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POLIWOOD: D Tonight at 7:30 on Showtime. Director Barry Levinson’s 90-minute “Poliwood” is billed as a film essay. That’s like calling the back of a cereal box a novel. Say what you will about Michael Moore, but at least he knows how to spin a story. Levinson (“Rain Man”) aims to explore the crash of politics, celebrity and media. He’s fascinated as to why performers are greeted with hostility when they become politically active. He trails famous members of the Creative Coalition, Hollywood’s nonprofit, nonpartisan lobbying group for arts funding, through the 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential conventions. The coalition’s...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Watching the Dave Matthews Band moments before they take the stage is like watching a football team bursting out of the locker room before a big game. They slap hands. Bump fists. Jump up and down, exclaiming "Feel the love, feel the love!" The energy in the air is electric. And when they walk out on stage, the energy explodes into thousands of shining faces. People dance in the aisles. Others sing every word to every song. A few share funny cigarettes. For more than three hours, the jubilant atmosphere creates a sense of community...

It’s been secure for years, actually, and not just because of the infamous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” crack. This isn’t the first time he’s acted like a royal A-hole at an awards show; in fact, it’s not even the first time he’s rushed the stage during an acceptance speech to protest the winner. That happened a few years ago at the MTV Europe Awards. Even so, I salute him: In this season of political turmoil, Americans are finally united in hatred of his pure, preening douchebaggery. No small accomplishment. Taylor Swift, who’s all of 19 years old,...

Aubrey O'Day really put her foot in her mouth this time. The former Danity Kane member dug herself into a hole Monday night in a heated debate on Fox News' "The Sean Hannity Show" when the 25-year-old singer spewed out claims that both Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro were "brilliant" men. "As someone who has met [Castro]... I met him and worked with him while I was in Cuba. I'm not defending his behavior, but in many instances, but I do have to say, I will 100% agree, he's an incredibly brilliant man, he has outlived tons of our Presidents,"...

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters narrated a United Nations film about Palestinian difficulties caused by the security fence. The 15-minute film opened Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's opinion that the fence's route is illegal, the French news agency AFP reported. Waters wrote the lyrics to the Pink Floyd album "The Wall." Israel says the wall almost completely stopped Palestinian suicide attacks during the second intifada. The Palestinians charge that the fence cuts off Palestinian farmers from their land and will prohibit them from forming a state in the...

Grammy-award winning musician Tony Bennett told CNSNews.com he “loves everything” Barack Obama has done in his first 100 days as president and thinks every American should “give him all-out support for anything he wants to do.” Bennett further said that Americans should imitate the other countries of the world that support Obama. “I really hope that every citizen of the United States would imitate the rest of the world because they’re all for Obama,” said Bennett. “Every other country adores what happened – in our great country – to have him as president.” Bennett’s comments were made at the National...

With the way some in Hollywood have piled on Carrie Prejean since Sunday's Miss USA pageant, one might think the 21-year-old college student had called for a tax on botox, instead of speaking out against gay marriage. First, Perez Hilton called her a "dumb [expletive]" in a self-produced video on his website. Then Tinsletown took to Twitter, as the likes of Shanna Moakler, Giuliana Rancic, Holly Madison and Heidi Montag Tweeted their outrage.

Aging Grammy award-winning singer and Academy award-winning actress Cher recently told CNSNews.com that “living under Republican rule almost ‘killed’ her, and she does not understand why anyone would want to be a Republican.”[sic] The multi millionaire, much married, and largely irrelevant, vacuous singer/actress, who offered this unoriginal cheap shot against Bush and his party—so vogue among Hollywood celebs—has not done so badly under Republican and Democrat administrations over the last five decades; therefore no one was certain why she offered this commentary. When asked by Stoos Views during a telephone interview why she supported Obama in the last election,...

Actress Ashley Judd says a wolf management program backed by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is "incredibly savage ... it's not right, it's not appropriate, it makes no sense on any level." Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live," Judd repeated her criticism of a program that allows hunters firing from aircraft to shoot wolves to thin the numbers of the animals. Judd recently appeared in a video for the Washington-based Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which also opposes the Palin-backed aerial hunting program. Referring to the former Republican vice presidential candidate by name in the video, Judd says that Palin is...

