Semi-Pro
On the one hand, it's yet another goofy, retro Will Ferrell movie, and yet another W.F. sports movie. But as Scott said in his review, "it's really tough to complain when a comedian doles out "the same old shtick" when that same old shtick is still pretty damn funny." In fact, he goes on to say: "I happen to think Semi-Pro is Ferrell's best sports flick yet -- and probably his most consistently amusing movie since Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

The ABA, or American Basketball Association, is deteriorating, so NBA benchwarmer Jackie Moon (Ferrell) heads to Flint, MI to shape up his old team for the playoffs, and to make it a successful team for the upcoming NBA absorption. It's also set in the '70s, hence the Semi-Pro fro.

This flick gets the 2-DVD treatment, so there's a lot of extras to enjoy on the second disc: deleted/alternate scenes, 6 behind-the-scenes featurettes ranging from "Recreating the ABA" to discussions about location and production, and this is all topped off with a music video, short comedic interviews, and Semi-Pro trailers from the teaser to the red-band variety.

Check out Scott's review | Buy the DVD

Imagine not having to input your birth date and other information in order to watch a red band trailer. Oh yeah, that's already a reality thanks to YouTube. But you know what I mean. Legally, currently, we've had to prove our ages to see restricted trailers for such movies as Pineapple Express, Semi-Pro, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, The Foot Fist Way (this comedy's whole website is age-restricted), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem and, most recently, Tropic Thunder. We've even seen red band trailers for PG-13-rated movies like Beowulf, which doesn't make any sense at all. Well, now we can see them on the big screen again. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Regal Entertainment Group cinemas (includes: Regal, United Artists, Edwards) has decided to bring red band trailers back to theaters.

Regal, the nation's largest cinema operator, made the announcement last week at ShoWest (yet the news hit the trades too late for my summary) and will begin looking at red band ads this week to see which film gets to be the inaugural title (the chain has already been quietly experimenting with a few at its Art Theaters). Obviously the trailers will only be shown before movies rated R or NC-17 or which are unrated. And most of them will likely continue to be for Judd Apatow movies. The move by Regal should put some new life into the marketing of certain movies -- Semi-Pro might have done better had its red band trailer been shown in theaters -- and will possibly influence other cinema chains to follow suit.

Some people might say that Will Ferrell is coasting, taking it easy, or skirting by on proven formula -- and that may be the case. There's a lot in Ferrell's latest flick, Semi-Pro, that feels like material left over from the comedian's soccer comedy (Kicking & Screaming), his car-racing comedy (Talladega Nights), and his figure-skating comedy (Blades of Glory) -- but it's really tough to complain when a comedian doles out "the same old schtick" when that same old schtick is still pretty damn funny. A recent interview with Entertainment Weekly indicates that Ferrell is pretty much finished with sports comedies, and that's probably just as well. Oh, and for the record: I happen to think Semi-Pro is Ferrell's best sports flick yet -- and probably his most consistently amusing movie since Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Semi-Pro marks the popular comedian's first foray into R-rated comedy, at least as far as his "leading man" status goes. So while much of the flick's broad, silly, and slyly absurd humor bounces across the screen, it will all feel very (perhaps comfortably) familiar to Ferrell's loyal fans -- but I'm not ashamed to admit that the inclusion of several F-bombs help to make the flick a whole lot funnier. We don't often get to hear Will Ferrell tell someone to "S his C," but the golden-'froed goofball dives into the potty-mouth material with a lot of enthusiasm. Semi-Pro is not an aggressively raunchy comedy, but it's definitely NOT for the 10-year-old Ferrell fans out there. (Sorry, kids. Go watch Elf again. It's hilarious.)

Because the first thing I want to see while flipping through a copy of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is a photo of Will Ferrell in full afro as the character Jackie Moon. Yes, in an interesting attempt at movie marketing, Ferrell posed for a slew of shots with supermodel Heidi Klum as part of the 2008 SI Swimsuit Edition. We have pics of Ferrell (as Jackie Moon) on the court (see above), as well as off the court and, um, in the back of a car (check out that one after the jump).

