Editorials > FilmWad Breaks it Down: Monday September 24

Lots of casting news this weekend. Jason Bateman has joined the cast of political thriller State of Play alongside Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. Bateman will play one of the journalists assigned to uncover the truth about the death of a congressman's (Norton) mistress. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac will play aging back up singers in the comedy Soul Men. Giovanni Ribisi will play a passive-aggressive man named Selfridge in James Cameron's Avatar. Ray Liotta will play a criminal (surprise) in La Linea. And Denzel Washington will assume a role first played by Walter Matthau (who would have thought those two would ever have anything in common?) in Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.

There were also some historical films that earned some good actors. Specifically Sally Field will play the rightfully crazy Mary Todd Lincoln in Spielberg's Lincoln biopic, while Sir Ben Kingsley will play Shakespeare in Will.

Marcel Marceau and Alice Ghostley both passed away at the ripe old ages of 84 and 81 respectively. Though Marceau is significantly more famous and is likely to be remembered for many years to come, you might recognize Ghostley from her roles in The Graduate, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Grease. 

In a bit of brighter news, Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier, the 13 minute pseudo-prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, will be screened for free on Tuesday in Apple stores around New York, Chicago, Santa Monica and San Francisco. On Wednesday it will be offered as a free download on iTunes. Sounds like a good way to get people ready for the feature film on Friday.

The first trailer today is for Alison Eastwood's Rails and Ties. As you may have guessed, she is the daughter of Clint Eastwood, whose Malpaso Productions backed the film. Keeping it in the family, Kyle Eastwood provided the score. The film looks and sounds just like Mystic River, except for the one line they steal from Star Wars (you'll know which one). The reviews have been mixed, with a few saying exactly what the trailer would lead me to believe.

The second trailer is for Richard LaGravenese's P.S. I Love You, perhaps the strongest argument in favor of typecasting. I know we all love Gerard Butler for his Persian-smashing abilities in 300, and he's continuing this violent trend by playing Snake Plissken in the upcoming Escape from New York remake. But this trailer demonstrates none of Butler's ass-kicking skills and instead shows off his ability to die and write the most romantic letters a woman could ask for (*tear*). This is exactly how his fans don't want to see Butler. And Hilary Swank should know better than to be in (what appears to be) a lame dramedy like this too.

-David Morgan