The Help has started a conversation that’s stretched far beyond the 137-minute confines of the film itself. And in its second week in a row atop the late-summer box office, the critical conversation surrounding the film has continued amidst (and, sometimes, against) the sleeper popularity it endures in a fashion similar to the success of the book it was based on. In interest of full disclosure, I have deliberately chosen by this point not to see The Help (perhaps a combination of my reservations against it combined with its daunting running time). However, in following the many editorials published in response to the film’s release, it oddly enough feels appropriate to comment on the conversation that the film has inspired without having seen it, as it’s a conversation that is hardly limited to the film itself. The Help seems to represent a breaking point, the last piece of white liberal guilt that broke the clear-cut racial fantasies of Hollywood cinema’s back, so to speak. The film is bearing the brunt of a decades-long history of similarly minded feel-good studio fare about race relations. While The Help certainly has its full-throated detractors, one interesting component about the overall critical reaction to the film is that it is politically simplistic while also presenting good or perfectly competent filmmaking, carried by a couple of strong female performances at its center (which, when considering what’s lacking in terms of identity and representation in Hollywood, is itself no small miracle).

Chill out, Mainstream Media. We’ve already trademarked the word, “Barackumentary.”

What if the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates abandoned DC for Hollywood?

We know that the Election Night coverage can be a bit monotonous, but while you’re waiting for the results to trickle down, you might as well watch a couple movies.

You could forget about the math and the swing states, because the outcome of this election was predicted in 1988 by John Carpenter’s film They Live.

Most of us were going to balance the ups and downs of the McCain/Palin team and the Obama/Biden team. Well not so fast kids, what about the dynamic duo making waves on the independent ticket as we speak? Don’t know who I’m talking about? None other than presidential hopeful John McClane and his running mate Hans Gruber.

Using the character creation feature on the smash hit video-game Soul Calibur 4, one YouTuber has created Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, John McCain and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Through much of the year, most celebrities stay out of politics. But when an election rolls around, they suddenly mistake their star popularity for public interest in what they have to say about the issues.

It turns out we’re going to be voting for President or mayor or something soon. Strap in as FSR takes you LIVE to the Democratic National Convention via my crappy apartment on Capitol Hill.

Josh Radde takes offense at Kevin Carr’s cheese references, love of Cylon-leadership and empty rhetoric. Why are we still talking about politics on a film website? Your guess is as good as mine.

It is not often that I delve into politics on this site. However, after seeing my cheddar-sharp logic that follows, I imagine that John McCain and Barack Obama will stampede to Hollywood to pick up the following running mates.

The Veepstakes are heating up. Who better to place on the ballot than fictional characters who could never, ever actually be elected Vice President?

Recovering from a harrowing trip to the San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin and Neil sharpen their claws and sink their teeth into the start of crappy movie season with the first August releases.

This is pretty self explanatory, and I have heard a rumor that George Lucas likens Barack Obama to a jedi. Enjoy the outrageousness.

Sometimes we just can’t avoid a little commentary that veers into the world of politics — especially not in an election year and especially not when studios are releasing movie posters like this.

We’ve got the sickness, that terrible illness that seems to be plaguing so many Americans these days: laziness. That said, here are the news stories that we just didn’t care enough about to write full articles so far this week.

Here at Film School Rejects, we have always tried to steer clear of letting our political opinions come out into the open. So with this video, we are not endorsing anyone — we just think it’s funny.

Take a breath, Hollywood, and wait until the story is over to adapt it for the screen.

Jack Nicholson may be making PSA’s for Hilary, but The Hulk thinks Obama should get his own movie.

Obama’s second favorite movie is, you guessed it, Godfather II.