Thursday, September 3
With a little less to report about the big-screen adaptation of TV show Arrested Development, Jason Bateman has grown tired of press speculation that no news about the movie is bad news. On a press tour for the upcoming Extract, Bateman pleaded for patience regarding the movie's development.
I've always felt bad that I never had more information to give people when they asked me about it, but I guess people kind of got frustrated by that and they just started kind of making up their own sort of, "Well, we haven't heard that much" or "news hasn't changed so it must be going away." I don't know. It sort of took a life of its own on and fatigue started to set in I think about the whole story of it. I mean, there's really no need to write anything about it at all until [series creator Mitch Hurwitz is] done writing it. Once he writes it then, just like any movie, then it becomes something a little bit more real and then you try to figure out scheduling and you try to figure out people's deals. I mean, it's got the same life that any other project would have. It has just as much a chance of happening as it does of not happening really.
The silence over Arrested Development shouldn't have taken anyone by surprise after an interview with director Ron Howard confirmed the movie was going to be made, while revealing that Howard and company were "asked to stop offering any details."
Posted 9/3/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jason Bateman | Arrested Development | Extract | Mitchell Hurwitz
Wednesday, September 2
Mike Judge rounded up his old pals Beavis and Butthead to help him promote his latest movie, Extract. Judge's two animated characters introduced a clip from Extract, a workplace comedy that Butt-Head describes as having "a chick with big boobs, a dude who gets his nuts knocked off, and then a dude who's paid to have sex."
What more could you need? A clip with Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig? OK, then watch it below:
Next Showing: Extract opens September 4, 2009
Posted 9/2/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jason Bateman | Mike Judge | Kristen Wiig | Extract
Tuesday, September 1
Writer/Director Mike Judge's new comedy Extract follows the life of an extract plant owner (Jason Bateman) whose personal and professional life undergoes an upheaval after an accident occurs at the factory. Judge is no stranger to workplace comedies, having written and directed Office Space, and told ComingSoon that Extract was inspired by his own experiences as a boss.
For years, I didn't come into this business until I was pushing 30, so I'd worked so many jobs. I'd never had anyone work for me, I was always the employee, and that's kinda what Office Space was about. When Beavis & Butt-head happened, I went from never having anybody work for me to having, like, 30 to as many as 90 people working for me, and I suddenly started becoming sympathetic to the bosses I had had, and just going, "God, these people don't appreciate anything; you try to be nice to them and they just take advantage of you..." Extract's kind of like a companion piece to Office Space, it's the inverse of it.
Judge not only wrote and directed Extract, but he also appears in the movie as a factory employee, which Judge admits was also an accident.
I screwed up in this one because I said early on when people at Miramax were asking me if I was going to be in it, I said, "Oh, maybe I'll play that guy." I described him as having a really big mustache and I wanted him to be really skinny but with a little belly. So once I said that, I think the casting people kind of got a little lazy and didn't look as hard for that role because by the time, I don't know, we had people reading it that sounded like Elmer Fudd, kind of almost like cartoonish blue collar people so I said, "All right, I'll [do it]." I didn't want the guy to look like I look.
Posted 9/1/2009 by Ryan
Related: Mike Judge | Extract
Friday, August 14
Though he's been acting on television and movies for nearly two decades, Clifton Collins Jr. has really come into his own in recent years with bit parts in Star Trek, Crank: High Voltage, and Sunshine Cleaning. Most recently his skills were noticed by Troy Duffy and Mike Judge, who both tapped him for a starring role in their 2009 features Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and Extract, respectively.
Collins took some time out from filming The Experiment to talk with us about his upcoming movies. The role he plays in Boondock Saints II should particularly vibe with fans because, well, he plays one of them:
My character is kind of the viewpoint of the fans, if the fans had the chance to be in the world with the saints. I play a guy who's a street hustler and has his issues like everyone else and loves the saints. He wants to be one of them, he follows them; they're his hero in a way. The saints, they see him and go "Wow, that guy's got a lot of heart." He wants to prove himself to them and he's gotta do everything to gain their trust, which gives the movie a lot of action and a lot of its comedy.
The part seems a natural for Collins, which is no surprise given how he ended up in the role:
Troy actually wrote the role for me. I was around for the first film, all the hoopla and the sensationalism — I mean who didn't want to be in Boondock Saints. My lawyer, who's one of my best friends, introduced me to Troy on his birthday on June eighth as that was happening. Of course, I still had to audition and screen test
Collins also spoke about his side career as a music video director, since there's been speculation about whether he'd try and make the transition into features.
I've always had different directors ask me when I was going to direct and I've never really thought about it too much. I've had actor friends call me to coach them out of the blue, and it's something I enjoy, it's something that's a lot of fun for me ... but not my goal. One of the things I love about videos, especially ones that I choose, is the storytelling aspect. I'm working on a spec video right now for Jimmy Johnson just because I love his song. I'm actually working on a shot list right now.
Collins was also optimistic that unlike Troy and Judge's last movies, Boondock Saints II and Extract would get the support from the studios they deserve.
I think right now the studios are pretty hungry to make some money. When you get some great films like Boondock Saints II and Extract, they know that the old Troy and Mike are ready to come back, and they're ready to do what it takes to get audiences to see them.
And Collins isn't just speaking hot air, he's seen a full cut of Boondock Saints II.
The film has been made the way it should've been made. It didn't have the biggest budget but for what we had, they did a great job. After leaving Comic-Con you should've seen the fanfair; it was pretty phenomenal. I saw a fat version and it was great, and I know there's an even tigether version that Troy's been working on that should really wow.
Posted 8/14/2009 by reelz
Related: The Boondock Saints | Extract | The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Clifton Collins Jr.