Defamer: knocked up

Foreigners Strangely Cool to Judd Apatow's 'Cheap Cinema of the American Stoner Idiot Man-Child'

STV — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:05:00 PDT

Judd Apatow's comedy-godfather status isn't quite translating overseas, The New York Times noted in a probing piece on Sunday. While the filmmaker-producer looks set for a late-summer spike in the States with the upcoming Step Brothers and Pineapple Express, his signature blend of pop-culture refraction and infantile male bonding has come to symbolize American cinema's rut in Europe and Asia. For disappointing starters, we hear France and South Korea have developed interests of their own outside our sex-and-drug romps, piling panic on top of panic as the dollar crashes and the world turns its back on Genius:

Over all, American studios depend on foreign markets for roughly half of total revenue. But Apatow-produced films like the Will Ferrell vehicles Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, did more than 90 percent of their theatrical business domestically. And the Apatow-directed 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up had more than 60 percent of sales at home.

The numbers should give pause to Hollywood. When the summer selling season is over, studios will probably collect far less from international markets than they would have with a larger roster of high-budget fantasies like Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Last year, those two movies did very well at home, then fared even better around the world.

At least until Apatow deigns to an international slob-comedy diplomacy mission to shoot Superbad 2 on Michael Cera and Jonah Hill's study-abroad journey in Paris, the trick may be to just make the movies worse, hints The Times: What Happened in Vegas and Night at the Museum each outperformed their domestic grosses in international release. This could be as simple as outsourcing scripts or casting Ashton Kutcher, but in any case, we hope he does it soon; word on the street is that OPEC hates the trailer for Step Brothers.

When a Film's Comedy is Lost in Translation [NYT]

Katherine Heigl Seeks Escape From Doomed 'Grey's' In Search Of Big-Screen Stardom

Molly Friedman — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:10:00 PDT

We've been poking fun at Katherine Heigl for months now, and with good reason: she just can't stop saying the darndest things about her emasculated husband Joshua Kelley, she is completely lacking gaydar ... frankly, this list could go on for hours. But after hearing the news that Heigl is pushing for an escape from the ratings-challenged Grey's Anatomy following a fiscally successful contract renegotiation later made public, we're inching towards Team Heigl for the first time. As a source tells MSNBC:

"She's a smart one. She saw what [happened with] Jennifer Aniston, who was crazy successful on TV, but can't seem to carry a film, and she tested the waters early."

But Heigl's chances of fleeing the yawnfest that is Grey's and continuing her journey towards becoming "the next Julia Roberts" don't look good:

After only three seasons on then-mega hit Grey's, Heigl did make an early attempt to break out as a "real" actress on the big screen, and whether it was a case of pure luck or actual talent, Knocked Up turned her into a bankable hot commodity overnight. Then came 27 Dresses, which managed to rack up an impressive $23mm its opening weekend, coming in second to the highly anticipated Cloverfield. Interestingly enough, 27 has racked up $76mm to date, trailing the J.J. Abrams shitshow by only $4mm as of May 1st. Next on her plate is a pantsless role in 2009's The Ugly Truth, which co-stars B.O. superstar Gerard Butler. The only hitch regarding Heigl's promising movie career? As a source told MSNBC, "Heigl might be locked into Grey's a bit longer. 'I don't think she'll be able to get out of it.'" But we're talking about a woman capable of curing ADD sans medical license! We're not worried about Heigl's manipulative methods when it comes to getting her way.

[Photo credit: Splash]

HEIGL LOOKING TO HANG UP HER 'GREY'S' SCRUBS? [MSNBC]

Newly Non-Sexist Judd Apatow Reaps Benefits of Wikipedia Whitewash

STV — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:15:00 PDT

If you observe Judd Apatow's pervy rom-com assembly line with even casual frequency, you probably don't need a Wikipedia entry to remind you how accusations of sexism and misogyny have plagued the writer-producer-director over the years. At least we hope you don't, because an eagle-eyed Defamer reader points out this morning how a loyal defender / relative / Universal publicist has spent the better part of the last week expunging the dirty little non-secret from the Wiki record. From Katherine Heigl to Mike White, follow the jump for a few of the latest line edits.

