Two new high-profile lawsuits.

Who doesn't love a Hollywood lawsuit?! Apart from the people actually in them.

Anyway, there are two new high-profile lawsuits:



First up, Judd Apatow is being sued by Canadian author Rebecca Eckler because Eckler says Knocked Up copies her novel Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-Be.

Says Eckler: "A lot of people, I’m sure, will say, 'Well, getting drunk and knocked up, it could happen to everybody.' Well, the fact is, it doesn’t happen to everybody, and no one had written about it before I did. And he didn’t sell the screenplay until after I did."

Nobody had written about it before Eckler? What? That's like saying no one had written about mental retardation before Forrest Gump.

Says Apatow: "The book is about a woman who gets pregnant by the fiance that she loves on the night of her engagement party. The film is about a one-night stand between a pot smoking slacker and an ambitious young woman that leads to a pregnancy and their attempts to get to know each other."

I definitely agree with Apatow here. Anyone who checks out the preview of the book at Amazon will be able to tell that they're two very different stories, and only the first few pages are there. Plus, it's also evident while Knocked Up the movie is brilliant, Knocked Up the book is not. If I ever hear the phrase, "Did I...did we...did he...in me?" again, I will personally hunt down Eckler and rip her fucking head off.

The trial is scheduled to begin in March 2008.



The second lawsuit which, to me, is less interesting, but which is much larger: Fifteen actors from the Lord of the Rings movies are suing New Line Cinema for allegedly withholding an estimated $100 million profit from merchandising. None of the well-known actors either, but that doesn't make the suit any less serious.

New Line must really be a bunch of assholes, because this is the third lawsuit against them in regards to Lord of the Rings alone. Peter Jackson has sued them for withholding profits from Fellowship of the Ring (subsequently losing his chance to direct the forthcoming Hobbit adaptation), while Saul Zaentz settled out of court over the rights to the books.

Man, Hollywood lawsuits. They must suck.

Paris leaves jail.

Okay, I made an internal vow not to blog anymore about the tabloid trashiness of Paris Hilton going to jail, but this I just could not resist: After serving only five days of her 23-day jail sentence, Paris has left jail.

Apparently, it was because of some sort of "medical condition." Celebritis, maybe?

Now the rich bitch is under house arrest, and her sentence has been bumped back up to the original 45 days. But what's the point? Where's the punishment? Where's the justice when the entire time she can pal around with her famous friends, sip mojitos, shove some more dogs in her purse, and basically have all the freedoms that time in jail would've made her grateful for?

This is wrong.

Stan Lee gets his Mickey Mouse on.

One of my very most all-time favorite creative people (right up there with Joss Whedon, John Lennon, and Quentin Tarantino), Stan "The Man" Lee, has signed an exclusive multi-year first look deal with Disney.

Though I have to say, as much as I love the guy--and it appears I'm not alone, as when he came onscreen in Spider-Man 3, the entire midnight screening burst into applause--he's not been creatively up to par in decades, the exceptions being his rare parlays back to Marvel Comics to play around with the characters he's already created. I keep seeing his direct-to-DVD animated features at Blockbuster and almost keep checking them out before pulling my hand back; I know that only disappointment can be in store.

In any guess, who knows? Maybe this deal will do good for both he and Disney. And at least it can never, never ever ever ever, be as bad as Stripperella.

Silver Surfer rises to...PG?

The Silver Surfer is badass. Galactus is badass. Further proof that the film featuring them both, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, won't be? The MPAA just slapped it with a heavy, badass, totally violent...PG rating. The first film was rated PG-13, and it featured only one--incredibly lame--group fight sequence. There were assorted lame one-on-one action matches that didn't really matter.

So if you were expecting the Silver Surfer to beat the shit out of the Fantastic Four and the world in general before Galactus came down to eat everybody and fuck things up royally, well...that'll probably still happen. But it will be very tame, and most likely not violent in any meaningful way. I'm not saying I advocate violence or want it to be all I see in a movie, but...it's a movie based on a comic book which features regular group fights and has its fair share of PG-13-esque violence.

So, once again Tim Story, fuck you.

A little public service in India.

India, home to over a billion people, is the second most populous nation in the world (China is the first), and has for many decades faced serious overpopulation problems. It is also reported to be the country with the highest number of HIV-positive cases. So, in an effort to curb such conditions, health officials in India have been handing out condoms at porno theaters.

