Happy Birthday, Hitch.

Jodie Foster, who played Dr. Ellie Arroway in Zemeckis’ questionable adaptation of Carl Sagan’s Contact, has saved SETI’s Allen Telescope Array from the budget chopping block.  Foster donated an undisclosed amount to the program.  Along with Foster’s donation, SETI raised over $200,000 from an online fundraising campaign.

The array ceased operation in April when the program lost funding from it’s biggest supporter, operating partner UC Berkeley.

[via Cosmic Log]

I mistakenly thought that “The Undefeated” would be the first and only documentary that would focus on Sarah Palin.

I was wrong.

But fear not fellow Palin haters!  It’s not another Sarah Palin-endorsed masturbation fest that “The Undefeated” turned out to be.  Instead, director Nick Broomfield’s ”Sarah Palin-You Betcha!”  will be an in-depth look of the past, present, and future of the polarizing former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor.

Broomfield interviewed friends, family members and former colleagues of Ms. Palin in an attempt to find the “real Sarah Palin.”

Broomfield’s documentary will be in good company at TIFF.  Films from Werner Herzog, Morgan Spurlock, and Jessica Yu have also been chosen.

On a side note, I’m sure “Sarah Palin-You Betcha!” will fare a lot better in both reviews and in the Box Office.  ”The Undefeated” bombed miserably, receiving a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[via: IndieWire. NY Mag, The Guardian]

Ever wonder what it’s like to be rich and famous?

No?

Yeah, well, now you can find out anyway, thanks to Hulu’s freshmen entry into the spectacular world of online original programming.

The streaming service (which competes directly with Netflix) has joined up with documentary filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock to produce a series titled “A Day in the Life.”

The 22-minute documentary series will follow around someone rich and famous for an entire day.  Presumably, Spurlock’s goal is to show how truly difficult it is to have an incredibly large bank account and be well known by many.

The subject of the first episode will be Virgin’s own Richard Branson and will stream for free on Hulu.com.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]