On April 15, a pro-Apatow operative yanked the details:

On several occasions in his movies, there are loud, expletive-filled arguments and frequent sexual-related discussions, which are a trademark.
His male characters tend to be immature, lazy, misogynist, sex-crazed and drug-consuming slackers.

We guess that's not so bad; they're vague, and they do sort of violate Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" guidelines. But then someone dropped by Sunday night to cut some far less-arguable context:

New York Magazine noted that [former Apatow associate] Mike White ... was "disenchanted" by Judd Apatow's later films, "objecting to the treatment of women and gay men in Apatow's recent movies," saying of Knocked Up, "At some point it starts feeling like comedy of the bullies, rather than the bullied."
Apatow has claimed to strive to avoid marginalizing women in his work and to develop authentic female characters. Following many of these accusations, in a highly publicized Vanity Fair interview, lead actor Katherine Heigl admitted that though she enjoyed working with Apatow, she had a hard time enjoying [Knocked Up] itself, calling the movie, "a little sexist," claiming that the film "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight." In response to accusations of sexism ... Apatow did not initially deny the validity of such accusations, saying flippantly, "I'm just shocked she [Heigl] used the word 'shrew.' I mean, what is this, the sixteen-hundreds?"

This isn't nearly as fun as the revision that had Apatow dying April 7 after "stealing a bucket of mythical walrus," but it seems a fair enough concession to the historical record. But you tell us: Should it stand?

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

Judd Apatow [Wikipedia]

Oscar's Biggest Snubs: A Post-Mortem

Seth — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:44:10 PST

This year's Oscar nominations produced an equally noteworthy list of omissions who'll be quietly turned away at the Kodak Theater doors, should a ceremony ever materialize. (Tazering to follow if they get insistent.) Our analysis of the 2008 Snubees:

Angelina Jolie
Category: Best Actress, for A Mighty Heart's Mariane Pearl
Snub-O-Meter: 6 Nose-Thumbings (out of a possible 10)
Why They Deserved It: Jolie's widely heralded turn in the harrowing role of wife to real-life journalist Daniel Pearl had all the earmarks of an Oscar-worthy performance, including an accent and makeup-assisted physical transformation.
What Might Have Happened: Like the general public, voters dismissed Heart with the rest of this year's post-9-11 downer crop.
Unspoken Factor: Persisting Academy fears that she'd blow creepy kisses to her brother from the podium.

Sean Penn
Category: Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, for Into the Wild
Snub-O-Meter: 9 Nose-Thumbings
Why They Deserved It: Following in the path of Academy favorite Clint Eastwood, beloved actor Penn's transformation into a director and screenwriter of quintessentially American dramas seemed complete with Wild.
What Might Have Happened: An overcrowded and particularly outstanding director field, an unlikable protagonist, and an underlying sentiment that the movie really wasn't all that great.
Unspoken Factor: Period epics beat self-righteousness every time.

Judd Apatow
Category: Best Original Screenplay, for Knocked Up
Snub-O-Meter: 3 Nose-Thumbings
Why They Deserved It: His raunch-and-heart formula, of which Knocked Up is the perfect example, has conquered the hearts of critics and the masses alike, ushering in a crop of the most laugh-out-loud funny American comedies since the days of Caddyshack and Stripes.
What Might Have Happened: Academy members still skew old, and fail to find humor in crowning baby heads and freaking out over chairs in a hotel room while on mushrooms.
Unspoken Factor: La Heigl.

