Movie studio seeks to stop Watchmen film

Movie studio Twentieth Century Fox is seeking an injunction to block the release of Watchmen after a Los Angeles motor hotel ruled a copyright lawsuit against rival studio Warner Bros backside go forward.

The movie well-nigh raffish, blemished superheroes - which has already been shot - is slated for release on March 6, aforesaid Warner Bros spokesman Scott Roe.

The highly anticipated photographic film, with a budget believed to be about US$120 million, is based on a eighties DC Comics graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

In his decision released last calendar week, Judge Gary Feess of the US District Court for the Central District of California wrote that Fox could hold some of the rights to the material, even if it did not prevail all
rights.

Fox argues it acquired motion picture rights to the Watchmen graphic novel in the last eighties, and that even though it relinquished certain rights to the material in 1991 it held onto the right to distribute the first movie.

"We will be asking the courtroom to enforce Fox's copyright interests in Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Brothers film and whatsoever related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property," said Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant.

Watchmen is directed by Zack Snyder, wHO made the 2007 hit movie three hundred. The film is based on highly strung material and takes an unorthodox approaching to the superhero flick by focusing on blemished antiheroes.

Scott Rowe, a spokesman for Warner Bros, aforesaid the ruling only means that the case volition go forward.

"The judge did not speak out at all on the merits, other than to conclude that Fox satisfied the pending requirements," Rowe said.

"We respectfully disagree with Fox's place and do not believe they have got any rights in and to this project."

Feess' ruling was issued on Wednesday, in response to Warner Bros' call for to have the case dismissed. Warner Bros made the bespeak after Fox sought an injunction against release of Watchmen.

Fox filed its case against Warner Bros in February. Fox's accusations against its rival studio included copyright misdemeanour, interference with contract and breach of contract.

DC Comics, the company behind the Watchmen graphic novel, is a subordinate of Warner Bros, which is owned by Time Warner Inc Fox is owned by News Corp.

* Watch the trailer for Watchmen below:

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Angelina Jolie: 'Shiloh Calls The Twins Her Babies'

Angelina Jolie has revealed that the rest of the Brangelina brood are helping taboo with her newborn twins.


According to the actress, even her youngest kids with partner Brad Pitt are mucking in with parenting duties.


"It is chaos, simply we are managing it and having a fantastic time,� she tells Hello!.


�Shiloh calls the twins her babies. She and Zahara pick out their clothes, aid change and hold them.

"It's sweet - they are like small mommies."

Brad & Angelina show up off their new additions in the latest outcome of Hello

Click for more Celebrity First Baby Pictures

What does 'watching television' mean in the post-TV age?

NEW YORK - When did "watching television" become an outdated term?

Well, it may not be completely obsolete yet. But increasingly it's imprecise, simplistic or just plain wrong. It's a relic of the analog age - like the way people still say "dialling" a phone number.

"Watching television" is a term full of assumptions that, after a half-century, are increasingly suspect.

For one thing, just what does "television" mean now? The "watching" part is also open to debate, as my 13-year-old son bears out.

It's no secret that TV is consumed differently today by a younger, more media-immersed, more antsy audience. When my son turns on the TV, he adds another, primary media source, like surfing the web, to the mix. For him and TV, "watching" isn't the right word. "Stealing glances" is a better description.

This makes me wonder: Are the TV shows we experience together insufficient to hold his attention (however adequately they hold mine), pushing him to supplement his TV intake with parallel content from his laptop? Or does the sensory appeal of dual media streams represent its own uniquely satisfying mashup, elevating the experience to some higher dimension? I don't know. Maybe I'm not supposed to.

Even so, I'm not stuck in the past. And my son has helped me get a clearer picture of what I used to carelessly characterize as TV-watching.

My path to enlightenment began as I observed him downloading stuff from iTunes. He spends a major portion of his allowance on movies and TV shows, and for a while I couldn't fathom why.

Among his acquisitions are TV programs commonly available somewhere in our cable-system universe. He buys programs he could capture on our DVR and play back for free. Why would he consider paying $1.99 for a digital download straight to his computer, when he could watch the same thing on TV at no expense?

My son couldn't quite put into words why such a question made no sense in the digital age. But I got his drift: "The Simpsons" and "Robot Chicken" aren't TV shows. They're strings of 0s and 1s that amuse him. And a couple of bucks per episode buys him the right to enjoy them at any time, wherever he and his laptop might roam.

My eyes were opened. The new paradigm was coming into focus. Then I realized I was already participating.

When the mood struck, I had recently taken to watching DVD previews from the networks on my laptop, in my lap, cocooned in my easy chair. And I found this viewing mode as satisfactory as watching the same thing the old-fashioned way, on my HDTV from across the room.

Meanwhile, I was checking out episodes of "quarterlife" (a live-action series produced especially for the web), and catching up on previously aired TV episodes available for streaming from websites like Hulu. No longer was I drawing an increasingly shaky distinction between "watching TV" and these other on-screen spectator sports.