I think this is a logical, reasonable way to handle the matter, and I hope it helps (though I won't be crossing my fingers).

Movies that rock! Literally!

This is a very fun little event: Netflix is launching Netflix LIVE! On Location, where three actors who also dabble in music will perform shows in areas where they've filmed a movie, then show said movie. For free!

Currently on tap:

Dennis Quaid and the Sharks at Spanish Plaza in New Orleans, Louisiana, with The Big Easy (6/21)
The Bacon Brothers at Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, with Diner (7/15)
The Bruce Willis Blues Band at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with Armageddon (8/2)

I wasn't even aware Dennis Quaid or Bruce Willis fronted bands, but I can say this: Diner is a classic, Armageddon is typical Michael Bay drivel, and I've never seen The Big Easy.

But, hey...free.

Idol spawns another movie star.

American Idol season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee will star in a dark indie romcom called The Last Caller. It's about "a self-obsessed woman who searches for love, hope and meaning during a few random events with other urban seekers."

Sounds...interesting. And it's got to be better than Idol's first contribution to the film world, the infamous Justin Guarini/Kelly Clarkson crapfest From Justin to Kelly; McPhee has the potential to rival Jennifer Hudson's Dreamgirls, because, contrary to what you've heard, the movie is a piece of shit and Hudson does a terrible job in it (despite delivering the film's only genuinely arousing, jaw-dropping moment, her performance of "And I'm Telling You I Am Not Going").

Plus, she's not singing in it. Which, for folks like me who much preferred the energy and spontanaiety of winner Taylor Hicks (the only Idol winner so far who's truly captured me, though Clarkson comes close), has got to be a good thing.

Evening openings continue...

Taking a cue from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Michael Bay's dreadful-looking live-action Transformers flick will be opening nationwide at 8:00 P.M. on July 2 while still retaining the "official" release date of July 3.

Okay, this doesn't anger me or anything. It just kind of bugs me. It's not that I don't condone early showings--I loves me some midnight screenings, after all--but what's the fucking point? Why not have the balls to just open up a day earlier if you're going to go through with it like this? This is quite possibly the most pointless trend the American movie industry has picked up on in recent years...which is saying something.

I'm not entirely sure why this annoys me as much as it does. I think it's just the fact that, much like the actual Transformers movie itself, it's wholly unnecessary and a waste of time. Please tell me there's someone out there who agrees.

A much belated news flash: Paul Newman says goodbye to the movies.

Somehow, and I don't know exactly the "how," I completely forgot to blog about the fact that, just about two weeks ago, Paul Newman announced that he was retiring from his acting career. Usually I wouldn't go ahead and write about something I completely missed the boat on, but this is an exception. Why, you ask? Simply because I love the guy.

Seriously, consider the number of masterpieces the man has been in: The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, Cars. He's the rare actor that can manage to bring both charisma and gravitas to the table in equal measure, without the two ever clashing; it's harder than you'd think. George Clooney is charming, but does he carry any real heft onscreen? Sly Stone can kick your (and the camera's) ass, but do you ever care (we are, of course, talking about post-'76 Stallone)? The ones that can pull of the combination are great: Humphrey Bogart, Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando. (I'd add Nathan Fillion if it didn't seem like too much of a fanwank on my behalf to list him alongside those guys.)

So goodbye, Paul Newman! We'll miss you, but we hope you enjoy the time off!

...I still won't try your salad dressing, though. Sorry.

WB to VOD DVDs. (I love acronyms.)

Warner Bros. has been debuting, in select areas, new DVD releases on Comcast's Video on Demand program both on the same day since last year when it did so with Duma and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. But lately, they've found it's been paying off. Apparently, this tactic shows significant increases in both DVD sales and VOD purchases; the only apparent downside is that it cuts into DVD rentals. One of the more notable titles it's going to continue this test with is The Astronaut Farmer, which hits disc and Comcast both on July 10.

I'm sort of on the fence about this kind of thing; while on the one hand it's just going to make Americans lazier and even more socially aloof, on the other it's pretty damned convenient.

Still, I won't be using it--for one, I don't have Comcast--and I think it'll be a long time before it's common practice for others to. And I'm not certain at all that it's going to become a definitive marketplace staple, like I anticipate Blu-Ray or HD DVD to become at some point in the future.

What do you think?

Quentin Tarantino angers the Italian film industry; Sophia Loren has an idiotic reply.

