Was it six years of anticipation for a fourth season of Arrested Development or was it desire?  If it was the former, we saw possibilities beyond the show’s ending.  If it was the latter, we simply didn’t want the show to end, and we would accept it any form.  “Maybe a movie,” Ron Howard suggests at the close of the third season when Maeby (Alia Shawkat) pitches her family’s story as a TV series.  Now the show has returned for a fourth season that is radically different from anything we’ve seen on television (perhaps the closest cousin being the time-travel season on Lost).  What begins as a brilliant new approach to storytelling on television becomes a season that demands a chart to follow the crisscrossing plotlines that begin to get in the way of enjoying the show’s humor.  Thankfully, despite the heavy weight of the show’s ambition, Arrested Development is as funny and clever as past seasons.  But this time, it may be too clever for its own good.

After seven years and a small case of cancellation, Arrested Development will return in two weeks.  Netflix has released the first trailer for Season 4, and the show looks as hilarious as ever.  As excited as all AD fans are, there was always the fear of “What if the show can’t meet expectations?”  I always felt that Season 3 went out on a high note, and that a fourth season could jeopardize the strong finish.  But judging by this trailer, Arrested Development fans have nothing to fear.  The weirdness, sight gags, wordplay, and more are back.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The show stars Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter.  All 15 episodes premiere on Netflix at midnight on May 26th.

Much to the surprise and joy of every Arrested Development fan, the Emmy Award-winning comedy series following the wildly eccentric and entertainingly dysfunctional Bluth family is back with 15 new episodes debuting on Netflix on May 26^th.  After having seen the first episode, I can say that the show is as twisted and funny as ever, and feels like it hasn’t missed a beat in the seven years since the last episode aired.  From creator/writer Mitch Hurwitz, the series stars Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor and Jessica Walter.

During a recent press conference to promote the 15 new episodes, co-stars Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter talked about how great it’s been to reunite with each other, the possibility of a movie still being made, what it was like to return to these roles after so many years, how often fans throw quotes at them when they’re out, how complicated the episodes were to shoot, and just how many scenes the Bluth family is in together.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) may be lending his voice to character in an upcoming animated feature from Walt Disney Animation.  Directed by Byron Howard (Tangled), the logline on the project is being kept under wraps, but appears to be an animal comedy of some sort.  The picture has no release date at the moment.  This would mark the first feature voice role for Bateman and could be the first solo directing job for Howard, who co-directed both Bolt and Tangled.  Hit the jump for more.

The first clip from the new batch of Arrested Development episodes has landed online, and it appears that the relationship between Tony Hale’s Buster and Jessica Walter’s Lucille hasn’t changed a bit.  The clip provides a tiny hint as to what Lucille has been up to since the events of the season three finale, but mainly it just showcases the series’ wonderful sense of humor that’s been sorely missing from our lives for far too long.  Additionally, Netflix has released a new batch of character posters for the new episodes that features the entire cast along with some rather familiar taglines.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and posters, and if you missed the EW covers and new images from yesterday, click here.  Netflix will release all 15 new episodes of Arrested Development at once on May 26th.

New episodes of Arrested Development are now just a month away (so close yet so far!), and in anticipation of the Bluths’ return, the show’s cast graces the covers of this week’s Entertainment Weekly.  We get a peek at everyone’s favorite dysfunctional family back together again, as three separate covers feature Gob, Michael and George Michael, Tobias, Lindsay and Maeby, and George Sr. and and Lucille respectively.  The publication has also released two new images from the upcoming batch of episodes, which show Tony Hale’s Buster returning to Army and Michael Cera’s George Michael getting his Segway on at what looks to be a college campus.

Hit the jump to check out the new images and EW covers.  15 new episodes of Arrested Development will be released at the same time on Netflix on May 26th.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  Disconnect opens today in limited release.]

Modern technology has radically changed the way we interact socially. Go stand in a line, and I guarantee at least a few people will have whipped out their smartphones and are happily ignoring the world around them. We don’t call anymore; we text as if that were the same as a discussion. As author, psychologist, and MIT professor Sherry Turkle recently noted in a New York Times editorial this past April, “we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.” Henry Alex Rubin‘s Disconnect ignores this contemporary issue, and sacrifices worthwhile social commentary for mere cautionary tales. Disconnect has all the dramatic weight of a driver’s education video, but then pads its thin plots with three loosely-connected narratives, two of which feature character actions so ludicrous that the movie becomes almost completely disconnected from reality.

The dramatic thriller Disconnect shows how ordinary people struggle to find personal connection in today’s world where modern technology is so readily available, and it can both unite and divide us.  While the stories of strangers, neighbors and colleagues collide, the technology that we so often rely upon proves that it can result in unforeseen consequences for those around us.  From first-time narrative feature director Henry-Alex Rubin, the film stars Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgard and Max Thieriot.