American Gangster
Category: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay
Snub-O-Meter: 8 Nose-Thumbings
Why They Deserved It: An epic crime drama directed with a sure hand by Hollywood giant Ridley Scott, set in a period not that long ago, but almost impossible to get right: The '70s.
What Might Have Happened: Start with Denzel sleepwalking through a role he never seemed quite sure how to play, and all the "enh"-factor dominoes seemed to tumble accordingly.
Unspoken Factor: Naked chicks filling bags of heroin, however tastefully shot, never really screams, "Oscar!"

Tim Burton
Category: Best Director, for Sweeney Todd
Snub-O-Meter: 10 Nose-Thumbings
Why They Deserved It: One of the most visually imaginative directors of our time, Burton proved he could chew precisely the amount he sought to bite off with his stylish, cohesive adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece.
What Might Have Happened: The Academy doesn't get starry-eyed for Sondheim the way Tony voters might. Too much singing. Too much blood. Not enough meat.
Unspoken Factor: Sacha Baron Cohen's stuffed package.

David Spade and Matthew McConaughey Probably Just Too Into Themselves To Wrap It Up

Mark Graham — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:37:32 PST

Right off the bat, let's get something straight. We are ALL for pre-marital sex. In fact, if pre-marital sex didn't exist, well ... we don't even want to think about a world where pre-marital sex doesn't exist. But really (and we ask this out of curiousity more than anything else), does anyone else find Hollywood's recent spate of high profile out-of-wedlock baby announcements the least bit peculiar? We know the WGA strike has freed up a lot of time for a lot of us, but that doesn't explain why notoriously toxic bachelors like David Spade and Matthew McConaughey decided to throw caution (and their condoms) to the wind. So then, what can we attribute this (sorta joyous!) news to? As with most of ills permeating our society these days, we're gonna place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Juno.

Just kidding, Diablo! We don't blame you. We blame Judd Apatow. But then again, we don't really blame him, either. The truth of the matter is this: we haven't really fully formulated a hypothesis as to why this is happening. We have just noticed that it IS happening at a much-higher rate than it has during the entire time we've been blogging. Admittedly, as far as the Scientific Method is concerned, we're only on Step 2 of an eight-step process. Which means we have miles to go before we sleep. But just like the Katie Holmes Marathon Conspiracy, we WILL get to the bottom of this. Of this you can be assured.

Katherine Heigl Loved Making 'Knocked Up,' She Just Didn't Love The Movie Itself, Or Something Like That

Seth — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:45:57 PST

Unlike Judd Apatow's last movie, which was hailed by 40-year-old virgins the world over as being the first sensitive portrayal of their shared predicament ever committed to screen, Knocked Up was less embraced by potential knocked-uppees, who felt the female lead had greatly settled for a less-than-ideal lot in life. Star Katherine Heigl addressed her misgivings with some of her character's choices in a recent Vanity Fair, a statement that sparked much debate, and one that she now feels the need to qualify:

"It's important to me to take a minute and clarify the quote about Knocked Up in Vanity Fair," Heigl tells Usmagazine.com. "I was responding to previous reviews about the movie the interviewer brought to my attention.

My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously and to remember that it's a broad comedy."
Heigl adds, "Although I stand behind my opinion, I'm disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie. The truth is, it was the best filming experience of my career. Every person that was a part of making Knocked Up helped to encourage, support and inspire me. I never intended for anyone to think otherwise."

Heigl, of course, is hardly the first celebrity-profile to fall victim to time-tested, reptilian journalistic tactics, in which a reporter will relentlessly browbeat their subject, asking, "What do you say to all those strong, independent women out there who you personally let down the moment you let that internet-porn-addicted pot-fiend back into your life? Do you think he would have stuck around even one year after the credits rolled? Couldn't you hack motherhood alone, or are you one of those women who needs a man to feel fulfilled?" until the devastated actress collapses into a convulsing heap, mumbling through short breaths the money-quote sure to send magazines flying off newsstand shelves.

