Regular readers of With Leather know that I’m obsessed with world records and obscure contests, especially if they involve animals. So when it came time to talk about the 2011 World’s Ugliest Dog Competition, it was as if I had caught my white whale. The winner of that event, in case you don’t recall, is Yoda, the 14-year old Chinese crested/Chihuahua pictured above, and now my excitement for Yoda and all the rest of his Ugliest Dog competitors is through the roof again with the trailer for Worst in Show.

Shot on a budget of just $5,000, Worst in Show is a behind-the-scenes look at the annual competition in Petaluma, California. Featured in the film is Rascal, a 14-year old pooch that was voted into the World’s Ugliest Dog’s Ring of Champions this year. But even more amazing is that Rascal has a very impressive acting career, including a role in Tele-Zombie as “Zombie Dog.” There really needs to be an Academy Award for animals.

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We talk a lot about Banksy these days, even though we don’t really know much about him. But he is the mastermind behind Vince’s favorite film of 2010, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. Vince recently wondered who would show up to accept the Oscar if Banksy won and we now have an answer – Banksy.

While the artist didn’t reveal his identity at any point during the film, he implies that he might show up in person to accept the Oscar if Exit wins. You know, for a guy who spends his life in secrecy, Banksy sure does talk a lot.

The graffiti artist, who has never revealed his real identity in public, released a cryptic statement, saying: “This is a big surprise.”

He added: “I don’t agree with the concept of award ceremonies, but I’m prepared to make an exception for the ones I’m nominated for. The last time there was a naked man covered in gold paint in my house, it was me.” (Via NME)

Exit is up against Gasland, Restrepo, Inside Job and Waste Land in the Documentary Feature category, and since I’ve only seen Exit I’m going to predict that it wins. I mean, you have two films with land in the title, so that’s redundant and we can count them out. Inside Job sounds controversial and Restrepo? I don’t even know what that means. Exit gets the gold statue, Banksy accepts and reveals that he is actually Danny Masterson. Damn you, Masterson.

Adrien Grenier of Entourage is currently filming a documentary called Teenage Paparazzi, for which he has enlisted Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria, Rosie O’Donnell and others.

Grenier’s film, which surfaced on gossip sites when the actor was seen around Los Angeles with interview subject Paris Hilton, explores his relationship with a 14-year-old paparazzo who took his photo. The docu will feature Grenier interviewing actors and commentators — including Martin Landau, Noam Chomsky and "Daily Show" comedian Lewis Black — about the culture of fame.

[Producer Matthew] Cooke, who is functioning as a "sounding board" for the director, said "Paparazzi" will interweave the relationship portrait with philosophical interviews in the style of Richard Linklater’s "Waking Life [clip after the jump so you understand what we're dealing with]." It is being shopped to distributors and might be unveiled as a feature or miniseries. [THR]

Ooh, I can’t wait.  I’ve always wanted to see a movie that recreates the experience of catching your junior-high-droput pot dealer in a moment of introspection.  Fascinating thought, Entourage guy! Tell me about quantum mechanics!"

Meanwhile, back in Utah, the Weinsteins just bought the distribution rights to Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.

For movie lovers around the world, one of the saddest chapters in film history was the exile of Roman Polanski from the U.S. more than 30 years ago. Convicted of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, Polanski fled the U.S. rather than risk serving extended jail time. Over the years, the case has become encrusted with media-created mythology. Now Marina Zenovich’s thoroughly researched and beautifully crafted documentary revisits the case in "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" and introduces new evidence that suggests a gross miscarriage of justice. It’s a compelling tale that should be a natural for film-savvy cable outlets. [Hollywood Reporter] 

Yes, a gross miscarriage of justice and a revolting, partial birth abortion of the legal system.  It’s about time someone told this story.  I’m not saying what he did was okay, all I’m saying is that if your pregnant wife gets murdered by the Manson family and you decide you wanna get a hot 14-year-old liquored up and full of Quaaludes so you can rape her, maybe you should get a pass?  It’s in the Bible. 

Ugh, I thought I was being cute with my headline until I found this picture. Anyway, the story is, Ricki Lake executive produced The Business of Being Born, a film in which she also appears.

Initiated by executive producer Ricki Lake and directed by Abby Epstein, this investigation of contemporary childbirth "management" is in many ways "The Inconvenient Truth" of obstetrics, not to mention a convincing endorsement of midwifery. A close-up and personal film, in which several of its subjects — including Lake — allow the camera to capture their chosen methods of delivery in indisputably intimate detail, "The Business of Being Born," screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival ahead of a limited theatrical run (it will be offered by Netflix in February), is a must-see for any woman who’s pregnant or planning to have kids.  At first glance, the notion of deliberately giving birth outside of a hospital (as Lake did in 2001, in her bathtub with her second child) might seem to be a risky proposition. [Yahoo/Hollywood Reporter] 

Jesus Christ, here’s some advice: if you want to make a widely-seen, socially conscious, message-movie, don’t put RICKI LAKE GIVING BIRTH IN A BATHTUB IN IT. 

I can’t think of anything more terrifying, not even Barbra Streisand singing a sad song at a funeral for my penis, or Nic Cage’s forehead chasing me through an Indian burial ground.  I picture her all pasty and bloated with her chubby vag stretched out like an inflated balloon while the studio audience shouts, "You go, gurl!", "Oh no you di-en’t!", and "Dass yo baby!"  Next time just adopt an African like everyone else.