Kate Winslet and Catherine Keener, two brilliant actresses who have done Oscar-nominated work when handed a Charlie Kaufman script, have just attached their names to another. Vulture reports that they have been added to the already impressive cast of Kaufman’s Frank Or Francis, a musical comedy that reportedly hacks away at the movie blogging industry with gusto.

Adding either of those two to any project would get me excited, but adding both to a Kaufman production has me gasping for air. Winslet, of course, earned her nominations for playing Jim Carrey’s elusive soulmate in Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Keener, meanwhile, played meta games with John Cusack and a frumpy Cameron Diaz for the brilliant Being John Malkovich.

This reportedly is going to get even more “inner monologue” with Kaufman’s latest, which stars Steve Carell as a Hollywood director who grows obsessed with the movie blogger (Jack Black) who continues to write nasty things about him on a message board. Taking aim at the Academy Awards and the whole Oscar race, Frank Or Francis reportedly has Adaptation star Nicolas Cage playing the host of an Oscar-type event and Kevin Kline in a supporting role.

So it’s a refreshing mix of those with Kaufman experience and some newcomers. Doesn’t matter. Remember how brilliant Meryl Streep (Adaptation), Chris Cooper (ditto), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Synecdoche, NY) and Carrey were when handed Kaufman’s twisty prose? I already couldn’t wait for Frank, mainly because I’m a self-centered, egotistical movie journalist who’s eager for Kaufman to take my industry down a few pegs. But with this cast? Frank Or Francis honestly can’t get here quick enough.

Source: Cinema Blend

It might be too risky to say that Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is the key reason why the world loves Kate Winslet, simply because she has performed so phenomenally in so many other well-crafted films. But her gig as the emotionally erratic Clementine in the 2004 fantastical romantic comedy/drama, written by the genius Charlie Kaufman, certainly plays a role in the public’s lasting adoration of the actress. Catherine Keener is another actress whose impressive career is speckled with Kaufman-scripted highlights, including Being John Malkovich and Synecdoche, New York (the latter being the writer’s directorial debut). Both Winslet and Keener are reviving the Kaufmania in the screenwriter’s second stab at directing: Frank Or Francis.

Winslet and Keener are joining a cast that includes stars Steve Carell, Jack Black, Nicolas Cage (himself a Kaufman returnee as well; Adaptation is arguably Cage’s best role to date) and two Kevin Klines — one playing a human, one playing a computer. May that be the first of many eyebrow raisers that you embrace with excitement as you run through the summary of Kaufman’s out-of-its-own-mind Frank Or Francis.

The story, serving as a critique of sorts on entertainment bloggers (we’re beyond flattered to be part of your spectrum, CK), will place Carell in the Frank role as film director Frank Arder, who takes tremendous issue with the critical comments about his work in an online message board occupied by the socially inept genius blogger, Francis (played by Black). We’re not exactly sure what roles Winslet and Keener will take on, nor how the rest of the characters fit in just yet: Cage plays washed-up comedian/actor Alan Modell who serves as the host of the Academy Awards in the film, and Kline, as “explained” above, operates as both the brother of a successful (but not Oscar-successful) director and as a disembodied head in a computer that writes screenplays. Are your eyebrows still raised? Well, keep ’em up there. The film is a musical.

This is genius-level crazy. Kaufman’s scripts have always been odd—unhappy puppeteer finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich, two incompatable lovers erase one another from their memories via a special operation, the host of The Gong Show is actually a CIA agent, a guy puts on a play about himself putting on a play about himself putting on a play (and so on), Nic Cage writes a movie — but this is a whole new level. A level for which I could not possibly be more excited.

Source: Vulture

Director Jason Reitman is gearing up for his next project, Labor Day, which will star Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin.

The movie is based on Joyce Maynard’s book of the same name and is set on a late summer Labor Day holiday weekend in the 1980s. It opens with a divorced, depressed single mom (Winslet) who encounters a large, bleeding man (Brolin) while shopping with her 13-year-old. He asks for a ride and against their better judgment, they agree. Meanwhile, they learn that police are searching their town for an escaped convict. The story is mostly told through the eyes of 13-year-old Henry, who spends most of his time daydreaming or watching TV.

As we reported last month, there have been rumors that the movie would be filmed in the Boston area next summer and now, based on the casting call below, it looks like the rumors are true.

Chrystie Street Casting recently issued a casting call for the part of Henry, which Reitman has stressed is crucial to the movie because, “we’ve got to find someone very special.” He has also implied that he has not ruled out using an unknown actor for the role.

But, the casting call also confirms that the movie will be filming in Massachusetts in June. You can check out the complete listing below:

Chrystie Street Casting is casting Labor Day, a feature film. Chrystie Street Casting has cast the films Young Adult, Precious, Shakespeare In Love, Good Will Hunting, Cider House Rules, Pineapple Express, The Wrestler, and 200 other major films, as well as the TV series Pan Am. Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In The Air), dir.; Suzanne Smith Crowley & Jessica Kelly, casting. Shooting begins June 2012 in MA.

Seeking — Henry: boy, 13 years old (submit ages 10-14), Caucasian, a true innocent, has taken over the role of caretaker and protector to his fragile and reclusive mother Adele, an observant boy who understands his mother’s loneliness, but is too young to understand why he cannot entirely fill it, when a new man enters the picture the friend-less Henry is both exhilarated by the relationship and threatened by the prospect that he is no longer needed by his mother, LEAD; Eleanor: girl, 14 years old (submit ages 10-14), Caucasian, a skinny girl, a product of a broken home, newly moved from a big city to live with her father and is already bored with the small town entertainments, an intelligent girl, learned how to get what she wants with wit, calculations, and her newly developed sexual awareness, to Henry she is the mysterious hot girl who seems to know everything about the world that he doesn’t, LEAD; Barry: boy, 15 years old (submit ages 12-17), Caucasian, mentally challenged, could be Down’s Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy, the wheelchair-bound son of Evelyn (the lead character’s only friend), can only communicate through gurgles and mumbles, is perhaps more engaged in the world around him than his mother realizes, seeking actors who have either condition described above, supporting role.

To be considered, e-mail recent pics, age, and contact info as soon as possible to labordaycasting@gmail.com. No phone calls. Professional pay provided. SAG Film Agreement.

Source: Backstage