Times may have changed, but for years conversationalists who knew nothing about France except that french fries came from there always had a great fall back position: "You know, they worship Jerry Lewis movies." Cecil Adams of The Straight Dope analyzes the urban legend, while passing on some of his own notions regarding "highbrow critics (the only kind France has)".

When I was Paris once, I can remember reading the newspaper Le Figaro's review of "Allo Maman, C'est Moi Encore" (Hi Mom, It's Me Again better known as Look Who's Talking Too). The review began, as I recall, "What's more droll than a talking baby? Two of them!" Sheesh, that's more highbrow than Richard Roeper even! The Lewis libel is what is the novelist Gustave Flaubert called "a received idea," a bit of folk wisdom passed down uncritically from one ignoramus to another.

You would have thought that by now 20th Century Fox would have given up on the idea of a Dallas movie. What with casting changes and script overhauls -- not to mention a mediocre fan reaction to the whole idea in the first place. Now it looks like yet another snafu has hit the production. Page Six (the Mecca of gossip) is reporting that John Travolta has been dropped from the cast and replaced by Ben Stiller in the role of J.R. Ewing. According to Page Six's sources, Travolta was "let go about two weeks ago. He had the role of J.R. Ewing taken from him" -- ouch! But don't feel too bad for Travolta; the same sources went on to say that, "John was given a nice seven-figure 'gift' to go away quietly".

So if you are still keeping track, Travolta is officially the last remaining element of the original Dallas film that Fox had planned back in 2006. Originally the film was going to be a big-budget drama with an all star cast including Jennifer Lopez and Shirley Maclaine. Cut to one year later and the budget shrunk from $65 million to what is now described as "much less" and the cast has been scrapped. Also, instead of a drama, Fox changed directors to hire Betty Thomas to make a comedic 'behind-the scenes' version of the series. This would probably explain how Stiller got involved in the film, since he's almost as an unlikely a choice for the role as Travolta was in the first place. Stiller's reps have yet to comment on his involvement, so stay tuned to Cinematical for updates.

If you just returned from vacation in Helsinki, here's a recap of Lindsay Lohan Week. It started last Friday when, after the release of her new stripping clip from I Know Who Killed Me, the trades announced that Lohan had locked in a new role, in the 'elderly robbers' comedy Poor Things. In my post, I noted that it had been a good week for Lohan -- there were "no wild, out of control antics to report this week." Silly me. Later that night, Lohan ran her Mercedes up onto a curb and fled. The cops tracked her down at a local hospital, she was arrested, and then she checked into rehab, which threw her status in the new film in jeopardy -- a fact her publicist owned up to. One of the other stars of the film, Shirley MacLaine, subsequently released a statement of her own, saying the producers were trying to accommodate Lohan and help her with the "blending of mind, body and spirit." Groovy. Who knows what next week will bring? Until then, here are some samplings from the Lohan oeuvre to discuss.

Herbie: Fully Loaded No, she does't play Herbie. I've never seen so many fifty year-old men, sans kids, standing in line for a kids' movie in my life as I did for this one. I ended up seeing something else, but I know Michael Keaton has a role in this, cashing a check as Lindsay's dad, and Matt Dillon plays the heavy, if there's such a thing in a movie about a magical Volkswagen. If Herbie could talk, would he have a German accent?

A Prairie Home Companion I saw this one last year and remember thinking that Lohan did a fine job of handling the workload of an Altman picture, which is considerable. She seemed to be bearing down and trying, and did a good job of mixing in with the large ensemble cast. She certainly brings more to the movie than Virginia Madsen's ill-conceived Angel of Death character. Let's give credit where credit is due.

Just My Luck This is a weird one, which I caught the first half of on cable not long ago. Lindsay plays a young, upscale Manhattanite who angers the gods and becomes the unluckiest woman in the world. Not unlucky, as in, she suddenly becomes un-rich or un-gorgeous or anything serious like that. More like 'I got splashed by cab!' kind of bad luck. She has an opposite, a guy who had terrible luck and suddenly gets good luck after coming in contact with her, but I havent watched far enough to find out what happens yet.

