A few days ago I reported on a story that two former female leads from Charlie Kaufman movies would both be working with the writer again, this time on his next directorial effort Frank or Francis. It turns out that was only half right. While Catherine Keener does appear to be attached to the film, buried in a report about Paul Reubens joining the cast is confirmation from THR that Kate Winslet has not. That’s a pretty big blow to my enthusiasm for the added girl power that this movie would have gotten by casting both Keener and Winslet, and the inclusion of Pee-Wee does little to soften the blow. Fortunately for me, there’s some more news that does soften the blow a bit. In another report, THR says that Elizabeth Banks has joined the cast, and in a role that sounds like it has some potential for hilarity. As we know already, Steve Carell and Jack Black are playing the title characters, a director and a film blogger who come into conflict with one another over a series of bad reviews. Well, it appears that Banks will be playing the Carell character’s girlfriend, an actress who keeps making “formulaic comedy bombs.” Seeing as the focus of this movie is the world of filmmaking vs. the world of film criticism, I’m imagining that Banks’ character will provide some delicious jabs sent the way of actresses like Kate Hudson and Katherine Heigl, the undisputed queens of the formulaic comedy bomb.

There’s an old maxim that states that everyone in show business is fake. The traditional interpretation of that is that everyone in Hollywood is ready to be kind to your face, but stab you in the back and probably piss on the wound. That may be an exaggeration, but in the case of these 6 comedians, though, they really are fake. As in literally fake. Their public personae are carefully crafted, and you only occasionally see the real person behind it. Most of the time it’s just an extension of the person’s actual personality, but some of them are completely and totally fictitious people. For example, Bono is an experimental attention-seeking robot. Or take Neil Patrick Harris, who is actually a shaved ferret. You had no idea, right? Here are six comedians that almost never break the fourth wall to reveal their true selves.

Proving that not even a public masturbation scandal can keep a good character down, Paul Reubens has once again been turning heads with his portrayal of pop culture icon Pee-Wee Herman. Recently, he’s been back on the stage portraying the character in a Broadway show. HBO even filmed a version of it, entitled The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway, which is now looking to scoop up some Emmys. With all of this new excitement surrounding the Pee-Wee Herman character, one must begin to ask oneself, “What ever happened to that new Pee-Wee movie that Judd Apatow was supposed to be producing?” Luckily, when they recently caught up with Reubens, The Hollywood Reporter asked him just that. In response, Reubens had the exciting update that, “Paul Rust and I just turned in a draft to Judd last week.” Reubens, for his part, seemed to be confident in the work they had done. He finished off the interview by sending a shout out to his producer saying, “Judd, if you’re reading this, I think it’s ready to green light!”

Pee-wee Herman and hipsters were not topics of discussions I was looking to tackle with Michelle Monaghan. Knowing I only had 10-minutes with Monaghan, I wanted to make every second count… so obviously, discussing how hipster infested Austin is and how I just had a run in with Pee-wee ‘frickin’ Herman before the interview probably were somewhat of sidetracks, and so was some nice small talk at the beginning. As for Source Code, it’s a tricky film to discuss. To fully delve into the film and its ideas, one most go into spoiler territory to get a fully meaty convo about the film, so beware of one or two spoiler alerts. But mainly, Monaghan and I briefly discuss Jake Gyllenhaal’s grey area and likable hero, attempting to grasp unique ideas in script form, and the questions the film raises. 

The year 2010 may have ended, but the cycle of movie news keeps on a-cyclin’. Most of the news this time of year has something to do with a list — the best, the worst and the otherwise notable performances, directorial efforts and nude scenes, just to name a few. Everyone wants to have their say and we at FSR may be the worst among them with our Year in Review. So you’ll have to excuse me if my innagural edition of Movie News After Dark, the movie news column you can read while mostly asleep, is full of other people’s “best of” lists. There are also some worthy surprises, I assure you…

You’ve stumbled upon Circle of Jerks, our sporadically published, weekly feature in which we ask the questions that really matter to our writers and readers. It’s a time to take a break from our busy lives and revel in the one thing that we all share: a deep, passionate love of movies. If you have a question you’d like answered by the FSR readers and staff, send us an email at editors@filmschoolrejects.com. What movies would you recast/recrew? My answer:  Topher Grace as Spider-man.  Tobey Maguire is humorless.  And I’d somehow keep Ryan Reynolds from being the Green Lantern so he can be The Flash instead. And I’d like to have seen Preston Sturges direct just about any romantic comedy. – Sara F.

The rumors of another movie featuring everyone’s favorite bicycle-riding rebel are true: another Pee-wee Herman movie is on the horizon. And it’s getting the all-star treatment, as producer Judd Apatow has been tapped to work with Paul Reubens on the development of the next chapter in the life of Pee-wee.

Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) is a happy-go-lucky (and slightly effete) man-child who’s got the world on a string. He lives contentedly with his dog, Speck, and his cherished custom Schwinn bicycle. When his bike is stolen, Pee-wee must take to the road on a heroic journey across America to get it back.

Disney is taking one of my childhood favorites and remaking it. But I’m not mad. In fact, it could be a good thing.