Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman are both very handsome men. Both are very funny men, too.  If you put them together, would the result be a comedy that melts the screen in sheer charisma? We’ll find out, because according to Variety, Bateman and Reynolds are set to star in Universal’s Change-Up.

Directed by David Dobkin and penned by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the two nuts behind The Hangover, the film centers on a comedic trope as old as the hills — body swapping. The plot centers on a responsible family man (Bateman, of course) who switches bodies with his best friend.  Naturally, his best friend is the polar opposite of his buttoned-up self, and is lazy, childless, and immature.  There will be lessons learned, and hilarious misunderstandings.

I worry it could be another Role Models (another film that had a pretty good comedy pair at its core, but just didn’t gel), but I’m hoping that The Hangover duo can make this work. I didn’t think that the film was the second coming of comedy, but there’s no doubt that it was nicely balanced between three very funny guys.  Besides, Bateman and Reynolds can sell even the thinnest role and they’ve been the highlight of just about everything they have played in.

The film is set to begin shooting in September.  Sounds like just the thing for the Green Lantern to have some downtime in, and is far enough away that we’ll have forgotten Bateman swapped something else for Jennifer Aniston in Disney’s The Switch.

In the first installment of TV Digest: Canceled, I talked about shows such as Moonlight, Jerico and Studio 60 that were gone too soon. This time I’ve got more shows that were canceled way before their time, and are a testament to both how amazing television can be but also how nearsighted executives can be when making the decision to cancel a show.

While these shows may no longer grace our television sets with shiny, fresh new episodes, they live on in our hearts and on our DVD shelves. These are what I consider to be the most beloved canceled TV shows of our time.

Arrested Development

Produced by brilliant filmmaker Ron Howard and starring a slew of incredible actors, Arrested Development ran for three seasons from 2003-2006. Shot in a documentary style fashion, like The Office, the show is about the wealthy but seriously crazy Bluth family after their father gets arrested and their company faces bankruptcy.

Oldest son Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) is the glue that holds everyone together while siblings Gob (Will Arnett), Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and her husband Tobias (David Cross), and Buster (Tony Hale) do their best to make a mess of things. I really can’t say enough about how good this show was.

Other than the incredible casting, this show has some of the best writing and comedic timing I’ve ever seen on television. I have watched all three seasons multiple times and I can watch an episode now and still find something brand new to laugh about, because of how well the writers reference old jokes and spin new ones in their wake.

But the show also can have these incredibly heartfelt moments, in between the insanity, that remind us how important it is to be a family despite how much money you have in the bank. And as the economy continues its slump, this crazy family in the midst of financial turmoil is looking far less eccentric and just plain average. As this show ages it becomes more and more relevant, and it becomes clearer and clearer just how great it is.

Despite all that, as well as numerous Emmy nominations and wins, the show was canceled. Luckily we’ll see more of the Bluth family soon, in a feature length movie that begins shooting this year.

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Looking for some highbrow comedy? Keep on looking. If you loved the trailer for this movie, go watch it again. There, now you know the entire plot and you have seen all the funny parts of the film. I  just saved you an hour and 47 minutes and at least ten bucks. You’re welcome.

It’s not that this is a terrible film, it just doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Couple’s Retreat tries to be the rom-com version of  The Hangover, and fails. The laughs are there, but they are anemic at best and spread too thin over a far too long running time.

Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell) are a tightly wound yuppie couple who pull their friends aside at a child’s birthday party and ask them to attend a quick presentation. Believing that they are going to see another power point presentation about testicular cancer prevention, the friends are stupefied when the couple announces that they are considering a divorce. Seems a year of fertility issues has taken a toll on the couple, and they are ready to part ways.

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It’s been three long, sad years since the Emmy-winning Fox TV show Arrested Development was canceled, and after months of rumor and speculation it looks like the Bluth family will be making it to the big screen after all. The Hollywood Reporter just reported that show creator Mitchell Hurwitz and show co-executive producer James Vallely are working on a script for the hugely anticipated big screen adaptation of the show. Imagine and Fox Searchlight will produce the film.

Debuting in 2003, Arrested Development focused in on the Bluths, a crazy family whose business goes sour and are left with nothing but each other. According to Hurwitz, the biggest holdup of the script being penned was getting the entire cast, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Will Arnett, Alia Shawkat, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor, committed to the film.

Scheduling conflicts are certain, as cast members Cera, Arnett, and Bateman have had incredibly successful careers since the show ended. In the meantime, Hurwitz and Vallely are working together on a new animated show on Fox titled Sit Down, Shut Up, also starring Will Arnett and Jason Bateman.

