2014 news

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Netflix: More 'Arrested Development'

The Bluth family may be returning again. According to Netflix, there's a strong possibility "Arrested Development" will get a fifth season. In 2013, Jason Bateman tweeted a photo of the cast prior to Netflix releasing Season 4. Here's what the cast has been up to since the show ended in 2006.

Jason Bateman's movie career has flourished since "Arrested Development" went off the air. He piqued fans' interest in 2007's "Juno" and went on to appear in films such as "Hancock," "Up in the Air" and "Couples Retreat." In 2013 he had his film directorial debut with "Bad Words" which he also starred in.

Michael Cera has made us laugh in flicks like "Superbad," "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" since his last shift at the frozen banana stand on "Arrested Development." The actor, who starred alongside his on-screen dad in 2007's "Juno," headed back to TV to play Sal Viscuso on "Childrens Hospital." In 2014 he appeared in the dramedy "Hits."

Since playing Lindsay on the series, Portia de Rossi has appeared on "Nip/Tuck" and "Better Off Ted." She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 and published a memoir, "Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain," in 2010. She will next appear in Season 4 of "Scandal."

Will Arnett has certainly been busy since he traded in GOB's magic tricks in 2006. The actor appeared alongside then wife Amy Poehler in 2007's "Blades of Glory" and 2009's "Spring Breakdown." He's had recurring roles on several popular series, as well as starring roles on Fox's short-lived "Running Wilde" and NBC's "Up All Night." He currently appears on the series "The Millers" and has a role in the 2014 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film.

Since taking on the role of Lindsay and Tobias' teenage daughter Maeby, Alia Shawkat has appeared in films like "Whip It," "The Runaways," "Cedar Rapids" and "Ruby Sparks."

Tony Hale continued to make us laugh since playing Buster on "Arrested Development." He's appeared in several movies and TV shows since, such as "Ctrl" and "Chuck." Hale plays Gary Walsh on HBO's "Veep" for which he won an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 2013.

Oh, how we've missed the always hilarious Tobias. Actor David Cross has shown up in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" franchise and has lent his voice to animated features such as "Megamind" and "Kung Fu Panda." He played Andy Weeks on Fox's "Running Wilde," and he made us laugh as Duane Bailey on the third season of "Modern Family."

Jeffrey Tambor has made cameos on quite a few sitcoms since his days as the Bluth family patriarch. He's also appeared on the big screen in flicks like "The Hangover," "The Invention of Lying," "Mr. Popper's Penguins" and "For the Love of Money." In 2014 Amazon premiered its original series "Transparent" in which he plays a transgender dad.

Jessica Walter played Tabitha Wilson on "90210," Betty Hanadarko on "Saving Grace" and Henrietta on "Gravity," in addition to voicing Malory on FX's "Archer." But we can't deny that we miss Walter's role as Lucille on "Arrested Development."

Netflix content chief: More "Arrested Development" planned

"It's just a matter of when," he tells USA Today

Service is being aggressive with new series

(CNN) -- Get ready for more "Arrested Development."

Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer of Netflix, told USA Today that he's "positive" about another season of the Emmy-winning sitcom.

It's "just a matter of when," he said.

Why can't you stop watching Netflix?

Reed Hastings, pictured, and Marc Rudolph, two software engineers, founded Netflix in 1997 to use the Internet to rent movies on DVD, then a new format. (An old, discredited story claims that Hastings had the idea after Blockbuster charged him a $40 late fee for "Apollo 13.") Rudolph left in 2002.

In 1999, Netflix adopts a monthly subscription model: unlimited rentals for a single monthly rate.

In 2006, the company announced the $1 million "Netflix Prize," encouraging people to come up with a better algorithm than its current recommendation system, which was gummed up by divisive movies such as "Napoleon Dynamite." Three years later, the prize is claimed by a seven-man team, though Netflix never used their idea.

