An "Arrested Development" reunion? Well, sort of ...

Whatever happened to good coming of age movies that appeal to adults? Perhaps I've completed my transition to old curmudgeon, but it seems to me like it's definitely a dying art.

But Jason Reitman, who directed last year's fantastic (and almost completely Oscar-snubbed) satire "Thank You For Smoking," has one in the works that just might bring the genre back to life. And it's rapidly acquiring a cast that just rocks.

Adorable Ellen Page stars in "Juno" as a high school student who manages to get herself knocked up, and George Michael Bluth (the extremely funny Michael Cera) plays the young man who did the knocking. Now comes word that Michael Bluth himself, Jason Batemen, and Allison Janney have joined the cast. Bateman and Jennifer Garner play a couple who want to adopt Page's baby, and Janney is her stepmother.

That all sounds perfect to me. To top it off, the script was penned by Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages scribe Diablo Cody, who writes the very funny Pussy Ranch blog, so this is definitely one to keep your eyes on. It's currently filming in Vancouver.

It would have been even cooler if Bateman and Cera were to be father and son again, but as a still-recovering "Arrested Development" addict, I'll take whatever crumbs I can get.

Frances McDormand getting busy

When I saw this news, my first thought was that I couldn't remember the last time I had seen the great Ms. McDormand in a movie. Then I realized that I had effectively blocked Nicole Holofcener's "Friends with Money" completely from my memory. (Trust me, it's just bad.)

Now, however, comes word that she's gonna get busy again, and hopefully find some better movies to appear in.

The first of two flicks for Focus Features will be "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," which despite that rather silly title sounds like it could be pretty funny. It's based on a period comic novel by Winifred Watson about a governess (McDormand) in the 1800s who gets a taste of glamour when she goes to work in the home of a London nightclub songstress. One of her chores is to sort out the entertainer's unrespectable affairs.

In much better news, she'll then head to New York to work with hubby Joel Coen and his brother Ethan on "Burn After Reading." The dark comedy about the CIA will also star George Clooney (because, by law, I'm pretty sure 1 out of every 10 movies has to.)

It will be her fifth film with the bros. Coen, following "Fargo," "Raising Arizona," "Miller's Crossing" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" (the only Coen brothers movie I simply didn't care for.)

Welcome back, Frances.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" still alive?

In case you need further proof that George Clooney is everywhere, his name came up again in news about a project that I just assumed had died on the vine, Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Clooney and Cate Blanchett are in talks to voice the lead characters in Anderson's stop-motion film, his first foray into animation. The movie is, of course, based on the classic Roald Dahl tale about a clever fox who must outwit three mean, dimwitted farmers who try their hardest to hurt Mr. Fox and his family. Clooney would voice Mr. Fox, while Blanchett would voice his wife.

I still have doubts that any of this will ever come together. It seems like it's been rumored for five years now, but in the meantime we'll be getting another Anderson movie fairly soon in "The Darjeeling Ltd." The flick, penned by Anderson and Roman Coppola, stars Anderson regulars Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, plus newcomer Adrien Brody, as three brothers who go on a voyage across India after the death of their father. Anderson is apparently now at work editing his footage in New York.

That sounds promising to me, and the possibility of two Wes Anderson movies in the near future sounds even better.

Talking Oscars

I'll close with a short plug for, well, me. By clicking under my profile, you can find a (no longer dead, I promise) link to a short podcast in which two of my co-workers, Phillip Ramati and Ryan Gilchrest, and I all argue (politely) about which movie will win Best Picture.

It's a fairly pleasant way to waste a couple of minutes at work. Mr. Ramati, by the way, writes a very good blog about all things TV, which you can read here.

I'll be going to see "The Astronaut Farmer" Saturday because I'm a fan of Billy Bob Thornton and all things goofy, so please feel free to check back Sunday morning for a review, and have a perfectly fine weekend.