Mr. Controversy, O. Stone, heads 'South'

Oliver Stone on the set of "Alexander" (Courtesy:  Warner Bros.)

Brace yourselves.  It looks like filmmaker Oliver Stone is about to release a -- gasp! -- controversial film.

Make that another controversial film.  Stone, a double best director Academy Award winner for war-related dramas "Platoon" in 1986 and "Born on the Fourth of July" in 1989, has been stirring the political pot lately.

"W.," a sometimes goofy political-drama, took on the life and presidency of former president George W. Bush last year.

Stone's latest effort, a documentary titled "South of the Border," zooms in on Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Showing off his latest at the Venice Film Festival this week, Stone is stoking the "Buy my documentary" fire a bit by hinting around that "South of the Border" might struggle to find a distributor back in the States.

According to a Reuters article posted on the Yahoo! Web site:

"South of the Border" "portrays Chavez as a champion of the poor, and includes interviews with the leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador and Cuba.

"(Stone) focuses on how a generation of leftist leaders is seeking increasing independence from the International Monetary Fund and, by extension, U.S. economic policy, which Stone criticizes in the movie.

"South of the Border also seeks to demonstrate how Chavez has been unfairly demonized by the U.S. media which has cast him as a dangerous maverick who is a threat to security," the Yahoo! Web post states.

Yeah, but let's get to the nitty-gritty.  Does "South of the Border" feature an absurd sequence (say Chavez wandering around dreamily in a bullfight ring) like Mr. Bush shagging fly balls in the Texas Rangers outfield?

Stay tuned.  More to come on this one, I'm sure.