says "We treat all films the same. Ads will be seen by all audiences, including children. If the advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration." Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), the film's writer, producer, and director says, "Not permitting us to use an image of a hooded man that comes from a documentary photograph is censorship, pure and simple. Intentional or not, the MPAA's disapproval of the poster is a political act, undermining legitimate criticism of the Bush administration. I agree that the image is offensive; it's also real." I've got to side with Gibney on this one. This isn't horror movie imagery cooked up to sell tickets, this is really happening in the world today. And considering the explosive subject matter, I feel the poster is tastefully done. What do you guys think?

Ask any movie geek that's seen Troll 2 what one of the worst movies ever made is -- and they'll undoubtedly say Troll 2 ... eventually. It was ranked at the IMDb as the #1 worst film ever made, but that list fluctuates a lot (based mainly on what Uwe Boll's latest film is). Bottom line is that awful is awful, and Claudio Fragasso's Troll 2 is about ten degrees worse than that, multiplied by nine and covered with sprinkles. (Don't believe me? Rent it. I dare you.)

Anyway, earlier this year I was fortunate enough to join a VERY enthusiastic (sold-out) crowd at the (now deceased) original Alamo Drafthouse theater for a now-legendary screening of (you guessed it) Troll 2. Plus a whole bunch of the original cast members showed up to join the fun! One such person was a young man called Michael Paul Stephenson, who (18 years ago) played the lead dorky kid in Troll 2. Turns out that Mike was making a documentary about the cult following that Troll 2 has (somehow) earned -- and now it looks like that movie is almost done!

It's called Best Worst Movie, and there's a brand-new teaser clip online that's as lengthy as it is amusing. Plus if you squint real careful, you'll see a Cinematical writer you know and love! Anyway, I think it's hilarious that a movie this rotten could spawn not only a rabid cult following, but also a documentary film about HOW BAD a movie it is!

...and don't forget: Nilbog is goblin spelled backwards!

One of the year's best documentaries is No End in Sight, a calm and methodical recounting of the mistakes the U.S. made in Iraq during those crucial first few months after the fall of Saddam in April 2003. One of the main points director Charles Ferguson makes is that when the U.S. disbanded the Iraqi army, it left hundreds of thousands of soldiers unemployed, disgruntled, and armed. Frustrated, many of them joined the insurgency that now plagues the country.

The man who made the decision to disband the Iraqi army was L. Paul Bremer III. On Sept. 6, Bremer wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times called "How I Didn't Dismantle Iraq's Army" in which he defended himself and rebutted some of Ferguson's assertions. His points were basically these: that by the time he got there the Iraqi army had pretty much dissolved on its own; that post-invasion looting had destroyed nearly all the military bases anyway; and that he did consult with advisers before making his decision. (No End in Sight claims Bremer made the call more or less on his own.)

Now Ferguson has responded -- not with an editorial, but with a video. It's a 10-minute short film, posted on the Times' website as a "letter to the editor," that dissects Bremer's article point by point and refutes nearly everything he said. For support, he uses clips from No End in Sight, interview footage that wasn't used in the film, and a telephone interview with one of his primary sources recorded after Bremer's article appeared.

I don't mean to sound cynical, but I'm not surprised that the new environmental documentary The 11th Hour timed the release of a new trailer with the recent Live Earth festivities to capitalize on a little free press. The official MySpace page has the theatrical trailer, with an introduction by DiCaprio himself. The 11th Hour was produced by DiCaprio, and he also narrates. Directed by Leila Conners Petersen, the film's 'manifesto' is to "explore how we've arrived at this moment -- how we live, how we impact the earth's ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course". There is also an official site up and running with plenty of educational resources as well as some extra info on the various talking heads that appear in the film. There is a pretty wide spectrum; from Professor Stephen Hawking, to Ray Anderson, an interior furnishings mogul who has become one of the best examples of how industry and environmentalism can peaceably co-exist.

This is probably a pet project for DiCaprio, who has been pretty involved in a variety of environmental causes over the years, and has been a vocal supporter of Power Point presenter extraordinaire, Al Gore. To be honest, the trailer alone has already scared the bejesus out of me -- and strangely enough, it almost looks like a big-budget action picture -- with the added bonus of emotionally scarring images of penguins overrun by trash heaps and shameful footage of Hurricane Katrina victims. While this doesn't exactly seem like a fun night at the movies, it's the kind of film you almost feel guilty about not watching. The 11th Hour is slated to hit theaters on August 17.

I never thought in all my days that I'd hear someone say they were unimpressed with Oliver Stone's body of work. Stone is the creator of some of my favorite films. I have great love for JFK, Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon is one of the best war films of all time. But Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is apparently unimpressed. Stone recently asked Ahmadinejad to allow him to document his life, but Ahmadinejad declined the offer.

Stone, of course, previously directed two documentaries about the controversial Cuban leader Fidel Castro, despite that leader's cool relationship with the United States, but Stone's friendly approach to Castro apparently wasn't enough to convince Ahmadinejad. He seems to recognize that, as a whole, Stone's films have a disaffection for some of America's foreign policy choices but he still considers the filmmaker as part of the overall problem -- "part of the Great Satan" to be exact.

