Great day in the morning! Two of my favorite actors on the planet are joining the cast of Sam Mendes' increasingly promising 2009 comedy, which has yet to find a title. According to a Focus Features press release that landed in my inbox, Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara will round out an ensemble that already includes John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Toni Colette, Cheryl Hines and Allison Janney. The screenplay was co-written by McSweeney's founder and Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers and novelist Vendela Vida. The film "follows the journey of an expectant couple as they travel the U.S. in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family."

O'Hara is probably the funniest woman on the planet, and Daniels can bring heart and humanity to any film, so this is good news indeed. With Christopher Guest taking a break from making the movies that have been her bread and butter over the years, O'Hara can use the high-profile work; her only screen appearance this year or last has been in the underrated Penelope.

Mendes also has the DiCaprio-Winslet reunion movie Revolutionary Road in the works -- it will headline the 2008 Oscar season -- but this new project will be his first stab at comedy. Eggers co-wrote the adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are with Spike Jonze, which should finally see the light of day next year as well.

I was drawn into this whole story by the thought of Tina Fey, but be still my comedic heart, she's not the only one involved. As Jessica posted earlier this month, Ricky Gervais has a blog for his upcoming comedy, This Side of the Truth, and he's just announced the final casting. He writes in an entry: "We are trying to avoid the 'Hollywood actor look'. No botox, perma-tans, or unfeasibly white teeth..."

Who could that mean for casting? Well, there's a short little blip that says Tina Fey and Christopher Guest have signed on, along with Jeffrey Tambor and John Hodgman (The Daily Show). This flick sounded good, but now it's downright irresistible! While I would rather have Guest do more mockuwonders, I won't pass up the chance to see him reunite with Gervais, with a helping of Fey, Tambor, and Hodgman. And, we can't forget the already-cast players -- Louis CK, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, and Jennifer Garner.

Just the thought of these actors taking on Gervais's deceit-creating character... Are there any of you out there who are not itching to see this now?

[via Empire]

Stop using that YouTube account for good for evil to upload copyrighted material. It will probably just be taken down anyway. Instead, use the web video site to spotlight your own talents with an original program you write, direct and/or star in. Besides the fact that you might acquire an audience and possibly some fans, there's now a chance that Hollywood agents will sign you up for bigger and better things.

In the 1980s, Hollywood supposedly looked at MTV for potential new clients -- this was spoofed in Christopher Guest's first Tinseltown parody, The Big Picture. (Would producers really have been interested in that horrible "Pez People" music video? I doubt it). In the late 1990s, the internet became a new place for agents to scan, as sites like iFilm showcased and popularized new short films. Remember the hype over 405? Well, its filmmakers haven't really blown up yet, but another buzzed-about internet filmmaker, Joe Nussbaum (George Lucas in Love), did break into Hollywood and has been somewhat successful (making teeny-bopper comedies, anyway).

Getting on MTV was often expensive, though, and most early shorts on the internet (the quality ones anyway) also cost a good amount. The thing about YouTube, however, seems to be that anybody can produce a cheap video and put it up for everyone, Hollywood included, to see. The Guardian has an article up this weekend about the new online unit of the United Talent Agency. The plan is not only to find the next big thing for TV and feature film work, but also, as UTA's Head of Digital Media, Brent Weinstein, puts it, to find ways to help internet talent, "monetise their interests and pursuits online." Weinstein doesn't exactly say what online outlets exist for such profits, though.

Note: This review originally ran during the Toronto International Film Festival. It is being run again in conjunction with the film's limited release this weekend. For Your Consideration opens in wider release November 22. - ed.

With his films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, director Christopher Guest took the mockumentary approach he used in This Is Spinal Tap and brought it to a whole new generation. Guest assembled a cast of remarkable talent in Guffman, including Michael McKean (with whom Guest has worked for some 40 years), Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban and Parker Posey, and worked with the same cast (adding some new talent along the way, including the spectacularly funny Jennifer Coolidge and perfectly deadpan Jane Lynch, building an almost unbeatable ensemble of comedy.

Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind all took the mockumentary approach, dealing, respectively, with a play in a small town, an eclectic group of characters taking part in a national dog show, and the reunion of 1960s folk singers for a concert. Guest's previous three films with this ensemble worked, not just because of their mockumentary style, but because of the brilliance and energy of the cast, who worked improvisationally, with very little script. With his latest effort, For Your Consideration, Guest and co-writer Levy break away from the mockumentary mold to take a narrative approach, while still retaining the improvisational freedom that give the cast the room to make their characters their own.