Courtesy of Jammie Wearing Fool, who notes that "she sounds like a blithering idiot." It's so nice to live in America again? What does that mean from Judd's rabidly pro-abortion standpoint? Apparently, Ms. Judd is breathless over the excitement that American taxpayers will be funding the killing of innocent children not just at home, but abroad as well. I'm sure it all reminds you of the good old days, right? Among the millions of people who are excited by the election of President Obama is Ashley Judd, as she demonstrated at the 40th birthday luncheon for NARAL Pro-Choice America at...

...After a brief slide show featuring Bush and other anti-abortion politicians, during which the crowd booed and hissed, Judd remarked, “It’s so nice to live in America again.”...

Axe the political speeches and we'll watch Oscars, say viewers Respondents also more likely to watch ceremony if The Dark Knight is nominated for best picture, according to poll of US moviegoers Ben Child guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 January 2009 11.22 GMT The producers of this year's Oscars ceremony should cut out political speeches, make sure The Dark Knight is up for best picture and excise all trace of Jack Nicholson if they want to boost audience figures, according to a new poll. Viewer numbers for the annual TV broadcast have been haemorrhaging in recent years, leading online ticketing firm Fandango...

It's Bruce Springsteen in utterly candid mode, discussing how Bush ruined America, and how he coped with recent tragedies of his own. But with a new president, the singer has a fresh optimism - hell, he even loves his local supermarket now

The Born to Run singer said that the US was now "suffering the consequences" of eight years of rule by a "very radical group of people" who had attempted to undermine the country's democratic values. Describing President Bush's period in power as a "nightmare" for most Americans, the songwriter said: "We had a historically blind administration who didn't take consideration of the past; thousands of thousands of people died, lives were ruined and terrible, terrible things occurred because there was no sense of real history, no sense that the past is living and real." In a rare interview, Springsteen said...

A 105-year-old singer whose past as a singer in Nazi Germany has dogged his reputation for decades is back in the spotlight after telling a Dutch television show Adolf Hitler was a "good guy." The Dutch-born Johan Heesters, who now has Austrian citizenship and is still popular and performing in Germany, was asked by a Dutch journalist what he thought of Hitler. "A good guy, that's what he was," he said on the clip shown Thursday on the current affairs show "De Wereld Draait Door" ("The World Keeps Turning"). His wife, Simone Rethel, immediately corrected him, saying that Hitler was...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barbra Streisand is visiting the White House on Sunday but says she'll play nice. "Art," she says, "transcends politics this weekend." Streisand, a vocal critic of President George W. Bush, has the awkward honor of visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue during one of Washington's few A-list events.

Bruce Springsteen used his latest fundraising bash for Democrat Barack Obama to poke fun at one of the presidential candidate's Republican rivals, Sarah Palin. Springsteen dueted with fellow rocker Billy Joel for the first time ever at the bash, at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on Thursday. And the Born to Run hit-maker jokingly compared the pair's inexperience to criticism of Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Palin. He told the crowd, "Billy and I have rehearsed a little, but you have to consider this more like the vice presidential debate: you have to Palin-ise your expectations. We seem like we...

A star-studded new CD compilation inspired by Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency is available from Hidden Beach this week. The project, titled Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement, features classic and current tracks by Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Kanye West, Dave Stewart and others. The set also features brand-new music as well as excerpts from Obama's inspiring campaign speeches. The first-of-its-kind musical collection features an array of artists and material that reflects America's diversity and taps into the creative community's overwhelming response to the campaign's universal themes of hope, unity and change. Others...

The more Matt Damon talks, the more apparent it is that the Hollywood of patriots such as John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart is gone, gone, gone. Indeed, the city that once hosted Ronald Reagan's search and destroy mission for Communists now hosts $30,000-a-plate-dinners for every anti-American, anti-capitalist group in need of a sponsor (which is just a fancy way of saying they host Democrat fund-raisers). It was not so long ago that Hollywood actors believed it was as much their duty as others to fight the wars in which America was involved. Men such as Glenn Ford, Charlton Heston, Ronald...

Mike Farrell just took a cheap shot at Sarah Palin on PBS fund-raiser NOTE TO MODS; Please edit this as you see fit. I haven't posted a "vanity" before.

