Paul stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristin Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen.  The film plays at SXSW on March 13th and opens nationwide on March 18th.

Via @MondoNews

The Switch
Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Adaptation is a difficult art. Stay too faithful and you’ll wind up importing elements not appropriate to the new form, but stray too far and you’ll annoy proponents of the original. While the latter approach has probably resulted in a greater volume of good films, the sadly predictable rom-com The Switch – based on a New Yorker-published short story by Jeffrey Eugenides entitled “The Baster” – is in desperate need of a dose of its source material’s wrenching human feeling.

Jason Bateman, whose post-Arrested Development career has consisted almost entirely of awful movies, actually delivers one of his most effective performances as Wally, a hangdog stockbroker who harbors a secret longing for longtime friend and one-way confidant Cassie (Jennifer Aniston). When Cassie announces that she’s given up on looking for a suitable life partner, instead preferring to look for a sperm donor, he reacts as he always done: mild disdain followed by polite acceptance. A drunken mishap at her conception party results in Wally discarding the actual donor’s goods and replacing it with his own. Having conveniently forgotten the incident thanks to the booze – a lazy bit of screenwriting – Wally tries his best to but her out of his mind after she leaves town to raise the child, but when she returns seven years later, he can’t help but notice that the kid seems weirdly familiar.

The Switch has far more going for it than it should. Bateman is the movie’s most obvious coup – he brings Wally’s regret and cynical distance palpably to life, particularly in the post-”incident”, pre-reunion portion of the film, which features an agonizingly depressing blind date. The movie also boasts a nicely wry comic turn from Jeff Goldblum as Wally’s friend and co-worker, though their relationship is annoyingly arbitrary. Between them, they manage to wring a surprising number of laughs from the film’s horribly contrived scenarios. (On the other hand, Cassie is so free of any distinguishable characteristics at all that Aniston just has to show up.)

Unfortunately, no amount of refreshing humor can offset the fact that every single moment of The Switch follows the rom-com playbook to the letter – from the Thing Keeping Our Leads Apart to the Handsome, Perfect Other Man (in this case, original donor Patrick Wilson, also doing his best) to the Tearful Reconciliation, with familiar stops along the way (Omniscient Child, Life Lessons, Crap Narration). In fact, the last five minutes revert to form so harshly that it actually seems to have been imported from the 1950s. The Switch is one of those rare instances where everyone involved seems to know better – including directors Gordon and Speck, also responsible for the pretty-funny Blades of Glory – and are powerless to do anything about it.

Simon Howell

Formally known as “The Baster,” The Switch stars Jennifer Aniston stars alongside Jason Bateman in this offbeat comedy as Kassie, a smart, fun—loving single woman who, despite her neurotic best friend Wally’s (Bateman) objections, decides it’s time to have a baby—even if it means doing it by herself… with a little help from a charming sperm donor (Patrick Wilson). But, unbeknownst to her, Kassie’s plans go awry because of a last—minute switch that isn’t discovered until seven years later when Wally finally gets acquainted with Kassie’s cute—though slightly neurotic—son. From the people behind “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Juno” comes “The Switch,” due in theaters this summer.

“Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz and his co-executive producer James Vallely are working on a screenplay for the long-debated feature version of their short-lived Fox series…Hurwitz would also direct the Fox Searchlight feature.”

The groundbreaking series launched the career of future Juno star Michael Cera (a newcomer at that point) as well as making a household name of Toronto, ON native Will Arnett.  The series was also spiced up with the inclusion of foul-mouthed comedian David Cross, veteran actor Jason Bateman, and the terrific Larry Sanders Show alumni Jeffrey Tambor.  Arrested Development was unique because the half-hour sitcom format was altered by altering conventions like  eliminating the laugh track.  The series also followed a narrative arc from show to show, and utilized a “pseudo-documentary format.”.  The series followed the misadventures of the Bluth family.  The family never seemed to get anything in their offbeat lives right, due to their own eccentricities and the troubles that never ceased to plague them.

The characters were fresh and full of wonderful quirks, especially from Cross and Tambor.  The show effectively mixed slapstick with subtle, sometimes surreal humour.  The series only lasted three seasons, despite its “cult following”, which did not translate into large ratings for Fox.

With this feature film, Hurwitz has the opportunity to make a fresh and fun comedy; it will be interesting to see what is done when the film is made without the restrictions TV put on it terms of language and content.  Hurwitz showed integrity when he “said that he wouldn’t start writing a film unless all the main actors…were committed”  He was unwilling to make a lame film that did not live up to the standards of the series just for the money.  Hurwitz understands that the success of the writing relies on the unique chemistry of all the characters.  This film has the potential to be one of the better comedies in recent memory.  Here’s hoping it does not let us down.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Arrested+Development+movie+script+works/2067461/story.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148418/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004715/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000867/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_%28TV_series%29

Aside from that fact, it’s a just plain funny trailer, and it’s so great to see Beavis and Butthead again.  I never understood why their feature film Beavis and Butthead Do America never merited a sequel; directors Mike Judge and Yvette Kaplan took characters who we had previously seen only in 2-5 minute vignettes and made an unrepentantly silly and fun feature film out of it.  A 63 million dollar domestic total gross on a 12 million dollar production budget is a pretty good return on an investment.  I guess Mike Judge wanted to move on to other projects such as writing, producing, and voicing the underrated, satirical, and sly King of the Hill animated series. Extract comes out September 4th.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115641/

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beavisandbuttheaddoamerica.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118375/

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810039594/video/15335690

The trailer for the Ricky Gervais written and directed comedy The Invention of Lying (orginaly titled The Other Side of the Truth)look to be promising.  With a great cast (that includes Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Christopher Guest, Jason Bateman, and Jenifer Garner) this film looks conventional enough to attract a mainstream audience while still keeping that trademark Gervais humor.  The film takes place in a world where no one has ever told a lie, until of course a writer (Gervais) takes full advantage of this world for personal gain.  It opens wide on September 25th.

Hot off the heels of a big critical success with Adventureland, Greg Mattola’s upcoming Simon Pegg and Nick Frost sci-fi comedy Paul has gotten a lot more interesting.  Variety reports that a ridiculous quantity of talent has now been added to the project: Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, Bill Hader, and the glorious Kristen Wiig. Pegg and Frost play a pair of conspiracy theory nerds who find their way into area 51 on a road trip. They meet an escaped alien (the title character and voiced by Rogen) and I’m almost certain that some very British hilarity will ensue. The script is by the comic dynamic duo themselves following 2007’s Hot Fuzz.  So my anticipation is growing steadily.  Greg Mattola appears to be on quite a streak with comedy, let’s hope us it continues.

FYI: Adventureland will be released on DVD/Blue ray August 25.  It’s a must see.

There has been talk of a possible Anchorman 2 for more than a year now but Will Farrell has confirmed with radio’s Jono & Dano that next week there will be a meeting involving him, Steve Carrel, and Paul Rudd to finalize negotiations.  This is as good a sign as any that the sequel is a definite go.  A trade announcement should be around the corner. Ahh yes, a little more Ron Burgundy can make the world a better place.

Al Pacino tapped to play Dr. Kevorkian in HBO teleplay.  Barry Levinson is also in board to direct. Adam Mazer (Breach) wrote the script loosely based on “Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Assisted Suicide Machine and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia” by Neal Nicol.  Pacino looks creepy enough for the part I guess.  Ben Kinsley was once attached to the project, now that would have been more interesting.

Anthony Nicholas