Just in case you missed them the first time around, here's a round-up of what we (and you!) have been talking about on Cinematical this week:


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More, much more, after the jump ...

The latest in the vdubrocks campaign ads features one of my fave directors, Christopher Guest, reprising his This is Spinal Tap character, Nigel Tufnel. You can check out Nigel rocking it out in his highly fashionable kilt, black tshirt, tube socks and sneakers, while standing on (and falling off of) the roof of a white Jetta rising up from the stage, while white Rabbits mark the four corners of the stage. The first ad in the campaign featured U2s Slash** rocking the casbah with black GTIs set up like amp stacks. Personally, I think its hilarious that they've brought Nigel, a fake musician, out of the vaults for this campaign.

Watching Nigel rock it out in the ad, I couldn't help but think ... wouldn't it be cool for Guest to bring Spinal Tap back for a new mockuementary about the aging rock-and-rollers getting together for a reunion show for VH1? I can't be the only person out there who would love to see Tufnel, David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) bringing it on again, right? The "band" reunited a couple of times in the past, in 1992 for the album Break Like the Wind, for which they did a promo tour and "videos", in 1998 for a short film called Spinal Tap: The Final Tour, in 2000 when they launched a mock website called "Tapster," and in 2001 for a "Back From the Dead" tour that spanned nine cities. Oh, and there was a 2004 documentary about the band as well.

But seriously -- we've had Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. Isn't it about time we saw Spinal Tap back on the big screen -- utilizing the rest of the of Guest's fab ensemble cast? Picture Catherine O'Hara and Jennifer Coolidge as aging groupies! Parker Posey as, say, Nigel's daughter -- or better yet, as a younger groupie competing against O'Hara for the band's attention. And while we're at it, how about Guest in duel roles? He could reprise Corky St. Clair as the director of the reunion show! Oh, the possibilities are endless. Who else out there would love to see Guest bring back Spinal Tap?

[ via our sister site, Autoblog ]

**SIncerest apologies to both Slash (who, as our readers pointed out, is from Guns 'n Roses, NOT U2, and to The Edge, who IS from U2, for my error there. And thanks to our readers for pointing it out. And yes, I grew up on both bands, and yes, I know better. Shame, shame on me. I guess I have to give back my cool 1980s jean jacket covered with safety pins and rock band buttons now, along with my hip collection of U2 and GNR cassette tapes. Darn. -KV

The UK's Times Online has an interesting piece up about great Hollywood director-muse partnerships, from John Wayne and John Ford, to George Cukor and Katherine Hepburn, to Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman. As the article's author Ian Johns notes, these kinds of filmmaker-actor partnerships are less common these days, as directors have a wider array of big-name stars to choose from. Yet, there are still some profitable and creative partnerships out there. Martin Scorsese appears to have moved on from this 1970s and '80s pairing with Robert DeNiro to his modern creative muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom he has made Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and now The Departed, with a fourth partnership -- a film about Theodore Roosevelt -- reportedly in the works. Russel Crowe and Ridley Scott worked together first in The Gladiator, then most recently in this year's TIFF offering A Good Year, and they went straight from that into shooting American Gangster together.

Johns goes on to make mention of Pedro Almodóvar's ensemble cast in Volver, where the director featured his favorite muse of the moment, Penelope Cruz alongside Carmen Maura, whom he directed in the 1980s. He doesn't mention my favorite director/ensemble combo of the moment, Christopher Guest and his amazing repeat performers, including Eugene Levy (with whom Guest also co-writes), Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Michael McKean and Parker Posey, to name only a few. So pivotal are these actors to Guest's latest films that I can't imagine him making a film without them at this point. They work together with an incredible ease that makes the improvisational style of Guest's films really work.

The article does give props to one of my favorite director/actor pairings: François Truffaut and his on-screen alter-ego, Jean-Pierre Léaud. One of the greatest joys of watching movies in my cinematically geeky life has been watching Léaud grow from boy to man as Antoine Doinel, starting in 1959's The 400 Blows, the film that first earned Truffaut respect at Cannes, when Léaud was just 15, through 1979's Love on the Run -- a 20-year run of great filmmaking. Leaud worked with other directors as well, of course, including Jean-Luc Godard, with whom he made 10 films, including Week End in 1967 and, nearly 20 years later, Détective in 1985, but nothing ever quite matched the magic of Léaud with Truffaut.

Who are some of your favorite director-actor pairs? And who would you like to see work together more?