Katherine Heigl: "I Stand Behind My Opinion" About Knocked Up Being "Sexist" [Us Magazine]

Typical Man Judd Apatow Responds To Heigl's 'Knocked Up' Complaints With Selfish Pragmatism

Seth — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:25:02 PST

A Vanity Fair quote in which Katherine Heigl dared to offer her honest, not-entirely-glowing assessment of the movie credited with graduating her to full-fledged stardom instantly became the source of much debate: One faction—let's just call them the "Apatow loyalists," cried, "Katherine Heigl can't say those things! Who does Katherine Heigl think she is? Doesn't Katherine Heigl know Knocked Up made her, and Knocked Up can just as easily destroy her?," while the other—let's just call them "women"—simply replied, "You go, girl behind the questionably motivated character written so as to service the whims of a very peniscentric screenplay!" New York magazine's Vulture blog approached the film's lauded writer-director for his own take:

"I think the characters are sexist at times," he told us, "but it's really about immature people who are afraid of women and relationships and learn to grow up."

"If people say that the characters are sexist, I say, yeah, that's what I was going for in the first part of the movie, and then they change."
When we asked if he's had his feelings hurt, he blamed Vanity Fair for twisting poor Katherine Heigl's comments. "I've done a lot of interviews, and when you're promoting a movie, you talk for hours and hours and hours, and so it's very easy for something to be taken out of context. I'm just happy people are talking about Knocked Up six months after it came out."

Apatow in fact sees so much commercial benefit to the free publicity, a second DVD release, entitled Knocked Up: Deluxe Chauvinist Pig Edition, is being planned for release in second quarter of '08: a four-disc, bonus-packed extravaganza featuring commentary tracks in which Heigl and co-star/Mrs. Apatow Leslie Mann offer fascinating insights into what they were feeling during all those fantasy-baseball-league-crashing, overbearing-nag moments.

Marketing Genius Judd Apatow Turns Katherine Heigl's 'Knocked Up' Slam Into a Sales Pitch [nymag.com]

Katherine Heigl Admits That If It Were Up To Her, She Would Probably Have Aborted Seth Rogen's Love Child

Seth — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:13:33 PST

If you're one of those Knocked Up audience members whose bullshit-sensing adrenal glands went haywire watching Judd Apatow's blockbuster paean to chubby, jobless, weed-huffing types and the attractive, upwardly mobile women who drop everything to carry their accidentally conceived children to term, then you are not alone, as even the actress called upon to bring such an improbable scenario to life has expressed her own misgivings about taking the role in the current issue of Vanity Fair:

"It was hard for me to love [Apatow's] movie" because it's "a little sexist..."

"[I]t paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as goofy, fun-loving guys."

Knowing now what was then going through the mind of the white-hot actress (one of Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating!) explains much about her subsequent career choices, choosing for her Knocked follow-up woman-written and woman-directed romantic comedy 27 Dresses, the empowering story of some chick who's miserable because the prince from Enchanted proposes to her sister instead of her.

Katherine Heigl is a Hypocrite [slashfilm]
Heigl Voltage [Vanity Fair]

Hollywood Women On Working In A Schlong-Obsessed Industry

Seth — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:53:09 PDT

In what is quickly escalating into a bitter, Riggs vs. King-esque volley played out on the cement courts of the media—first Deadline Hollywood Daily claimed Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov was scrawling "DEEP TURNAROUND" in pink hi-liter on any project with a female lead, then Robinov fights back by listing every chick-flick he's ever made, will make, or hopes to remake for Variety—now Salon enters the fray, assembling an impressive panel of industry women to weigh in on the state of the Hollywood sexes. While the discussion takes several interesting turns, we join them in the midst of a lively debate over the feminist merits of beauty-and-the-schlub megahit Knocked Up:

Kimberly Peirce: I just love when she's having that mood swing. That is hilarious.
Margaret Nagle: I totally believed her having sex with him to begin with.

