
Adult Swim created a new language for cartoons. From the style of animation (which combined old school cell animation with new digital technology) to the nonsense plots that would often run for fifteen minutes or less, it’s a formula that has become something of a standard – until then, animated shows often went The Simpsons route. Archer, the FX adult cartoon show, is a mixture of both, but with a lot of that Adult Swim style. It’s no surprise that creator Adam Reed also worked on Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Sealab 2021.
The show stars H. Jon Benjamin as Archer, the would-be Bond spy for ISIS, a spy organization run by his mother (Jessica Walter). There he works with fellow spy Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler), desk girls Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer) and Pam Poovey (Amber Nash), and with Lana’s former lover Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell). The show mixes spywork with the clash of office mates, most of whom are functionally insane. Our review of the second season of Archer on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Paramount Vantage has released the first trailer for Jeff, Who Lives at Home, the latest from Jay and Mark Duplass (Cyrus). Jason Segel stars as the titular character searching for the meaning of life: “A series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances.” As expected, the movie looks excellent. Segel has been poised for a breakout dramatic role for a while now, and he looks expertly cast in this “dramedy” from the immensely talented Duplass duo. Ed Helms seems to be in fine form as Segel’s slightly more successful brother, and the two have their fair share of dramatic and comedic moments. I’m very encouraged by what this trailer shows of Segel’s performance, and I can’t wait to see more.
The film also stars Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon. Jeff, Who Lives at Home is scheduled for release on March 2, 2012. Watch the trailer after the jump.

Because we know you can’t get enough of shortlist stories, we’ve got yet another line-up of actresses vying for a role. Today the film in question is the magician comedy Burt Wonderstone starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Deadline reports that Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Judy Greer, Sarah Silverman, and Jessica Biel are all on the short list for the female lead in the Las Vegas-centered comedy. The film tells the story of a Vegas magician (Carell) who is upstaged by a younger, more hip magician (Carrey) after breaking up with his partner. Nevermind that Carell and Carrey are the same age.
While all the actresses mentioned are find leading ladies in their own right, no one comes close to the comedic talents of Greer in my mind. She’s been shining in supporting roles left and right for years (just thinking about her stint on Arrested Development makes me crack a smile), and it’d be great to see her go toe-to-toe with Carell and Carrey. Jason Reitman was recently commissioned to do “several weeks worth” of work on the script, previously written by Horrible Bosses scribes John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

Two quick TV bits coming at you starting with news that Arrested Development and recent Two and a Half Men star Judy Greer is working on developing her own half-hour comedy series at ABC (via Deadline). Made of Honor screenwriters Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan are behind the script inspired by Greer’s real-life when she moved away from Los Angeles for the man she loves and found herself raising stepchildren and making new friends in a small suburban town. Yep, sounds like a standard sitcom to me.
This season of Chuck already has guest starts like Mark Hamill and Rebecca Romijn lined up, but now THR has learned that Bo Derek (Tommy Boy) will have a guest appearance on the final season of the series as well. Apparently Derek will be playing herself and she has a forbidden romance with one of the characters along with helping reveal some stunning secrets. What a tease! It sounds like this last season of Chuck is going to deliver a great finale for fans with plenty of pomp and circumstance.

“Just because we live in paradise, people think we’re somehow immune to life.” I’m paraphrasing a line from The Descendants because it sums up what the film is about more succinctly than I ever could. It was taken from George Clooney’s narration over the new trailer, which features scenes of discord amongst the King family against a backdrop of Hawaiian beauty. The new comedy/drama from director Alexander Payne (Sideways) was a hit with our editors at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and looks to continue the tradition of Payne’s unique storytelling style.
The Descendants stars Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, and Matthew Lillard. It opens in theaters on November 18th. Hit the jump for a new trailer and synopsis.

The Duplass Brothers’ Jeff, Who Lives at Home opens on a terrific note by bashing the silliness of M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. Unfortunately, that’s about as hilarious and insightful as Jeff gets. While the lead performances are solid and there are some funny jokes along the way, the film is saddled with a weak sub-plot and an even weaker subtext. Jeff, Who Lives at Home ends up revering what it originally mocked.