With his films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, director Christopher Guest took the mockumentary approach he used in This Is Spinal Tap and brought it to a whole new generation. Guest assembled a cast of remarkable talent in Guffman, including Michael McKean (with whom Guest has worked for some 40 years), Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban and Parker Posey, and worked with the same cast (adding some new talent along the way, including the spectacularly funny Jennifer Coolidge and perfectly deadpan Jane Lynch, building an almost unbeatable ensemble of comedy.

Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind all took the mockumentary approach, dealing, respectively, with a play in a small town, an eclectic group of characters taking part in a national dog show, and the reunion of 1960s folk singers for a concert. Guest's previous three films with this ensemble worked, not just because of their mockumentary style, but because of the brilliance and energy of the cast, who worked improvisationally, with very little script. With his latest effort, For Your Consideration, Guest and co-writer Levy break away from the mockumentary mold to take a narrative approach, while still retaining the improvisational freedom that give the cast the room to make their characters their own.

Are you ready to check out some brand new movie pics? C'mon now, don't sound too excited. On this edition of Movie Pics, we ask you to consider some images from Christopher Guest's new film, Jet Li and Jason Statham prepare to kick your ass right out of the theater and -- wait -- so that's what Kurt Russell will be driving in Grind House. Read on my fellow picture freaks:

• This fall, Christopher Guest returns to his mockumentary ways with For Your Consideration, a film that appears to poke fun at the way certain actors handle the tremendous burden that is Oscar buzz. As far as cast goes, Guest has assembled a few of his regulars (Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard, among others), as well as some new blood (ahem, Ricky Gervais). While I haven't been crazy about the last couple Guest flicks, the plot, the cast and these new pics have certainly kicked my anticipation meter up a few notches. [via JoBlo]
• Before he calls it quits as a martial arts action star, Jet Li will make sure he kicks as much on-screen ass as possible, what with his role as a mysterious assassin in the upcoming film Rogue. Pic revolves around an FBI agent (Jason Statham) who, after his partner and family are killed, sets out to avenge his buddy's death by targeting the man (is Jet Li a man or a machine?) responsible. Cinema Blend has the first images from Rogue, which also stars Luiz Guzmán (I take it we won't get to see a fantastic jump-kick from Mr. Guzmán) and Devon Aoki.
• Word on the street is that Quentin Tarantino has officially taken over the city of Austin (Jette, I want you on set, STAT!), while shooting Death Proof -- his half of next years double feature masterpiece, Grind House. Tarantino describes Death Proof as "sort of a slasher film, but instead of a knife, it's a car." Well, thanks to the good folks over at AICN, we now have pics of said car, which will be driven by Kurt Russell -- who I'm hoping brings a little old school awesome to the role.

There's no doubt about it: When it comes to a hilarious ensemble mockumentary, Christopher Guest is the man. In fact, it's hard not to mention his name when talking about a mockumentary -- dude owns the genre. Well, move over Guest, there's new competition heading your way ...

Variety reports documentary filmmaker Matthew Buzzell will make his narrative feature debut with the mockumentary Sonny and Share Love You. Written by Michele Mulroney and Micah Schraft (who also star in the pic), story is said to revolve around "an indie filmmaker who helps reunite a pop due from the '90s." While the plot isn't too far off from that of A Mighty Wind, it does sound enticing. Rounding out the film's ensemble cast will be Chris Parnell, Diedrich Bader, Arabella Field, Mink Stole, Matt Malloy, Colin Fickles, Joel Michaely and MaKenna Marks. Buzzell's last two films (Putting the River in Reverse, Tell Me Do You Miss Me), had their world premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival this past spring.

The Princess Bride was recently rereleased on DVD, and it's a movie that nearly everyone I know has enjoyed. The great fencing scene between Westley (Cary Elwes) and Inigo (Mandy Patinkin) is a treat to watch, as is a later fight scene that I won't spoil for the three remaining people who haven't seen the film.

But somehow it doesn't quite measure up to the charming and exciting swashbuckling performed by the dashing Errol Flynn in many of his early movies. Flynn's birthday is today -- he would have been 96, but died at 50 of heart failure. The above photo is from The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1938 film in which Flynn fences daringly with Basil Rathbone's delightfully evil Sir Guy. I'm not all that fond of the film overall, but I love all the wonderful fight scenes. Flynn and Rathbone also dueled in an earlier film, Captain Blood. Both films were directed by Michael Curtiz, who went on to direct Casablanca, as well as another swashbuckling classic starring Flynn, The Sea Hawk. I've heard the theory that Henry Daniell's evil lord in The Sea Hawk was the inspiration for Christopher Guest's characterization of Count Rugen in The Princess Bride ... and so we've come full circle. All the above-mentioned films starring Flynn are available on DVD, so rent them and compare for yourself.