2014 Movie Preview: #11 - Bad Words

Release date: March 28

Plot summary: Jason Bateman ("Identity Thief") makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy "Bad Words." Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn of "We're the Millers") attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of "Homeland"), who is completely unfazed by Guy’s take-no-prisoners approach to life.

My take: I just mentioned how Foxcatcher may be a career changing film for Steve Carell. Well the same may hold true for Bateman who stars here as the crass man infiltrating children's spelling bees. Bateman is also directing this film. I've always had a thing for the 'Bee' dating back to when I discovered that the English professor I had at UD moderated the event for several years. The dark humor in this film may not be for everyone, but I'm sure looking forward to it.

2014 Movie Preview: #17 - Horrible Bosses 2

Release date: November 26

Plot summary: Fed up with answering to higher-ups, Nick, Dale and Kurt decide to become their own bosses by launching their own business in "Horrible Bosses 2." But a slick investor soon pulls the rug out from under them. Outplayed and desperate, and with no legal recourse, the three would-be entrepreneurs hatch a misguided plan to kidnap the investor's adult son and ransom him to regain control of their company.

My take: The first Horrible Bosses had a lot of potential but did not quite live up to my expectations. With a lot of sequels, the law of diminishing returns sets in. I truly hope that isn't the case here because the cast is so strong. Based on the limited amount of knowledge we have on the plot, it seems like this can potentially build off of the first one and deliver an even stronger film this time around.

He's got a spell on you

Jason Bateman plus spelling bees plus foul language equals me being very interested in Bad Words. Here's the red band trailer for the new film which not only stars Bateman but was directed by him as well.

RBR: Identity Thief

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprise that a film with a premise all about stealing the identity of someone would so liberally steal elements from other movies. That's what happens though in Identity Thief, a movie with a ton of promise thanks to the casting of two extremely funny people and saddling them with a tired, rehashed plot that has been done so much better in the past. There are elements of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Midnight Run, and Taking Care of Business seen here but this movie strips away the humor, intelligence, and heart found in those films. Instead, this film focuses on car chases, action scenes, and a physical brand of humor that yields very few laughs. It is a shame that a film that features two comedic actors who I enjoy produced only one actual laugh from me. I quickly became disinterested in seeing how everything would get resolved. Not surprisingly the central story ends on a predictable note while other subplots get ignored or are paid off in an unsatisfactory manner. Given how successful the film was, I know that I am now one of the last people to actually see this movie, but if you have managed to hold out longer than I have, continue doing so because there's nothing here worth your time. Rating: **

The final countdown is on

It's hard to believe, but we are less than two weeks from getting new episodes of Arrested Development!! And now for the first time, here's a trailer of what you can expect from Season 4. I'm going (frozen) bananas with anticipation!

Here's a release date. No, I'm witholding it. Look at me getting off.

UPDATE: Netflix has since confirmed that the new season will be released sometime in May but would not give a specific date. So only 5 more months of waiting now. Huzzah!

Those Arrested Development folks sure like to toy with our emotions. Earlier today, it seemed like the release date for the Season 4 episodes on Netflix had been announced only for Netflix to rebuke the claim. We do know that they'll appear only sometime in 2013, but for now, we'll just have to wait a bit longer to see when exactly it will be. If you're interested, here's a story from Boing Boing.net reporting on the incorrect release date.

Let's end 2012 with some truthiness: gossip site Oh No They Didn't got wind of some new details concerning the fourth season of Arrested Development and its upcoming premiere on Netflix. Apparently, a publicity site for Fox prematurely posted a new image, a May 4, 2013 premiere date, and a list of episode titles before taking it all down. A few sites have reported this as the official release date, but Vulture contacted a Netflix representative who said the date "is wrong."

A debunked rumor is not the most fun way to start out a year of heavily-anticipated entertainment, but at least we know it's on its way! (I'd still count on a May premiere. Seems like it would make a lot of sense -- just as all the network shows are ending, the Bluths swoop in and save us all from summer programming.)

NMR: Mansome

Directed by noted documentarian Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), this is a small film that explores the recent increase in grooming habits by men. Separated into several segments about what makes a man, the information is interesting even if the people always aren't. For instance, one segment explores beard and mustache competitions. The segment would have been much more engaging had the person they chose to follow didn't come off as such a pretentious douchebag. That unfortunately was a trend throughout the film. The narcissistic nature of the people that care so much about their looks was a turn off, even if I was interested the habits themselves. To counterbalance that, however, there were several talking head segments featuring a lot of comedians like Adam Carolla, Judd Apatow, and Zach Galifianakis to offer some levity to the topic. Best of all there are several interludes featuring Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, who also co-produced the film, attending a day spa while comedically discussing their own personal grooming habits. The subject matter is too slights for mass appeal, but if you enjoy Spurlock's work, you'll likely enjoy this film as well. Rating: *** 1/2

Early Christmas present

From Deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Good news for Arrested Development fans. The new season of the cult Mitch Hurwitz comedy commissioned by Netflix will be larger than originally planned. I’ve learned that, during production on the 10 new episodes ordered by Netflix, Hurwitz shot more material than planned and also came up with ideas for additional scenes and storylines. Hurwitz, producing studio 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV approached Netflix, which agreed to expand the order to what I hear will be 12-15 episodes. As a result, production on the show, originally slated to wrap right after Thanksgiving, was extended for a few more weeks. But, given the complexity of adding material as you go on a show where none of the actors are in first position and filming has to be done around their existing schedules, I hear 20th TV at the end of last week decided to pause production so Hurwitz can review the footage already in the can and take his time figuring out the best way to incorporate the new arcs. Once he is done, the studio will begin working on securing the actors needed. Filming is tentatively slated to resume in late January. The producers have some breathing room as Netflix is targeting a spring premiere date for Arrested Development when it plans to make all episodes available at the same time.