These photos, of course, are helping to promote Ferrell's new film Semi-Pro, which hits theaters at the end of this month. In the flick, Ferrell plays the owner-coach-player of the ABA's Flint Michigan Tropics, and in order to help his team achieve their dream goal of playing in the NBA, he'll have to put moves on more than just supermodel Heidi Klum (who, I must say, looks pretty damn good in this pics). Check out a few more photos of Moon and Klum after the jump, then head on over to Sports Illustrated to see the rest.

Some say that Will Ferrell movies are just the same flick over and over again, but since I always get a giggle from them, I really can't complain. Movieweb is now hosting 10 new photos from Ferrell's latest sports-comedy, Semi-Pro. Farrell plays Jackie Moon, the owner and coach of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics. In hopes of getting the team status in a little organization called the NBA, he must turn his team into winners.

Semi-Pro was written by Scot Armstrong, who was also behind Road Trip, Old School, and The Heartbreak Kid. Armstrong is also hard at work on the sequel to Old School, but this time it will be without *Hank 'The Tank' by the looks of things. Even if you are not a big fan of Ferrell's particular style of comedy, you have to admit he does manage to put together some pretty great comedy casts. Joining Ferrell on Semi-Pro are Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett, Rob Corddry, and the criminally underused Andy Richter. Also joining in on the fun are Outkast's Andre Benjamin and Maura Tierney.

So while some of these pictures have already been released back in November, this latest set has a few new images plus your chance to get a look at Ferrell's 'fro in hi-res. So far, there have already been a few poster releases, a teaser, and the ever-popular "red band" trailer. But, let's be truthful here, if you are a Ferrell fan you are going to want to jump straight to the 'R' trailer for all the good jokes. Semi-Pro opens in theaters on February 29th.

*Correction: Ferrell will forever by haunted by the nickname Frank "the Tank", not Hank.

Just a few weeks ago, Sir Christopher Campbell of Cinematical pointed you towards a new trailer for Will Ferrell's latest comedy. But if you were wondering if Semi-Pro was going to be the soft & cuddly Will Ferrell or the bizarrely potty-mouthed Will Ferrell, you now have your answer. Suffice to say that when it arrives in late February, Semi-Pro will most definitely be rated R.

If you're willing to share your full name, birthday and zip code, then you'll be allowed to enjoy this brand-new (and highly "red-band") trailer in which lots of funny people say lots of very profane things. And it's good news, says me. Despite the fact that Mr. Ferrell has appeared in more sports movies than Kevin Costner, the flick I was reminded of while watching this trailer was George Roy Hill's Slap Shot. And obviously that's a good thing.

Directed by first-timer Kent Alterman and written by frequent Todd Phillips collaborator Scot Armstrong (Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch), Semi-Pro has a comedic ensemble that's definitely worth sharing: Woody Harrelson (back doing the silly stuff!), Will Arnett (a brilliantly funny guy still looking for a good movie), Maura Tierney (funny and sexy!), Andy Richter, Andre Benjamin, Tim Meadows, David Koechner, Rob Corddry ... Jackie Earle Haley?

OK, aside from the final gag about the gun, I haven't been this psyched for a Will Ferrell flick in a long time.

Following a lackluster showing at the 2007 Superbowl, the major Hollywood studios are gearing up for a major presence at the 2008 Superbowl early next year. Variety reports that Paramount, Sony, New Line, Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. and Fox have all bought air time during the game -- with some opting to unspool trailers during the pre and post-game shows. Among the films you'll see trailers for are Iron Man, Will Smith's Hancock, Adam Sandler's Don't Mess With the Zohan and Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro -- that latter of which will involve a collaboration with Budweiser, which should turn out pretty funny (I picture Ferrell with an afro guzzling Bud or something nutty like that).