During a press conference to promote the film’s release, Bateman talked about his attraction to this very dramatic role as a father who can’t find the time to communicate with his family, how he got into the headspace for this character, which scene he was most worried about shooting, how he feels about technology at home, how he handles the issue of cyber-bullying with his own kids, and what he hopes audiences will take away from seeing this film.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Nine teaser posters for Season 4 of Arrested Development have been released. The iconography and one-liners are arguably more well-known than the plotlines when it comes to the series.  The show was built on inside jokes, which is probably one of the things that halted new viewership, especially since time-shifting and (legal) digital downloads were still in their infancy.  Now Arrested Development is returning to a brave new world where all of the episodes will be premiering at the same time, but judging by these posters, beloved gags will still get their due.  I especially like how these are all character posters but they don’t feature the actor, and some don’t even have the character’s name.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and the status of the movie according to David Cross and Jason Bateman.  All 15 episodes of Arrested Development season 4 premiere on Netflix on May 26th.

Aaanndd… they’re back!  Made at around $35 million and grossing north of $209 million worldwide, it’s no joke calling Seth Gordon‘s 2011 workplace comedy Horrible Bosses a hit.  Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudikis as down-trodden buds who plot to kill their maniacal bosses, studio New Line justifiably wanted a sequel despite the premise feeling somewhat sequel proof.  Well, when there’s a will, there’s a way as the principal cast will return for Horrible Bosses 2.  Though when that will involves hefty sums of money for the film’s stars, sometimes everyone involved has to wait.  And now, after more than a half a year of negotiations things look bright for more “boss-bashing.”  Hit the jump for more.

LD Entertainment has released the trailer and poster for the drama Disconnect.  The film follows three loosely connected stories: one relates to online bullying, another deals with identity theft, and the third is about a reporter trying to save a young man who does sex-cam shows.  I caught the film at TIFF, and thought it was a cheap PSA that wasted the opportunity to show the complexities of online connection in the 21st century.  If you’re still interested in the film, the trailer shows way too much, and takes you deep into the third act.

And if all of that doesn’t bother you, hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgard, and Max Thieriot.  Disconnect opens in limited release on April 12th.

For those who have been closely following the progress of the new Arrested Development episodes on Netflix, the following probably won’t come as too big a shock, but it has been confirmed that upcoming fourth season of the show will be the only batch of new episodes produced for the streaming giant.  The formulation of this new season was a herculean task of scheduling given the series’ large ensemble cast, but somehow creator Mitch Hurwitz pulled it off and fans are keeping their fingers crossed that the upcoming fourth season lives up to the incredibly high expectations.

Hit the jump for more on why Netflix is only producing one season of the series and how the upcoming episodes fit into the overall plan for Arrested Development’s resurrection. 

The feature film adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s novel This is Where I Leave You is picking up some steam.  The project was initially gearing up to begin production last spring under director Adam Shankman with an ensemble cast that included Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, Leslie Mann, Malin Akerman, and Jason Sudeikis, but Shankman subsequently exited the project and casting deals were never completed, so movement stalled.  Shawn Levy came onboard to direct last fall, and now Bateman is back on the project as the search to fill out the rest of the cast begins in anticipation of a May or June production start date.

The book tells the story of a dysfunctional family that is forced to reunite when their father requests they sit Shivah for seven days following his death, and the feature film adaptation has attracted a great deal of talent, with Harry Potter director David Yates previously flirting with the project.  Hit the jump to find out which actresses are currently testing for roles opposite Bateman.

The most remarkable thing about Identity Thief is how a movie this dumb could keep insulting its audience’s intelligence.  Aside from being a comedy with no laughs, screenwriter Craig Mazin rests almost his entire plot on coincidences, and one-dimensional characters.  The comic talents of stars Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy are absolutely wasted on a limp road movie that gets lazier and more tiresome with every passing moment.  The best joke the film can conjure is a punch to the throat, which would almost be preferable to sitting through this chore of a picture.

Identity Thief is the new comedy from director Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and screenwriter Craig Mazin (The Hangover 2), that follows what happens to a regular guy when he is forced to extreme measures to clear his name after a woman who loves to live it up steals his identity and ruins his life. When Sandy Bigelow Patterson (Jason Bateman) is accused of a series of crimes, the innocent man realizes that a woman named Diana (Melissa McCarthy) is using his ID to do and buy whatever strikes her fancy, and decides to track the woman down and confront her, in order to get his life and name back.

At the film’s press day, Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy participated in a press conference where they talked about what made Seth Gordon the right guy to direct this, playing a horrible character that you still want audiences to sympathize with, some of the craziness that happened with the stunts, just how far they’ll go for comedy, getting stir crazy in a cramped little car for much of the film, and their worst horrible boss experiences.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.