Coming from a story by “The Hollywood Reporter,” John Malkovich, Diane Lane, Scott Glen and Dylan Walsh will join forces to star in an upcoming project called Secretariat, which will focus on the true story of the racehorse of the same name, who won the Triple Crown in 1973.

Filming will begin this week in Louisiana and Kentucky and is slated for release in 2010. It will be directed by Randall Wallace (We Were Soldiers, Man in the Iron Mask) and written by Mike Rich (The Nativity Story, Radio).

The project will have Lane in the lead role  of “the horse’s owner Penny Tweedy, the housewife who broke though a gender barrier to usher Secretariat to greatness.”  Malkovich “plays a charismatic trainer who underestimates the power of Secretariat; Glenn is a southern-bred aristocrat who loses the horse in a coin toss…Walsh plays Lane’s husband, a successful attorney who is accustomed to his wife being at his beck and call.”

I think Malkovich is a great actor and I loved his work in Empire of the Sun.  Of course he was especially good in Being John Malkovich and The Changeling.  Scott Glenn is a solid supporting actor and he was great in Training Day and Silence of the Lambs.  Dylan Walsh has certainly made a name for himself with TV’s “Nip/Tuck,” but I’m not too familiar with his work outside of that and have really only seen him in bit roles like We Were Soldiers and The Lake House. With a talented actor like Malkovich joining a great cast like Lane, Glenn and Walsh, this certainly has the making for another great horse racing movie, a la Seabiscuit.

When a person or thing has “great” as part of its title, expectations for said item grow exponentially. Basketball superstar LeBron James is nicknamed “King,” and his play on the court has backed up the moniker. In contrast, The Great Buck Howard is a film that crumbles under the weight of its name. John Malkovich stars as the titular Buck Howard with the “great” portion of his identification added years ago by talk show host Johnny Carson years ago. Howard is a mentalist, a magician of sorts, who made 61 appearances on “The Johnny Carson Show” back in the day. He hopes to regain the fame that has eluded him of late, aiming to do Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” and possibly a regular gig in Vegas.

Howard’s career is caught between his being a “has been” and “can still be.” He needs help to make his career work. Enter Colin Hanks, who is on board as Troy Gable. Troy has been bred to be a lawyer, pushed and prodded in that direction by his father his entire life, but he doesn’t see that as the life for him. He drops out of law school and moves to LA to pursue writing, taking a gig as Howard’s road manager to pay the rent. Howard, who is a decade removed from any sort of celebrity relevance, travels the country playing small venues in his variety act, with Troy handling minor assistant duties.

While Buck’s act entertains simpletons in half-empty auditoriums, the story really centers on Troy’s “growth,” of which we see little. On the road he encounters Valerie (Emily Blunt), a publicist in Cincinnati who is trying to assist Howard in getting a crowd for a special trick he plans to perform which could catapult him back into the limelight. A needless love story sidetracks us. Through no rhyme or reason, yet being telegraphed a mile away, the duo fall into a sexual relationship during Troy’s brief stay in the city. They lack any sort of palpable chemistry, despite Blunt’s considerably quirky efforts.

Gotta get the cash, gotta get the dough.

While Malkovich embodies Howard’s self-important diva behavior, I didn’t sense the desperation for a return to stardom that was supposed to be evident in his character. He does his usual yeoman’s work but didn’t elevate his game for a starring role, hitting the big notes but not the subtle ones that could have propelled the film further. Hanks doesn’t help much. While he has little to work with, he also doesn’t flesh any emotion out of Troy’s (and his, perhaps) opportunity to come of age.

Sean McGinly writes and directs, sans flair. His other credits include, well, nothing of any note. There is very little in the way of amusement (I failed to so much as smile), the direction lacks any sort of panache (I was not wowed) and the script is too straight-forward (for this type of film, a veering off-course would have been welcome). It is mostly a fable on how fame is fleeting and difficult to maintain with myopia running rampant in the mind of the fallen star, but it’s also a parable about finding what it is you want to do and living out your dreams. While the message is honorable, it has been done better in countless films.

Colin’s real-life father, Tom Hanks (yes, him), makes a small appearance in two scenes as his father here as well, but he ultimately provides little punch to a largely listless film. Guest shots from the respected Steve Zahn and Ricky Jay don’t provide the wallop we would hope. Stints with several real-life talk show hosts during Howard’s career renaissance (or is it?) conclude in a “too little, too late” sort of wrap to the proceedings.

Part of the “magic” in the story is Troy’s belief that Buck’s most well-known trick, finding his cash payment hidden in the audience at the end of each live performance, is somehow real. While it is never proven how the trick is accomplished, a better trick would have been to add some excitement to this boring affair. This is one film where I would advise you to save your “bucks,” since Buck Howard, as a prominent magazine article declares in the film, is “not so” great.

The sinewy, newly single (supposedly), and sexy (pretty universal there, although fellow The Film Nest writer Machinegunrap unconvincingly tries to deny it) star of the Transformers franchise Megan (don’t call me Vivica A.) Fox is apparently making her way into two comic book roles.  Though, neither is the seemingly desired Wonder Woman role that fanboys have been clamoring for.  Yahoo! (whose stock needs a bump) reports that Megan will assist Josh Brolin in Jonah Hex before starring in and developing(!) Fathom.  They break it down like this:

In “Hex,” Fox will play Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and love interest of Hex (Brolin), a scarred bounty hunter tracking a voodoo practitioner (Malkovich) who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South. The movie is preparing for a shoot in April, with Jimmy Hayward directing.

“Fathom,” a comic created by recently deceased artist Michael Turner , follows a young woman named Aspen who learns she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids who possess the ability to control water. Fox, a fan of the comic since its 1998 debut, will receive a producer credit…

I'm speaking out of my ass when I say, "Hi there."

That is some serious clout that the internet sensation has going on.  I’ll be honest, they both sound like pretty cool roles for her, especially with her Angelina Jolie-esqe aspirations that she so readily confesses.  Jolie starred in Wanted last year and “Hex” has her handling a gun, which fanboys will undoubtedly be gaga over, so the parallels there are obvious.

“Hex” sounds like a cool movie.  With John Malkovich and Brolin on board, that is a nice sounding cast going on there.  Malkovich is exemplary at playing crooked, off beat characters and Brolin became a star in the Coen’s No Country For Old Men, before blowing up in Milk and W last year.  I like the sound of Fox as his younger girlfriend, it is good, edgy casting.

I've got room for one more on this bed. Who's in?

Fathom, on the other hand, sounds like a bit of a passion project for the young starlet.  I don’t really know anything about the comic book, but the ability to control water sounds like an interesting concept.  Considering many internet freaks consider her to be able to walk on water, the casting makes sense.  An “aquatic humanoid” doesn’t sound like a role requiring a Chekov level of acting skill, but even so, its likely a good role for her.  The question is, would it end up going the Jennifer Garner in Elektra route or could it achieve a Jolie in Tomb Raider status.  All remains to be seen.  Fill in your thoughts below, we expect them to be plentiful.  Look at how nice I am, adding an extra picture of her, just for y’all.  Enjoy.

In the latest installment of comic book fixation, directly after bringing you the possibility of the brothers Wachowski bringing you big-screen adaptations of “Plastic Man” and/or “Superman,” comes a bit of casting news regarding a feature film based on DC Comics series, “Jonah Hex.”

Hex has been making waves over the past couple of months. The script was written by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank) and set up for them to direct, but they vacated the latter gig over the blanket “creative differences.” The project will now be overseen by Jimmy Hayward, who directed last year’s Horton Hears a Who! and was a longtime Pixar animator. Obviously somewhat of a strange choice, but maybe his background will make for something unique and groundbreaking.

Jonah Hex is to be played by Josh Brolin, even though Thomas Jane openly lobbied for the job. Today, via “Variety,” we found out who would be playing the main baddie in the film, and it’ll be none other than John “Malkovich” Malkovich.

Jane as Jonah is not to be

“Malkovich will play Turnbull, a wealthy Southern plantation owner whose son is killed by Union soldiers during the Civil War. He blames Hex, a former confederate soldier-turned-hardened bounty hunter and gunslinger.”

The film is slated for release sometime in 2010.

Malkovich can grate on the nerves a bit, but I feel it’s because of that he’s able to create such great villains. I  think his performance as Teddy KGB in the underrated Rounders is one of his best. A scene: