News Roundup for 11/29/10

In an epic example of miscasting, Jackie Chan will play Joe Biden

-Headline of the Day-
"BP commissions film on BP oil disaster."

Remember that big oil spill everyone was freaking out about last summer? Well, someone's making a movie about it. And that someone, unfortunately, is the company responsible for the spill. According to the report, "BP is in the process of assembling a feature-length chronicle of the environmental catastrophe that will be all but synonymous with the oil giant's brand for many years to come: the great Gulf oil spill of 2010."

BP insists the film "is not intended to scrub its reputation clean," rather they're "making a film of the spill primarily for an internal audience as an archive of a momentous event in the company's history (not to mention those impacted by the tragedy and its aftermath)."

The film will feature Tom Hanks as Tony Hawyard and Chris Tucker as President Obama. As Hanks tries to flood the ocean with life-giving supplements from an offshore vitamin well, a bumbling Tucker tries to stop him, but is prevented from succeeding by his own ineptitude.

Box office gold. (The Upshot)


-RIP Leslie Nielsen-
According to the New York Times, "Leslie Nielsen, the Canadian-born actor who in middle age tossed aside three decades of credibility in dramatic and romantic roles to make a new, far more successful career as a comic actor in films like 'Airplane!' and the 'Naked Gun' series, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84."

We're also reminded that Nielsen starred in Forbidden Planet, a groundbreaking scifi classic based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. So I'm going to watch that tonight.

RIP Leslie Nielsen. We'll miss you, Shirley. (New York Times, YouTube)


-Bonus HotD-
"Sarah Palin, Justin Bieber, The Situation Among Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People."

Someone needs to tell Babs that "fascinating" isn't a synonym for "annoying." (Mediaite)