The McCain-Palin jukebox options are shrinking. The latest rockers to tell the Republicans to cease spinning their albums are the women from Heart, who were chagrined to hear their song "Barracuda" play at the Republican convention as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hit the stage. Palin, a star high school basketball point guard, was nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda." The official Heart website states that "Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart have informed the McCain/Palin Campaign that Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have sent a cease-and-desist notice to not use one of Heart's classic songs 'Barracuda,' as the congratulatory theme for Sarah...

Ann and Nancy Wilson are pissed at the Republican Party and have fired off a cease and desist letter to the McCain/Palin campaign. Specifically, the Heart women are upset that the GOP has used their classic "Barracuda" as a theme song for Sarah Palin. TMZ obtained a statement from Heart's rep, who says "The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission." The statement goes on: "We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored." We're told Ann was...

Lohan gets political on blog, sounds off on Palin Tue Sep 2, 5:44 PM ET NEW YORK - Lindsay Lohan is getting political. The 22-year-old actress took to her MySpace blog Tuesday to post her thoughts on Republican John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and the revelation that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. "I've been watching the news all morning, like everyone else — and (I) keep hearing about the issues related to `teen pregnancy.' ... Well, I think the real problem comes from the fact that we are taking the focus off of getting to know...

Maybe he was sick of the lack of media attention…maybe he had enough of the late night talk show hosts poking fun at his age…maybe he realized that belonging to a party that has been associated with rich, white men was not going to connect with voters in this historical election year. Or maybe he was just ready to take back some of the spotlight that has shined so brightly on Barack Obama and the Democrats since the beginning of the Democratic convention. Desperation can motivate people to make some pretty cynical and hypocritical decisions. Whatever the reason, John McCain’s...

Springsteen ends world tour at Harley celebrationBy CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press Writer Sun Aug 31, 9:36 AM ET MILWAUKEE - Bruce Springsteen ended his world tour over the weekend, toned down but revved up. Springsteen played more than 30 songs over 3 1/2 hours Saturday night on Milwaukee's lakefront for Harley-Davidson's 105th anniversary celebration. He made few comments between songs. Only for a few moments before "Livin' in the Future" did the rocker — who often brings his liberal-leaning political comments to the stage — stray into politics. Springsteen performed to a crowd not unlike the one that gave Republican...

Maybe he was sick of the lack of media attention…maybe he had enough of the late night talk show hosts poking fun at his age…maybe he realized that belonging to a party that has been associated with rich, white men was not going to connect with voters in this historical election year. Or maybe he was just ready to take back some of the spotlight that has shined so brightly on Barack Obama and the Democrats since the beginning of the Democratic convention. Desperation can motivate people to make some pretty cynical and hypocritical decisions. Whatever the reason, John McCain’s...

Madonna Compares McCain to Hitler, Obama to Gandhi Photo of Noel Sheppard. By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive) August 24, 2008 - 11:00 ET In case you missed it with the Olympics going on, Russia invading Georgia, and the campaign for president in full swing, pop star Madonna started her much-awaited tour in Wales Saturday. Amidst the requisite autoerotic writhing and gyrating, Madonna managed to bash John McCain -- actually equating him to Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe! -- while comparing Barack Obama to Mahatma Gandhi. I kid you not. As reported by the Associated Press Saturday (emphasis added, photo...

Toby Keith: Obama's 'Best Democratic Candidate We've Had Since Bill Clinton' Toby Keith Praises Obama Tuesday, August 19, 2008 By Ryan Pearson, Associated Press Los Angeles - Barack Obama is getting praise from Nashville, courtesy of one big, patriotic country star. Toby Keith, perhaps best known to non-country audiences for his post-Sept. 11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," says he's a Democrat, and was impressed by the senator from Illinois.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Super Bowl might be six months away from coming to town, but the celebrity rumors already are running rampant. The New York Post's Page Six reported on Tuesday that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform live at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium. Amanda Holt, the director of communications for the local Super Bowl Committee, said this is the first she has heard of it.

Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young was interviewed on PBS's Charlie Rose show. The show, almost a complete hour, can be watched at this link. (Thanks to Jay for the tip.) If you can get past some of the political baggage, and you like Neil Young, it's an entertaining interview, where Young comes across funny, sincere and kind of sweetly naïve. With regard to the politics and his Let's Impeach the President phase, Young certainly is giving the distinct impression of having second thoughts. Some of what he says when Charlie prods him on the war: I look at it Charlie as...

