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.

If you thought leading a revolution was easy, try filming one. In The Huffington Post, Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere discusses Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che Guevara biopic, comprised of The Argentine and Guerilla. Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, it appears that both movies will definitely screen next month at the Cannes Film Festival, where Soderbergh was warmly welcomed last year for the premiere of Ocean's Thirteen. The reception of his latest project could be even more positive, but its distribution prospects are another story: As Wells explains, Soderbergh's project guarantees to offend some people for its apparent exclusion of Che's stint as the overlord at La Cabana fortress, where he ordered the execution of over 600 political prisoners. Add to that the heavy amount of Spanish dialog and the director's insistence that the two movies should be enjoyed as a four hour-plus package, and you've got enough red flags to send even the bravest U.S. distributors packing.

Wells, who read both scripts, analogizes the project to Lawrence of Arabia. "Hey, how about presenting the two films as a single, gargantuan Lawrence of Arabia-styled deal with an intermission, running between four or four and a half hours?" he suggests, perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Jon Stewart had it right during the Oscars this year when he ironically geeked out over Lawrence of Arabia on an iPod. If most audiences can't appreciate that movie on the big screen now, why would they turn up for something like this?

What movies are going to be snubbed by Oscar because they don't speak Hollywood's language? Does Into the Wild play better for Baby Boomers than younger audiences? Can Once get a second chance? And do movie journalists have a responsibility to reflect the Oscar race, or to try and influence it? Joining James on The Rocchi Review this week to talk about those questions and much more is Jeffrey Wells of notorious film news blog Hollywood Elsewhere. You can download the entire podcast right here -- and we hope you enjoy; those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

I'm still waiting for the day when we get Benicio Del Toro as Che Guevara t-shirts -- you know it would be a good promotional item -- but for now we must settle on this bright image put up by Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere. It's a photograph taken on location in the Andalusian section of Spain, subbing for Bolivia, and it features Del Toro just chillin' with a big pipe, a flat cap (not the iconic black beret with a star on it!) and some books. Behind him are some fellow guerrillas with guns, also just hangin' out. The scene comes from, Guerrilla, the second installment of Steven Soderbergh's double-dip look at the legendary revolutionary. If it's any indication of how exciting the film will be, then Wells is certainly right by predicting that the first film, The Argentine, will be the more engaging.

Apparently this shot was also taken a little while ago, because The Argentine is now filming in Puerto Rico. Or is it just part of that film being shot now? Are the films being shot simultaneously? If not, I think it's strange that Soderbergh shot the second one first and vice versa. If you were to believe what the Daily News wrote about the films yesterday, you'd think Guerrilla hadn't even begun production yet. So, who knows? (Surely somebody does and can help me out in the comment section). I guess it doesn't matter how the shooting is going. All that is important is that both films are due sometime late next year.

As Erik noted earlier today, the Screen Actors Guild noms are out, and there are few surprises. I was a little surprised by what Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere had to say about Eddie Murphy's Best Supporting Actor nod for Dreamgirls, though (WARNING: There is a spoiler in his post, so be warned before you click over there):

"What could the Murphy nom be about? Because he sings well, drops his pants and [SPOILER DELETED]? I ve been told all along that the SAG rank-and-file regards Murphy as an asshole. Maybe it's the old animal-kingdom instinct of showing obeisance before power, because Murphy was King Shit in the '80s? I know this: Murphy isn't fit to shine Mark Wahlberg's shoes."

Oof. That seems a little harsh. I mean, I like Wahlberg well enough, he's a solid actor, but Murphy, when he's on, does his thing very well. Personally, I'm impressed, if nothing else, with Murphy's ability to continually reinvent his career and surprise his fans. I've not seen Dreamgirls yet, unfortunately, but from all reports he does a bang-up job and is deserving up a nom, if not the win. Chime in with your thoughts, readers -- especially if you've seen Dreamgirls and have thoughts on Murphy's performance. Is Wells spot-on in saying Murphy shouldn't be nominated? Or is he full of hot air?

Over on Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells has really stirred things up by questioning the motives of Robin Williams gay character in The Night Listener. In the film, Williams' character, Gabriel, a late-night radio host, strikes up a long-distance phone friendship with a 14-year-old child abuse victim dying of AIDS, after the boy's memoir is passed his way by his editor. Wells sprayed the hose on the proverbial hornet's nest with this bit: "I haven't read any reviews that have brought this up, so I guess I'll have to: a 50ish gay man developing a fondness for a 14 year-old boy over the phone -- hello? -- feels icky."

The debate in the comments on this has ranged from people stalwartly defending Wells' POV on the relationship, to outright accusations of homophobia, to irate gay schoolteachers taking umbrage at Wells' implication that if an older gay man has a relationship with an adolescent boy, there must be something "icky" involved. I'd love to hear what Armistead Maupin, the author of the book on which the film was based (and co-writer of the screenplay as well) would say on this subject. The book was based on real-life incidents in Maupin's own life; ergo, an implication of unsavory motives on the part of the Gabriel character is, by extension, a questioning of Maupin's own motives.

My own take on the film, in case you're wondering, is that there was nothing untoward in the relationship between Gabriel and the boy; on the contrary, I saw Gabriel as desperately lonely and in need of someone to nurture (his character is coming off the breakup of a long relationship in which he cared for his lover, who has HIV), and that his interactions toward the boy are strictly paternal. What say you, readers -- especially those who have actually seen The Night Listener? Is the relationship between Gabriel and the boy somehow "icky"? Or is Wells reading something into this that just isn't there?

Buzz is starting to swirl around Babel, which debuts next Tuesday at Cannes. The film, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) and scripted by Guillermo Ariagga, stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal, tells the stories of four characters linked by a single act of violence. If you've seen Innaritu's previous films, perhaps kinda know what to expect, and if you haven't, well, for shame, and hie thee to the nearest video rental facility. Jeff Well's over at Hollywood Elsewhere is either much,. much more important than us, or really well connected, or just damn lucky, because the man always gets access to the coolest scripts way before the rest of us mere mortals. So, natch, he's seen an early copy of the script for Babel, and he's quite positive about it.

Wells has a really good interview up with Innaritu on his site. Unfortunately, he didn't get to preview the film as part of the deal (apparently even his charisma has it's limits), but the interview is well worth a read. Check it out.

I know that, within a few weeks, summer movie previews will be a dime a dozen, and I promise, we won't link to all of them. Jeffery Wells' is notable, however, because he's actually optimistic about what's to come -- not, mind you, because the movies are all going to be good, but because it strikes him that this year's summer slate is "a little bit craftier and less dumbed-down than usual." (Mind you, right after he says that, there's a picture of Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. Is that a mixed message?) Wells goes so far as to suggest that, of the 15 major releases coming this summer, "only two or three seem deliberately aimed at the bozos." I'll let you read for yourself to see which films he's dismissing, but the possibility that watching the majority of big, summer releases might actually required brain power is fairly exciting.

Among the films Wells points to as evidence of the whole "thinking summer" thing are Flags of Our Fathers, World Trade Center, Apocalypto and, wishfully, Miami Vice, about which I share his mixed feelings of dread (constant problems during production, unpredictable stars, possible empty script) and eagerness (For the love of God, it's Michael Mann! How bad could the movie possible be?). In addition to giving ample space to the big releases, Wells' column also offers up some worthy, smaller alternatives for each weekend, so it's worth a read even for those among us who scorn the multiplex.