What would sway the Iranian president's decision? Perhaps if Stone could secure some Iranian filmmakers the right to create a documentary on President Bush and the CIA he may accept his offer. Whether Stone has the power or desire to do any such thing, who knows, but if any director should be allowed to take on the responsibility of profiling such a controversial subject as Ahmadinejad, it's Stone.

Love the guy or hate him, there's little denying that filmmaker Michael Moore is a pretty controversial figure. Plus the guy deserves credit for bothering to tackle issues that affect us all ... but very few people actually talk about. After earning supporters and detractors in equal measure with Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, Mr. Moore is back with a documentary that takes a very close look at the problems plaguing the American health care system -- and frankly I can't think of a better target for Moore's particular brand of everyman wrath.

Although he has polarized audiences in the past, what with all his soapbox politics and arguments about liberal this and conservative that, Moore's latest film is also one of his most confident ... and most plainly dramatic. But there's a lot of great points to be found in Moore's Sicko -- especially if you've been wondering how America's health care "providers" have become so damn powerful. If there's a "Big Brother" out there, it's got to be the connection between U.S. government and our nation's shamelessly backwards health care system. And frankly I'm pretty thrilled to see that someone's taking these mega-corporations to task for their money-grubbing and astonishingly callous ways.

I had a ball watching The King of Kong at a mega-packed SXSW screening last March, and I even commented to one of the filmmakers about how amusing a "fictional" movie his documentary would make. He told me that the wheels were already turning in that department, and now we have some further news to share. According to Variety, New Line has hired actor / screenwriter Michael Bacall to turn Seth Gordon's human interest doco into a "fictional" feature film. (He wrote the little-seen but not half-bad Bookies.) So if you'd like to sit down and compare the fact-based documentary next to the "jazzed up" comedy version, you'll be able to do just that in a year or two.

For those new to the Kong thing, it's the story of video game one-upmanship that's as entertaining as it is absurd. Mr. Bacall has a lot to work with here: The history of video games, the trivial-yet-passionate competition and a whole bunch of colorfully geeky characters. Picturehouse will be releasing The King of Kong (now with the unnecessary subtitle A Fistful of Quarters) later this year, and New Line looks to be on the fast-track with the make-believe version. Mr. Gordon has been invited to direct this version as well, so that's a good thing. And for those who think Donkey Kong is a silly thing to compete over, I have just one word for you: Golf.

You know you're an expert at causing controversy when you earn your very own investigation from the Treasury Department. So, we should all probably get comfortable with the arrival of Michael Moore's new documentary Sicko, which just recently screened at Cannes, and will be stirring up who knows what kind of trouble as its release date gets closer. Moviefone is now hosting the trailer for the documentary, which gives us a look at what looks to be another well-meaning, if not-a-little-biased entry from the socially conscious filmmaker. It includes a quick look at the stunt that landed Moore in trouble with the Treasury Department in the first place.

The film, as you probably know, is Moore's expose of the U.S. health care system. The response to it has been pretty positive so far, and inexplicably the doc even managed to get thumbs up from Fox News. But not everyone is feeling the love for the film -- a group of disgruntled Canadian journalists recently confronted the filmmaker at a press conference claiming, "We Canucks were taking issue with the large liberties Sicko takes with the facts." Mainly, their problem is that Moore patronized Canada by claiming their health-care system was problem-free, which, as I am sure my fellow countrymen know, is not the case. Sicko is set to hit theaters June 29th.

If someone gave you the option of either jumping in a pool of acid or interviewing Mike Tyson for thirty hours, which one would you choose? Well, we know which route director James Toback took because he's currently prepping a new documentary based on the rise and fall of this legendary boxer. With completion set for this fall, Tyson will cover it all -- I mean, tell me you're not dying to find out how one man can go from being married to the ultra hot Robin Givens to biting the ear off Evander Holyfield. Who does sh*t like that? I guess we're about to find out.

At one time, Iron Mike was regarded as the greatest boxer in the world; the man was a machine, with guns the size of skyscrapers. However, the pressure to perform -- coupled with the money, the power and the glory -- transformed this lightening bolt into a monster. A monster, mind you, who sounded like a seven year-old. Toback, who's probably best known for helping the 1987 comedy The Pick-up Artist, has been fascinated with Tyson since meeting back in 1985; so much so that the director gave Tyson roles in two of his more recent films (Black and White, When Will I Be Loved). According to Toback, "[Tyson] was honest about all the things that have highlighted his life, from the bitter divorce, the ear-biting, prison, to his becoming a sex addict. He is self-aware, smart and a totally fractured personality, and he made himself completely vulnerable." Personally, I could care less about the man. In my opinion, once you start beating women (regardless of your state of mind or how many drugs you're on), I have no further interest in anything you might have to say. But that's me. No word yet on a release date; ICM is scheduled to sell all worldwide rights.