It’s been a week of weird casting news. Variety reports that Taylor Swift, wide-eyed country-and-western superstar, is set to play Joni Mitchell, grumpy Canadian genius, in an adaptation of Sheila Weller’s book Girls Like Us. Well, I suppose if Swift straightens her hair she might get away with it.

The real buzz is gathering around the news that Lindsay Lohan has signed on to play Elizabeth Taylor in Liz and Dick, a treatment of the late actor’s relationship with Richard Burton. All those unfortunate reports of boozy bust-ups and late- night arrests have obscured the fact that Lindsay was once one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses. As long as they don’t cast Taylor Lautner as Burton, we should be okay.