The Weinstein Co. has a few issues at the moment. Including—but not limited to!—the hasty departure of top executives; an ongoing struggle with Bravo over Project Runway, the company's strongest TV property; and a consistently weak outlook for Harvey Weinstein's myriad businesses. The one thing Weinstein's investors really have to look forward to is the possible success of the company's upcoming Kevin Smith/ Seth Rogen flick, Zack And Miri Make A Porno. But has the Weinstein Co. managed to screw up the film's prospects before it's even released? Last month the MPAA banned the movie's poster for being too raunchy. That was a huge red flag. The company responded by thumbing its nose with a cute little riff on the controversy, and continued on its merry way, marketing-wise. But ads for the film were still getting banned across the country. Now it seems to be sinking in that the very title of the movie could prevent it from being properly marketed and advertised, dooming it to box office failure:

Click to view · Can't wait 'til 8 to find out what happens in The Barack Obama Show? Well then you might be interested to learn the surprise twist that he [SPOILER ALERT!] is actually God and is fucking Sarah Silverman! · Self-professed stalker and balls-addict The Blazing Shark details her ongoing e-mail exchanges with a cute TV "child actor in a film almost all of us have seen" she desperately wanted to de-pant (and did, in a car). [via LAist] · Over a year later, Mel Brooks comes crawling back to Cloris on his hands and knees. Delicious vindication! · The Beatles have licensed their music to Rock Band, thereby rendering the video game our neighbors have driven us insane with over the past eight months bigger than Jesus by association. · Hey—Obamicorns!

For a movie that the religious right hasn't even gotten around to touching yet, Milk certainly has caused its fair share of controversy this week. First, a questionable THR column on the movie's marketing earned the ire of Focus Features, and now that the film had its first public screenings last night, the reactions range from rapturous to...fight-inducing? Let's take a look!The initial salvo came from David Poland, who said, "For the first time in my memory, we have a major Oscar movie that actually is a gay agenda movie. But on the making, it is so much more. It is a brilliant, powerfully humane piece of work that reaches well beyond the issue of gay rights or any idea that this is a gay-only film." Jeffrey Wells chimed in with an "8.5" score and this statement, "I felt a genuine gayness from Sean Penn, who plays the title role of the late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, that I didn't think he had in him." Yes, acting — isn't it marvelous? Then, the wheels came off the Typepad bus, as dissenter Kris Tapley of In Contention spent less time going over the film's flaws and more time picking fights with every other Oscar blog, but most especially Milk partisan Scott Feinberg. Tapley posted a delightfully catty, personal attack on Feinberg ("We as bloggers have to be careful to understand the context of our work...That is a lesson I truly hope Feinberg learns sooner rather than later, for his sake and, certainly, for the sake of the LA Times, who rather hastily threw him an editorial voice after behind-the-scenes plans for the upstart fell through") that prompted a lengthy rebuttal from Feinberg and a "fight, fight" taunt across the blogosphere. Truly, it is a continuation of Harvey Milk's legacy that he could inspire so many self-publishing Oscar pundits to set aside their petty grievances with a film and turn those attacks on each other. You gotta give 'em hope, kids — and you have! Kudos! [Photo Credit: Getty Images]

Within minutes of this post's publication on the East Coast, the Barack Obama infomercial American Stories American Solutions — formerly known as Hole in the Wall: Election Edition — will premiere on NBC, CBS, and FOX. The procrastinators at the Obama campaign waited until this afternoon to unveil the official spot promoting the 30-minute ad, supplying what we think is the first-ever commercial for a commercial in electoral history. As with most mediocre trailers, we imagine that once you've seen this, you don't need to see the rest (hint: talking candidate, stirring music), but you be the judge after the jump: Is it Obama or Pushing Daisies in your 8 o' clock hour?Click to view

· Wednesday night music: Spinnerette play Spaceland, The Notwist are at the Henry Fonda, and The Muslims play a free show at Amoeba. · An all-star cast including Dave Foley, Tom "Spongebob" Kenny, Jill Sobule, and Paul F. Tompkins perform a live rendition of Eban Schletter’s Witching Hour, the classic Halloween record. It's at the Steve Allen Theater. · The L.A. premiere of Meredith Monk and Ann Hamilton: Songs of Ascension features Ann Hamilton's multimedia art, the Todd Reynolds String Quartet, and a 20-person choir from the CalArts voice program. And of course, Monk's owl-scaring vocal gymnastics. At REDCAT. It all promises to be gloriously weird and beautiful.