Lynda Obst: Jesus, Margaret, that wasn't what I was looking for. [Laughter]
Nagle: I did! I did! He was furry and sweet.

Callie Khouri: I had a rough time with it.

Obst: Thank you, Callie.

Khouri: I mean, I've seen stranger things happen in this town. Fat, ugly guys get laid by beautiful women every day of the week. So based on that, I was able to go with it. But was it satisfying as a female moviegoer? It's not wish fulfillment, in a way. [...]

Donna Langley: [President of production for Universal, who produced the film]: The premise of the movie from Judd [Apatow]'s perspective, and I'm not being defensive, but for me the comedic premise was: What if this guy got this girl pregnant. And, to be honest, a lot of the attempt at heart and character —

Obst: Came from you. We knew it. [Laughter]

Langley: It wasn't there in the original inception. I'm not going to take anything from Judd; he deserves all the credit. But the original intention of the movie was not to make an observational gender comedy. It was, What if this goofball guy got this really hot piece of ass pregnant.

We're not completely surprised to learn that Apatow's winning formula of raunch-and-heart might have at first been a little heavy in the snips, snails, and puppy dog tails department. Luckily, with Langley on hand to inject a womanly touch, what was initially conceived as the hilarious story of an upwardly mobile TV anchor accidentally getting pregnant, then learning to enjoy her new life as a shared concubine among the father's group of ragtag, internet-sex-addicted friends, was eventually reshaped into a touching story of love, personal redemption, and crowning baby heads to which audiences of both sexes couldn't help but surrender.

Chicks behind the flicks [Salon]

Halle Berry and her nonfamous lover start ...

Mark — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:58:47 PDT

Halle Berry and her nonfamous lover start building their family the old-timey, penis-in-vagina way. Back at the Tam Binh orphanage, a parentless four-year-old crosses Berry's name off his list of A-list actresses who might soon save him from a life of never appearing in the pages of Us Weekly. [Access Hollywood]

Disappointing Opening Means We May Never Get An 'Ocean's 14'

Mark — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:25:56 PDT

Temporarily put aside the existential despair of your post-Sopranos existence by self-medicating with the weekend box office numbers. It's what Dr. Melfi would want.

1. Ocean's Thirteen—$37.080 million
One might have expected that a movie featuring The King of Hollywood, Angelina Jolie's Pretty Boy Partner, and Al Pacino spray-tanned to the exact hue of an expertly basted turkey could have scared up $50 million during a season in which the much-unclamored-for Shrek the Third put up a nine-figure opening. Unfortunately, the moviegoing public chose to punish George Clooney and Brad Pitt for the entertainment industry's blockbuster-recycling sins, perhaps not realizing that withholding their box office dollars could negatively impact the do-gooding pair's ability to conduct their many charitable activities. If a Vietnamese orphan goes unapopted into a high-powered Hollywood family because of a shortfall in Pitt's profit participation, blame yourselves, America. You should have waited for the new Fantastic Four movie to send your message of frustration to the greedy studios.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End—$21.316 million
Looking for a new and exciting way to support the Pirates franchise? Here you go.

3. Knocked Up—$20.017 million
The summer's runaway comedy hit enjoyed a healthy second-weekend take as moviegoers hungry for debate on the hot-button smashmortion issue returned to the theater, taking the opportunity of a second viewing to weigh more carefully the pro-"taking care of it" arguments presented by Ben's fat friend and the mom from Growing Pains.

4. Surf's Up—$18 million
Just when you thought Happy Feet exhausted the dramatic possibilities of March of the Penguins-inspired animated movies, Sony comes along and throws in some surfing, reinvigorating the entire genre.

5. Shrek the Third—$15.750 million
Right about now, someone in the DreamWorks Animation marketing department is making some calls to ascertain how quickly they can get a green 13" television with ogre horns onto the shelves at Toys R Us.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE June 8-10, 2007 [Box Office Mojo]

Now You Can Dress Like Your Favorite 'Knocked Up' Character!

