Dan Mazer‘s I Give It a Year is the rom-com in reverse and two rom-coms in one.  Mazer takes the difficult task of showing a marriage fall apart, and turns it into a surprisingly funny and witty comedy that never feels cynical.  And it’s absolutely easy to be cynical when it comes to marriage because of the 50% divorce rate.  But like any good comic writer, Mazer finds the humor in an unlikely topic, and succeeds with sharp dialogue, talented actors, and wisely keeping the tone of the film the same as an average romantic comedy.

The ever-talented Stephen Merchant (co-creator of The Office and Extras alongside Ricky Gervais) has a penchant for playing the unsuccessful romantic. In his first team-up with The Farrellys – the underrated Hall Pass – Merchant steps out of his marriage and attempts to woo a bevy of women… all unsuccessfully.  In Movie 43, Merchant is at it again – this time attempting to seduce Halle Berry in one of the film’s numerous sketches.

In the following interview with Merchant, the comedian discusses working with Peter Farrelly once again for Movie 43, the anxiety of memorizing lines, whether he longs to ever be the lead in a film and his in-the-works HBO series Hello Ladies.  For the full interview, hit the jump. 

Fans of HBO’s comedy series Life’s Too Short will be happy to know that they’ll be getting some closure on the Warwick Davis-led show.  The HBO/BBC comedy premiered on HBO last February with a seven episode first season, but executive producers/stars Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have opted to wrap the show up with a special in lieu of commissioning a full second season.  HBO announced at the TCA’s that they have indeed committed to a Life’s Too Short special that will wrap the series up, set to air later this year.  I watched the first couple of episodes of Life’s Too Short, and despite the amusing cameos I was never quite taken with the series.  That said, I’m sure there are plenty of fans that are happy to hear that the show will be given some finality.

Merchant is currently working on a new comedy series for HBO called Hello Ladies, while Gervais recently landed the lead role in The Muppets sequel.  Hit the jump to watch one of the highlights from Life’s Too Short, Johnny Depp’s cameo.

The comedy omnibus Movie 43 has something for everyone with its enormous, star-studded cast: Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi, Bobby Cannavale.

Movie 43 opens on January 25, 2013, so Relativity sent over an exclusive TV spot.  If you can handle jokes about homeschool incest and inappropriate uses for hot sauce, watch it after the jump.  And make sure to check out the red band trailer.

A new trailer for the British romantic comedy I Give It a Year has been released online.  The film stars Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) and Rafe Spall (Prometheus) as a mismatched couple and centers on their struggle to survive their first year of marriage.  While the logline and “romantic comedy” description may sound a bit trite, this actually looks like a solid comedy.  The new trailer features some great stuff from Stephen Merchant and even a solid Justin Bieber joke for good measure.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Written and directed by Dan Mazer (Borat), the film also stars Minnie Driver, Jason Flemyng, Olivia Colman, and Jane Asher.  I Give It A Year opens in the UK on February 8, 2013. 

The promising first trailer for the British romantic comedy I Give It a Year has been released online.  The film focuses on a mismatched couple as they struggle to survive their first year of marriage.  Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) and Rafe Spall (Anonymous) star as the newlywed couple, while Simon Baker and Anna Faris appear in supporting roles as temptations for the duo.  The pic actually looks really funny, with strong turns from Byrne and Spall and some big laughs from Stephen Merchant.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here for images and a synopsis for the film.  Written and directed by Dan Mazer (Borat), the film also stars Minnie Driver, Jason Flemyng, Olivia Colman, and Jane Asher.  I Give It A Year opens in the UK on February 8, 2013. 

If you like your movie trailers short on plot, heavy on the ad-libbing and redder than a Romney state, then you’ll love this new red-band effort from Movie 43.  The Peter Farrelly ensemble comedy stars everyone you’ve ever heard of in Hollywood and even some you haven’t.  Movie 43 has released another red-band trailer previously, but the new one mostly focuses on a stream of improv from Jason Sudeikis who is admiring Kristen Bell’s crotch.

Starring Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler and everyone else, Movie 43 opens on January 25th, 2013.  Hit the jump to see the new red-band trailer.

Though Stephen Merchant (or “Smerch” to fans, “lanky, goggle-eyed freak” to Ricky Gervais) may share plenty of HBO credits with long-time creative partner Gervais, such as on the great series Extras as well as voice credits to The Ricky Gervais Show, Hello Ladies will be his first solo foray.  HBO has reportedly ordered a pilot from the talented Brit, which he co-wrote with former The Office (UK) scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (Merchant is also an executive producer on the American series, along with co-creator Gervais).

