She Wears Prada, But Forget the Devil Part

'Runway to Win' fashion sale skirting campaign finance laws, GOP says

(NEWSER) - President Obama's re-election campaign launched a high-fashion fundraising initiative last night to grousing from Republicans. The "Runway to Win" effort—spearheaded by Vogue editor Anna Wintour—is selling clothing and accessories by prominent designers at prices far below what their work usually sells for, making the GOP suspect campaign finance laws are being broken, reports the Wall Street Journal . More»

Morgan Spurlock helms documentary on advertising

(NEWSER) - Morgan Spurlock, the guy behind Super Size Me, calls his latest documentary—an exploration of our ad-obsessed culture—The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. And critics seem to agree:

• Spurlock “has this habit of making documentaries that come hidden in the Trojan horse of silly and then stab at your conscience,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone . “As ever, he makes you laugh till it hurts.”

Documentary follows four infants in four countries

(NEWSER) - Critics are generally won over by Babies, a documentary that follows four infants' first years in San Francisco, Mongolia, Tokyo, and Namibia. Some samples:

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe : "As an advertisement for the wonders of figuring out how to be alive, the movie is an engaging proposition."
• Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times : "The 'awww' without the 'shock' definitely makes Babies a very huggable movie experience, just not a primer on parenthood."

'This Is It' wears crown as 'Paranormal Activity' heads for $100M

(NEWSER) - This Is It lived up to its name at the weekend box office, raking in $21.3 million domestically and $101 million internationally. The Michael Jackson documentary's strong showing prompted distributor Sony to extend its original 2-week run by 3 weeks, through Thanksgiving weekend, reports Variety . The sleeper sensation Paranormal Activity racked up $16.5 million and is headed for a total haul of $100 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter . More»

October edition triggers debate on racism

(NEWSER) - A Dutch model painted black from face to toe in French Vogue has triggered angry charges of racism. The photos of model Lara Stone, taken by US photographer Steven Klein, are part of the magazine's October issue honoring models and photo shoots through history. What French Vogue and the photographer "should know is that painting white people black for the entertainment of other white people is offensive," notes a comment in Jezebel. More»