I wonder if the President is reading Cinematical today ...

The first teaser poster/thingy for G.I. Joe was apparently unveiled at the New York Toy Fair over the weekend (as captured by MTV), and it's everything we all hoped it would be. Man, check out that silver on black -- it's all just so ... exciting. 2009 can't come soon enough. In other Joe news, Latino Review claims Jonathan Pryce has landed a "small but integral" role as President of the United States in the film, which comes with the following official synopsis: "From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite co-ed GI JOE team, based from it's headquarters The Pit, deploys the latest in next-gen spy and military equipment to fight crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos." Yum!

In other news, the first photo from Richard Kelly's new flick The Box has arrived online (via Twitch). The photo (which you can view after the jump) shows two hands holding a box which appears to feature a snow globe of some sorts on the top of it. This is being hailed as Kelly's big commercial film, after his first two attempts (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) confused the hell out of people and the box office. Starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, The Box tells of a couple who discover a mysterious box with a button inside that, if pressed, will give them enough money to save their ailing son. However, in return, someone somewhere will die. Freaky! The Box is due out later this year.

In a recent article for Cinematical, I wrote: "Too often, Asian-American actors are relegated to bit parts (the food delivery guy, gangster #3, mysterious prostitute) simply because of their race." Historically, there's another reason why Asian-American actors have not been cast in leading roles, even when the role is that of an Asian or Asian-American character: the "yellow face" factor, in which a non-Asian actor is cast as an Asian.

Playwright/actor David Henry Hwang has written a play with that title, which was inspired by the controversy that arose in the early 1990s when non-Asian actor Jonathan Pryce was cast as a Eurasian character in the original stage production of Miss Saigon. (Hwang's play opens shortly off-Broadway in New York.) Robert B. Ito wrote a biting article on the subject in Bright Lights Film Journal that gave historical context.

Philip W. Chung commented on the phenomenon last week in AsianWeek: "Often, these 'yellow face' performances [by non-Asian actors] both reinforced and embodied all the negative stereotypes -- funny accent, slanted eyes, buck teeth, and enough 'Orientalism' to send the yellow fever meter through the roof." Chung compiled a list of 25 "yellow face" film performances "that have arguably had the most impact on our cultural landscape." Last week's article counted down from #25 to #11.

Chung starts off his list with a recent example -- Christopher Walken in Balls of Fury -- and then stretches back to Richard Barthelmess in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919), which he says formed a "template for Hollywood's take on Asian men ... unrealistically noble, feminine and utterly asexual." Chung takes a fascinating skip through the decades and points out "yellow face" performances by Fisher Stevens (#20), Eddie Murphy (#18) and Peter Lorre (#13).

AsianWeek's Top 10 will be counted down this week. Who do you think should be included on the list?

HBO Films has locked up Uma Thurman to star in My Zinc Bed, a film based on a popular British stage play by David Hare, who also wrote The Hours. The story of Zinc revolves around a young alcoholic who has an affair with the wife of his boss. Paddy Considine will play the young lush and Jonathan Pryce will play the old man who is wealthy enough to bag Uma Thurman. Directing duties will be handled by Anthony Page, most known for his television work. BBC is also co-producing with HBO, and the film is apparently set for first-run broadcast on HBO, not in theaters. As Variety points out, this project is being shepherded by Julie Goldstein, a Miramax honcho who was brought on board HBO earlier this year.

As for Uma, this isn't her first daliance with HBO -- she also starred in the 2002 Mira Nair film Hysterical Blindness. Aside from Zinc, she's also got a couple of interesting projects lined up for the end of 2007 and early 2008. She's going to be starring in a film by Vadim Perelman, the guy who directed House of Sand and Fog, and she's starring in The Accidental Husband, a romantic comedy in which she plays a radio talk show host who ruins a guy's marriage by telling his wife to dump him. This causes the guy to seek some kind of revenge on her. And speaking of revenge, no matter what roles she lines up after these, Uma will still have to show up in 15 years or so to do another turn as The Bride in Kill Bill 3.

With Terry Gilliam's luck what it is these days, it might be smart for him to move ahead with projects when he can. In the case of his next film, Good Omens, may mean not casting as he would prefer. It seems that the religious fantasy comedy, which is based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, may begin shooting as early as this winter now that Stephen Evans has stepped in as producer. Brendon Connelly at Film Ick points out that schedule won't fit Johnny Depp's, and the actor will therefore not be starring as was hoped. In fact, actors Gilliam had in mind for other characters, namely Robin Williams (who is always good in Gilliam films, if not much else) and Jonathan Pryce, are also expected to be unavailable at that time.

As an enormous fan of Gilliam, I have to say I'm completely bummed. Not so much because of Depp and Williams not being in the movie, but more because I would prefer it if Gilliam could deliver his exact vision, as he so famously fought for on his earlier pictures. Sure casting is just one simple part of the vision, and using actors who aren't your first choice isn't as horrible as being forced to shoot a happy ending to Brazil or urged to use CGI in The Brothers Grimm, but knowing that a different movie exists in Gilliam's warped and brilliant mind, is enough to make for a disappointing end-product. I will admit that Grimm probably wouldn't have been much better had (supposedly) original choices Depp and Williams been cast, and I was surprised at how enjoyable Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are in the film. So, don't think I will be taking prejudice with whoever is cast in Good Omens. But I won't be able to help imagining the film that should have been.