Disney isn't sure whether they'll be showing a trailer for Pixar's Wall-E or The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, while Universal, Warner Bros. and Fox have not disclosed yet which films they intend to preview. DreamWorks, DreamWorks Animation, MGM and United Artists opted not to buy any air time. I imagine Universal will go with The Incredible Hulk for their trailer, assuming one is finished, and they'll need this giant stage to jump into the summer marketing ring considering films like Iron Man, Indiana Jones 4 and The Dark Knight are already extremely active with their campaigns. If Universal wants to wash away the bad taste caused by the last Hulk film, they'll need to get on the ball with this new one and fast. Of course, we'll find out exactly which trailers will show when the Superbowl airs live on Fox this February 3 (God, just the thought of how many American Idol commercials we'll have to suffer through is already giving me stomach pains).

Wow, it's been almost nine whole months since a Will Ferrell movie was released. Fortunately, Access Hollywood has just given us the first look (not counting this one) at his next comedy, Semi-Pro, and the trailer should be enough to tide us over until the movie actually hits theaters at the end of February (just in time to get some kind of promotion at the Oscars, I'm sure). Semi-Pro is another sports comedy, completing a nice quartet following Kicking & Screaming (soccer) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (NASCAR) and this year's Blades of Glory (figure skating). This one is about a basketball player named Jackie Moon, who also coaches and owns the Flint Tropics, an American Basketball Association team hoping to be brought into the NBA. Like way too many comedies, it takes place in the '70s, giving it a sort of recycled feel if you've ever seen Ferrell's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy or enjoyed an afro-ed Chevy Chase in Fletch (which I know was from the '80s).

But some of the trailer shows promise, and there's no doubt that Ferrell will make you laugh with this movie, at least if you typically find him funny. Many of the lines uttered in the promo even sound made up on the spot, rather than scripted by the movie's writer, Scot Armstrong (Old School). So, if you like that weird, random humor stuff, you'll probably enjoy this. Oh, and fans of bear wrestling, parodies of Evel Knievel (r.i.p.) stunts, jokes about using your child as a shield, long-tired disco gags and funny hairdos -- in addition to Ferrell's afro, Woody Harrelson has a 'do that gives his No Country for Old Men co-star Javier Bardem a run for his money -- will certainly enjoy the movie, too.

[via Slashfilm]

What will comedy look like in 2008? Here's a taste ...

Is there a sport Will Ferrell hasn't taken on yet? Competitive idiot throwing? Is that a sport? Anyway, a whole set of pics from his latest sports comedy, Semi-Pro, have just landed on the internets (courtesy of Cinema Blend). And if you're itching for plenty of Ferrell with a giant afro, then these photos might just make your day. The pic, which co-stars Andre Benjamin and Woody Harrelson, revolves around Jackie Moon (Ferrell), the owner-coach-player of the ABA's Flint Michigan Tropics. In between a ton of ridiculous physical comedy, Moon will try to rally his team together to make their NBA dreams come true. Semi-Pro slam dunks into theaters on February 29. (Bonus: See a photo after the jump.)

The first image from You Don't Mess With Zohan has arrived online (courtesy of JoBlo), showing the pic's star, Adam Sandler, surfing the top of a car a la Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf. In the film, Sandler plays a Mossad agent who fakes his death and travels to New York City to become a hairdresser. Mariah Carey and Rob Schneider co-star. On paper, it sounds cheesy and the kind of film you take on when in need of a quick fix, however Judd Apatow co-wrote the screenplay and, well, that's gotta be a good thing, right? Frequent Sandler collaborator Dennis Dugan directs, and this flick is set to arrive in theaters on June 6. (Bonus: See the photo after the jump.)

Finally, guess who's baaaack? Yup, our favorite ethnic pot smokers are heading back to the big screen in 2008; this time, however, there's a lot more at stake than a trip to White Castle. Oh yes, when Harold and Kumar attempt to fly to Amsterdam, they're mistaken as terrorists and soon find themselves on the run from authorities and all wrapped up in an hour and a half's worth of shenanigans. Five words for you fans out there: Neil Patrick Harris Will Return. Harold and Kumar 2 (aka Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay) will smoke you out on April 25. (Bonus: See an additional photo after the jump, or check out more over at Cinema Blend.)