Paramount Pictures turns 100 in 2012, but it’s getting the party started this week.

When the studio’s latest blockbuster — Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise — opens on Friday in IMAX theatres (and everywhere else on Dec. 21), observant moviegoers may notice that the studio branding has had a little work done, which some might miss as they turn off their phones or tear open their Junior Mints.

Paramount’s famous mountain logo has been redesigned, adding “100” at the center in honor of its upcoming centenary. According to its press release,

"The studio’s first logo, a symbol of a rugged, snow-covered peak from the Wasatch mountain range, was created in 1916. The 100th Anniversary logo was created by Devastudios, Inc. Paramount will use the (new) logo throughout its centennial year in 2012. Beginning in 2013, the wording about the 100th anniversary will be removed from the logo, with the rest of the design remaining in use."

Entertainment Weekly points out that the original semi-circle consisted of 23 stars back then while the new centenary logo only has 22. (Perhaps one was whacked when the studio released The Godfather?)Continue reading...

Why have some conservatives apparently shied away from going to see Dolphin Tale, a family-friendly film if ever there was one? Because Morgan Freeman is the star. And because Freeman reminded the country about his liberal politics when he complained on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, right as the movie opened, that Tea Party opposition to President Obama "is a racist thing."

Ditto for why many liberals have soured on conservative actors including Jon Voight and Gary Sinise. Sinise, star of CSI: New York on television, is a big supporter of the U.S. military and has committed the unpardonable sin of talking with Sean Hannity on the latter's radio show.

The box office, it turns out, is every bit as divided as everything else in America's increasingly political culture, according to a new poll by Penn Schoen Berland conducted for The Hollywood Reporter.Continue reading...

This weekend, Captain America will burst from the screen in 3D, dispatching Nazis while wearing a spiffy leather jacket.

The last year alone has been a fine one for leather jackets onscreen, including those in Harry Potter, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, Inception, I am Number Four, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Takers, Limitless, Tron: Legacy, True Grit, and The Expendables.

Hollywood has had a longstanding love affair with leather jackets (books have been written on the subject), dating back to the Schott Perfecto motorcycle jackets worn by Marlon Brandon and James Dean.

But nowadays, connecting the hero onscreen with the leather on his (and her) back is a challenge. Enter Filmjackets.com, a website that connects those looking for that big screen coat with those who made it (or who can at least make a passable facsimile).Continue reading...

As Facebook continues its drive to own the term "face," one toy manufacturer is seeing red over the failure to trademark its brand's iconic calling card. The European Court of Justice has denied Lego's appeal of a 2004 ruling determining that its red building brick is ineligible for trademark protection.

With a "baddie's" name straight out of some kind of children's fairy tale, Lego rival Mega Brands had challenged the trademark request. Lego will not be able to build a further case as the ruling is conclusive.Continue reading...