Sorry if this is old news but this is the first time I've seen this movie. In "Shut Up And Sing" Natalie Maines names FR as the blog that started all thier probelems. WAY TO GO FR! Still watching on the Encore Drama channel.

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Sharon Stone believes the Sept. 11 attacks should not have been used as a pretext for the United States to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to her comments published Monday in a pan-Arab newspaper. In her interview with Al Hayat, the actress also bemoaned what she called Americans' decision to ignore the deaths of so many Iraqis. "I feel at great pain when the spotlight is on the death of 4,000 American soldiers, while 600,000 Iraqi deaths are ignored," she said. "War is not a movie, it is a tragedy of dead bodies, victims,...

This is the most graceless stunt I’ve seen a while. Leon Fleisher, the conductor and pianist, received a Kennedy Center honor. As part of the weekend of festivities associated with this prestigious award, Fleisher was invited to attend a White House reception along with the four other honorees (Brian Wilson, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, and Martin Scorcese). This caused the conductor to wrestle with his conscience. In the past seven years, Bush administration policies have amounted to a systematic shredding of our nation's Constitution — the illegal war it initiated and perpetuates; the torturing of prisoners; the espousing of "values"...

On the eve of the New York Philharmonic's departure on an Asian tour that will include a visit to Pyongyang, its music director, Lorin Maazel, suggested that Americans are not in a position to criticize the North Korean regime, because America's own record on human rights is flawed. "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks, should they?" Mr. Maazel told the Associated Press. "Is our standing as a country — the United States — is our reputation all that clean when it comes to prisoners and the way they are treated? Have we set an example that should...

Finally, after nearly a year we get to the bottom of the story. Last spring, you were held up as a parody of environmental correctness when you proposed restricting the use of toilet paper to one square per bathroom visit. What was that about? I think it’s a fantastic and eye-opening example of how the media is operated by political figures, of how Karl Rove was humiliated in the media and how, within 24 hours, he was able to humiliate me and take any sort of credibility away from me. What are you saying? You think Karl Rove leaked the...

The Dixie Chicks are partners in name only - the multi-platinum- selling trio is all but broken up, according to a source close to the group.Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison made just a handful of appearances together in 2007 - and now they rarely even talk, the source reveals. "The girls have gone their separate ways," the source close to the Texas-raised country musicians told The ENQUIRER. "They were not getting along when they toured together during 2006, but they managed to stay civil. Now when they're not forced to be together, the girls don't even...

Stars who spout 'pseudo-science should check their facts first'By FIONA MACRAE - More by this author » Last updated at 23:29pm on 2nd January 2008  Nicole Kidman: Criticised for promoting a computer brain workout programme   When your name's Nicole Kidman or Gwyneth Paltrow, everyone wants to hear what you have to say. But before holding forth on their favourite remedy, celebrities should get their facts straight, experts say. The two Hollywood actresses, along with the TV presenter Gillian McKeith and fashion designer Stella McCartney, are singled out by a charity founded to increase the public's understanding of scientific...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Billy Joel has released a new pop single, the anti-war "Christmas in Fallujah." Just don't expect to hear his voice on it. Billy Joel gave his newest song, "Christmas in Fallujah," to 21-year-old Cass Dillon. At 58, Joel felt he was too old to sing the song, which was inspired by letters the Piano Man received from soldiers in Iraq. So he gave it to Cass Dillon, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Long Island. "I thought it should be somebody young, about a soldier's age," Joel said in a statement on his Web site. "I wanted to...

The Dixie Chicks have a new controversy on their hands. Lead singer Natalie Maines is urging people to contribute money to a defense fund for three Arkansas men that she (and many others) believe were wrongly convicted of killing three children in 1993. Maines writes her plea on the Dixie Chicks Web site, which has already been answered by several celebrities including, I am told, Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Eddie Vedder, Jack Black and Henry Rollins. "I'm writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit,"...

