I don’t know what was going on with me that I couldn’t figure out something more creative with the background. But, uh… HEY! Charlie has a new haircut! Look at that! WOW!

Knocked Up is in theaters this weekend, appearing in theaters at what I think is a very opportune time. It’s been almost a month since Spider-Man 3 landed in theaters and kicked off the blockbuster season. So far, we’ve survived it and it’s “threequel” brethren Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Knocked Up comes at a time when I think people are prepared to take a step away from fantasy for a while and get a little closer to real people and situations again.

Of course, Seth Rogen landing in bed with Katherine Heigl isn’t exactly realistic, but this is why we love Hollywood. They tweak reality just enough to keep us interested. I’m sure that the movie will play this disparity in physical attractiveness to it’s advantage. I expect nothing less from Judd Apatow and crew.

It pleases me to no end the Seth Rogen is stepping up into the unlikely leading man category. If you’ve watched Undeclared, you know that they guy has an affiable charm that’s fun to watch. Even when he’s being a jerk, it works. So it’ll be interesting to see how he manages when he has to filter sarcasm through his heart.

At this point I’m not going to go into my Apatow-love speech. Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Either you get it by now or you don’t. I really appreciate that Apatow is using the same stable of actors and creating his own little universe. The smartest thing any director can do is bring Paul Rudd into his movies. So, needless to say, I have high hopes for Knocked Up.

Interesting factoid: Did you guys know that Knocked Up was originally written to be a sequel to The 40 Year-Old Virgin that featured the Smart Tech crew? I’m glad they came to their senses and invented a new set of characters for the actors to inhabit. The Smart Tech guys were brilliantly effective within the context of T40YOV, but that kind of misogynistic buffonery probably wouldn’t work on it’s own. You need the wholesomeness of Steve Carell’s character to balance that out.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

I wanted to tip you guys off to a new t-shirt design I’m taking pre-orders for right now: Movie Law #948.

Fans of the comic will recognize the concept of this shirt from this comic, wherein Tom discusses actor Sean Bean’s proclivity toward expiring in what seems like the majority of his movies.

Readers with good long-term memories might recall that I submitted initial designs of the shirt for feedback, but was talked out of producing the shirt when the spector of copyright infringement was brought up.

After the controversy with Threadless over the Spoiler shirts last week, a switch flipped in my head. If these guys can get away with using Darth Vader’s head in what turned out to be the most fastest-selling shirt, then li’l old me can get away with an artistic interpretation of Sean Bean’s mug. If I get a cease and desist letter, then that will be the end of it. In the meantime, screw it. People have been asking for it, the work was half way done… let’s run ‘er up the flagpole and see if she flies.

My problem with t-shirt design is that it takes very little to derail me on an idea I have because it’s such a large investment for me. I could have 50 people respond and tell me “I want that shirt!” but if one person responds and says “copyright infringement!” or “I couldn’t tell that was Sean Bean,” I quit. That’s lame. I have a bunch of great ideas. I just need to push them through.

Well, I’ve decided instead of producing Theater Hopper: Year Three this summer, I’m taking the nest egg I’ve stored up and spending it on t-shirt production that will hopefully generate interest in the store and spur book sales when people take advantage of the bundling options.

So pre-order this shirt now through June 13. Moving forward, I’ll be producing more shirts. Hopefully you like some or all of them. We can use the support.

Oh, and for the people that are curious, Movie Law #948 has a list of all the movies in which Sean Bean dies on screen (so far). If you want to see what they are, visit the page in our store and pre-order now!

Got any comments, thoughts, ideas or feedback? Leave them below!