Netflix moved into streaming in 2007. By now subscriptions were increasing by leaps and bounds: Three years later, the service had topped 20 million subscribers.

The company announces a move into original programming with "House of Cards," a series about Washington intrigue produced by David Fincher and Kevin Spacey. It premiered in 2013.

In an attempt to split its DVD and streaming businesses, Netflix created Qwikster for DVD distribution in 2011. Within a month, consumer protests prompted the company to drop the idea.

"House of Cards" isn't the first original show to debut on the service. "Lilyhammer," starring Steven Van Zandt as an American gangster in Norway, premiered February 6, 2012, with all eight episodes available for streaming right away -- a distribution arrangement the company does for many of its series.

The first season of "House of Cards" premiered February 1, 2013. Netflix had invested $100 million for two 13-episode seasons -- a huge risk -- but the first season eventually earned eight Emmy nominations and greatly increased Netflix's visibility. The Emmy nods are the first for an online-only Web show. The second season premiered February 14, 2014, and earned 13 Emmy nominations.

Though "Hemlock Grove," which premiered April 19, 2013, hasn't gotten the press Netflix's other series have, the Eli Roth-produced horror show has enough of a following that it was renewed for a second season, which premiered in early July 2014.

Netflix also broadcast a fourth season of "Arrested Development," the Fox series that went off the air in 2006. The Netflix season, which premiered May 26, 2013, is 15 episodes and -- if anything -- even more intricate than the original network run.

"Orange Is the New Black," about the inmates of a women's prison, premiered July 11, 2013. Netflix said in November that it was the service's most-watched original series. The first season received 12 Emmy nominations. The second season premiered June 6, 2014.

"Derek," a UK series starring Ricky Gervais, was picked up by Netflix and premiered on September 12, 2013, in the United States.

Siblings Andy and Lana Wachowski, who created the "Matrix" movie trilogy, are at work on a Netflix series called "Sense8."

The company must be doing something right. As of the middle of 2014, Netflix has more than 50 million subscribers. Its stock price is well over $400 a share, having increased tenfold since 2009.

A brief history of Netflix

After three seasons on Fox in the mid-'00s -- including one in which it won the Emmy for best comedy series -- "Arrested's" fourth season premiered on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Since then, there's also been discussion of an "Arrested Development" movie, but nothing has come of it so far.

Sarandos said he agreed with criticism that the cast didn't appear together enough during the fourth season, and organizing cast members' schedules is key to the success of a fifth season.

He also told USA Today about other plans, including "Marco Polo," a series due later this year; a sitcom starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, "Grace and Frankie," coming in 2015; and the Wachowskis' show about telepaths, "Sense8."

Also due next year: new seasons of "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black."

Thanks largely to "Cards" and "Orange," Netflix is up for 31 Emmys this year.

Activist reunited with stolen grandson

Estela Carlotto, the president of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo), smiles after announcing the recovery of her grandson Guido --the son of her daughter Laura missing in 1977.

Estela Carlotto's grandson was taken by government forces during Argentina's dictatorship

She never lost hope that he was alive

A DNA test confirms the identity of her grandson

The mother was killed while in captivity

(CNN) -- Estela Carlotto's wish was to hug her grandson before she died -- a dream not easily granted to those like her who had a family member snatched at birth during Argentina's military dictatorship.

During her nearly four-decade journey, she became the leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a famous group of Argentine activists dedicated to reuniting kidnapped babies with their birth families.

And this week, she learned her wish will come true, when the Abuelas, as the group is known, announced that Carlotto's own grandson has been identified through a DNA test.

Argentine dictator who stole babies dies

Justice after Argentina's 'dirty war'

The new pope and Argentina's 'dirty war'

More than 100 people have been reunited thanks to the efforts of the Abuelas, but the news that the search for the group's leader is fulfilled struck a strong chord in Argentina.

"He searched for me," Carlotto told reporters. "What the grandmothers say came to be: 'They will come search for us just as we continue to search for them.'"

