Paramount and Warner Bros. may be working together on Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, but the studios are each developing their own bicycle doping scandal pic.  Paramount and Bad Robot acquired the rights for book proposal Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong by author Juliet Macur; Warner Bros. will instead tell the story of Armstrong’s teammate, Tyler Hamilton.  The studio has acquired Hamilton’s life rights and will tell the story of the former professional bike racer who was in Armstrong’s inner circle on the US Postal Service Team.  WB has set Scott Burns (Side Effects) to script the picture with Jay Roach (Recount, Game Change) set to direct.  Hit the jump for more.

The freight train that is Argo kept on trucking last night.  Though the film’s Best Picture Oscar chances were all but dashed when Ben Affleck was snubbed for Best Director (it’s incredibly rare for a movie to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination), the film picked up the top awards at two major guilds—the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild.  Now two becomes three, as the Directors Guild Awards were held last night and Argo pulled off the hat trick by landing Affleck the Best Director DGA trophy.

There is one major precedent that everyone keeps pointing towards with regards to Argo: 1995’s Apollo 13.  That film won the PGA, DGA, and SAG awards, only to find Ron Howard left out of the Best Director Oscar nominations and it ultimately lost Best Picture to Braveheart.  Is Argo in the same boat as Apollo 13 or can it pull off the win?  Furthermore, who wins Best Director at the Oscars?  Hit the jump for more, along with the full list of DGA winners that includes Looper’s Rian Johnson for his work on Breaking Bad and Girls’ Lena Dunham.

I should probably admit my political bias up front: I enthusiastically voted for Barack Obama back in ‘08. That said, I’m not ashamed to confess I was equally riveted that same year by Republican candidate John McCain’s competing campaign, particularly any and all parts having to do with his running mate, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Like most college-educated individuals – hell, any-educated individuals – I couldn’t take my confused eyes or bleeding ears off this bizarrely overconfident and suspiciously under-qualified woman who might end up our next president, should her white-haired running mate get elected and, well, croak. Matt Damon famously compared the whole scenario to “a really bad Disney movie.” To me, it was a potential horror flick. Thankfully, Obama won the election and, four years later, HBO Films has turned the near debacle into a thrilling political drama, which you can now see “from your house” on Blu-ray and DVD.  My review after the jump the Game Change Blu-ray after the jump.

The 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards were given out last night, and longtime favorite Mad Men had a pretty rough evening.  Matthew Weiner’s AMC drama was shut out in every category in which it was nominated (Christina Hendricks was robbed), denying the series a record-breaking fifth consecutive Best Drama Series Emmy in favor of Showtime’s excellent freshman series Homeland.  The cable thriller nearly swept the drama series category, even landing Damian Lewis a surprising Best Actor win over perennial favorite Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Mad Men’s way overdue Jon Hamm.  It’s hard to complain, though, as Homeland had a positively stellar first season and star Claire Danes gave a powerhouse performance as a psychologically plagued CIA analyst, for which she was awarded Best Actress.

On the comedy side of things the awards were a tad more predictable, with ABC’s Modern Family pulling off another sweep in the genre. Julia Louis-Dreyfus took home the Best Actress award for her hilarious work on Veep, and Jon Cryer inexplicably won Best Actor in a Comedy for his role in Two and a Half Men despite that show not being funny.  Hit the jump to read the full list of winners.

Considering the 2012 election cycle is currently in full swing, I feel compelled to lend my endorsement to a truly worthy candidate: The Campaign. As someone who unashamedly enjoys a majority of Will Ferrell‘s manchild cinematic escapades, I expected to like the pic. That said, I’m now putting The Campaign just behind Anchorman, Step Brothers, and Elf in my personal “Ferrell Top 4″: something I didn’t expect to be writing the day after seeing it. Sure, the film borrows a ton from Talladega Nights and Ferrell’s take on President Bush. It also manages to combine relevance, irreverence, and humor in a way many mainstream comedies can only promise and ultimately fail to deliver on.

Political endorsements aside, this week’s Top 5 contains a considerable share of The Bourne Legacy coverage, Joss Whedon returning to write/direct The Avengers 2, The Campaign interviews with Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, and more, the first trailer and new poster for the Red Dawn remake, and the news that some of Bane’s backstory was left on The Dark Knight Rises‘ cutting room floor. A brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

Earlier this year, I wrote about how The Five-Year Engagement over-indulged its actors’ improvisational comedy, which caused scenes to run on for far too long.  Director Jay Roach wisely dodges this problem by cutting his new film, The Campaign, down to a lean 85 minutes.  There’s clearly plenty of more material as stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis‘ strong chemistry and comic mastery play brilliantly off each other, especially when the humor gets particularly crass.  It’s a film that can deliver big laughs, and yet it features an odd concoction of broad comedy that grazes up against targeted political commentary.  The brew tastes a bit off as it highlights a missed opportunity to truly take advantage of the political arena.

Last week, Warner Bros. invited us to attend the press junket for The Campaign.  The R-rated comedy stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two politicians who keep finding hilarious new lows in order to win a district election in North Carolina.   For more on the film, click here for all of our previous coverage.

During my on-camera interview with director Jay Roach, we talked about his fascination with elections, the movie’s element of satire in a big broad comedy, the length of the film’s first cut, the challenges of cutting so much great material, and his potential future projects including the Steve Carell comedy Brigadier Gerard, and a serious film about Nikita Khrushchev‘s visit to the United States.  Hit the jump to check out the interview, click here for my interview with Ferrell and Galifianakis, and click here for my interview with Dylan McDermott.  The Campaign opens Friday.