Click to viewBoomp3.com On the London set of Sherlock Holmes, free spirit Robert Downey Jr. did his best to cheer his director Guy Ritchie up. Partnering up with the effects and stunt departments, Downey crafted a rig that allowed him to fly around the set. A rather glum Ritchie perked up at the sight of Downey soaring majestically, as Downey shouted down, “Relax, Guy. I’m going to fly in this movie, too. People love it when I’m flyin’.” [Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

The dream is dead for Cloris Leachman, but the capital-H Hope for a brighter day in America through brightly-colored, quirky, hour-long Lee Pace vehicles remains. WATCH Pushing Daisies [8 PM, ABC] - Newly-injected gay icon Stephen Root guest stars this week as a Pie Hole patron who has questions about Ned's father. Meanwhile, Emerson (Chi McBride) gets to the bottom of a murder at a Chinese restaurant. Big ups to ABC for not airing the Barack Obama infomercial so that we can get our fantasy-dramedy-baked goods fix.

Halloween Week continues now at Defamer, where our latest dynamite holiday suggestion is not for the faint of heart. Not necessarily for its ghoulish qualities, but rather for the adrenaline that accompanies living in this dreamboat's body — starring in blockbuster after blockbuster, opposite one scorching leading lady after another, and, of course, raising hell in drugstores and traffic intersections all over America. Follow the jump to see how a carefully coordinated ensemble can make you, too, Hollywood's brightest young star.

When we speculated about a future in TV for Olympian Michael Phelps, we thought it might involve, at most, a Screech-toplined movie of the week (along with the obligatory SNL stint). Imagine our surprise, then, when Page Six told us today that Phelps has embarked upon a second career in Los Angeles: renting himself out to satisfy Hollywood wives!

As hard as it is to believe, the Phil Spector "I Told My Driver 'I Think I Killed Somebody' and Somehow Avoided Conviction" Retrial of the Century is underway, with prosecutor Alan Jackson describing the music genius as "very sinister, very violent and very deadly" in his opening statements. You'll recall that an experimental and wig-friendly Spector traded in his signature Dollytor look for something more closely resembling a lesbian talk show host at the opening of his last trial. But this time around he's arguably adopted his most stylish persona to date: that of Shootin' Filip Sprängporten, the long-rumored sixth member of Swedish supergroup The Hives. Veni Vidi Vicious, indeed! [Photo credit: Original Spector Photo AP Photo/Nick Ut]

Click to viewBoomp3.com West Hollywood conspiracy theorists have been working around the clock to find an answer to the age old question, "Was Natalie Portman picking out a wedgie or merely scratching her back?" Some believe that the positioning of Portman’s hand made it a quick back scratch. However, another theorist felt it was a wedgie, saying, “I was there and I got a wedgie, too. So I do believe a ghost haunts that particular shopping plaza. A ghost who torments and taunts those who need dry cleaning with vicious wedgies.” [Photo Credit: X17] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

E!gads: Two months ago, we learned that Denise Richards: It's Complicated had been karmically snuffed in its crib, only to have Richards herself announce a month later that it hadn't (hey, no takebacks!). Still, we were skeptical, as no official announcement had yet come from E!, and that Richards? Kinda shady! Now, though, we have bad news: The network confirmed today that It's Complicated will indeed be returning. No word, yet, on whether the hair extension budget will be upped for the second season. [Us]

The "pimps" at Marvel Studios may have finally closed the deal that pulled the last inch of Iron Man's blockbuster rug from beneath Terrence Howard, but a radical group of franchise purists are fighting his ouster with the new petition "Terrence Howard as War Machine in Iron Man 2." It seems a legal impossibility at this point, with Don Cheadle locked in as Col. Jim Rhodes, but! As the scrappy revolutionaries in Audrina Patridge's neighborhood showed us on Tuesday, there is no affront that can't be corrected with a surge of Democratic fervor — and maybe some fanboy earnestness to spare:

Now that Amy Poehler has had her baby and is gone from Saturday Night Live for good, the show is down to two lone ladies. There's Kristen Wiig, the brilliant if overworked performer behind the Target Lady and the wonderful Suze Orman impression, and then... well, then there's Casey Wilson. Poor Ms. Wilson has been given little to do since debuting on the show last season. Is she not making friends with the writers? Is she just not that funny? I mean, there have been some bright spots. Her brief Rachael Ray impression (video below, warning: bad quality) was amusing. So was that kind of bizarre paraplegic stripper skit she had early last season. But other than that... Well, it's mostly been the straight woman to Wiig's or the boys' wacky! characters. Maybe now that Poehler is gone, she'll get a chance to shine, thus getting more comfortable. Right now she just seems a bit stilted, a bit awkward. She's trying too hard. She needs to rein it in from the stage to fit the television. Also, she cowrote the upcoming Kate Hudson movie Bride Wars, which we're sorta counting as a knock against her (except, you know, good job selling a script, Casey. Hope you bought something nice.) But! She has a nice face and gave the wicked Sarah Palin a big ol' hug at the curtain call a coupla weeks back, so maybe she's a nice person, too. Now let her be funny! I mean, she got on the show, right? That must mean something! Though, Finesse Mitchell and Jim Breuer got on the show at various points, too. And we all know how well that worked out. It looks like it's now or never, Casey. Go buy the writers a round of drinks. Does anyone know her from her UCB days? Was she funny then?

We thought every marriage had a graphically worded pact to spell out its sexual and emotional tenets, but apparently our families are in the minority with Madonna and Guy Ritchie. The authorities at The Sun today make quite a bit of the busted-up duo's "marriage contract," a list reportedly pinned around their residences lest Guy ever forget his responsibilities in the relationship — and putting down the toilet seat was the least of them.Beyond joining Madonna for regular Kabbalah studies, working "to enrich his wife's emotional [...] well-being," and agreeing to resolve conflicts with the easy-to-remember surrender edict, "I understand that my actions have upset you, please work with me to resolve this," Ritchie is said to have faced even more formidable terms in the bedroom:

We've learned of legal troubles befalling the House of Pullman—that's Bill Pullman, to be exact, former U.S. President during our darkest alien-invading hour—involving his son Jack, who was arrested Monday in North Carolina for "allegedly possessing moonshine and assaulting a government official." Witnesses say the three Xs on the jug Pullman was buzzing into while his friend plucked a washtub bass offered the first indications that illicit, home-distilling activities were afoot.The chilling mugshot above reveals the wild hair-frizzing and pout-paralysis that are the most common physical side effects from abusing rotgut. For heaven's sake, just say no to white lightning: It's destroying the fabric of America. [Photo credit: Asheville Police / Splash News Online]

London Calling: When Russell Brand talked to us about the premium the British place on good manners, he clearly wasn't kidding. Brand has now been forced to quit his BBC radio show for a nigh-impenetrable scandal involving the waiter from Fawlty Towers and some ribald voicemails. The version you've put together in your head is likely easier to follow than what transpired in real life, but at least the BBC provides an impressively detailed timeline of the matter. We're still waiting for a rebuttal from Jordin Sparks to help us make sense of it all. [BBC]

· The End of Ideas: It's Time to Redo Hellraiser Edition. French horror director Pascal Laugier is in final negotiations to direct a "re-imagining of Hellraiser" for Dimension. Laugier reassured Cliver Barker fans that he "would never betray what [Barker] has done," and to look forward to a mostly faithful adaptation starring a new icon of horror, Velcroface. [THR] · Barry Diller will vote YES on Obama, and NO on Prop 16, an initiative titled Eliminates Right of Media Moguls to Carry On Marriages of Convenience with Noted Fashion Designers. [THR] · Robert Downey Jr. has agreed to star as Tony Stark in the next two Iron Mans and The Avengers, the last of which is scheduled for release on July 15, 2011, aka International Fanboy Pants-Crapping Day. [Variety] After the jump: Vince Vaughn is ready to tackle his most dramatic role since Norman Bates.· Sony reported a 72% profit drop, a loss attributed to the weakening U.S. dollar and [Variety] · Vince Vaughn will star in Sunny and 68, from Pride and Glory writer/director Gavin O'Connor, a "drama with comedic undertones" about a guy who goes to his childhood home a bottomed-out poker champion, but emerges a man. [Variety]

The internecine drama between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar receives the lion's share of our attention at Defamer, but as we watched today's show we thought to ourselves, what of the silent war that Hasselbeck's stylists are clearly waging on her? We're generous enough to admit that the conservative co-host usually looks on-point (in a chilly, blond, Fox News kind of a way), but on today's show, her hair was fashioned into a prim "Texas polygamist bride" coiffure that was only outdone by the latest in what has become a Hasselbeck trademark: the pirate shirt.

Click to viewBoomp3.com After enjoying a delicious meal at popular restaurant Bossa Nova, actress Kirsten Dunst was dealt a parking ticket by the cruel hand of fate. Dunst intitally shrugged it off fine, but upon further inspection became slightly miffed. There was a small note attached to the ticket that read: “Thanks a pantsful for putting Cameron Crowe in movie jail. I hope you can sleep at night." [Photo Credit: X17] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.