Hollywood isn't pleased with Obama. But elites will still jostle to get a picture with the President and open their checkbooks to fill his re-election coffers. That effort gets in full-swing this Thursday, when the Obama arrives to clog-freeways in Southern California to attend a fundraising gala held at the Sony Pictures backlot.

As Variety reports, Hollywood intends to stay reliably loyal to the president. Even if their endorsement ends up to be a shrugging "what's the alternative?" as one Santa Monica activist said to the trade publication. "My sense is that under the conditions he inherited, he has done as well as you could expect," producer Mike Medavoy figured.

The resigned comments echo high-profile celebrity grumbling by Matt Damon, Barbra Streisand, Jane Lynch and Gene Simmons--once staunch Hollywood supporters who no longer appear as eager to shill for the President. Damon, who had been stumping in Florida with Obama in '08, was quoted saying he "no longer hope[s] for audacity" and conceded that he definitely "wanted more" from the President.

But the grumbling doesn't appear to have affected Obama's boffo fundraising prowess. Tickets for the event come in three versions we've deemed extras, guest roles, or series regulars. Meaning, it's $100 for a ticket to presumably be present somewhere in the studio's backlot, $2,500 for VIP seating tickets and $35,800 for exclusive dinner where donors actually get a little face time with the president.

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Erik Hayden