PoliWood Asks: Should Celebs Get Political?

TresSugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:40:00 PDT

Wag the Dog director Barry Levinson has tongues wagging at the Tribeca Film Festival with a new documentary called Poliwood, which premiered this weekend. As the name suggests, the film explores what happens when Hollywood celebrity gets all smooshed together with DC politics. Featuring celeb cameos from Spike Lee, Josh Lucas, Anne Hathaway, and more, the doc goes behind the scenes of the 2008 campaign, including the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

The film is backed by the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit group of politically active actors and other artsy types, so don't expect a straight-up skewering. But Levinson isn't afraid to insert his own perspective on the potential confusion that PoliWood promotes. He says,

"Well, I think what happened is, you have this television screen, and everything has to go through that screen - and at a certain point, I don't think that we can tell the difference between the celebrity and the politician. They both have to entertain us in some fashion."

Do you think that celebrity and politics have become inextricably linked? Do you like it when celebs get political, or would you rather actors just stick to acting?

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Robert Redford to Take Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:30:33 PST

There's a lot of great post-Sundance news out there, but this story is really making me smile: Festival founder Robert Redford has said that his next project will be an adaptation of A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson's best-selling book about an attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. Redford plans to play Bryson, and Barry Levinson is expected to direct the film.

I'm getting a kick out of the idea of Redford as Bryson, who was an overweight, out-of-shape man edging toward a mid-life crisis when he decided to walk the trail in 1997 (that's the real Bryson up there on the right). And apparently, so is Redford, who told the Associated Press "I don't know when I've read a book that I laughed so loud."

Redford also noted that the landscape of the country will be a big part of the film as Bryson and his hiking companion, Stephen Katz, make their way along the trail. (In the book, the two men didn't finish their hike - so do you think the movie will get a Hollywood ending?)

Other than making me want to read A Walk in the Woods again, this news makes me wonder: Who's going to play Katz? Their hilarious banter is one of the best parts of the book. Any suggestions?

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