The kidnappings of children by government forces during Argentina's 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship is among the darkest chapters in a period commonly called the Dirty War.

Unearthing mysteries of Argentina's Dirty War

Carlotto's daughter, Laura, belonged to an urban guerrilla group called Montoneros, according to the Abuelas. She was in her young 20s when she was arrested -- kidnapped, the activist group says -- and imprisoned in 1977. Laura was 2½ months pregnant when she was detained.

On June 26, 1978, she gave birth at a military hospital to a son she named Guido. But afterward she was returned to her cell without her baby. Two months later, she was executed, according to the Abuelas. Her remains were exhumed and identified in 1985.

The dictatorship left Estela Carlotto without a daughter, and in the dark about what happened to her grandson. But she has said in interviews that she never lost hope that he was alive.

2012: Former dictators found guilty in Argentine baby-stealing trial

"He's beautiful," she told a reporter, her voice filled with the same tenderness of a grandmother doting a newborn's photo.

But for the moment, details about her grandson's life remain few to protect his privacy.

The 36-year-old man identified as Guido Montoya Carlotto is Ignacio Hurban, director of a music school in the city of Olavarria, about 220 miles southwest of Buenos Aires.

According to the Grandmothers, Hurban had some doubts about his life story and in June initiated contact with the Abuelas with his suspicions. He submitted to interviews with the group as well as a DNA test that confirmed the match.

A crowd of supporters burst into cheers when Carlotto retold the moment when she got the call that "this is your grandson with 99.99% certainty."

It isn't clear when the man first had doubts about his origins, but the group mentioned that in the past he had participated in events for the Grandmothers.

Among the first to call Carlotto after the news was revealed was Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Both women cried as they celebrated the outcome.

And as for that long-awaited hug, Argentina's state-run Telam news agency reported that grandmother and grandson would be reunited for the first time in person Wednesday evening.

Argentina dictatorship files reveal 'blacklists'

Faithfull: My ex killed Jim Morrison

Marianne Faithfull poses as she opens the Innocence And Experience exhibition at Tate Liverpool on April 20, 2012 in Liverpool, England.

Faithfull said her former boyfriend was a heroin dealer

She said everyone connected with the death is dead

Faithfull said Amy Winehouse was wary of her

(RollingStone.com) -- Marianne Faithfull said in a recent interview that her boyfriend at the time, a heroin dealer named Jean de Breteuil, was responsible for Doors frontman Jim Morrison's death in the summer of 1971.

RS: Watch the Doors first interview in years

The singer recalled a sense of foreboding when Breteuil told her he intended to visit the Doors frontman so she decided to stay at their hotel and take barbiturates. "He went to see Jim Morrison and killed him," Faithfull told Mojo. "I mean, I'm sure it was an accident. Poor bastard. The smack was too strong? Yeah. And he died. And I didn't know anything about this. Anyway, everybody connected to the death of this poor guy is dead now. Except me."

RS: Hear Ex-Kyuss singer John Garcia's duet with the Doors' Robby Krieger

In the same interview, Faithfull also discussed the fate of Amy Winehouse, another singer who died at age 27 of a drug overdose. "Amy was very, very wary of me," Faithfull said. "She knew that I knew and she didn't want me to say anything. There's a level of narcissism which is all mixed up with self-hatred. I know it well.... But I can't think what I could have done apart from take her and shake her! 'You stupid little c**t! Wake up!'" Faithfull said she was "appalled" by the younger singer's death.

RS: Jim Morrison lives: The legacy of the Lizard King

In September, Faithfull will release a new record, "Give My Love to London," which features songwriting collaborations with Roger Waters, Nick Cave, Steve Earle, Anna Calvi, Tom McRae and more. Her backing band on the record features members of Cave's Bad Seeds and Portishead's Adrian Utley. She also plans on publishing a book of photos from throughout her career with autobiographical captions, "Marianne Faithfull: A Life on Record," in October.

See the original story at RollingStone.com.