Eric Ulrich (Photo: Facebook)

This morning, Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich took to his Facebook page to post a scathing review of Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in The House of God, an HBO documentary on the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church. Mr. Ulrich had several issues with the film, which he characterized as "an exploitive and biased account of a dark chapter in the history of the Catholic Church."

"As a proud Roman Catholic, I am truly offended by the blatant bigotry contained in HBO's so-called documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in The House of God," Mr. Ulrich wrote. "It accuses His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of being complicit in covering up sex abuses cases involving Catholic priests and unfairly criticizes the late Pope John Paul II. Above all, its chock full of anti-catholic rhetoric and demonizes members of the clergy (most of whom are dedicated, compassionate and pious men)."

Mr. Ulrich went on to criticize the movie for not noting the things the Church has done to combat sexual abuse in the wake of the scandals.

"The film does not include any of the steps the church has taken to protect children nor does it accurately depict how the church has tried to heal the emotional and psychological suffering of sex abuse victims. Instead, it glorifies trial lawyers as moral crusaders," wrote Mr. Ulrich. "If you’re looking for an exploitive and biased account of a dark chapter in the history of the Catholic Church, this film is for you."

Mea Maxima Culpa premiered on HBO February 4 and is airing on the cable channel throughout the month. It was directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney and focuses on a number of sex abuse cases, the ensuing lawsuits and criticizes how the Pope and other Church officials responded to the situation. Politicker reached out to HBO to discuss Mr. Ulrich's gripes with the film, but as of this writing, we have yet to receive a response.

Lena Dunham (Photo: Twitter)

Lena Dunham, the star and creator of HBO's zeitgeisty comedy Girls, took to Twitter this afternoon to fight back against reports she did not vote in the presidential election last year despite filming a controversial ad urging others to cast a ballot for President Barack Obama. According to officials at the Board of Elections in Brooklyn, Ms. Dunham's claim she voted by affidavit ballot may have merit.

Last night, the Room Eight blog reported "a Lena Dunham ... registered in Brooklyn did not vote in the 2012 general election or in any local elections since she moved from her prior address in Tribeca." Gawker also noted it seemed like Ms. Dunham may have been on vacation in India during the election. In a series of tweets this afternoon, Ms. Dunham shot down the reports and said she flew back to New York to vote and submitted an affidavit ballot at her old polling place in Manhattan.

"Hey kids, some people on the internet are saying I didn't vote. Some of them are still mad I used a sexy metaphor re: voting. Read on: I did vote. I tried to get an absentee ballot but, because our nation's voting system is a steampunk cornmaze, it didn't arrive," Ms. Dunham wrote. "So not to be a martyr about it but I flew to New York to vote. I wasn't sure if my change of address had officially been registered so... ...I went to my old polling place with my dad, where they let me vote by affidavit (what was totally allowed.)"

Two Board of Elections officials told Politicker that, because of the executive order issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York City voters were permitted to use affidavit ballots at any location in the state. Though Ms. Dunham's voter history file does not show her as having participated in the election, the BOE said they are "still working on the voter history for last year's elections" and do not have complete information for everyone who submitted affidavit ballots in the presidential election. Records show Ms. Dunham, an unaffiliated voter, cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election and successfully changed her registration's address to Brooklyn at a later date.

For her part, Ms. Dunham finished her attempt to shoot down the reports about her vote with a characteristically sarcastic reference to her public support of President Obama.

"Obviously I voted for Romney. I hope everyone has a nice day," she wrote.

Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in "Game Change." (Photo: HBO Films)

Earlier today Sarah Palin's political action committee released a video and statement slamming HBO's 2008 election drama "Game Change" as being "fiction" filled with "the half-baked truths and fabrications of the liberal left." Danny Strong, the movie's writer and co-executive producer, responded by telling The Politicker he wishes Ms. Palin watched the film before criticizing it. HBO offered to screen "Game Change" for Ms. Palin, but she declined. Ms. Palin's video included clips that she said show the "real" story of her campaign and Mr. Strong said some of the exact same footage appears in his film.

