Two of the best character actors currently working have just signed on for the road-trip comedy Say Hello to Stan Talmadge. Gary Cole will play Stan Talmadge, "an estranged ex-husband who tries to reunite his family with a cross-country motor-home trip to a "Family Feud"-style game show called "Beat Your Neighbor." Jennifer Coolidge will play (what else?) "his boozing, acid-tongued ex-wife." Also along for the ride are Stan's new wife, played by Half Nelson's Tina Holmes, and Talmadge's traumatized daughter, played by up-and-comer Agnes Bruckner. The film takes place in 1979 and the story will use a flashback structure. According to the movie's writer/director David Moreton (Edge of Seventeen), "Stan hopes that by getting his family on TV, it will make them a real family again."

Cole is probably best known for playing Bill Lumbergh in Office Space, one of My Favorite Comedy Villains. Coolidge caught the public's eye playing "Stifler's Mom" in American Pie, and has been a consistent highlight of Christopher Guest's movies. Her "humming" in A Mighty Wind kills me every time. Bruckner did strong work in the indie Blue Car, and was the lead in Lucky McKee's highly disappointing follow-up to May -- The Woods. Talmadge is described by producer Rob Aitro as "a charming indie in the tone of Little Miss Sunshine." At least they're acknowledging the similarities, this thing sounds pretty much like a carbon copy of LMS. I imagine we can expect a lot more of these "wacky dysfunctional family takes a road trip" movies after the smash success of Sunshine.

The filmmakers behind the remake of John Carpenter's 1978 horror hit Halloween have announced the addition of three new cast members. Kristina Klebe, a young actress whose biggest credit to date is a recurring stint on the television show Rescue Me, will play Lynda Van Der Klok, Laurie Strode's friend who falls victim to Michael Myers in the first film. Udo Kier, a German actor popular with horror fans, has also been cast as Morgan Walker, the head of Smith Grove Sanitarium, where the sororicidal Myers was incarcerated before escaping. As we've reported before, several other notables have already been locked into the cast, including Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis, Dee Wallace-Stone as Cynthia Strode and Brad Dourif as Sheriff Brackett, the role originally played by Charles Cyphers. Tyler Mane, the big guy who played Sabertooth in X-Men, will play 'The Shape' himself.

And so.....who the hell is going to play Laurie Strode? There's been a persistent rumor that the part was down to two young actresses, Canadian Lindy Booth and Blood & Chocolate's Agnes Bruckner, but nothing solid ever materialized on that front. This morning, Zombie has put all speculation to rest -- the part has been handed to Scout-Taylor Compton, a young redhead most known for being in this year's Sundance film An American Crime and several episodes of the television show Charmed.

Katja von Garnier's Blood and Chocolate is a werewolf movie for people who like teen romances, and a teen romance for people who like werewolf movies. It's no great shakes in either direction, but the crossover attempt is mildly interesting. At least it's not yet another remake filled with the same old tricks. Instead, the film opens with plenty of picturesque shots of Bucharest, Romania, with trees, buildings, fountains, sculptures, and especially the lithe form of Vivian Gandillon (Agnes Bruckner), jogging. If there was any doubt that she's a werewolf, we get an immediate shot of a dog whimpering and backing away under her gaze -- not to mention that her brand of jogging includes bounding off the sides of buildings.

Vivian lives, vaguely dissatisfied, in a community of werewolves that keeps mostly to itself. The pack's leader, Gabriel (Oliver Martinez) worries that an attack could lead bands of marauding humans into their lair, massacring the lot of them. Occasionally, Gabriel waylays a drug dealer or some other scum of society and lets his furry brethren loose on a merry chase. Some of the wolfmen, such as Vivian's cousin Rafe (Bryan Dick), complain that life is too boring, but Vivian has other worries. Every seven years Gabriel takes a new bride, discarding the old ones, and Vivan dreads that she could be next. Worse, she fears that there's nothing she can do about it.