We now know what project Lindsay Lohan will be dropping out of next -- Poor Things, a comedy about a gang of grannies with Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis as said grannies. Lohan, Rosario Dawson and Channing Tatum have all joined the film, though I can't quite figure out why. Since the script seems to focus mainly on the grannies and their various gang-like activities -- Variety isn't clear on what kind of activities, exactly -- what kind of parts will there be for the twenty-somethings? The script, by Trent Haaga who wrote -- I kid you not -- Citizen Toxie, is supposedly inspired by some real headlines about some grannie gangs who were involved in everything from insurance scams to drugs and murders, but the whole thing sounds frankly made up to me. Someone show me a newspaper item about a ruthless gang of grannies terrorizing our streets.

Shooting on the film is set to begin next week, and Dawson could presumably have to work around Sin City 2, which is prepping for a summer start. As for Lohan, she's currently getting a lot of attention for the stripping video we reported on earlier, put up as part of the blog for her new film I Know Who Killed Me, but other than that, no wild, out of control antics to report this week. If and when Lohan does decide to dump these grannies, Sienna Miller will probably be standing by to take over and Cinematical will be there to report on it.

It has been 8 years since Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis last acted together in Leelee Sobieski's Joan of Arc. However, what you probably remember is their collaboration in a film 10 years before; the many-hanky chick flick, Steel Magnolias. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two Oscar winners are now in talks for a third collaboration and second feature film -- Poor Things -- and I don't think it's the type of movie that you'd expect them to star in. While neither have been signed, I'm sure it's only a matter of time since MacLaine is one of the producers, alongside Rob Hickman of Still Rolling Productions.

Hickman collaborated on the story with Troma actor/screenwriter/everyman Trent Haaga (Zombiegeddon, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV). How a Troma man came to be connected that closely to MacLaine is beyond me. However, that actually makes me more intrigued about the actresses being involved, since the story is based on true, murderous events. It is a black comedy about two female con-artists who befriend and kill homeless men to cash in on their life insurance policies. Considering Haaga's previous work, I'm sure we can expect at least a little camp. The project already has a director attached as well -- Ash Baron Cohen. Described on IMDb simply as "Ash," he is the brother to that crazy faux Kazakhstanian, Sacha. This seems almost too crazy to be real, which has me sold on the idea.

For the past half century, Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals has honored the greatest names in entertainment. Since 1951, it has given its Woman of the Year award to Katherine Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, Meryl Streep and others of tremendous talent. In 1967, it began handing out a Man of the Year award, too. Recipients have included Paul Newman, James Stewart, Robert DeNiro and Steven Spielberg. This year's winners are Scarlett Johansson and Ben Stiller.

Now, I know I could be in the minority here, but I just don't see Johansson and Stiller being in the same boat as some of the past honorees. But I think maybe the theater group hasn't chosen Johansson specifically for her acting (or her gallbladder). I think they just want the "Sexiest Woman Alive" to lead their parade (perchance in a Cinderella costume?). As for Stiller, well, I'm sure he should be a fun guy to have around at a premiere party for HPT's latest theatrical production. He isn't the first comedy star to be honored, and at least he's still in his prime, unlike 1993 honoree Chevy Chase.

Looking through the list, it seems most of the elder greats have already been given awards in the past, but surely there must be somebody more deserving than these two. Okay, granted Stiller is a huge box office success this year, though his draw is likely temporary, but Johansson hasn't shown herself to be a great actress and so far she's been "box office poison." Who should have gotten the awards instead?

The reports last week that zillions of cities not in Texas were pursuing the production of the Dallas movie was a sure sign that the thing is actually going to be made sometime in the near future - but who really care where it is? The masses want to know who's going to be in it, dammit, and we want to know now! And today, because 20th Century Fox really cares about the little people, they've thrown us some surprisingly encouraging casting bones.

First of all, the big one: JR Ewing is not going to be played by either Kevin Costner or Mel Gibson, both of whom reportedly were interested in the role. Instead, it'll be everyone's second-favorite Scientologist, John Travolta, throwing on the hat and the grin. Despite the fact that I'm very much not a Travolta fan, I think this is a great idea - the man can bring the sleazy charm. Poor Sue Ellen? Oh, that's Miss Jennifer Lopez. Again, awesome. Though JLo has let me down time and time (and time) again since Out of Sight, it really seems like she's perfect for this role - I mean, just picture her for a second, drink in hand, looking pissed. See? Wrapping up the Ewing family will be Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie, and Wilson #1 (that's Luke to you) as Bobby.