"Everything in that video is in the movie. If they would have seen the film before they attacked it, they would know that we have dramatized everything that they put in their video that Sarah Palin supporters are proud of," Mr. Strong said. "She really is a dynamic person that did a lot of amazing things for that campaign."

“Game Change” is based on a book of the same name by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The book presented a behind-the-scenes look at the election. HBO’s film version focuses heavily on the McCain/Palin campaign. The movie was adapted by Mr. Strong and Jay Roach, who previously teamed up for HBO’s 2000 election drama “Recount.”

Though Ms. Palin and her political action committee are not pleased with "Game Change" others involved with the McCain/Palin campaign who saw the movie have given it high praise. Last month, Steve Schmidt, the campaign's top strategist, and a former chief aide to Ms. Palin, Nicole Wallace, defended the accuracy of the film in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

"It tells the truth of the campaign. That is the story of what happened," Mr. Schmidt said.

Ms. Palin's statement announcing her video pointed out the fact Mr. Strong and Mr. Roach have both made political donations to President Obama and other Democrats. HBO released a statement defending the movie as a "balanced portrayal of the McCain/Palin campaign" and encouraging the public to "withhold any judgment until they have viewed the film."

"Game Change, the book, was applauded by audiences and pundits on both ends of the political spectrum when it was released in 2010.  The events depicted in Game Change have been thoroughly sourced by not only Heilemann and Halperin’s bestselling book, but also through our own research including extensive first person interviews with those involved with the campaign," the statement said. "HBO has a long track record of producing fact-based dramas, and our mantra has always been, 'get the story right.' We stand by our movie and we hope that people will withhold any judgment until they have viewed the film."

"Game Change" premieres on HBO March 10.

A still from Sarah Palin's video responding to HBO's "Game Change." (Photo: YouTube)

Sarah Palin released a video through her political action committee today slamming HBO's upcoming 2008 election movie, "Game Change." Ms. Palin sent her clip to supporters along with a letter demanding HBO "add a disclaimer that this movie is fiction."

"The screen writer of Game Change, Danny Strong, lapsed into a tired routine of manipulating facts and omitting key parts of Governor Palin’s story in order to push a biased agenda and drive ratings," Ms. Palin wrote.

Ms. Palin's video begins with a sequence showing the HBO Films logo morphing to say "HBO Fiction" and the title of the movie replaced with "Fact Change." After the intro, there is a montage of flattering clips praising Ms. Palin's performance in the 2008 campaign.

"Game Change" is based on a book of the same name by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The book presented a gossipy, behind-the-scenes look at the election with critical tidbits about all of the candidates. HBO's film version focuses heavily on the McCain/Palin campaign. The movie was adapted by Mr. Strong and Jay Roach, who previously teamed up for HBO's 2000 election drama "Recount." Both men, as well as Julianne Moore who plays Ms. Palin in the film, have donated money to President Obama and other Democrats.

Watch Ms. Palin's video below.

Julianne Moore in costume as Sarah Palin. (Photo: HBO Films)

HBO has released a trailer for their upcoming cable movie "Game Change," based on John Heileman and Mark Halperin's 2008 campaign tome of the same name. "Game Change" features Ed Harris as John McCain, Woody Harrelson as Senator McCain's advisor Steve Schmidt and Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin. The clip is quite brief, but it's clear Ms. Moore does a mean Palin impression.

She may have nailed Ms. Palin's mannerisms and Midwestern twang, but Ms. Moore doesn't share the former Alaska governor's politics. Ms. Moore has donated money to the Democrats as did both of "Game Change's" co-executive producers; Jay Roach and Danny Strong. Mr. Roach and Mr. Strong previously teamed up for HBO's dramatization of the 2000 election, "Recount."

"Game Change" premieres in March. Watch the trailer below.