We just featured a review of Morgan Spurlock’s documentary about Comic-Con, but the Super Size Me filmmaker already has another movie in the can. This one is called Mansome, and it’s about male grooming. If that sounds a bit too weird of a documentary for you to watch, maybe the list of people who appear in the film will change your mind: Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Judd Apatow, Adam Carolla, John Waters, and some members of the rock bands ZZ Top and Anthrax. More below.

I know that films like this aren’t necessarily in our key demographic here at Filmonic, but the involvement of Spurlock and the A-list talent he’s locked down for this one at least warranted a mention. Also worth noting – former (and future!) “Arrested Development” co-stars Will Arnett and Jason Bateman have formed a production company together called DumbDumb, and they’ll be executive producing this movie. Variety says Mansome opens at the Tribeca Film Festival this month, and will receive a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles on May 18th.

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Horrible Bosses is now available to pre-order from Amazon on: DVD | Blu-ray

New Line and Warner Home Entertainment will release Horrible Bosses on DVD and Blu-ray October 11th, 2011, with the “Totally Inappropriate Edition” offering a new 106-minute-long extended version.

The movie, released in July, has made $170 million worldwide and stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudekis as best buds who plot to kill each of their bosses (played by Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, and Colin Farrell).

Here are the Blu-ray features:

- My Least Favorite Career
- Surviving A Horrible Boss
- Being Mean Is So Much Fun
- Deleted Scenes
- Making of the Horrible Bosses soundtrack

Horrible Bosses is now available to pre-order from Amazon on: DVD | Blu-ray

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It’s more rated-R hijinx at theaters with Horrible Bosses. And here’s what the feature gets right:

Jennifer Aniston is finally doing something different (and sexy). Jason Bateman’s face looks as if he was constipated during the entire shoot. Charlie Day is put in a position where he can do what he does best. When you add in the all-star cast of cameos and supporting players, the audience should be able to settle in for a Harlem Globetrotters type performance…
Too bad they get the Washington Generals. (Conclude positives)

This comparison has been used before somewhere in my history of reviews, but this is 93 minutes of a comedian struggling on stage. The failsafe? Start swearing and being all angry during every scene. That practice worked out well for Michael Richards and Tracy Morgan didn’t it?

“Oh my God this sucks” says one of the three leads about halfway through when they realize they aren’t able to pull off the caper in killing each other’s bosses (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell & Jennifer Aniston). And I couldn’t agree more. Sure there’s a few “shots of intelligence” in this over-blown skit. And seeing Jennifer Aniston loosen up (pun intended) was actually one of the highlights. (What does that tell you?)

The assembling of Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day and Jason Bateman looks great on paper. Sudeikis and Day were dynamite together in last year’s Going the Distance. Wedging Bateman between these two turned out to be a worthless ploy. Bateman looks out of place this time around and you can see it in his face (and during the outtakes in the credits) that he’s not sure why he’s here. Being a fan of Charlie Day’s approach (again, really dug him in Going the Distance), director Seth Gordon flaunts too much of him, riddling him to an annoyance rather than an anticipated punch-line. Everyone here is also mumbling through their lines, too. The only lines they truly nail are ironically when coke is involved. The Vegas wake-up drug comes into play because Colin Farrell’s balding; short-sleeve wearing douche-bag persona is addicted to it. Sadly, this angle, along with his talents, goes to waste due to limited screen time. In fact, all his funny scenes are in the trailer.

Kevin Spacey plays a corporate president, who is drunk with power, and believes it’s a privilege for others to be in his presence. When he’s mercilessly riding Bateman’s character, things look promising; but where the comedy is heading is always predictable. Everything is telegraphed minutes before the gag happens throughout this fast-moving, unbalanced misfire. This can be tolerated if the dialogue is timed correctly. Timing blunders become evident when the hit man angle is explored. Ioan Gruffudd, while a solid actor is not a cameo draw. His sequence with the boys comes across unrehearsed and shallow. The main cameo is completely wasted unless you put stock into giving someone a funny name and then repeating it over-and-over again.

And that’s the source of the problem with this piece; jokes are too articulate (like my reviews at times) and/or dragged out way too long. There’s a nice and relatable concept with taking out your boss, yet the writers fail to capture the over-the-top fun in doing so. Acting on these realistic notions worked in flicks like Hall Pass and Old School. HB is trying to stay within the novice approach the unskilled characters would naturally have and for continuity reasons, it makes sense. I guess what it boils down to is that this college-dorm room planning tale just came across as lame.

Overall, Horrible Bosses missed an opportunity to advance itself. The staff behind this annoying, tedious product was under-qualified to handle the exceptional talent at their disposal. To be fair though, some of the employees missed the mark on their characters, too. My father always used to tell me (still does actually ha-ha) “work first, play later.” With regards to this messy execution, these guys clearly switched the first and third words around.

RATING: 1.5 out of 5

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Two months after we see Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern we will see the actor swapping lives with Jason Bateman in The Change-Up.

In the movie, directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) and written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (The Hangover), single guy Mitch (Reynolds) and overworked lawyer Dave (Bateman) embark on drunken night out together, and end up switch bodies and lives after urinating in a fountain (it’s a comedy, and therefore doesn’t need to make sense).

The first red band trailer has appeared online, and you can watch it below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Growing up together, Mitch (Reynolds) and Dave (Bateman) were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they’ve slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann), kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch’s stress free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true.

Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave’s worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other’s bodies and proceed to freak the &*#@ out.

Despite the freedom from their normal routines and habits, the guys soon discover that each other’s lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed. Further complicating matters are Dave’s sexy legal associate, Sabrina (Olivia Wilde), and Mitch’s estranged father (Alan Arkin). With time not on their side, Mitch and Dave comically struggle to avoid completely destroying each other’s lives before they can find a way to get their old ones back.

The Change-Up will be released August 5th, 2011.

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While Paul is not the third entry into the infamous Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s third cinematic team-up is almost as enjoyable as their previous collaborations. Let’s face it: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are both awesome movies, and without Edgar Wright behind the camera to complete the triumvirate, one might assume that another director stepping into the situation would be a bit intimidated to work with such a close-knit group. Not the case for Superbad and Adventureland director Greg Mottola, who, while not matching Wright’s unique dynamism, imbues Paul with his own pacing and comedy sensibilities that ultimately results in a very enjoyable moviegoing experience.

The story follows Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), two geeky British comic book creators who travel to America to go on a road trip to see their favorite alien hot spots across the country. Along the way, they discover an actual alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) and go on the run from Agent Zoil (Bateman), a “man in black” tasked with hunting the alien down. Pegg and Frost’s influence is felt all over this film and keeps with their signature style of slightly mocking a genre, paying homage to it, and adding an exciting new entry to its ranks all at the same time. This is one that movie geeks will love in the same way that gamers and pop culture nerds loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; there are so many references to other movies (alien, road trip, and otherwise) that I could spend an entire post listing all of them.

The CG work for Paul’s alien body was surprisingly impressive, never aiming for “realism,” per se, but always remaining fluid and true to the character. And speaking of the character, Paul was hilarious. He’s a smoking foul-mouthed version of E.T., embracing (and at times contributing to) human pop culture in a way that makes his character almost pleasant among all the cursing and drinking. Honestly, Paul himself was the character about whom I had the biggest doubts going in, but Seth Rogen – an actor yet to give a truly excellent performance in my opinion – did a fantastic job with the voice work and really gave the alien an extra spark of life that would be hard for many other actors to replicate.

The movie featured smaller roles for a lot of people we’ve seen in comedy before. Kristen Wiig is charming as the extremist Christian whose world is turned upside down with the discovery of extraterrestrial life (her character also doubles as Pegg’s love interest and provides a bit of conflict between Pegg and Frost). Sigourney Weaver has a small cameo as the determined head of the government agency looking for Paul. Bill Hader (“SNL”) and Joe Lo Truglio (Superbad) play rookie agents tagging along with Bateman, David Koechner (Anchorman) and Jesse Plemons (TV’s “Friday Night Lights”) are a couple of redneck homophobes that become bitter enemies to our heroes, and Jeffrey Tambor (“Arrested Development”) has a small role as a self-centered comic creator the guys meet at Comic-Con.

Speaking of Comic-Con, the movie has the best depiction of the convention I’ve ever seen on screen. It’s such an accurate representation of what it’s like, and though the movie wasn’t actually shot at the convention, it could have fooled me. I had a chance to attend my first Comic-Con last year with the guys and girls at GeekTyrant (check out all our coverage here), and Paul not only captured the physical accuracy of the convention center and surrounding areas but also the giddy feeling of excitement it provides – geeking out as only geeks can.

If I have any qualms with the movie, it’s that the story was a bit predictable at times. Due to personal bias, I’m more willing to forgive predictability with movies that embrace fun than ones that aim for seriousness, so this wasn’t as big of a turn off for me as it most assuredly will be for some. To me, the comedy and the heart are the most important parts of this movie, and they hit on all the right beats. A lot of people will find the anti-Christian overtones to be a bit off-putting, but aside from that one issue, I think the entire film has an infectious enthusiasm to it – all of the protagonists are extremely likeable and Pegg and Frost’s writing makes it very easy to root for them. The pacing was solid, with no scene dragging on too long and the action moving quickly across different locations to keep things visually interesting.

Paul is a great entry into the ranks of the Pegg-Frost collaborations, and a new high point in Greg Mottola’s career alongside Superbad. This movie will undoubtedly put smiles on the faces of movie lovers across the country as they take an insane road trip with these characters that ends at the absolute perfect location. Until next time…

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We finally have our first look at Paul, which was originally going to be released this year but got pushed back to February 2011. The film stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman and Sigourney Weaver, and follows two British comic book geeks (Pegg and Frost) who go on a road trip through America. On the way, they discover an alien named Paul (voiced by Rogen) at Area 51 who needs their help.

The film is directed by Superbad director Greg Mottola so fans of that type of comedy should be looking forward to this, as will fans of Pegg and Frost’s earlier work in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

This teaser, which you can watch below, doesn’t really show us anything wildly hilarious, but that may come with future trailers and the inevitable red band one. In this case the cast is a good enough reason to be interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMzsQzRFXqc

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It’s Michael versus Tobias as Arrested Development stars Jason Bateman and David Cross have conflicting reports regarding the status of a big-screen follow-up to the fantastic comedy series.

Arrested Development began airing in 2003, and ran for three seasons before it was cancelled by Fox in 2006 (the final season being rather abruptly cut short). It was one of those shows with an incredibly strong fanbase, but it failed to gain a large audience on par with something like The Office. It was a phenomenal series, and is well worth checking out if you’ve never seen it before. Although, as its number of viewers has perhaps pointed out – it just might not be for everyone.

Talk of a movie has been around since its cancellation, and reached a peak late last year when it was confirmed that creator Mitch Hurwitz was working on a script, and that most of the main cast wanted to return. But there has been a back-and-forth between the show’s stars as to whether the film will get made or not. Will Arnett (G.O.B. on the show) stated a few months ago that shooting would start this year.

However – two weeks ago, David Cross (pictured above, in blue) dashed these hopes by making the definitive comment: “It’s just not going to happen.”

And now, Jason Bateman (who plays Michael, the show’s “central” character) has jumped in with this, from the LA Times:

“David says that it’s dead, but it’s not dead at all,” Bateman said in an interview Friday while promoting “The Switch,” a romantic comedy out in August in which he costars with Jennifer Aniston. “[Show creator] Mitch Hurwitz is busy shooting a new pilot with Will Arnett, and perhaps when they’re done shooting and editing and he’s delivered that, perhaps he’ll jump into writing the script. Once the script is done, it goes to the studio and they decide if it’s a script they want to make, and the actors will decide if they want to be in it.”

Which is all to say?

“It’s a long process. But it could happen and it’s still in everybody’s plans for it to happen.”

As for Cross’ remarks, Bateman thinks his former costar’s words may have been blown out of proportion.

“I think he was simply saying, ‘Who knows?’ He wasn’t saying anything definitive, but a lot of people with blogs and whatnot, in the interest of making a splash headline, stretched things a bit.”

Is it just me, or does it sound like a lot of it’s down to Hurwitz getting that script done? If so, I hope he gets to work – the longer this project is left, the less likely it will come to fruition. And some fear that the commercial and critical failure of Reno 911!: Miami (based on TV show Reno 911!) may have caused Fox to be much more wary of an Arrested Development. Miami was apparently a film that pleased the fans…but not many other people.

I know it’s a risk, transferring a half-hour weekly show into a feature-length film, but I’d love one last outing from one of my favourite shows of all time, and I hope Arrested Development finally gets into development. COME ON!

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Not gonna lie, I am psyched for this film.

I’m not kissing up to the UK audience, or the Ricky Gervais audience, or even the comedy audience, it’s just that this trailer charmed my pants off. Here’s why: Growing up, one of my friends was briefly convinced he invented masturbation. It wasn’t his fault, he just stumbled across the method (see, grandma, it IS natural!) and thought he could make millions by selling the secret. And that’s the exact attitude this trailer takes: what happens when you discover the greatest thing ever and you invented it? When that thing is lies, it means you can do anything.

In The Invention Of Lying, Ricky Gervais plays Mark, a man living in a world where everyone tells the truth. That is until one day, Mark’s synapses fire especially hard and he invents the lie.

Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Louis CK, Jonah Hill, Martin Starr, Christopher Guest and Ricky Gervais Podcast staple Karl Pilkington are just a few of the fantastic folks rounding out the cast.

CLICK HERE to see the trailer at Yahoo! Movie UK.

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Last week we heard that Seth Rogen and Jason Batemen would be joining Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Greg Mottola’s Paul. At that point I didn’t think the cast could get any better, however today is actually might. According to The Playlist Sigourney Weaver (who will next be seen in Avatar) has joined the cast. Ripley will be once again be meeting an alien! The Playlist also have an official synopsis of the film, which will begin filming this summer.

PAUL is the story of Graham Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost), two sci-fi enthusiasts from the UK. The film follows them on a once in a lifetime trip to America, starting with a visit to San Diego Comic Con. Having enjoyed the delights of the convention, the boys set off on a trip to Area 51 for a spot of light UFO tourism. However, their trip takes a sudden and dramatic turn when the boys happen upon a crashed government vehicle containing an Alien called Paul (to be voiced by Seth Rogen). They embark upon an adventure, which sees them accidentally kidnapping a young Christian girl (Kristen Wiig) and paying a surprise visit to an old woman called Tara, who 60 years before pulled a stricken Paul from his crashed ship. Together, this mismatched band struggle to help Paul get home, all the while trying desperately to stay ahead of the tenacious government operative, Agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman) and Ruth’s zealous, shot- gun toting, bible bashing father, Moses Behe. This is a comedy about being an alien in America, even if you’re not from outer space.

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According to Variety Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch have joined the cast of Paul.

The road trip laffer stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and will be directed by Greg Mottola.

Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.

Rogen will provide the voice of the alien.

This is Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s next joint outing after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz so I have high expectations. Adding Rogen and Bateman to the mix will just add to the greatness.

Paul will be released sometime next year.

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