When Josh Brolin takes a night off from playing a young George W. Bush to get arrested in a bar, the jokes practically write themselves. (Method acting, anyone?) That's what happened in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Shreveport, La., as Brolin, co-star Jeffrey Wright (who plays Colin Powell), and five crew members from Oliver Stone's biopic W. were arrested at the Stray Cat bar and taken down to the big house.

The Associated Press's account is sparse, so we turn to Shreveport's KSLA News 12 for more details (and thanks to Jeffrey Wells for the link). Seems it was closin' time at the ol' Stray Cat, and Brolin and his pals wouldn't leave, despite bein' asked twice, and they were bein' rowdy. So the bar staff called the police, who arrived just after 2 a.m., whereupon there was a bit of a scuffle, and a fellow named Eric Felland got arresting for remaining in the bar, public drunkenness, and resisting arrest. Brolin, Wright, and the other W.-affiliated folks reportedly interfered with the arrest, so they got arrested for that misdemeanor.

The Shreveport Times reports that Brolin posted a $334 bond and was free to go. Wright and the other four arrest-resisters had the same price on their heads. The guy who was being arrested in the first place, Felland, who is a lighting technician on the film, had a $752 bond. It's unclear from the early news reports how long it took everyone to get out of the clink, but one assumes they didn't have to fester in jail too long. I like what one of the commenters at Hollywood Elsewhere said, that it would have been great if James Cromwell, who plays George Bush Sr., had had to come bail everyone out.

If you read any part of that draft of W., Oliver Stone's Bush biopic, which hit the net a few months back, you might think it ludicrous for the film to be likened to Shakespeare. But Stone himself has done so, as part of an L.A. Times set visit interview. Lumped in with a quote in which Stone also contrasts the project to the work of Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning director's statement is in response to the film's level of seriousness: "W. isn't an overly serious movie, but it is a serious subject. It's a Shakespearean story. . . . I see it as the strange unfolding of American democracy as I have lived it."

The Times piece, which reports from Shreveport, Louisiana, where Independence Bowl stadium fills in for the Texas Rangers' Arlington Stadium, is very filling for anyone with an appetite for more W. updates. Included are a description of and dialogue from a scene between George W. Bush (Josh Brolin) and George H.W. Bush (James Cromwell), details on a "baseball-oriented fantasy" sequence, Brolin stating that he's not out to do a SNL-style caricature and admitting his initial hesitance to take on the role, a general overview of the project's coming together, and, best of all, a picture (seen, cropped, above) of Brolin as the future Commander in Chief looking like he's just had the crap beaten out of him. Also a fact I'd somehow never known prior to reading the article: Stone was "briefly a Yale classmate of Bush."

I hate it when remake projects challenge your stringent loyalty and anti-remake stance. Since word first broke about a remake of John Carpenter's Escape From New York, I've been disinterested. Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away? Not quite. Gerard Butler certainly wasn't the right man for the job -- assuming that anyone could ever replace, or continue the work of Kurt Russell. But what about Josh Brolin?

Spielberg News says they have the scoop that Brolin is in the running to play Plissken. It doesn't completely turn me off for two reasons: 1. Josh has got a similar look, but can bring his own brand of tough snark to the table. 2. Brolin has been picking some diverse, interesting, and good roles lately, so if he was involved, I'd assume there was something in there worth his time. And hey, Josh can certainly pull off an eye patch.

Or, if that's still not enough for you, what if he was Snake's brother? Maybe it's time for Lizard Plissken to beat down some baddies.

The script for Oliver Stone's W -- a project we've been discussing a lot around here lately -- apparently leaked to several news outlets this week, and Slate has posted a delightful, albeit spoiler-heavy, review. Now, the extent to which a George W. Bush biopic can be spoiled is debatable, and a lot could change from the October 15, 2007 draft (titled Bush rather than W) that Slate got its grubby paws on, but the review does give away a good number of specific scenes, lines and moments, so proceed with caution.

Slate's prevailing impression is that the screenplay is heavy on Bushisms ("Is our children learning?") and common perceptions that have become clichés (Bush as alcoholic fratboy). Indeed, some of the lines they quote sound like something that I, having done no research and possessing virtually no insight into the man, might come up with if asked out of the blue to write a movie about Bush's life. (On the decision to invade Iraq, for example: "I think it's time we stopped standing around with our dicks in our hands, and raised the stakes on ol' 'Husseny.'")

These days, thoughts of Josh Brolin bring to mind his performances in films like No Country for Old Men, or Planet Terror. Old-school Brolin fans, of course, praise all things Goonies, and his role as Brand Walsh. (Could this possibly be the precursor to Brandon Walsh?) But what about Thrashin'?

