Believe it or not, the US army has actually conducted research into the use of the paranormal as a weapon against the country's enemies. New Age mumbo jumbo led some officers to believe that with the proper training and mindset they could learn to walk through walls and kill goats simply by staring at them.

This ridiculous but altogether true story inspired journalist Jon Ronson to write a book about this strange chapter in American military history, The Men Who Stare at Goats. Now that book has become a movie starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor.

At a press conference today to promote The Men Who Stare at Goats before its gala premiere at Roy Thomson Hall this evening, the same sort of ludicrousness that pervades the film dominated discussion of it.

Topics ranged from which supernatural power each actor would like to have (according to Clooney, who plays former special ops soldier Lyn Cassady, he was already using his; this was followed by a devilish grin, so you have to wonder what he meant), how well the film's actors dance, the ever-controversial question of who is the Sexiest Man Alive, Jeff Bridges (who plays the paranormal unit's founder Bill Django) as scientific test subject, Batman's nipples and Clooney being mistaken for an incompetent doctor while suited up to film a scene from E.R.

Amid the joking the cast and crew did manage to get in a word or two about the film itself.

Director Grant Heslov said that while the film satirizes a division of the US government during wartime, he was never afraid of the film becoming overly political or coming under fire in the current American political context.

"I feel that we were making a film that was investigating some stuff that happened in the military, stuff that I think was fascinating, that I think was cool, up to a point," he said.

"There is a slight perversion of that at the end of the film that I thought was terrifying but also interesting and that was worth exploring. It was part of the truth, so it seemed like it was worth talking about."

And according to Ronson and Peter Straughan, the film's screenwriter, it really is the true in the movie that is the strangest.

Heslov said that more than anything, he views the film as a man's journey to find himself.

Jeff Bridges took a time-out from pretending to be a dolphin (again, something about him being involved in tests at the Monroe Institute, where some of the paranormal unit's real experiments took place) to say that the film can be taken seriously, and that fundamentally it deals with a serious and universal desire.

"I think this one will play across the board," Bridges said.

"We're talking about a seriousness in humour. I think they go hand-in-hand. I think there's nothing more funny than someone who takes themselves seriously. Also, there may be a lot of silliness going on, all these different kinds of paranormal things, there's a silliness to it, but the idea of trying to get past warfare is a beautiful idea. I think everybody in the world can relate to that. We need to figure out a way to stop killing each other, disagreeing with each other, you know, figure it out!"

Even if the solution involves the loss of a few goats.

The Men Who Stare at Goats will screen for the public again on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Ryerson Theatre at 11:30 am.