Best Documentary Nominees

Staff / Truthdig Feb 3, 2010 The Motion Picture Academy has assembled an impressive slate of feature-length documentaries this year, from the inside story of the Pentagon Papers to an on-the-ground look at Burma's Saffron Uprising. Here are the trailers for all five extraordinary films. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Behold the All-Seeing Eye of The DaColbert Code

Staff / Truthdig Feb 25, 2009 Who knew that, among his many talents, Stephen Colbert possesses the astonishing power of clairvoyance? Watch in awe as he successfully predicts the lineup of Oscar winners and reveals the true identity of Kate Winslet's father. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Penn May Take On Plame ‘Game’

Staff / Truthdig Feb 24, 2009 Here's a melding of celebrity and politics that might just be a natural: Academy Award™-winning actor and sometime international political analyst Sean Penn is in talks to play former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, husband of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, in director Doug Liman's dramatic retelling of Plame's story, currently known in deal-making circles as "Fair Game." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Thank You God for Giving Us Harvey Milk’

Staff / Truthdig Feb 23, 2009 The 81st Academy Awards ceremony was a politics-free affair, except for a predictably superficial nod at the economic collapse and two acceptance speeches for "Milk," one from screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the other from best actor Sean Penn. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Sean Penn Schools Prop. 8 Supporters in Oscar Speech

Staff / Truthdig Feb 23, 2009 Lest he miss an opportunity to speak his mind, Sunday night's Best Actor Oscar winner took a moment on the podium to encourage those who voted last November for California's Proposition 8, the anti-gay-marriage initiative, to rethink their choice. Turns out the Academy is actually made up of commie, homo-loving sons of guns. Update: Video Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Slumdog Millionaire’: The Tour

Staff / Truthdig Feb 20, 2009 As "Slumdog Millionaire" continues to rack up critical accolades (not to mention awards-season promotional blitzes), the film has also drawn crowds to its setting in the slums of Mumbai, India. But does this kind of attention represent a welcome boon for tourism or a form of exploitation -- "poverty porn" -- for a city still recovering from last November's terrorist attacks? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Yet Another Oscar Snoozer?

Staff / Truthdig Jan 23, 2009 Well, the Academy has spoken, picking this year's Oscar nominees, and they couldn't be safer or more boring except for those categories in which "Milk" figures in somewhere At least that's what the San Francisco Chronicle's completely unimpressed critic Mick LaSalle thinks. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Globes Cool to ‘Milk’

Staff / Truthdig Dec 11, 2008 Despite widespread acclaim and gushing praise from some tough critics, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association largely overlooked Gus Van Sant's "Milk" in choosing this year's Golden Globe nominees, although Sean Penn is among the HFPA's picks for best actor. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Taxi to the Dark Side

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Feb 28, 2008 On the Sunday following Sept. 11, 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney told the truth. On NBC's "Meet the Press," he said regarding plans to pursue the perpetrators of that attack: "We have to work the dark side, if you will. We're going to spend time in the shadows." Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Moore: Castro’s Ready for Closeup at Oscars

Staff / Truthdig Feb 22, 2008 Now that Fidel Castro's got a bit more time on his hands, documentary überdirector Michael Moore has a suggestion for how he might spend his first official weekend out of office -- as long as he's got a penguin suit handy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gore Has His Eye on the Prize

Staff / Truthdig Oct 6, 2007 Forget the Oscar -- the Nobel Peace Prize is where it's at, and environmental advocate and former Vice President Al Gore may soon add one to his trophy case. That's according to the predictions of a number of Nobel experts who did some handicapping for Reuters. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Supreme Court Gives Gore’s Oscar to Bush

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig Mar 4, 2007 The satirist reports that the justices have applied their electoral wisdom to the Academy Awards. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )