1st look at Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March

There's not a whole lot to this image of Ryan Gosling from George Clooney's star-studded political drama, The Ides of March(formerly Farragut North), but that hilarious Obama-style "Hope" poster is clearly going to be a running gag throughout. We've seen it twice already in two photos. Gosling will play the press secretary to Clooney's character, a Democratic presidential candidate. The rest is top notch, including Paul Giamatti as a rival campaign manager; Marisa Tomei as a reporter for the NY Times; and Evan Rachel Wood as an intern. Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, and Philip Seymour Hoffman round things out. Hell, I'd pay to see a flick with those three alone. George Clooney is directing, his first such gig since 2008's forgettable Leatherheads. I think Clooney has proven to be a more effective helmer when the material has a political slant to it, such as with Good Night, and Good Luck. Even to some degree Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Beau Williamson adapted his own stage play for the big screen, with a bit of help from Clooney and Grant Heslov(The Men Who Stare at Goats), based on his own experiences working for Howard "Yaaahhhh!!" Dean's 2004 presidential primary campaign. The only thing that sucks is we have to wait until October 7th to see it. Now if only I could get tickets to the Venice Film Festival I could check it out next month. Anybody wanna slip me a couple grand?