It was Arrested Development

The purpose of this post is to inform new fans and update avid fans concerning the impending Arrested Development movie. "Arrested Development?" you say? "What is that?" you say?

Wuh-ELL! Arrested Development (AD) was a TV show on FOX that ran only three seasons, garnered consistently low ratings, and featured a cast of little-known comedians and actors, producing only one "star" (if that) in the shifty, awkward Michael Cera (Juno and Superbad). But beyond the fact sheet, AD was brilliant.

It was brilliant. Seriously. Literally. Brilliant.

Damned for its complex jokes, long-reaching motifs, and questionable sexual circumstances (incestuous love between cousins, an ambiguously gay man with a wife and child, and an almost Oedipus Rex-like unrequited relationship between a son and mother), the show never pleased the Dancing with the Stars, 24, and American Idol audience -- it never provided the quick adrenaline rushes or comedic slaps in the face that so many of us are forced to accept as television.

Instead, AD dared to believe TV watchers were patient enough to wait 30 seconds or more for a joke's payoff, intelligent enough to detect nuance and subtlety in an actor's expression ("I am tired of looking guilty!" *scratches face, looks away*), and real enough to detect similarities between themselves and the outrageous characters of the show.

So: AD, a complete and consummate cult classic, cut short in its third season, has set teh interwebz ablaze over the last year or two concerning rumors of an impending movie. For a long while, the aforementioned Cera declined to participate, likely too busy with his blossoming career. But, in February of this year, Cera finally agreed to participate in the yet-written film.

Arrested Development is really the brainchild of its writer/producer Mitch Hurwitz, whose most impressive accomplishment -- before AD -- was writing nine episodes of the television show Golden Girls (which, as it turns out, is kind of funny). He is still in the process of writing the movie's script, so until that's done, us die-hard fans must wait on official release dates and projections (most think it will be in theaters by late 2010).

Can't wait for Arrested Development the movie? Want to get familiar with Michael Bluth, George Bluth, Oscar Bluth, George-Michael Bluth, and George Oscar Bluth (G.O.B.)? Well, do what I do: rewatch episodes of the show's three series! They're now all available on Hulu, and I've seen each episode over 20 times!!!*


Arrested Development on Hulu:
http://www.hulu.com/arrested-development

...movie information on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0901469/

...TV show's Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_%28TV_series%29


Now study up because I'm sure the movie will be full of banana-grabbing inside jokes and "her?" motifs that only the well-versed will appreciate!

Return from whence you came!


*I also own each season on DVD, so I'm able to watch them on the go too.

Bradley also blogs about city life, cats, and general world knowledge with his wife at Homebody and Woman!

Okay....maybe I was wrong

I know that I said that this would be the year of he animated movie, and I haven't fully backed off that idea yet, but it is beginning to look like it may be a big year for another genre: the intelligent Sci-Fi film. Over the past 15 years or so there have been a slew of big Hollywood science fiction movies that, while fun, were nothing to write home about (Independence Day, Transformers, Men in Black, among many others) with only a handful really standing out as truly great film making (The FIRST Matrix, I, Robot, Wall-E). In the past, films like Alien, Total Recall, and The Thing, among others, showed that just because a movie is about creatures from another planet or futuristic worlds doesn't mean it has to be completely stupid. However, this year has already given us three films that will undoubtedly be at the top of many critics lists at the end of the year: the brilliant rebirth of Star Trek, the low-key Moon (which I STILL haven't seen), and an "alien-invasion" movie that might just be the best alien movie since, well....Aliens!

In newcomer Neill Blomkamps District 9, an alien ship essentially "runs out of gas" above Johannesburg, South Africa. The extra-terrestrials, derogatorily known as "prawns", aboard the ship are extremely malnourished and are put into slums blocked off from any interaction with the outside world. The creatures are heavily monitored and guarded by a group called MNU, headed up by a brilliant, if somewhat naive, desk-worker named Wikus Van De Merwe (played perfectly by relatively unknown actor Sharlto Copley).

I don't want to say much after that because the movie throws so many different turns at you that it is best to be completely surprised. A mix of mockumentary-style interviews and straight-ahead hand-held sci-fi action, you very quickly realize that this movie is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill "aliens=bad; humans=good" summer flick. This is a bold piece of science fiction art that should go down as one of the most original, exciting, breath-taking and down-right great alien movies in film history. BAM! Said it....

Oh, and I also saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (which I have nothing to say about whatsoever...except that it is one of the most pointless things I have ever had the displeasure of looking at) and Funny People. The latter, like District 9, is also original and not what you would expect from a Hollywood summer blockbuster. And while it is a funny and interesting look at comedians in show business, it is also kinda long and somewhat monotonous. SO DON'T BE A MORON! GO SEE DISTRICT 9! FUNNY PEOPLE WILL SOON BE A DOLLAR AT REDBOX, PEOPLE!