Neglectful of his duties since 2006's middling For Your Consideration, Christopher Guest at last returns to his sworn task of making Fred Willard look like a jackass with Family Tree. This time, Guest's usual mockumentary approach has been stretched out into an HBO series, which follows a dumped and unemployed 30-something (Chris O'Dowd) channeling depression into an international journey to research his family's heritage. Naturally, with Guest at the helm, it turns out that heritage includes Willard, Michael McKean, Ed Begley Jr., Bob Balaban, Don Lake, and, thus far, a worrisome lack of Eugene Levy. But he'll probably show up later in the series. Or he'll show up pounding on the glass from inside your television, his greed having resulted in a Tales from the Crypt-esque ending where he now only exists within the American Pie universe. Either way, can't wait to see him!
Continue Reading →
Further evidence Bob Balaban definitely needs his own PBS children's program, here's a Moonrise Kingdom companion piece in which Balaban introduces animated sequences depicting fictional kids' books from the film, as read by young co-star Kara Hayward. LeVar Burton should definitely feel threatened.
Continue Reading →
Not a lot of new footage in these new featurettes from Wes Anderson's latest, but you will get a lot of behind-the-scenes moments from the production that will make you really wish you were there skipping rocks and falling off bikes with Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, and the director--each of whom have been given their own unique introduction below. You will also have the shit charmed out of you by featurette host Bob Balaban, who here, with his light-hearted, guiding narration, proves we have been absolutely stupid not to have him hosting a Blue's Clues-like children's program. Balaban's Plans? I don't know. We'll figure it out later. Just get him on PBS by 10 AM tomorrow.
Continue Reading →