Quentin Tarantino--who has made no secret of his love for classic Italian movies--has raised the ire of the Italian filmmaking community after saying, "New Italian cinema is just depressing. Recent films I've seen are all the same. They talk about boys growing up, or girls growing up, or couples having a crisis, or vacations of the mentally impaired." I'm in no position to judge this statement, not being up on current Italian cinema (sadly, I think the most recent I've seen is Life Is Beautiful, which came out ten years ago), but it seems a pretty tame comment. It's not like he's screaming, "ITALIAN CINEMA IS THE WORST! I HATE ITALIANS! FUCK YOU, ITALY!" He's just expressing his disappointment in the country's film industry; I certainly bitch enough about my own country's.

But Italian folks are now all up in arms over this, even going so far as to say that Tarantino himself is "mentally impaired," which just does further disservice to their stature and makes them seem like some snot-nosed brat kicking up dust on the playground.

But the worst of it? The absolute most idiotic thing said so far? That honor goes to none other but classic Italian actress Sophia Loren:

"How dare he talk about Italian cinema when he doesn't know anything about American cinema?"

Er...um...what? I would totally back her defending Italian cinema, but to say that Tarantino knows nothing of it, let alone American cinema? Apparently Ms. Loren has not seen any movies in the past 15 years. Tarantino has basically helped create the shape of modern American filmmaking; trust me, without Reservoir Dogs or especially Pulp Fiction, the face of the cinematic world and American culture in general would be extremely, if not entirely, different.

Tarantino ushered in a new wave of filmmaking, and actually made things interesting again. Yeah, Grindhouse may have flopped at the box office, but critics were in love with it. Tarantino's segment of the film, Death Proof, was regarded as the worst part, yes, but to the observant moviegoer, it was without a doubt the best. I've only read negativity about the expanded cut shown at Cannes, but then again, I've only read one article. Even if Tarantino does perhaps stumble--for the first time in his career, Four Rooms notwithstanding--it will not diminish his stature nor his importance nor his relevance.

Mr. Tarantino, bring on Death Proof and Inglorious Bastards. Ms. Loren, go watch some movies.

Judd Apatow's at it again!

The man cannot stop attracting quality comedy folk, and it's been revealed that his new project, Year One (unfortunately nothing to do with the great Frank Miller Batman comics), will be directed and co-produced by Harold Ramis (who appears in Knocked Up as Seth Rogen's father) and will star Jack Black and Michael Cera. Ramis also co-wrote the film with Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, both of whom work on The Office. Owen Wilson's exec-producing.

So here we have a mash-up of the folks from Ghostbusters, Arrested Development, The Office, Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, School of Rock, and The Royal Tenenbaums. If the film lives up to its talent, it's the next Hollywood comedy to watch.

Here's to hoping it doesn't go the way of another non-Apatow-directed Apatow project, 2005's Fun with Dick and Jane remake.

Color me cautiously optimistic!

Uwe Boll's Far Cry for help.

I have to admit, I've never seen a film with the dubious honor of having been made by shlockmeister Uwe Boll. So the "shlockmeister" thing was a bit unfair; I'm just painting the general consensus here (not saying that, from what I have seen, I disagree).

In any case, the guy is auctioning off a role in his current film Far Cry--yet another video game adaptation--on eBay.

And no one's bidding.

I almost pity the man. Almost.

Canada cracks down on pirates.

And no, not those Pirates. As At World's End goes into its second week as the #1 film in America, Canada has introduced a new law dealing with real-life movie pirates which would impose a jail sentence of two to five years on anyone caught recording a film with a camcorder in a movie theater without the manager's permission.

According to the MPAA, Canada accounts for a quarter of all pirated movies. Which is a bit ridiculous. And also, who cares? Who cares if the stars or studios who constantly churn out repetitive, inane bullshit lose money? Who cares if terrible movies sink like they should?

Does anyone other than the MPAA and the U.S. government actually consider piracy a threat? Because I don't. The real threat? DVDs (legal ones). Americans are lazy folks, and if they can just wait a couple months and get a new flick mailed to them where they can watch it on their sofa, that's what they'll do. The vast majority of world citizens do not practice film piracy, so stop blaming it for everything that's wrong with the film industry.

Start blaming yourself, Hollywood.

(That picture is fucking hilarious, by the way.)

Eli Roth wants to go Hostel on Kate Hudson.

