Mystery Parisians copy Obama poster: Paris has suddenly become plastered with mystery posters of Nicolas Sarkozy modeled after Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama posters. The French versions have progressive policy goals (“Making polluters pay?” “Saving each household 1,000 Euros a year?”) above Obama’s “Yes we can!” slogan and pop-art prints of Sarkozy’s face. And no one knows who’s behind the stunt though the hunt for the “SarkObama” campaigners is on. [AFP]
Twilight star to do Jett biopic: If lusting after vampires wasn’t enough to gain Twilight star Kristen Stewart a teen following, now she’s set to play rocker Joan Jett in Runaways, a biopic of the 1970s band directed by Floria Sigismondi. The film will follow the band members’ rise to fame as teenagers and their subsequent disillusionment. While she’s obviously got the drugs part down fine, wonder how Stewart’s reprise of “I Love Rock N’ Roll” will compare to Britney Spears’ in Crossroads (not that we’ve seen that or anything). [THR]
Polanski wants sex charge dismissed: Remember that time 30 years ago when director Roman Polanski got hit with statutory rape charges and sort of wasn’t allowed to set foot in America again under threat of arrest? His lawyers filed a motion yesterday to dismiss the charges, after evidence in a documentary pointed to judicial misconduct in his case. And even after allegedly giving a 13-year-old Quaaludes and champagne, the victim says she wants the charges dropped and the director (Chinatown, The Pianist) to be allowed back in America. Happy endings for everyone. [AP]
Jay-Z on Notorious soundtrack: A new Jay-Z song leaked yesterday that revealed clues about the upcoming Biggie biopic Notorious. None of the artists on the soundtrack had yet been revealed, but knowing that Biggie’s good friend is on it comes as an unsurprising but pleasant revelation. The track, “Brooklyn (We Go Hard),” is produced by Kanye and also features Santogold. The soundtrack is out January 13th, and the movie hits theaters January 16th. [MTV]
La Scala strike settled: The strike between La Scala opera house in Milan and a performers’ union has finally been resolved, less than a week before the gala opening night of Verdi’s Don Carlo. Nearly half of the opera house’s performers had been striking since July over financial matters, causing the cancellation of two productions. [Bloomberg]