It came out a year after Goonies, and was Brolin's second film. The film focused on two ultra-cool skateboarding gangs who "battle each other for supremacy," while one particular dude falls in love with his rival's sister. Man -- this must be what inspired Under the Boardwalk and Gleaming the Cube! But while one has Richard Joseph Paul and the other has Christian Slater, this puppy's got Brolin in all his skating wonder. Check out the intro, and enjoy! Josh, you've come a long way. Next up: George W. Bush.

And if that's not enough temptation to find it at your local video store, how about the fact that it's got Sherilyn Fenn at the age of 21?

Last Rewind Answer: Mike Vargas was originally a white DA.

So far, there are only a few actors officially attached to Oliver Stone's W., the epic biopic about our current commander-in-chief. Josh Brolin was cast as President George W. Bush back in January, then recently Elizabeth Banks was chosen as his wife, First Lady Laura Bush, and last week James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn were locked into the roles of former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, respectively. Unofficial casting bites, though, include a lot of other big name actors. Jeffrey Wright is reportedly in negotiations to play Colin Powell, Tommy Lee Jones is supposedly being sought for Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Duvall has been rumored to be the choice for Vice President Dick Cheney and now both Paul Giamatti and Toby Jones are being named as potentials for the part of Karl Rove (who Giamatti may have already channeled for his character in Shoot 'Em Up).

Right on the heels of the announcement that Elizabeth Banks would play the First Lady in Oliver Stone's ever-so-timely biopic of President George W. Bush (which is surely, as Erik Davis put it in the above-linked post, "one of the strangest projects in recent years"), Variety reports that James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn have been cast as George H.W. and Barbara. Josh Brolin is already set to play Dubya himself. The film is called simply W.

Cromwell is an expert at playing United States Presidents. He's portrayed fictional heads of state in The Sum of All Fears and an episode of The West Wing, as well as the extremely non-fictional Lyndon B. Johnson in the 2002 made-for-TV movie RFK. He's also played Senators, high-ranking military officials, and WIlliam Randolph Hearst. If anything, I'm worried that he might be too presidential for the role of the folksy George H.W. As for Burstyn, well -- if she can convincingly paint her face blue and run shrieking through the forest trying to kill Nicolas Cage in a bear suit, Barbara Bush should be a cinch.

Stone hopes to have the film ready before Bush leaves office next January, which is a pretty impressive turnaround as presidential biopics go. And while I usually have some sort of conception of what to expect from an upcoming release, I cannot even begin to imagine what W will be like. Can we expect more hysterical conspiracy-mongering à la JFK? The unexpectedly toned-down empathy of Nixon? The excruciating boredom of Alexander? The mind reels.

After Goonies, it wasn't that Josh Brolin was completely gone. He just navigated his career under the spotlight. But these days, in the wake of films like No Country for Old Men, Planet Terror, and American Gangster, it is easy to forget about those older flicks like The Mod Squad and Hollow Man. Thank God! And now he's doing even more to impress us. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's directed a short film that will have its premiere kicking off the HollyShorts Film Festival on August 7.

The film, which is simply called X, focuses on an inmate who escapes from prison for noble means -- "to reunite with his daughter and search for her murdered mother's body in order to give her a proper burial." Vincent Riverside plays Jack, the inmate, while Brolin's two daughters, Eden Brolin and stepdaughter Eleanor Lambert, also star. The actor and now filmmaker says: "I'm proud of the stark nature of this film, how it explores the parent-child relationship, and appreciate the support of those willing to embrace my journey into filmmaking."

You readers out there in Los Angeles will have to comment come August and let us know what you think. Word from SXSW (where the short also screened with Brolin in attendance) was that the film was real good. I'm just bummed that its premiere will be after Toronto's Worldwide Short Film Festival, which means no X for me! Maybe next year ...

I'm sorry, but this has got to be one of the strangest projects in recent years. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Elizabeth Banks is about to sign on to play First Lady Laura Bush in that George W. Bush biopic Oliver Stone is directing. If she signs on, Banks will join Josh Brolin, who's already landed the part of our current President of the United States. Banks, who, funnily enough, just wrapped a film called Zack and Miri Make a Porno, would probably make a pretty good Laura Bush. She definitely resembles a much younger version of the woman, and, like Mrs. Bush, as an actress Banks often fades into the background.

Then again, some folks might think Brolin and Banks are way too hot to be playing the President and the First Lady. Personally, I feel Josh Brolin needs the most work -- but if he slims down and practices that famous Bush dialogue, I can almost see it. The film, which will be called simply W, will begin shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana in late April. Stone will direct off a script he co-wrote with Stanley Weiser (Wall Street).

What do you think about this film? Are the lives of George W. Bush and Laura Bush really that interesting? Or, will Oliver Stone make them interesting?