Eli Roth makes a living out of torturing people--albeit, fictionally--and apparently would love to torture Kate Hudson in one of his flicks.

Says Roth: "I'd love to torture her. But then again, sitting through one of her romantic comedies is its own form of torture. If I had to choose between watching Raising Helen or vomiting because of something I'd seen on the screen in Hostel: Part II, I'd pick the vomit every time."

I've never seen any of Roth's movies (though his fake trailer for Grindhouse, Thanksgiving, was my least favorite), nor do I really want to. I'm sure I will one day, most likely out of boredom, but I fucking hate torture porn. It's idiotic, derivative, and completely unremarkable.

I think I might actually pick Raising Helen over one of the Hostel movies (not that I'd be expecting any good from either).

It was a funny quote, though.

(Though I won't mention the credibility-defacing fact that I liked her very PG-13 horror flick The Skeleton Key, because that would be just...damn it.)

Paris goes to jail.

You know, I do feel bad that I'm going to be just another one of those bloggers contributing to the media saturation devoted to Paris Hilton and jailtime. I mean, when I do stuff like this, I think about all the folks at Time and CNN who are...er...doing the same thing. But classily! They swear!

Well, since I'm already here, I may as well do this thing...and it's Paris Hilton, right? So I can't feel too badly. Right? Not like she's a real person or anything. Right?

Okay, before I get all hypocritical--I have, after all, gleefully covered this topic before--let me just say that I have not switched positions at all. I still think she's a rich bitch, and I still think she deserves the jailtime, and the media scrutiny (to some extent). But I think it's when I saw the TMZ video of her with her mother as she headed to jail--which I will not link to, out of whatever decency still resides in this ol' heart of mine--that I realized how truly demented the papparazzi is. It's millions of miles from being the worst or most intrusive thing they've done, or that I've seen, but I refuse to be one of the vultures picking at the bones of Paris' small, small, tiny, shattered dignity.

Well, at least not much. She went to jail last night. Yay! (And that wasn't sarcasm that time.) As I've said before, keeping her quarantined from the rest of civilization for as long as possible is very much a good thing. She has no talent; she's a vacuous, arrogant fool who likes to think she means something. And unfortunately, we've given her thoughts definite credence.

Plus: Proof that Sarah Silverman has the biggest balls of any comedian working today (except for perhaps Michael Richards) can be found here.

All aboard Platform 9 3/4!

My inner fanboy--okay, my outer's a fanboy too--has reason to be giddy: A Harry Potter theme park will open in 2009. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is going to be one of the islands featured at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida (there are other islands like Jurassic Park or Marvel Superhero Island, for example), and will feature rides, shops, restaurants, etc. inspired by the fanciful worlds of both the books and the movies.

So my question is: What's left for J.K. Rowling to do to become ruler of the known universe?

Seth Rogen wasn't the first to get Knocked Up.

Judd Apatow's sweet/vulgar sex comedy Knocked Up hits theaters today, and I've been looking forward to it quite muchly. I'm also a huge Arrested Development fan.

Combine the two...and you get this hilarious mockumentary-esque video that shows Arrested Development's Michael Cera in the lead role that eventually went to Seth Rogen (Cera stars in the upcoming Superbad, which was written by and features Rogen).

Here's to hoping the movie is as deliriously funny as that.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Pissed-Off Federal Government

A promotional quarter for the upcoming sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, featuring good ol' Norrin Radd on one side and George Washington on the other, has been deemed illegal by the U.S. Mint.

There's a certain amount of hypocrisy here--the Franklin Mint, which manufactured the coins, does the same thing for many other properties and never gets in trouble--but also a certain amount of karmic justice. See, Tim Story? This is what happens when you make one of the worst comic book adaptations of all time.

And the wait for Sin City 2 just keeps getting longer.

All right, so it's only been a little more than two years since Sin City hit the multiplexes in big, violent, marvelously bloody fashion. But in this era of instant sequels (just add water, watch 'em grow) and Internet-induced ADD, it's hard to wait.

According to an interview with Frank Miller at Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel has been delayed even further, and now must wait until Miller completes The Spirit and Robert Rodriguez finishes his Barbarella remake (and considering he just signed on a week or two again, who knows how long it will take).

Well, hey, at least this debunks the recent Michael Madsen report that the bummer box office netted by Grindhouse had indefinitely halted production. Thank God for that.