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7 articles from 2008

25 July 2008 1:48 AM, PDT | From Rope Of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star as Brennan Huff and Dale Doback

Photo: Sony Pictures I went into Step Brothers with the idea that a movie based on 40-year-old men too stupid to live didn't deserve my attention. Such morons already dominate reality television and are slowly taking over the world as everything seems geared toward the idiots or the children. Believing I fall directly in the middle of that pile (perhaps slightly skewing more toward child) I can never connect or find humor in watching people portray stupid people for laughs. Stupidity, to me, isn't funny... it's stupid. Little did I know, outside of the two main characters in Step Brothers being stupid, everyone else in the cast is questionable as well. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star as Brennan Huff and Dale Doback respectively, two men still living at home with their parents. The story begins

Brad Brevet

24 July 2008 4:15 PM, PDT | From avclub.com | See recent The AV Club news

Ever since The 40-Year-Old Virgin laid the first row of bricks in Judd Apatow's comedy kingdom, profane tales of arrested development have become so ubiquitous that they're seemingly the only type of comedy Hollywood is interested in producing. Though Apatow started this trend of overgrown man-children and the women who tolerate them, the blame can't rest entirely at his feet. In fact, the two films Apatow has written and directed—Virgin and Knocked Up—help account for where disappointments like Step Brothers go wrong. No matter how absurd the situations can get in Apatow's films, they're always grounded in characters and observations that are recognizably human and unbound by high-concept gimmicks. Working again with frequent partner Adam McKay, his director and co-writer on cartoonishly funny comedies like Anchorman and Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell errs on the side of the outrageous in Step Brothers and winds up trampling all over a great.

Scott Tobias

22 July 2008 3:28 AM, PDT | From Rope Of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news

DVD Links: Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed Spaced: The Complete Series I am only three episodes into "Spaced" so I don't really feel comfortable giving you any kind of review of the show, but Domenic should have a full review for us very soon. The show is a BBC comedy series starring the likes of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and directed by Edgar Wright. For those of you that don't see those names and immediately get interested they are the boys behind Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. For those of you still drawing a blank I can do nothing more but feel sad for you. Everyone is ranting and raving about how excited they are the complete series is coming to DVD (two seasons worth) and looking at the back of the packaging I can tell you there are plenty of commentaries including guest

Brad Brevet

23 June 2008 12:35 AM, PDT | From PEOPLE.com | See recent PEOPLE.com news

George Carlin – who once wryly wondered, "Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?" – is being mourned by fellow comedians such as Ben Stiller and Jay Leno, not only for being a groundbreaker in entertainment but an individual of great honor. "George Carlin was a hugely influential force in stand-up comedy," Stiller, 42, said in a statement. "He had an amazing mind, and his humor was brave, and always challenging us to look at ourselves and question our belief systems, while being incredibly entertaining. He was one of the greats and he will be missed.

Stephen M. Silverman

20 June 2008 10:47 PM, PDT | From fantasymoguls.com | See recent Fantasy Moguls news

Sunday 9:00 a.m. (Pacific): Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway both have new all-time best opening weekends as Get Smart (Warner Bros.) has scored an excellent $39.15 million. The action-comedy delivered an estimated $13.5 million on opening day, was up 5 percent on Saturday for $14.2 million, and Warner Bros is anticipating an $11.45 million Sunday. For Carell, who steps into the shoes of Don Adams from the late '60s TV hit, Get Smart tops his previous best opening, Evan Almighty: All-time Best Steve Carell Live Action Opening Weekends 1. Get Smart — $39.15 million (Estimated) 2. Evan Almighty — $31.19 million 3. Anchorman — $28.41 million 4. The 40-Year-Old Virgin — $21.42 million 5. Dan in Real Life — $11.8 million

Steve Mason

19 June 2008 10:56 AM, PDT | From fantasymoguls.com | See recent Fantasy Moguls news

Not much change in my weekend predictions from Monday’s early preview. Virtually everyone I talk to has Steve Carell’s Get Smart (Warner Bros) at $35M or so. If the number holds, it will be an excellent start, becoming Carell’s all-time best live action opening as an above-the-title star. His best to-date is last summer’s Evan Alimighty, which managed just $31.2M. The reviews are coming in with a positive lean. As of Thursday morning, Rotten Tomatoes has the late 60’s TV adaptation at 53% Fresh and MetaCritic is scoring at 52% Positive. With a Pg-13 rating, the movie has a chance to play to Baby Boomers, who are fans of the original show, Generation X’ers, who saw the reruns, and teens that know Carell from The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine. I am calling for $33M-$36M for Get Smart with a possible upside surprise in the cards.

Steve Mason

1 April 2008 9:50 PM, PDT | From Digital Media Law | See recent Digital Media Law news

Literary titles - such as book or movie titles - fall in a gray area in U.S. law. For instance, although a book or movie is protected by copyright, its title isn't. Copyright simply doesn't cover titles.

And even if the title is distinctive, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, courts and the Trademark Office say it can't be registered as a trademark, even though distinctive words and slogans can be registered as trademarks in other contexts. There's an exception for series titles, such as Harry Potter, but that's of no help to single-work titles.

The rule against trademark registration purports to be absolute, and has been in place for at least 50 years. Nonetheless, I've developed ways to protect single-work movie titles using trademark registration -- effectively circumventing the long-established rule.

I've written a short article on the subject, in relatively plain English. It's the cover story in this month's Los Angeles Lawyer magazine.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan Handel)

7 articles from 2008