“We are thrilled with the direction of the show, with the footage we have seen and with the relationship between Mitch, Imagine, 20th and Netflix,” a Netflix spokeswoman said. “At this time, we are not confirming or announcing the final episode count but we are sure fans will be thrilled when we do.”

Hairy situation

Speaking of Arrested Development, two of its leads, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, are producing and star in Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary, Mansome, which looks at what makes a man. Here's your first look at the trailer for the film.

Further Development

Fans of Arrested Development got some big news this week regarding the upcoming 4th(!) season that will air on Netflix. For more details on what we can expect and when we can expect it, here's a report from Vulture.com:

Doubters to the left: The Arrested Development reunion took another step toward reality on Tuesday when creator Mitch Hurwitz and several members of the cast appeared onstage together at a Netflix-sponsored event in Las Vegas (video now available here). Speaking on the floor of the National Association of Broadcasters convention, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos confirmed that all ten episodes of Arrested's long-awaited fourth season will premiere together on a single day sometime next year. Hurwitz also confirmed that production is set to begin this summer, but he also dropped a new nugget of information about what form the Arrested revival will take.

Originally, Hurwitz's plan had been to make the revival like an anthology, with each episode telling a somewhat self-contained story about a specific character. "That is now kind of evolving into becoming more like the old show again," Hurwitz told a packed house of conventioneers, who politely applauded the introduction of other Netflix offerings (such as David Fincher and Kevin Spacey's House of Cards), but exploded at the mention of Arrested and the arrival of cast members Will Arnett, David Cross, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter. The reason for the change: Hurwitz sees a chance to tweak the show's format to take advantage of the fact that the full ten-episode season will debut at once, rather than over two-and-a-half months. "There's something exciting about trying to break the form again," he said.

While Hurwitz didn't elaborate on just how he'll do this, he indicated it might be related to the way the writers deliver red herrings and other surprises to viewers (think back to season one, when Jason Bateman's girlfriend turned out to not be blind). "There's going to be some mystery sprinkled throughout this [but] instead of watching one a week and try to get ahead of it, the hope is [fans] will watch them all together and then go back and look for clues and connections," Hurwitz explained. "We'd also like to use the technology to provide additional material, where you might be able to access another part of the story." As for the fact that any big end-of-season twists will likely be floating around the interwebs within a few hours of the show's Netflix debut, Hurwitz doesn't seem too concerned, noting that movies (such as The Cabin in the Woods) have successfully battled a similar situation. Plus, he said, "It's comedy. The twists really aren't as important as the characters."

Hurwitz and the cast made no mention onstage of the rumored Arrested Development movie that's been expected to follow the TV revival. He did, however, say he'd very much be open to a season five or six on Netflix. "We would love this to be the first first of many visits," Hurwitz said. He also confirmed that Showtime, currently run by former Arrested exec producer David Nevins, had been in serious talks to acquire the show, but that ultimately Netflix offered a more interesting business model, as well as a base of already-loyal Arrested viewers. "The show's audience has grown over the last six years because of [viewers streaming it]," Hurwitz said. "It's been like putting jokes in a bottle and then having them come back years later to say, 'Ha ha.'"

A few other random notes from Tuesday's Netflix and Arrested session:

• Bob Loblaw will return. "We will bring him back," Hurwitz told Vulture when we asked a question from the studio audience. (Per Netflix's insistence, Hurwitz wasn't doing one-on-one chats). "It's kind of a one-joke thing. But if you guys don't mind bringing it back, we'll give it to you." (For the record, the audience reacted with strong applause to the idea of a Loblaw appearance in season four).

• Hurwitz mildly embarrassed Shawkat by reminding her that Cera was her first-ever kiss. "I've kissed a lot of people since then," Shawkat jokingly shot back.

RBR: The Change-Up

If you watched Freaky Friday and felt it needed more poop and sex jokes, then The Change Up is for you. This latest entry in the body swapping genre pairs Jason Bateman, as the over-worked dad and Ryan Reynolds as the carefree, crass bachelor. Credit goes out to both guys for being able to pull off a realistic switcheroo while avoiding doing simple imitations of the other. Each actor does a nice job of truly embodying the other. Aside from the tired premise, the film's major problem comes from ineffectively developing a proper arc for each of these characters. The whole reason to do such a movie is to have each person reevaluate their own life by enjoying the novelty of being someone else. However, the life that they initially establish for Ryan Reynolds character is so vulgar and irresponsible, that there's no way anyone, let alone the uptight character that Jason Bateman plays, would actually want that life. Ultimately Bateman's character just needs a vacation, not someone else's life. This proves to be true as his character doesn't really differ once he's back in his own body while Reynolds ends up getting to see the error of his ways and becomes a better person (who ends up getting Olivia Wilde in the end - not a bad deal at all). The body swapping formula works, which is why it keeps getting reused. Here, the emotion associated with their dilemma is felt and comes off genuine. I just wished they hadn't felt the need to be so crass in their humor. The jokes made by, about, or around children in this film are particularly troubling and were not needed. I can't say that I completely hated this film, but it's tough for me to fully recommend it either because of its problems. Guys will likely be turned off by the sentimentality while women won't care for the gross-out humor. If this film had been able to swap out some of its elements, perhaps it too could have been better off for it. Rating: ** 1/2