As you’re likely aware, the 2012 Summer Olympics kicked off in London yesterday. In other words, it’s time for me to care about competitive swimming and gymnastics for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. To all of our readers, especially those internationally-based, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the Summer Olympics. Is it an event that evokes your inner-patriotism and love of otherwise obscure athletic feats? Do you take great joy in defeating the ol’ U.S. of A. in something other than Math and Science scores? Sound off in the comments.

This Saturday brings us the Man of Steel teaser trailer set to John Williams‘ original Superman score, coverage from our visit to the set of Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis‘ The Campaign, an extended trailer and first official images from Cloud Atlas, interviews with the fellas of The Watch, and Brendan’s latest By the Numbers installment covering The Caped Crusader from Batman: The Movie to The Dark Knight Rises. Unless you’re a Top 5 noob (in which case, welcome aboard!), you know that a brief recap and link to each can be found after the jump.

A new restricted trailer for director Jay Roach’s The Campaign has debuted.  The political comedy features Will Ferrell as a slick incumbent who is at odds with the oddball dark horse (Zach Galifianakis) in a Congressional election race.  While you can learn a lot about the film from our recent set visit and interviews with Ferrell, Galifianakis and Roach, the new restricted trailer goes back to the old Ferrell comedy stand-by: the family dinner table.  It’s not quite as funny as the kids from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, but there are some good one-liners.  Hit the jump to check out the new restricted trailer before The Campaign comes to your town on August 10^th.

As we gear up towards one of the most heated elections in our country’s history, people are getting a little (OK, a lot) stressed out:  political pundits are viciously attacking one another—and Batman movies—in the press, candidates are slinging mud via increasingly-aggro campaign ads, and voters on both sides of the aisle seem poised to tear one another limb from limb.  Seems like we could all use a good laugh right about now, doesn’t it?  Good news is, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, writer Chris Henchy and director Jay Roach’s The Campaign is here to provide that much-needed dose of anger-deflating political comedy.

I visited the set of the film a few months ago, and have returned with 20 things you need to know about The Campaign before it opens next month.  Wanna know more?  Meet me after the jump.

Director Jay Roach has been gearing up for The Campaign for years now, even if it wasn’t a conscious decision:  the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis-starring politi-comedy (arriving August 10^th) might—at first glance—seem like the sort of thing that any comedy director might be able to tackle, but look closer and you’ll see a film that needed the touch of someone familiar with the world of politics.  After his last two films (Recount and Game Change), Roach was the perfect guy for the job.

Along with some other online press, I traveled to The Campaign set back in February.  While there, we had a chance to speak with Roach about working with Galifianakis and Ferrell, where Roach’s career path almost took him, and to find out just how much of The Campaign is based in reality.  Wanna know what he had to say for himself?  Meet me after the jump.

Two new posters for director Jay Roach’s (Meet the Parents) political comedy The Campaign have been released.  The film centers on an incumbent candidate (Will Ferrell) who doesn’t expect to be opposed in his run for a fifth-term, but he finds an unexpected challenger in the unassuming and dim-witted Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis).  The trailers have been pretty funny, but what’s most enticing to me about The Campaign is the prospect of seeing Galifianakis’ frequent stand-up character Seth Galifianakis on the big screen.  Anyone who’s seen the comedian’s stand-up or select episodes of Between Two Ferns will instantly recognize that Marty Huggins is essentially just the character of Zach’s “twin” brother Seth with a different name.  Seth Galifianakis’ sweet, Southern attitude towards anything and everything should make for some hilarious moments between Galifianakis and Ferrell.

Hit the jump to check out the two posters, which include eagles and puppies.  The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, and Dan Aykroyd.  The Campiagn opens on August 10th.

Mega-star team-ups are all the rage these days. We’ve got everyone who ever kicked ass in the 1990s joining forces in The Expendables 2, Arnold and Stallone raiding The Tomb shoulder to shoulder and…um…Oh God, what am I forgetting? Anyway, Warner Brothers has its sights set on creating another, reportedly hoping to convince Tom Cruise (Rock of Ages) and Robert Downey Jr. (The Avengers….Right, of course!) to sign on for action- comedy El Presidente, which Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, HBO’s Game Change) is currently in talks to direct.

The flick would see Cruise stepping into the role of a gung-ho Secret Service agent assigned to protect a particularly reviled former President of the United States played by Downey Jr. At the moment, offers have not been made to either actor, but that could be forthcoming. Hit the jump for more.

Earlier this week, we showed you a couple of fake campaign ads for Jay Roach‘s comedy The Campaign starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis.  Today, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer and poster.  The film centers on an incumbent candidate (Ferrell) who doesn’t expect to be opposed in his run for a fifth-term, but he finds an unexpected challenger in the unassuming and dim-witted Marty Huggins (Galifianakis).  I was hoping that the trailer would deliver more laughs than the campaign ads, but no dice.  Yes, there’s some baby-punching at the end, but overall this looks like another weak comic effort from Roach.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, and Dan Aykroyd.  The Campaign opens August 10th.

Warner Bros. has set up two Facebook sites to promote Jay Roach‘s upcoming comedy The Campaign.  Will Ferrell plays politician Cam Brady, who is squaring off his political rival, Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis).  Each candidate now has a Facebook site along with campaign ads that provide the first clips from the movie.  Sadly, these glimpses are pretty disappointing.  In a year where we’ve seen staggering stupidity from Republican presidential candidates, The Campaign seems to traffic more in malapropisms and predictable political sparring.  Hopefully, future glimpses of the film will feature better jokes.

Hit the jump to check out the campaign ads.  The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd. The Campaign opens August 10th.