Editorials > FilmWad Breaks it Down: Wednesday September 19

Matthew McConaughey has replaced Owen Wilson on Ben Stiller's Tropical Thunder in the wake of Wilson's poor emotional health. I guess the character is a goofy, blonde-haired, thirty-something with a Texan drawl so who else are you gonna call?

Jennifer Garner's somehow gotten herself involved in another McConaughey comedy called Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, though one that sounds quite a bit dumber. McConaughey's plays the charming bachelor who goes to a wedding and meets all of his girlfriends, past, present, and future. All of them say he should be with Jennifer Garner's character. Just reflect on that for a moment on your own.

A bunch of actors have just joined the film Saving Grace, including Penelope Ann Miller, Tatum O'Neal, Joel Gretsch, Piper Laurie and Michael Biehn. It's good to see Michael Biehn showing up in stuff again, like Grindhouse and… this and hopefully other stuff too. 

Jim Broadbent has joined the cast of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as Professor Horace Slughorn. Probably half of Britain's greatest actors are in that franchise, and are no doubt being paid quite well. Jeremy Irons is probably on the phone with his agent right now trying to get a part for the last movie. What's left to be cast though? Maybe some goblin parts.

The first trailer is for Hatchet, which is a self-proclaimed old school horror film. It prides itself on not being a sequel, remake, or Japanese reinvention. It also boasts a hell of a horror cast. It's got Robert Englund (aka Freddy Kruger), Kane Hodder (aka Jason Voorhees), Tony Todd (aka The Candyman), and more. The critics have been basically split down the middle. Some start their reviews with "it's a cut above" while other equally witty folks say "it's a cut below." Still, at 50% fresh, it's got a better rating than probably 90% of the horror movies that have come out in the past couple years.

The other trailer is for Kite Runner, directed by Marc Forster and based on the bestseller by Khaled Hosseini. The trailer gives an awful lot of the movie away, but considering how many people have read the book I guess it's not all that important. Come Oscar time, this might get a nod or two. Call it a hunch.