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9 Things The Arrested Development Movie Must Include

The new Arrested Development installment starts filming this week, according to Deadline , more than six years after the beloved comedy was kicked off the air. We Bluth family loyalists have tried to keep the faith through the long years of false hope and thwarted movie speculation, and finally our patience has been rewarded. The Netflix series, which will set up an Arrested Development movie , has already done the heavy lifting of getting all of the actors, narrator-producer Ron Howard and series creator Mitch Hurwitz back in one place for at least part of the time. But that’s only one dealbreaker for fans. Here are nine more things the Arrested Development follow-up must include. 1. Getting back from Cabo Presumably Michael, George Michael and George, Sr. have spent the past six years hiding in Cabo from the rest of their family, establishing a Mexican arm of the Bluth banana stand empire while paying off the authorities to ignore their black-market cornballer business . But if they haven’t, we’d better see some explanation of how and why they decided to go back and how Michael got pulled back into his family’s drama. Perhaps this airport-set first look from the series’ start of filming, Tweeted by Jason Bateman himself, is a clue? First day. Away we go… http://t.co/ci8rXy78 — Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) August 07, 2012 2. Resolution for “Les Cousins Dangereux” When last we saw kissing cousins George Michael and Maeby, they had just discovered that her mother was adopted, making their forbidden flirtation almost OK. Then George Michael fled the country. Oh, and remember that time they accidentally got married? Here’s hoping those two crazy non-relatives finally make it work. 3. Incest is best George Michael and Maeby might be the show’s most palatable quasi-incestuous couple, but Arrested Development didn’t stop there with the inappropriately close family ties. Lucille’s relationship with “ Motherboy ” Buster was … codependent at best, even before Buster dated her friend, “Lucille 2.” And is it wrong that, ever since we found out that Lindsay was adopted, I’ve secretly kind of hoped that she and Michael end up together? But even putting the incest mostly aside, I’m hoping the new series follows Michael’s motto of … 4. “Family first.” My biggest hesitation with the Netflix series is that each episode will focus mostly on one character, “although some episodes may feature multiple characters,” Deadline reports. It’s understandable for casting and scheduling purposes, but the best parts of Arrested Development were watching the Bluths come together before tearing each other apart, over and over again. Even if it’s just two more yacht parties opening and closing the series, let’s hope that Hurwitz can get his scattered cast back in one place long enough to film a few good ensemble scenes. 5. George Bluth’s white-collar crime I am so very sad that the Bluth patriarch, ex-con and real-estate mogul for Saddam Hussein, was off the air during the financial crisis. Think of the missed opportunities for a Bluth Bank! I’ll be disappointed if George hasn’t bumbled into running at least one Ponzi scheme in the interim. 6. Tobias I don’t love the character, but the sexually confused never-nude was the vehicle for some of Arrested Development ’s funniest running gags. I can’t pick just one I want to see resurrected now — the denim cutoffs? “I just blue myself”? His life as an “analrapist”? At the very least, I’m hoping that recent current events and the Bluth family’s competitively-dysfunctional chicken dances come together for some quality Chick-fil-A jokes. 7. “The Final Countdown” Six years later, every time I hear the opening riff of this song in the background of sports event, I still expect to see GOB Bluth jump up on stage and screw up one of his “illusions.” You can’t not use “The Final Countdown” in any new Arrested Development project. That would be making a huge mistake. 8. All the guest stars Amy Poehler should be in everything, ever, and I hope she supports husband Will Arnett by reprising her role as GOB’s wife. But from Charlize Theron and Liza Minnelli to Carl Weathers and Judge Reinhold, Arrested Development always had the best roster of random guest stars, and I hope we see most of them again. 9. Inside-Hollywood baseball Arrested Development was never too worried about biting the hand that fed it, especially once Fox put it out to pasture, or wryly breaking the fourth wall to tell viewers about its chances for resurrection. (“HBO is not going to want us. What are we going to do now?” “Well, I think it’s Showtime.”) I expect lots more snarky industry in-jokes, up to and including … Bonus: “Next time, on Arrested Development .” Narrator Ron Howard always ended an Arrested Development episode by promising us more to come. Now the Netflix series takes us one step closer to the much-anticipated, long-delayed movie. By the time Howard records his final voiceover for the last Netflix episode’s coda, let’s hope he’s got even more concrete plans to share with us. Maria Aspan is a writer living in New York whose work has appeared in The New York Times , Reuters and American Banker . She Tweets and Tumbls . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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9 Things The Arrested Development Movie Must Include

Talkback: Who Wants Ben Affleck To Direct Justice League?