This was a big deal for a guy who, way back in the analog era, considered theatrical films a medium apart from television. I used to argue that to watch a movie on a television screen was not to have really "seen" that film, but, instead, to have settled for a barely suitable facsimile.

Now I had crossed a huge divide. I had moved beyond my long-standing status as a TV viewer.

For decades, TV was known as the One True Source of Video. Now, with PCs and laptops, cellphones, video iPods and other media alternatives, the truth is up for grabs. So why quibble about it? I had emerged as a video agnostic.

Sure, the various outlets for video content change the content somewhat, in screen size or resolution. But they don't make a fundamental difference.

Nor do those outlets automatically define (as a "movie," "film," "show") the images they dispense - any more than a paperback book is a different breed of literature from a leather-bound edition, or from a Kindle, Amazon's newfangled electronic reading device.

I concluded that the 0s-and-1s, not the screen they're translated onto, are what matters - whether "Larry King Live" or Grand Theft Auto IV.

I felt transformed. And then, a few weeks ago, I bought an iPod Nano. For no real good reason. Just because it was so incredibly cool, such a wondrous novelty. And because I'd held off as long as I could. (I never said I'm an early adopter.)

Yet another lesson learned: I found to my amazement that video on an itty-bitty screen can be no less engaging than wall-size. What you give up in scope and detail, you gain in intimacy. (Just have your eyeglasses ready.)

An iPod or a cellphone screen also brings you a previously unmatched sense of mastery over video content. This is the closest you can get, so far, to swallowing a TV pill or applying TV lotion. You hold the moving pictures in the palm of your hand. You take them with you anywhere you go (with a waterproof case, they even join you in the shower). You are guaranteed no waking moment without video that you control.

This is video-on-demand and then some. It's the first step toward everything you like waiting for you on all of your devices, anywhere you happen to look. Video-on-a-whim.

-

EDITOR'S NOTE - Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org

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Gigantic books 'Must Read' for North America

Documentary will premiere at L.A. film fest Friday

New York-based Gigantic Releasing has acquired all North American and English-speaking territory rights to Morgan Dews' documentary "Must Read After My Death," which will have its U.S. premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Friday.


The film, which spans 10 years in the lives of a Hartford couple and their four children, will be released theatrically this year.


The deal was announced jointly by Gigantic NYC CEO Brian Devine, and Mark Lipsky, president of Gigantic Releasing, the company's new film distribution arm.


The film is produced by Alison Palmer Bourke, formerly vp documentaries and features at IFC. The deal was negotiated by attorney Jonathan Gray for Gigantic and attorney Lisa Callif for the filmmakers.

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Nicole Richie's After Birth Party

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Tuff Crew

   
Artist: Tuff Crew

   Genre(s): 
Rap: Hip-Hop
   

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Discography:


   
 Phanjam

   Year: 1987   
Tracks: 8

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Pennsylvania-based rappers Tuff Crew comprised Ice Dog, L.A. Kid, Monty G, Tone Love, and DJ Too Tuff, debuting in 1988 with the Warlock Records tone ending Risk Zone. Back to Wreck Shop followed a year later, just in the rouse of 1991's Still Dangerous, Tuff Crew dropped from sight.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One

Its been over four years since Erykah Badu's last release, and it looks like she had a lot on her mind. New Amerykah'' is the first of a two-part series, the second to be released later this year, and it is brimming with the thoughts and emotions of the soul singer.
Multiple listens are essential to fully come to grips with Badu's diverse messages, with lyrics that range from obscure and poetic, to confrontational state-of the-nation attacks.
She is the antidote to mainstream R&B and each song on the album packs a heavy punch, with topics as diverse as the war in Iraq, America's drug problem and aging.
Once you've had time to unravel the complexities and idiosyncrasies of this album, it becomes a much more enjoyable listen.
Opener 'Amerykahn Promise' has Seventies nostalgia written all over it, with a funk beat, groovy guitars and a retro horn arrangement. In fact, the whole album is steeped in this sense of nostalgia.  
Dense, eerie 'My People' (produced by Madlib) is one of the album highlights. Featuring the chant 'Hold on my people' with wonderfully layered vocals, it is understated but effective. 
Even starker is 'The Healer', an ode to hip-hop, with a shout to the late producer J Dilla, whom she collaborated with. Anti-drugs 'The Cell' quickens the pace, with menacing lyrics over a boppy, catchy track.
Lead single 'Honey' is a bonus track on the album, and for good reason. It doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the tracks with its breezy, accessible, and relatively unexciting beat.
The album can become overbearing at times, such as the outro to 'Twinkle', where an angry, somewhat distorted, voice rages against the state of modern society.
But apart from the excessively preachy moments, the album still stands up for its ambitiousness, soulfulness and plain weirdness. It is a schizophrenic, bewildering yet ultimately rewarding experience.
Sarah McIntyre