Mark — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:18:17 PDT

Every so often, we like to share with our readers the PR-firm-supplied detritus that clutters our inbox, whether it's taken the form of publicist-penned dispatches from the front of the bloody Beverly Hills cupcake wars (by the way, has anyone heard from Orlando Bloom since his red velvet whacking?) or an opportunistic fast food chain's brazen attempts to exploit cheap houseband labor. Before the arrival earlier today of an e-mail that would forever change our lives for the better, we were completely unaware of StarStyle.com, the leading online destination for "getting the look" of your favorite television and movie characters. But now the scales have fallen from our eyes: Thanks to a press release pegged to the staggering opening weekend success of Knocked Up, we can now let the world know that if they visit StarStyle, they can easily replicate the fashion choices of the film's sexually irresponsible protagonists, assembling with a few mouse clicks a sassy ensemble that says, "I am out at this trendy Hollywood club to get wasted enough to let you fill me up with your slacker love child." Fun!

The entire press release follows after the jump for those who can't wait to get started on raiding "Alison's" closet:

"Knocked Up" opened at #2 at the Box Office this weekend and StarStyle.com's fashion expert Talitha Peters has the exclusive fashion Scoop on the film's stars looks. You can share these tips and the attached images taken right from the movie on your website! —
Starstyle.com is the premier destination website that allows viewers to identify and purchase the apparel, furnishings, gadgets and music featured in their favorite TV shows, films and music videos. Starstyle.com's partnerships with major Hollywood studios, networks and production companies lets the audience dress like their favorite American Idol's or buy the stylish couch they saw on the "The Real World."

Knock Outs From Knocked Up!

The Smash hit comedy Knocked Up sure had some "Knock out" styles! Here are the most wanted items from the movie, where to buy them and how to wear them! And guess what? You don't even HAVE to be Knocked UP!

1. Bumble Bee Necklace. Older sis' Debbie added this delicate piece to her wardrobe. It's an adorable and versatile piece you can add to ANY outfit. No wonder it's StarStyle's TOP item from KU!

2. C&C Tank. Ok, if you haven't discovered C&C now is your chance. The softest, coziest, loviest, prettiest comfiest t's EVER! Great for layering in different colors with tanks under, or even a t-shirt over, and stretchy too.

3. White Peasant Blouse. Allison managed to look gorg' with her ever increasing belly by wearing this feminine peasant top. The best part? You can wear it all through the pregnancy-and after!

4. Maternity Terry Hoodie. All girls love Juicy Couture right? Good news! They now have an adorable maternity line which Allison wore in the movie. Throw over some jeans or matching sweat pants and you'll feel like a total knock out.

5. The Belted Dress. Both KU sisters are fans of the shirt dress. It's comfortable yet sexy-and what woman out there do you know that doesn't want a bit of BOTH! You can wear this with or without the tie, with flipflops or heels. It's one of the must have items of the summer!

Want more? You can find ALL the styles seen in this Summer's biggest comedy, at StarStyle.com!

Knocked Up [StarStyle.com]

Canadian Journalist Uncomfortable With How Closely Apatow Blockbuster Mirrors Own Knocking-Up

Mark — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:33:35 PDT

All too often in Hollywood, the price of success is finding oneself named on a lawsuit by an aggrieved individual who feels that his or her own hard work on a story about, say, the dehumanizing effects of suburban Christmas-lighting competitions or about the so-deep-undercover-we-don't-know-which-way-is-up adventures of whitefaced African-American FBI agents has been unfairly appropriated by a studio hellbent on enriching themselves with ill-gotten material. According to a CBC report, Knocked Up's Judd Apatow could soon find himself sued by a Canadian journalist who feels that her personal tale of an unplanned pregnancy (detailed in the book Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be—a match!) was too closely mimicked by Seth Rogen's wacky, yet human-condition-illuminating, insemination of Katherine Heigl:

[Rebecca] Eckler said if the similarities ended there, she could let the matter go — but they continue, right down to the religion of the father (Jewish) and the career choice of the film's main character, Alison.
"Both my book and the movie feature one night of passion and the nine months that follow. Fine. Whatever," she wrote.