Ben Affleck ‘s come a long way since his 1998 Oscar co-win for Good Will Hunting , arguably the first time Hollywood stood up and took notice of the multi-hyphenate as more than just an actor; according to Variety, he’s now being sought after to direct WB’s Justice League , DC’s answer to Marvel’s billion-dollar rival franchise starter The Avengers . But even after the successes of modest-scale thrillers Gone Baby Gone and The Town , and with his buzzed-about forthcoming picture Argo poised for awards season, is the writer/producer/actor/director the right filmmaker to helm the superhero studio tentpole? Sources tell Variety that Affleck has been given the Justice League script as WB approaches him to direct, speculating further that he could additionally star in the pic. But take it all with a healthy grain of salt: Insiders tell Movieline that the report, while plausible, “is ridiculously vague and early.” That’s pretty much what the report sounds like, coming conspicuously just a day after Disney’s Bob Iger spilled the news that Joss Whedon will be coming back to helm Avengers 2 . So somebody out there wants to gauge public opinion, generate a little Justice League buzz, stir the pot. Given the mixed reaction rippling through the blogosphere today, consider that pot stirred. The question is, would Affleck make a good choice for the Justice League movie? Notwithstanding the possibility that he’d star while simultaneously helming an epic megamillion-dollar production with billions of box office, a multi-film franchise, and the fiscal fate of the studio on the line — really, would he? Would anyone? — maybe he’d only take one job at a time in this case. Just maybe. What Gone Baby Gone did to put Affleck on the map as a bona fide seriouspants filmmaker to be taken seriously — if emphasized moreso because nobody really expected it of the guy who starred in Gigli — The Town amplified with its gritty genre leanings. Argo looks to be his most ambitious directing project to date, advancing from tidy Boston-set thriller to multinational historical-political drama. Project by project, Affleck is fine-tuning his sensibilities, widening his reach and skillset with each progressive (and well-chosen) film. Based on his two features to date, Affleck’s a decent but promising director, adept at balancing ensembles and gritty material and great with his actors. The critical and commercial success of The Town most recently demonstrates what any studio with most superhero movies in the post- Batman Begins age is aiming for — the ability to deliver complex, acclaim-worthy material while satisfying audiences. Variety’s report adds more ambiguity to the mix by noting that Affleck is also considering an offer to topline Greg Berlanti’s Replay at Warners, a Groundhog Day -esque sci-fi drama about a man who dies only to wake up, able to live out different potential life paths over and over. Back in 2010 Affleck was reported to be mulling the project, based on Ken Grimwood’s 1987 novel, only then — on the heels of The Town — he was looking to direct. I see Affleck more likely to continue along this route, building a directing resume out of smaller, character-driven dramas for grownups. Then again, he’s already brought Superman to the big screen once before, donning the spandex for Hollywoodland . Should he do it again? [ Variety ]

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Talkback: Who Wants Ben Affleck To Direct Justice League?

REVIEW: Hope Springs Is Raw, Moving, And Horribly Forced, But Redeemed By Streep And Jones’ Bravura Performances

Hope Springs is not what it says on the package. The trailer is all comedy and quirk, but the movie is not. Let’s face it though, the premise is a hard sell. Films about old people are an anathema to mainstream Hollywood. Since the success of Cocoon  — which featured its over-50 cast rejuvenated by a swimming pool containing alien pods — movies featuring actors of a certain age are rare, and despite the success of Driving Miss Daisy , It’s Complicated and Meryl Streep’s last Oscar-winning vehicle, The Iron Lady , it is almost impossible to get a film made unless someone under 20 is pivotal to the script. Hope Springs  is even more thorny because it is about a particularly unattractive aspect of marriage: Not the falling in love and getting married aspect, or the falling out and getting divorced phase, but rather, the living inside of an unhappy marriage angle. Surely this has to be pretty special to sustain our interest. Despite having the odds stacked against it, Hope Springs  is, in parts, raw, moving, brave, audacious and painful thanks to the combined ability of Streep and Jones to commit fully to unhappy suburban mediocrity. Had the movie been made with two different lead actors, I surely believe the movie would have been unwatchable. Streep and Jones play  Kay and Arnold, who, after 31 years of marriage, are mired in a relationship that is a form of living death. He is sutured to Golf Tips  magazine and slavishly devoted to daily rituals. She follows him around with plates of food like a nurse. They sleep in separate rooms. There is no physical contact between them. They don’t even speak to each other anymore. For their wedding anniversary, they buy each other cable TV. While Arnold is grumpily in denial about the state of his marriage, Kay has the self-awareness to know she is unhappy. She browses Barnes & Noble, finds  a book called You Can Have The Marriage You Want and books a week’s worth of intensive marital counseling in Maine with the author Dr Feld (a deadly serious Steve Carell). She then gets on the plane alone and waits to see if her husband will fill the seat beside her. Begrudgingly, Arnold joins his wife, and, unleashing his inner curmudgeon, begins to bitterly complain about the cost of everything related to their therapeutic sojourn. It is in the sessions with Dr Feld  that the going really gets tough. From here on in, Hope Springs is like ripping off a series of well-stuck Band-Aids.  The pain is palpable as Kay and Arnold discuss the loss of intimacy and their sex life and admit to the loneliness and anger that each suffers. As you might expect, the couple do attempt to resurrect their sex life, but watching this was about as comfortable as contemplating my parents getting it on.  I was not alone either: these scenes provoked much nervous laughter at the screening I saw – and yet, the discomfort generated had much to do with the authentic performances that both actors give. Streep, as ever, is extraordinary. Her conviction to character makes Kay frumpy, vulnerable and not particularly bright. She is an ordinary woman without a whiff of glamour, and Streep conveys this with every hand gesture and facial expression. It is Jones’ performance that is the real revelation, however.  His character has the furthest distance to travel and watching him do this is at the core of this film’s heart — and its heartbreak. In contrast to the nuanced and powerful work of these two titans, Hope Springs suffers from simplistic framework and some heavy-handed signposting. The soundtrack desperately tries to lift us up where we belong. There are endless shots of watches and clocks — presumably to emphasize the passing or running-out of time. The aesthetic is also very obvious. The suburban drab shifts visually as soon as the couple reach Maine. Dr. Feld’s office floods with sunlight the minute the pair of them have a relationship breakthrough. Then again director David Frankel is not renowned for his subtlety. The representation of the all-American family in Marley and Me made me want to throw myself under a bus. Which leaves us where, exactly? Hope Springs  does authentically depict how scary and lonely it is to be inside a failing marriage, and anyone who has endured or witnessed the break-up of a long-term relationship will feel the sting here. In many respects, it’s a subject that deserves Hollywood’s attention and ours as well.  Lately, movie audiences have been inundated with younger couples on celluloid that can’t make it past six years  ( Celeste and Jesse Forever) or even six months ( Ruby Sparks ).  The long run is relatively untapped territory and arguably much more interesting. But  Hope Springs does not keep its eye on the prize. The movie is an unsatisfying combination of touching and excruciating, and a large part of the problem stems from Frankel’s attempt to hammer such serious and sensitive subject matter into a half-hearted comedy. Despite Streep and Jones’ honest, moving performances, the movie’s tone is horribly forced — so much so that by the time Annie Lennox’s poignant “Why?” played on the soundtrack, I felt like wailing along with her. Follow Lorien Haynes on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

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REVIEW: Hope Springs Is Raw, Moving, And Horribly Forced, But Redeemed By Streep And Jones’ Bravura Performances

ALF Heads To Sony Animation; Jeffrey Dahmer Doc Heads To Theaters: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Kick-Ass 2 eyes an addition to its cast. The Katzenbergs will receive honors from a Gay group, and the Directors Guild of America appoints a new exec. Daniel G. Bush Named to D.G.A. Post Directors Guild of America National Executive Director Jay D. Roth announced today that Daniel G. Bush has joined the executive staff of the Directors Guild of America as an Assistant Executive Director. Bush will focus on areas related to representation, contract enforcement and organizing, in a newly-created position designed to enhance the Guild’s efforts in these areas. He will report to Associate National Executive Director/Western Executive Director Bryan Unger. The Jeffrey Dahmer Files Heads to Theaters Chris James Thompson’s documentary on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been picked up by IFC Midnight, the genre label of IFC Films. The film explores Milwaukee and those who knew Dahmer during and after his hidden spree. Recollections from Milwaukee Medical Examiner Jeffrey Jentzen, Police Detective Patrick Kennedy, and neighbor Pamela Bass are interwoven with archival footage and everyday scenes from Dahmer’s life, working collectively to disassemble the facade of an ordinary man leading an ordinary existence. The deal for the film was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of the filmmakers. Around the ‘net… ALF Heads to Sony Animation The studio has acquired rights to the 1908s television sitcom. ALF (Alien Life Form) revolves around a friendly alien creature who crash landed on Earth and moved in with a suburban family and finds trouble with government forces on his trail, THR reports . Donald Faison Eyes Kick-Ass 2 Faison is in negotiations to join the sequel of the super-hero pic to play the role of the baseball bat wielding masked character who fights alongside Kick-Ass, Deadline reports . Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg to Receive Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network Honors GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network will fete the Katzenbergs with the Lifetime Achievement Award. White Collar ‘s Matt Bomer and his partner, Slate PR’s Simon Halls will take the group’s “Inspiration Award” during the October 5th event, THR reports .

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ALF Heads To Sony Animation; Jeffrey Dahmer Doc Heads To Theaters: Biz Break

Carla Gugino on Every Day, Sucker Punch and Fond Memories of ALF

Here’s the thing about Carla Gugino: If you’re not paying close attention to the actress in this role or that character, there’s a chance that you may not even realize that it’s her. The same Gugino who portrays a free-spirited, needy television writer in the new release Every Day also plays the tough-as-nails, no-nonsense Amanda Daniels on Entourage . And that’s not even mentioning her following in the realm of fanboys for her roles as Sally Jupiter in Watchmen and her upcoming role as Madam Gorski in Zack Snyder’s March release, Sucker Punch . Not surprisingly, the sultry star likes it that way.

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Carla Gugino on Every Day, Sucker Punch and Fond Memories of ALF

Who is Cheryl Cole? Ask Jeeves’ Most Searched Celebrity of the Year!

Because this is the slowest news week ever , things like British “star” Cheryl Cole topping Ask Jeeves’ most searched celebrity list is not only worthy of a blog entry, it’s also awesome . Or maybe just to me. Regardless! “This has been the year of Cheryl Cole. She’s head and shoulders above any other celebrity subject on our website,” said an Ask Jeeves spokeswoman . “The interest shown in her has been phenomenal.” Which begs the question: Who is Cheryl Cole?

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Who is Cheryl Cole? Ask Jeeves’ Most Searched Celebrity of the Year!

PIC: Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker Move Into Williamsburg

ALF’s Shocking N-Bomb — Producer Says ‘No Big Deal’

In the midst of a racist N-bomb scandal — former 80s sitcom star ” ALF ” is finding support from one of the show’s main producers … who claims the cat-eater’s comments were not meant to be offensive. In case you missed it, a shocking outtake reel from… Read more

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ALF’s Shocking N-Bomb — Producer Says ‘No Big Deal’

ALF’s Shocking N-Bomb — Producer Says ‘No Big Deal’

In the midst of a racist N-bomb scandal — former 80s sitcom star ” ALF ” is finding support from one of the show’s main producers … who claims the cat-eater’s comments were not meant to be offensive. In case you missed it, a shocking outtake reel from… Read more

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ALF’s Shocking N-Bomb — Producer Says ‘No Big Deal’

Lost ALF Bloopers Feature Terrible Racist Slurs