Between voicing the lead in Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and playing a “jedi warrior” in The Men Who Stare At Goats, George Clooney has been back on the rise as of late. Now we get to see him in a bit more dramatic light now that the first trailer for Up in the Air has hit the ‘net.

Directed by Juno’s Jason Reitman, Up in the Air is about the life of a corporate downsizing expert who’s life on the road becomes more interesting when he comes across the woman of his dreams. The film is based on the novel by Walter Kim, who also wrote the novel-turned-film Thumbsucker back in 2005.

Like Thumbsucker, this film brings in a laundry list of cameos, from Zach Galifianakis to J.K. Simmons to Jason Bateman to Danny McBride. The cast list looks to be a regular “who’s who” of independent comedies. Check out the first trailer after the break. Up in the Air hits theaters December 4th.

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Mike Judge’s new movie, essentially an almost direct followup to Office Space, is a quirky and well-meaning comedy that strikes many of the right notes but in the end falls a bit flat and ends up with very little to show for it’s efforts. The film covers pretty familiar territory for Judge and as such doesn’t seem quite as fresh as perhaps it did when Office Space was released. The cast, with the notable exceptions of David Millgan as the male gigolo hired by Jason Bateman’s character to seduce his wife, the always awesome J.K. Simmons and, surprisingly, Ben Affleck as a helpful bartender and friend to Bateman’s character, are mostly relegated to sitcom level schtick and not given much else to do. And in the case of Mila Kunis, are simply the eye-candy — a role she plays very well, however.

Sure, many of the lines and situations in the film elicit a chuckle and in some cases, cause the viewer to laugh out loud, but those moment a few and far between. Instead, we’re left with many attempts at humor that fall flat and leave me to wonder what Judge was thinking. Some gags in the film are particularly overused — the “pushy neighbor” comes to mind — and result in not only being unfuny but annoying to the audience as well.

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With all the praise and cult status bestowed on Mike Judge’s film Office Space, sometimes people forget he’s also responsible for creating two of the most popular and recognizable animated characters of the 90s. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Beavis and Butt-head.

Fortunately, even though they’ve been in retirement for several years, they’ve decided to make an appearance this week to help promote their old pal Mike Judge’s brand new movie Extract. And, because we’re cool like that, we’ve got that new Beavis and Butt-head video right here to share with you. In the video, our old friends talk a little about the movie and introduce some clips, paying for sex and the humor in star Jason Bateman’s name. In other words, its pretty much busines as usual for these two characters.

Mike Judge’s Extract, which stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, J.K. Simmons and Ben Affleck, hits theaters on Friday. Until then, check out all the Beavis and Butt-head action after the jump.

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To many people, myself included, Mike Judge’s film Office Space makes me so happy I never had to get a “real” job and work in a soul-sucking office environment. Granted, I doubt my office experience would have ended quite the way the fictional one in the movie did, but I’m still glad never to have been the victim of an overbearing boss (who may have had sex with my girlfriend), a couple of so-called “efficiency experts” and corporate downsizing.

Office Space remains to this day one of the greatest tributes to the power of the individual striving against his (or her) corporate oppressors. And now, after some detours into other territory, Judge is back where he belongs and is bringing eager fans a brand new chapter in the struggle with his new film Extract — which also has a brand new website devoted to too.

For his new film, Judge returns to the workplace and turns his focus on a small business owner “who employs an odd cast of losers, loners and misfits in his flavor extract factory.” Judge is particularly excited to be back in the office. Says the director: “When Office Space tanked at the box office, I thought, ‘Okay, I was born to do something that nobody wants to see,’ and then as it became popular, it was more and more gratifying. So I think I’m finally back doing what I think I was born to do.”

Extract, which stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig and Ben Affleck, hits theaters on September 4th. Meantime, be sure to check out all the info on the film and its unusual cast of characters at the film’s official site.

As it’s released with prints of Public Enemies, the first trailer for the new Universal comedy starring Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, and Jon Favreau has hit the web. The film is about four couples that are having trouble staying afloat, so they all decide to take a vacation to a wacky tropical island filled with wackier people to help make their relationships work. Laughing yet?

The trailer doesn’t make the film look very good, which isn’t surprising since its the same team that brought us 2006′s The Break Up and 2008′s Four Christmases. The film is directed by Peter Billinglsy, long-time friend of Favreau’s, but we know him more as Ralphie from 1983′s A Christmas Story. Overall, the film kind of looks like a less fun, over 30 version of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Couples Retreat also stars Kristen Bell, Malin Ackerman, Faizon Love, and Kristen Davis and will hit theaters October 9 of this year. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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