An Idiot Abroad is a BBC travel series dedicated to the seven wonders of the world and the culture that surrounds them.  It isn’t a new idea.  Dozens of shows have tackled the exact same subject using a combination of stunning photography and a charismatic, informative host which can create a rich, in-depth look at some truly remarkable feats of architecture and ingenuity.  But Idiot Abroad offers something that none of those other documentary series has: a host who has no curiosity or interest in the subjects he is sent to cover.  Karl Pilkington is the host (or presenter) of Idiot Abroad and is either an Andy Kaufman-esque performance artist or, more likely, a man with unbelievably simple tastes.  Either way, his interactions and observations make this travel series extremely entertaining.  Hit the jump for our review of An Idiot Abroad on DVD.

After finding success with The Office in the UK, not to mention the US adaptation on NBC, writer, director and star Ricky Gervais returns to the mockumentary subgenre with his longtime friend and writing partner Stephen Merchant. However, this time the two British funnymen bring a new face into the comedic world as Life’s Too Short follows an exaggerated version of dwarf actor Warwick Davis, still clinging to his fame from starring in films like Return of the Jedi, Willow and the Harry Potter franchise and struggling to keep his life together as an agent for other dwarf actors and a smug star who might be too big for his britches. For my take on HBO’s new series hit the jump.

Last month, we showed you a clip from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant‘s new TV series Life’s Too Short starring Warwick Davis (Harry Potter).  The clip had Johnny Depp lampooning himself by going after Gervais’ hosting of the Golden Globes.  It was pretty funny and it was good to know that someone was looking out for Tim Allen.  This new clip absolutely blows it away.  In the latest clip, Liam Neeson comes in to talk with Gervais and Merchant about expanding into comedy.  Neeson, Gervais, and Merchant use Neeson’s dramatic gravitas to brilliant effect and show that improv, Oscar-nominees, and contracting AIDS from an African prostitute is an odd but hilarious mixture.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Life’s Too Short began airing yesterday on BBC Two and will air in the US on HBO next year.

Back in March we learned that the British comedy series Life’s Too Short from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the creators of the UK version of The Office, would feature some great guest stars like Jerry Seinfeld and Johnny Depp alongside series star Warwick Davis (best known for playing Wicket the Ewok and Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter franchise). The series won’t hit HBO until sometime next year (though it will air across the pond before then), but now we have an absolutely hilarious clip of Johnny Depp meeting Ricky Gervais and absolutely tearing him a new one about his jokes during his hosting stint at the Golden Globe awards. Of course, it’s all in good fun as Depp has his fedora handed to him a couple times as well. And if there’s one thing you’ll learn from this clip, is that Depp is quite a big fan of a certain 90′s sitcom star. See the clip from Life’s Too Short after the jump.

Since his programs like Extras and The Ricky Gervais Show have found a happy home at HBO, it’s no surprise to learn from Deadline that the cable network will also air Life’s Too Short, the new comedy series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. We first heard about the project back in April of last year which has Warwick Davis playing a fictionalized version of himself as a down and out little person actor trying to hustle and connive his way back into the spotlight. We’ve already heard about guest stars such as Johnny Depp and Jerry Seinfeld , and it sounds like Sting and Steve Carell will also make appearances along with Gervais and Merchant playing themselves in small roles too. The series will first air on BBC Two later this year and will hit HBO sometime in 2012, but you can check out the first trailer for the new series after the jump.

Two upcoming Relativity Media films may not have titles, but they now have release dates.  First up, James McTeigue’s Untitled Raven Project (previously titled The Raven) will open on March 9, 2012.  Per the press release, “The film is a gritty thriller in which Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders.”  The untitled movie also stars Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Relativity has also set the date for the Untitled Farrelly/Wessler Comedy that has an absolutely ridiculous cast starring in a series of interconnected stories.  Just some of the names on board include Johnny Knoxville, Gerard Butler, Anna Faris, Seann Hugh Jackman, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Terrence Howard, Liev Schreiber, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Stephen Merchant.  Hit the jump for the full press release.

As a fan of comedy from our friends across the pond in the United Kingdom, I pretty much love anything Ricky Gervais delivers from The Office to Extras. Now I’m currently eagerly anticipating another one of his BBC shows hitting HBO with Life’s Too Short, a series which sees Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter franchise and Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi) as an egomaniac dwarf who runs a talent agency for fellow showbiz dwarfs. Gervais and Stephen Merchant (who also crafted the two aforementioned British comedy series) wrote the six episode first season which is described as a cross between Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Now the show is even more enticing with some great guest appearances from some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Deadline reports Gervais is in the midst of working out a schedule with Johnny Depp to have some sort of guest role on the show, and he’s also approached Jerry Seinfeld for a guest spot to play “quite a whiny Upper East Side Jewish guy.” Honestly, this new series can’t come soon enough. While no formal deal is in place yet, the series is expected to hit HBO at some point, so stay tuned for more news on the project coming to the States.