The bad buzz, the bad script reviews and one helluva bad vibe has caused Rob Zombie to come down with a case of fanboy fever -- yes, the internet fanboys are officially pissing him off. Basically, the whole what-to-do started when AICN ripped into Zombie's script for the latest Halloween installment (a so-called "re-imagining" of the entire franchise). However, Fangoria followed that up with a review that praised Zombie's script -- but, apparently, the damage had already been done. The musician-turned-director went kind of ballistic on his MySpace page, saying (in part): "This is crazy. Do you really go through life influenced by the thoughts of others that easily?"

So, with casting just about done, a production schedule set and a release date of August 31(because everyone likes to dress up and go trick-or-treating right around Labor Day) to stick by, what does Zombie do? How about delay everything and re-write the script? Now, we don't know that for sure -- Bloody Disgusting is only going by "industry buzz" at the moment -- but there's a strong possibility the entire film could be pushed back. Because of a script review for an (supposedly) old draft? I don't get it either, but something isn't right in Zombie land. Stay tuned, as Cinematical plans to follow this one straight down into the bizarre rabbit hole it's decided to hide.

In related news, BD also has the scoop on who may or may not be cast as the memorable Laurie Strode (originally played by Jamie Lee Curtis). Two names are surfacing at the moment: Lindy Booth (Dawn of the Dead) and Agnes Bruckner (The Woods, Blood and Chocolate). As per usual, everyone close to Booth, Bruckner and the film itself are denying the rumors ... for now. I'm sure as soon as Zombie gets over his little temper tantrum we'll know what's really going on. Or not. But do you care either way?

The lengths at which people stretch the words of Shakespeare never cease to amaze me. Unlike other icons of literature, The Bard's writing has become a poo-poo platter starting point for creativity. I've seen it all – from Taming of the Shrew set in the Wild West to Macbeth at a fast food stand. Some of them have worked, and others have not. Beyond all of these, the Montague and Capulets seem to be everyone's favourite Shakespeare team. But lately, the famous warring households are being stretched to new levels.

Adaptation the first: Last year, Martha Fischer reported that things weren't over for Gnomeo and Juliet, an animated adaptation dealing with garden gnomes. There doesn't seem to be much news on the project, but it seems it still has two lead voices, Kate Winslet as Juliet, and prolific voice actor Greg Ellis.

Adaptation the second: Romeo and Juliet in werewolf love. Last year we shared that Agnes Bruckner and Olivier Martinez had joined Blood and Chocolate, a werewolf love story. Now, according to JoBlo and Fangoria, this story is a re-jig of the star-crossed lovers, although in this case, they're moon-crossed. Juliet, aka Vivian, is part of a long line of werewolves, and she inconveniently falls for a human. It's not enough to be a part of competing families. These days, you can't both be human. Fangoria is hosting some images from the film, which is looking a little cheesy with its glowing beasts.

So, we've got werewolves and garden gnomes now acting out Shakespeare's famous characters. What would he say if he were here today?

Early on, I learned that with rites of passage comes horror and mayhem. Jason terrorized summer campers and Carrie got showered in pig's blood. As a teen, Randy's Scary Movie Rules taught me that sex and alcohol would lead to certain death. Yet I never really saw horror movies delve into high school graduation, let alone college. As grads plan to enter their adult life, I wonder what could be more fitting than throwing them into blood-filled turmoil while they're high on feelings of relief. I am, therefore, happy to report that Chris Moore, producer of Project Greenlight and the American Pie movies, will be handing us a serving of graduation mayhem in his directorial debut, Killers.

Taryn Manning, Agnes Bruckner, and Patrick Flueger are set to star as a group of college grads who conveniently decide to celebrate in a remote location. Unfortunately, their festivities turn into a nightmare as they're terrorized by a killer who forces them into a deadly game where they have to kill each other to survive. It sounds like the bases are covered. A cast of attractive young actors has been collected, and they'll be isolated, desperate, and at the whim of a sadistic killer. On paper, it reads like a classic horror film.

What promises to be more interesting, however, is the film's new director. Moore is known for his no-holds-barred criticism of directors on Greenlight. Will he be able to live up to his own standards? Or, will his directorial plans begin and end with Killers?

[via The Hollywood Reporter]