Liberal Democrat Presidential Candidate John Edwards, in between $400 haircuts and a busy schedule of chasing Ambulances around two different Americas made an appearance at a John Mellencamp concert in Iowa and was booed off the stage. The Politico: Mellencamp, standing alone on stage with his guitar, then launched into Tough It Out and Be the Best You Can followed by Jesus Can You Give Me a Ride Back Home? and another song about youth and love. The crowd erupted as he started Small Town and sang the lyrics as though Wells Fargo Arena were one of those sing-along piano...

Mellencamp, standing alone on stage with his guitar, then launched into Tough It Out and Be the Best You Can followed by Jesus Can You Give Me a Ride Back Home? and another song about youth and love. The crowd erupted as he started Small Town and sang the lyrics as though Wells Fargo Arena were one of those sing-along piano bars. It's at this point Mellencamp gestures and John Edwards walks on stage. After a few cheers boos overtake the hall. "I've been in your small towns," Edwards said as Mellencamp stepped aside to give Edwards a place behind...

Big Paychecks for U2 Millionaires Oct. 26, 2007 The Associated Press U2 Ltd., the Irish band's music publishing company, raked in $30 million-plus last year — and $25.8 million of it went to five unidentified "employees," according to documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press. Those "employees" are suspected to be the band members and their longtime manager, Paul McGuinness. But U2's public relations firms in Dublin and London refused to confirm that. While Bono has won accolades worldwide for raising awareness of Third World poverty, he has been criticized for moving U2's corporate offices out of Ireland to avoid...

On his new album, "Magic," Springsteen jumps right into the fray again. In a dramatic new REM-ish anthem called "Last to Die," he sings: "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake/The last to die for a mistake/Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break/Who'll be the last to die for a mistake." The mistake is clearly the Iraq war. "We don't measure the blood we've drawn anymore," he sings. "We just stack the bodies outside the door."

The Oct 18 and 20 concert dates with Dixie Chicks/Eagles at Nokia Theatre LA Live were sold out in a few minutes.

Joni Mitchell is back after nine years, and she’s on the attack. In the title track to her new album, “Shine,� Mitchell takes a nice swipe at the Catholic Church by name. “Shine on the Catholic Church/And the prisons that it owns,� she sings. “Shine on all the Churches/that love less and less.� Mitchell was never one to mince words, but in her triumphant return on Starbucks’ Hear Records, she doesn’t give an inch. In “Shine,� she continues: “Shine on lousy leadership/Licensed to kill/Shine on dying soldiers/In patriotic pain/Shine on mass destruction/In some God's name!� Mitchell’s album will be...

Actress Kathy Griffin's rant at the Emmy awards in which she told Jesus to "suck it" has triggered a petition campaign intended to tell Hollywood "Enough is Enough!" Griffin, the star of the Bravo show "My Life on the D-List," was being honored for the Outstanding Reality Program, overtaking ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" after multiple attempts, when she launched into the tirade.

Producers of Sunday's Emmy telecast bleeped drama actress winner Sally Field in the midst of a controversial acceptance speech attacking U.S. involvement in Iraq. "If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any god -" she said when the sound went dead and the camera suddenly turned away from the stage so viewers would be distracted. Chopped off were the words "goddamn wars in the first place." (The phrase was not censored in the Canadian telecast.) "This belongs to all the mothers of the world -- may they be seen and valued," she added when she won for outstanding actress...

Pop singer Barry Manilow, a major Democratic fundraiser, said on Monday he has scrapped plans to appear on the television talk show "The View," because he did not want to be interviewed by its conservative co-host. Manilow was scheduled to appear on the ABC morning show Tuesday, the same day his new album, "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" hits stores. But those plans fell through because of his issues with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, an abortion opponent and supporter of the Iraq war. "I had made a request that I be interviewed by (co-hosts) Joy (Behar), Barbara (Walters) or Whoopi (Goldberg),...

If only it was the beginning of a media trend. Studio execs know that people from both sides of the political spectrum watch their shows. Considering the statistics, two-thirds of the country doesn't pay attention to politics, ever, so your actors are more likely to lose you money and advertisers when they spout off, then attract any net gain, (unless bad publicity is considered a gain). Just blacking out their inappropriate remarks helps keep attention on the actual show, not some self-important actors latest pet project. If the actor has a problem with that, go on the news and talk...

"Valley of Elah," Lions for Lambs", "Redacted"...Sheesh. Doesn't anybody make movies anymore?