The Tim Blake Nelson-directed Leaves of Grass has a second trailer.  Edward Norton plays identical twins and it premiered to glowing reviews at the Toronto Film Festival last year, but I’m not sure whether to trust those.  Lord knows the magic of Toronto could cast a rosy glow on anything.

An Ivy League professor (played by Edward Norton) is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where his twin brother, a small-time pot grower, has concocted a simple scheme to take down a local drug lord.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to take this.  Is that accent supposed to be for real?  It seems really campy, but then at times almost like it wants to be taken seriously, like Nicolas Cage. I’m just surprised anyone has the balls to play identical twins after Van Damme did it in Double Impact. You can’t repaint the Sistine Chapel, dude.

[HD at Apple]

Here’s the trailer for Leaves of Grass, starring Edward Norton… and Edward Norton.  Edward Norton plays his own twin, but instead of being a softball-sized growth on his shoulder that was removed like Andy Garcia, he’s a pot dealer from Oklahoma.

Edward Norton is Bill Kincaid, an Ivy League classics professor, who “returns to rural Oklahoma to bury his dangerously brilliant identical twin brother, only to discover that the brother he believes to have been murdered has lured him home to involve him in a doomed plot against a local drug lord. [/Film]

The trailer begins with Norton as the pot-dealer brother, speaking in a preposterous country accent which seems like the typical, condescending treatment Hollywood gives movies about the country.  But considering the positive reviews, and given that Norton generally picks good projects, and director Tim Blake Nelson is actually from Oklahoma, I’m gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and assume there’s more going on here than we can see from this.  Also, I think the “grass” in the title might refer to marijuana.  Because that’s what old people call it, you see.

[via /Film]

Oscar winner and Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss has won a part in the remake of Piranha, Piranha 3-D. My sources tell me he hopes to show his range as an actor, proving that he can successfully portray menace by fish of all size, habitat, and dimension.  Unless of course it turns out that the piranha in question is huge and lives in the ocean, in which case, talk about a one-trick pony.  Seriously, man, you should’ve stopped after Krippendorf’s Tribe.

Richard Dreyfuss, who plays Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone’s W, was recently promoting the film on The View.  Surprisingly, he actually managed to get a few words in between the chirps of those braindead harpies, and not only that, he actually sounded honest, possibly even intelligent.  The clip is long as hell but here are the highlights:

1:50 Harpy: “In order to play someone, you have to draw on something positive about that person, do you not?”
Dreyfuss: “No, not really.”

3:34 Harpy: “What made you agree to do this film?”
Dreyfuss: “Money.”

3:43 Harpy: “What did you think of the film?”
Dreyfuss: “I think it’s six eighths of a great film.  I think the acting is good and a lot of the writing is good, but I don’t really know why Oliver didn’t come to a conclusion with it.”

4:05 Harpy:  “What was it like working with Oliver Stone?”
Dreyfuss: “Well, imagine working for Sean Hannity.”
The Pretty, Stupid One: “I would like that.”
[Assorted chirping]
4:17 Dreyfuss, forced to explain: “You can be a fascist even when you’re on the left.”

Ripping his own director, wow, check out the stones on Mr. Holland. I never thought I’d say these words, but Richard Dreyfuss seems pretty cool.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Richard Dreyfuss is in final talks to play Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone’s W.  Cast so far:

George Dub – Josh Brolin
Cheney – Dreyfuss
Karl Rove – Toby Jones
Condaleeza Rice – Thandie Newton
Laura Bush – Elizabeth Banks

After eight years of seeing these people on TV every day, I can’t wait to not see them on the big screen.  Stone plans to release the film in October, just in time to not affect the presidential election.  In related news, I’m currently working on adapting this film into a bumper sticker.  So far all I’ve got are truck nutz.