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Hollywood is coming out this fall with a slew of political movies that hit all the hot-button topics as the tight US presidential campaign nears its climax.
   From religion to patriotism, gay rights and the presidency of George W Bush, directors are wearing their political colours on their sleeves, using comedy, true stories and fantasy to send not-so-subtle messages to Americans preparing to choose between Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain on November 4.
   ‘There is a sense now that these political films can really be successful, and they’re a genre aimed at one side of the political spectrum or the other,’ said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University.
   Next week, controversial director Oliver Stone lands his satirical biopic ‘W.’ that attempts to deconstruct Bush’s faith and marriage and the days leading up to the 2003 Iraq invasion.
   Tom Ortenberg, executive producer of ‘W.’, said filmmakers were mirroring society, even if the release date of the Stone movie could be seen as politically charged.
   ‘We don’t attempt to shape society, but we do reflect it,’ Ortenberg said. ‘The movie is an examination of how a man like George W. Bush became president, and frankly how anyone can become president.’
   Director David Zucker’s farce ‘An American Carol’ and talk show host Bill Maher’s documentary that mocks faith ‘Religulous’ opened on the same day in movie theatres last week.
   Zucker, who made hit comedy movies ‘Airplane!’ and the ‘Naked Gun’ series, is a liberal-turned-conservative.
   ‘An American Carol’ is a fictional version of left-wing populist Michael Moore who in the movie comes around to loving America just like Scrooge learns to love Christmas.
   ‘I don’t think (Moore) does hate America,’ Zucker said. ‘I think we’re taking dramatic license.’
   Moore himself released his latest documentary ‘Slacker Uprising’ on the Internet for free last month. It was seen by 2 million viewers in the first three days.
   Although the movie chronicles Moore’s speaking tours of college campuses during the 2004 election, its Internet release came with a plea to young people to vote and ‘save this country from four more years of Republican rule.’
   With the debate over gay marriage heating up in California, trailers are running for the movie biopic ‘Milk.’ Sean Penn plays California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978 when the gay rights movement was in its infancy.
   After last year’s disappointing box office for a string of Iraq war themes movies, including ‘Rendition’ and ‘In the Valley of Elah,’ it remains to be seen whether Americans will lap up the political fare with the same enthusiasm they are showing for the tight 2008 race to the White House.

Twentieth Century Fox announced Saturday it had struck a multiple movie agreement with a top Indian producer, part of a Hollywood trend to reach out to Indian cinema.
   Fox STAR Studios, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, said it had clinched the deal with Indian producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, one of the most successful producers in Hindi-language cinema.
   Shah’s talent ‘will provide audiences of Indian cinema with films that will set new benchmarks’ in India and globally, Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said in a statement
   Shah’s hits include ‘Namastey London’ and ‘Singh is Kinng.’
   Twentieth Century Fox and the Star entertainment and media group announced last month the formation of Fox STAR Studios to produce Asian-language films for worldwide distribution.
   The Fox STAR Studios India deal includes the development and production of a visual effects-driven fantasy action movie and a contemporary romantic comedy, the statement said.
   The pact is part of a move by Hollywood studios to team up with Asian producers to tap new local language audiences. Sony Pictures and Walt Disney have concluded similar pacts in India.
   The Indian film industry is expected to nearly double in size over the next five years from 2.4 billion dollars in 2007 to 4.4 billion dollars by 2012 so ‘there is tremendous opportunity to grow,’ said Vijay Singh, chief executive of Fox STAR Studios India.
   Fox STAR Studios said it would first work in India and would soon expand into China and southeast Asia.
   In India, the tie-up is part of a growing trend for corporatisation of the Indian film industry and a reflection of Bollywood’s increasing appeal outside its traditional market to a wider audience, particularly the Indian diaspora.