QT Casting News: Eli Roth for 'Bastards,' Britney for 'Faster Pussycat'?

In the world of Quentin Tarantino, it's never safe to run with an assumption. That's the reason we didn't even bother reporting on the rumor that QT wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for his upcoming war movie, Inglorious Bastards. Turns out, Leo won't be involved, so that saved us a cozy 30 minutes of writing. However, we did talk about the rumors that Brad Pitt would join the cast; apparently, they're still in negotiations, although I still have my doubts, based on Pitt's schedule and when Tarantino wants to shoot the film. We do have Bastards casting news, though. It's been officially announced that torture porn director Eli Roth will play Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, a Jewish, bat swinging Nazi hunter. That should tie in nicely with Roth's obvious and untamed thirst for seeing blood in movies. Now I get to ask a question you should never ask about a big, tough war movie directed by one of the most influential directors of his generation: Can this guy act? Probably not. Oh, sure, he's been in movies, but he's never been a major player. The trouble is, I can think of talented actors who'd be much better for this role, if only because I know they can act. Now, I won't say this is a mistake, because Tarantino has made a name for himself in part because he makes unpredictable casting decisions. I'll just say it will very likely be a mistake. How's that? But there's more room on the Tarantino casting couch today. The Telegraph reports that QT wants Britney Spears to star in his upcoming remake of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! She'd play Varla, a lesbian stripper who kills a guy and kidnaps his girlfriend, then has some lesbo sex. As you can see from the picture, she's believable in a fit of rage. Again I ask, can she act? No, and we've seen plenty of evidence of it. Even her guest starring role on How I Met Your Mother was laughable (although everyone over at Access Hollywood thought she was so cute!) Plus, think of all the free publicity. Hell, he should just cast Lohan and Paris Hilton to round out the cast.

Of course, you could argue that it matters less with Faster Pussycat! because it has a distinctive camp quality. There are movies that are so bad they're good, after all, and plenty of people would argue that Russ Meyer kind of wanted that out of his movies, anyway.

It's a different story with Inglorious Bastards, or else why would Tarantino blab about Leo DiCaprio, and why won't the Brad Pitt rumors go away? I will say, though, that if the father of the year woke up this morning to change a houseful of diapers and saw that one of his potential co-stars was the director of Hostel, he might have some question how serious QT is about the project.