It may not feature angry 3D sharks, but Alexander Payne’s new film The Descendants might be a better movie. The film stars George Clooney as the “back-up” parent to two daughters. He must step up when his wife suffers a serious boating accident off of Waikiki, and then he learns the hard truth that she was cheating on him. Judging by the trailer, the flick looks to have the same strong character relationships tinged with humor and sadness as seen in Payne’s previous films.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Beau Bridges, and Robert Forster. The Descendants opens December 16th.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Judy Greer have joined Gerard Butler in Gabriele Muccino’s Playing the Field. The comedy centers on a former soccer star (Butler) who decides to coach his son’s little league soccer team, but ends up becoming the object of attraction for the town’s local women. 24 Frames reports that Zeta-Jones will play a vixen newscaster while Greer will play a hot-and-bothered housewife. The cast also includes Uma Thurman as another wife who’s attracted to Butler’s character, Dennis Quaid as Thurman’s husband, and Jessica Biel as Butler’s estranged wife. Additionally, The Kids Are All Right co-writer Stuart Blumberg recently came on to write a new draft of Rob Fox’s script. Filming on Playing the Field began shooting this week.
Hit the jump for casting news on the coming-of-age drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The new CBS comedy series Mad Love is about four New Yorkers, two who are falling in love, and another two who are forced to get to know each other, as a result. Ben (Jason Biggs) is a lawyer and hopeless romantic who meets the beautiful Kate (Sarah Chalke) by chance and instantly thinks she is the woman of his dreams. As they try to build a relationship, Ben’s best friend and co-worker Larry (Tyler Labine) and Kate’s roommate Connie (Judy Greer) begrudgingly have to spend a lot of time together and, even though they have a lot in common, neither can get past how much they despise the other.
During a recent press day to promote the show’s premiere, co-stars Jason Biggs, Sarah Chalke, Tyler Labine and Judy Greer talked about what sets Mad Love apart from other relationship sitcoms, collaborating together on this project, and how lucky they feel to be airing after How I Met Your Mother. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

The trailer for director Barry Blaustein’s Peep World has gone online. The comedy premiered at the Toronto International Film Fesival last year, where it was picked up by IFC Films. The film boasts an impressive cast that includes Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, Sarah Silverman, Ben Schwartz, Taraji P. Henson, Judy Greer, Kate Mara and Stephen Tobolowsky. It centers on four siblings who come together for their father’s 70th birthday following the publication of a novel written by the youngest sibling that exposes all of the family’s secrets. Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself.

When the the midseason kicks off in January, FX is bringing an all-new series and one returning series to the flickering box. Joining a line of successful dramas like Rescue Me, Justified and Sons of Anarchy, the cable network is sending the boxing drama Lights Out into the ring on Tuesday, January 11th at 10/9c. The series will see Holy McCallany (CSI: Miami) as Patrick ‘Lights’ Leary, an aging former heavyweight boxing champion who struggles to find his identity and support his wife and three daughters after retiring from the ring. The financial downturn coupled with a series of failed investments leave him at a perilous crossroads – battling the urge to return to boxing or reluctantly accepting a job as a brutal and intimidating debt collector. If you’re not convinced that this is yet another drama to check out in January, make sure you watch the trailer right here.
For details on the return of the comedy series Archer, hit the jump.

The dark comedy Barry Munday tells the story of a suburban ladies man (Patrick Wilson) who wakes up in the hospital after being attacked, only to realize that he is missing two of his most prized possessions. Then, on top of being down his testicles, he is faced with a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman (Judy Greer) that he can’t even remember having sex with. Realizing that this is his last chance to ever be a father, Barry Munday reaches out to Ginger Farley in his desire to embrace the unexpected journey of parenthood and become a better man.
At the film’s press day, co-stars Patrick Wilson and Judy Greer talked about how much they enjoyed creating such quirky characters, that this is a love story for modern times and that falling in love is way more fun than love at first sight. Wilson also revealed a bit about his next film, Insidious, and its new take on the haunted house genre, and Greer talked about Season 2 of her animated series Archer and her upcoming feature Love and Other Drugs. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

The first footage from director and Oscar winning producer Edward Zwick’s Love and Other Drugs has landed online. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway star in the rom-com which revolves around a Viagara salesman (Gyllenhaal) overcoming his history of sordid relationships so as to land a woman who suffers from Parkinson’s disease (Hathaway). While, here in The States, romantic comedies have the tendency to tread the line between terribly contrived and just plain terrible, the footage makes the film look at the very least watchable (putting it ahead of 80% of its peers already) and potentially quite good.
While you can look for a full theatrical trailer to open this weekend (I’m guessing it’s attached to Julia Roberts’ Eat, Pray, and Love so, by all means, proceed with caution), you can also hit the jump to check out the footage now. Co-starring alongside Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are Judy Greer, Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt, and Gabriel Macht. Love and Other Drugs is based on Jamie Reidy’s nonfiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagara Salesman and opens November 24th, 2010.

One of the most underrated new shows of last season in my humble opinion was FX’s animated spy comedy Archer. The best way to describe the show (to borrow a phrase from series creator Adam Reed) is “James Bond meets Arrested Development”. Given my adoration for the show, I jumped at the opportunity to meet and talk with Reed and cast members Judy Greer and Chris Parnell earlier today. Hit the jump for the interview highlights.

In case you weren’t aware, 20th Century Fox made a Marmaduke movie, and they assembled a pretty sizable cast to star/be voice actors in the film. Here’s the list: Emma Stone, Judy Greer, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kiefer Sutherland, Owen Wilson, Sam Elliott, Fergie (Stacy Ferguson), William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Steve Coogan and George Lopez.
While the film is clearly aimed at families and especially kids, with the cast featured, I thought some of you might want to check out some footage from the June 4th release. Hit the jump for 6 clips and the full synopsis.
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