Sideshow: Jack's terms of endorsement

Until now,

Barack Obama

seems to have been leading

Hillary Rodham Clinton

in voter support as measured by viral videos. But Clinton enthusiast and three-time Oscar winner

Jack Nicholson

is fighting back with a video of his own.

The video, put together with director Rob Reiner, according to E! Online, uses clips from five of Nicholson's most popular films - Batman, Chinatown, A Few Good Men, The Shining, and Five Easy Pieces - to endorse Clinton, calling attention to her plans for health care. Proclaiming that "we need Hillary Clinton as our next president," the video has been viewed more than a million times, according to Reuters.

From A Few Good Men, the video includes this clip: "There is nothing on this earth sexier, believe me, gentlemen, than a woman you have to salute in the morning."

Obama supporters quickly responded with videos of their own on YouTube. One video uses scenes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, inserting Clinton as Nurse Ratched. Another utilizes movie clips that show Nicholson making excuses, staring blankly and ranting to poke fun at the fact that Clinton has lost the last 11 contests.

Obama has received significant viral support, including videos from Amber Lee Ettinger (also known as Obama Girl), and will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

Almost as well known for his "I don't need to worry how I look on network TV" T-shirts as for his harsh words

, American Idol's

Simon Cowell

is showing signs of insecurity.

In August's Glamour magazine, Cowell admits to regularly receiving Botox injections and to wearing platform heels. "To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste," the 48-year-old Idol judge told the magazine. "It works, you do it once a year - who cares?"

And the solution for his Napoleon complex? Cowell owned up to wearing platforms that are "an inch high, maybe," though he drew the line on other artificial assistance. "I'd never dye my hair," he said. "Although I know everyone thinks I do." He also said he'd turned down almost $2 million to be the face of Viagra, calling that an "insult."

Family Guy

fans, rejoice: The once-canceled show is now so successful that Fox has ordered a spinoff involving its character Cleveland Brown, according to Reuters. The news agency says

Family Guy

, Fox's top-rated comedy, has grown into a $1 billion franchise since returning to the network in 2005. The show's creator,

Seth McFarlane

, is teaming with

Rich Appel

(executive producer of McFarlane's

American Dad

) and

Mike Henry

(the writer/producer who voices Cleveland) to write the pilot for the new show, tentatively called

Cleveland

.

On Family Guy, Cleveland's a gentle deli owner who divorced his wife after she committed adultery.

Cotillard controversy

Marion Cotillard, who won the best actress Oscar last month for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, is back in the news over remarks she made a year ago on French TV.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Cotillard suggested that the United States might have fabricated the 9/11 attacks because the twin towers were outdated "money suckers." She also indicated that 1969's Apollo 11 moon landing might have been faked: "Did a man really walk on the moon? . . . I saw plenty of documentaries on it, and I really wondered. And in any case I don't believe all they tell me, that's for sure."

Vincent Tolesano, Cotillard's lawyer, told People that "Marion never intended to contest nor question the attacks of September 11, 2001," before saying that she "regrets the way old remarks have been taken out of context." People said Cotillard was visiting her 99-year-old grandmother in Brittany, and unavailable for comment.

Author

Susan Jacoby

will discuss her admonitory new book,

The Age of American Unreason

, at the Free Library of Philadelphia Central Branch, 19th and Vine Streets, tonight at 7. Jacoby argues that Americans, addicted to infotainment, are becoming ever more ignorant and, worse, disdainful of rational thought. She blames, among other things, the mass media, religious fundamentalism, mediocre public education, and a lazy, gullible public.

No tickets are required. For information, call 215-567-4341.

As if her bouts with rehab hadn't been enough, singer

Amy Winehouse

has been dealing with the contagious skin infection impetigo, according to People, which says she's been prescribed antibiotics.

Drew Barrymore

seized the spotlight from charity-enthusiast

Oprah Winfrey

on her show yesterday by announcing a plan to help feed children in Africa with a $1 million donation to the World Food Programme, People said.

Echoing the industry-shaking moves of Radiohead,

Nine Inch Nails

'

Trent Reznor

has become the latest major artist to forgo a record label and independently distribute music on the Web. A portion of

Ghosts I-IV

is being offered for free; the whole album and other content is available at prices ranging from $5 to $300.