This is the thanks she gets for keeping the Russkies at bay for almost three years?

There are many adjectives that come to mind when discussing Sarah Palin, but I think even her most strident critics would agree that “evil” is a bit of a reach, especially for a New Zealander. What did Sarah Palin ever do to them? Maybe their captions are written by literate caribou.

Here’s the caption as it originally appeared:

The offending caption was first reported by the New Zealand Conservative blog at 7pm Friday night, and by 7:23pm, they were reporting that it had been taken down, proving that Palin’s fans are so dedicated, they can even reach into the future to quash attacks on their beloved.

While Yahoo! New Zealand may have removed the offending caption, there remains the fact that their slideshow doesn’t contain any Democratic former governors. Why not former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Oscar winner Jodie Foster? Equal time!

(h/t Twitter tipster Suthernboy100)

The rumblings of trouble on the set started with an interview that star Zach Galifianakis gave on the always entertaining Comedy Death Ray Radio podcast. While not mentioning the movie by name (although Death Ray host Scott Aukerman said everything but, calling it “The Haaaaaa…”), Galifianakis alluded to a situation he was very unhappy with on a movie he was currently filming.

“But a movie you’re acting in, you don’t have a lot of control — you just show up and vomit your lines out. I’m not the boss. I’m in a deep protest right now with a movie I’m working on, up in arms about something. But I can’t get the guys to [listen] … I’m not making any leeway.”

Many blogs guessed that the “protest” had was over Gibson’s involvement, and it looks like they’re right. Today, Warner Brothers announced that Gibson is off the film and sent out this quote from director Todd Phillips:

“I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew.”

Yikes. You know the producers of The Beaver, the at-one-point hotly anticipated Gibson film directed by Jodie Foster and now sitting in the can, aren’t thrilled with how this is looking.

Really though, this whole thing just sets up the question; who has a more troubled past, Gibson or Hangover 1 star Mike Tyson?

(h/t Splitsider)

UPDATE: It looks like Liam Neeson’s taken over the role.

This is good news for Jodie Foster, who directed Gibson’s next film, the dark comedy The Beaver. Ironically, in that film, Gibson plays a crazy person. However, we can only assume that Gibson’s character is the more movie-friendly “quirkily endearing” type of crazy and not the “threaten to burn a house down when you don’t receive oral sex” type of crazy. And still, as Vanity Fair points out, the pollsters only asked people if the scandal would affect their choice. If that choice was already set on skipping Gibson’s films, well, then… At the very least, we’ll have to wait till The Beaver’s release to see if these poll numbers correspond to box office numbers.

In totally unrelated news, Takers, the movie starring Chris Brown of the singing and beating-Rihanna’s-face-into-a-bloody-mess fame was number one at the box office this past weekend.

Also, our Thanksgiving day marathon of top movie and TV Thanksgiving moments, which you can alternately choose to watch whilst stuck in a plane, train, or automobile or, when you need a break from being asked to explain to family members what exactly it is you write about on the Internet all day long. Fortunately! Some of these movies are available in their entirety on YouTube…meaning someone had their family Thanksgiving cap on. Anyway, enjoy it now, enjoy it later and if you have suggestions feel free to leave in the comments and we will do our best to add. In the meantime, have a safe Getaway Day and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles

Home For the Holidays

As God Is My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly

Miracle On 34th St.

Hannah And Her Sisters

The Ice Storm

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving At The West Wing

Pieces Of April

Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving (NSFW)