"But what got me was the fact that 'Alison' was an up-and-coming television reporter; in my book, I was an up-and-coming newspaper reporter."
Eckler admitted that it's difficult to prove that any other woman who became pregnant by accident wouldn't go through the same things she did in her book, but she said she feels she must speak up.

Historically, such claims prove difficult—if not impossible—to prove, and Eckler will probably just have to live with the possibility that she and Heigl's character merely experienced parallel knocking-up experiences. Perhaps she'll feel better after wading through all 15,000* words of last weekend's NY Times Magazine story on the movie, in which at least the scene where star/executive producer Rogen, surrounded by his real-life-buddy castmates, smokes a joint while wearing a fishbowl on his head is accounted for.

[*Not an accurate count.]

Eckler says film Knocked Up too close to home [CBC.ca]
Previously: Screenwriter Sues Fox Over Uncomfortable Similarities Between 'Deck The Halls' And 'Deck The Halls'-Like Script They Didn't Buy [Defamer]

Michael Cera's Inability To Take Direction Is Seth Rogen's Career Windfall

Seth — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:28:49 PDT

· A reader asks us, "This is fake, right?" Considering how Will Ferrell and his merry, viral pranksters at Funny or Die have burned us before, we have to say it is. But it's still fun watching George-Michael getting mouthy, to say nothing of imagining him impregnating Katherine Heigl.
· We barely had time to get to the other drug-and-alchohol-related starlet hospitalization news. This truly was a Memorial Day weekend to remember.
· We don't know about you, but the sight of ripped, 60-year-old orange men in thongs never fails to awaken the beasts within us.
· Thank you, Odyssey! You're our one-stop destination for all our celebrity-sex-tape shopping needs—even the ones we forgot existed.
· Salma Hayek: Now more than ever, a series of massive, congruent orbs.
· And because today has been nothing but sadness, we leave you with a glimmer of hope: Elisabeth Hasselbeck is trying to patch things up with Rosie! We're going to climb into our inversion therapy Happy Bouncer™ and pray for their reconciliation.

'Knocked Up' May Restore Trust In Mainstream Comedy Stolen By Fat-Suited Eddie Murphy

Mark — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:11:33 PDT

Following a screening at the SXSW Film Festival, Variety is head-over-heels, ass-over-teakettle, fill-me-up-with-your-bastard-slacker-lovechild in lust with Knocked Up, Judd Apatow's probing exploration of what happens when individuals from different beauty castes violate societal norms by mistakenly procreating:

"Knocked Up" is uproarious. Line for line, minute to minute, writer-director Judd Apatow's latest effort is more explosively funny, more frequently, than nearly any other major studio release in recent memory.

Indeed, even more than the filmmaker's smash-hit sleeper "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," his new pic is bound to generate repeat business among ticketbuyers who'll want to savor certain scenes and situations again and again, if only to memorize punchlines worth sharing with buddies. Currently set for a June 1 release, this hugely commercial comedy likely will remain in megaplexes throughout the summer and, possibly, into the fall.

Dare we allow ourselves to harbor a crazy hope that Knocked Up might one day replenish some of the laughter-enabling neurons so cruelly destroyed by the recent, latex-heavy work of pandering mirth-killers like Brian Robbins? After barely surviving the soul-darkening ordeal of handsy studios unapologetically molesting our inner, comedy-loving child with images of a leather-swaddled John Travolta being struck in the chest with a pigeon while atop a Harley, we're just not sure if we're ready to trust again.

Knocked Up [Variety]