That seems to be the approach AT&T is taking after a judge dismissed its request to pull Verizon Wireless’s “There’s a Map For That” ads earlier this week.

AT&T released a commercial that hits back at its rival. The 30-second spot features Luke Wilson, star of movies such as “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” who asks, “Who offers the best 3G experience? Let’s compare.”

He then puts Xs under AT&T’s column for “nation’s fastest 3G network,” “talk and surf at the same time,” “most popular smart phones” and “access to over 100,000 apps” — the last two clearly nods to Apple’s iPhone, which AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights to.

“Name that starts with the letter V? Hey, they got one,” Mr. Wilson says.

AT&T had previously filed a lawsuit against Verizon Wireless requesting that its “There’s a Map For That” ads, which compare data coverage between the two carriers, be taken off the air. On Wednesday, a federal judge denied the request but granted AT&T another hearing on Dec. 16.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, has called the lawsuit without merit. AT&T, in its complaint and a subsequent letter to customers, has called its rival’s ads misleading.

This latest commercial, however, which ends with “when you compare, there’s no comparison,” has some wondering if AT&T’s responses are doing more harm than good.

“Thanks to AT&T’s suit, Verizon is now getting more attention for its snarky TV ads,” MarketWatch’s Therese Poletti writes.

“It looks like AT&T threw this one together in a hurry, grabbing a bucket of magnets and a board and sticking them into some abandoned warehouse with Luke Wilson and some Apple-ad-style music. Luke didn’t even have time to shave!” adds Paul Miller at Engadget. “Though this is clearly just the beginning.”

source: blogs.wsj.com

Owen Wilson on Falling for Marley(s)

“There were so many dogs playing Marley that it was like doing a Vietnam movie where you didn’t want to get to close because you knew that that dog might not be there the next day,” Wilson said.

He did get attached though, so that even when he was only acting in tragic scenes, Wilson could imagine the real impact.

“I knew those scene were coming up and I was kinda nervous like, ‘Gosh, I hope I feel something’ so they don’t have to get out those fake tears that they do. The glycerin was on stand by but I didn’t really need it because as soon as Copper, the dog who played the old man Marley, as soon as you see this dog it was hard not to start getting kind of emotional so that was what was nice about the movie that the situations didn’t feel ever contrived. Everything seemed kind of relatable so it wasn’t difficult to kind of understand, this makes sense what he’s feeling.”

Wilson plays John Grogan, a Florida newspaper columnist who adopts a dog initially to stave off his wife’s desire for children. Ultimately the dog follows them as they grow into a family of three. Jennifer Aniston plays Jenny Grogan and the movie hinges on their chemistry as much as the dog’s.

“We didn’t really know each other before the movie began. We just met in passing and I think it was more like in rehearsal just early on feeling like were on the same page with the way we felt things should go. The thing about chemistry, it’s sort of you get along with a person and then sort of if the movie does well, then you have great chemistry.”

Along their 15 year family life, they undergo serious times that might not be apparent from the cute marketing of the movie. Without giving away spoilers, Wilson offered comfort to concerned parents of the family movie.

“I would think its okay to say there are real life issues. Sometimes I’ll think, ‘Am I supposed to give away what happens?’ But we’re kind of telling the story that the book told. You hope that people appreciate that and that story. I guess that’s just something for parents to decide. It’s also I think right that sometimes maybe as an adult you kind of underestimate or forget kids’ ability to deal with stuff or how much they do soak up.”

Brad Pitt’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button scored $11.8 million in its debut, while Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories bowed with $10.5 million.

Cruise’s Valkyrie seemed to be the odd film out among the A-list Christmas openers. The Nazi thriller ran fourth with $8.5 million. Its per-screen average, however, was higher than that of Bedtime Stories, which played at nearly 1,000 more theaters.

The actress tells the L.A. times that Wilson is “brave, funny and sweet” and was great to work with. “Owen Wilson is so divine in this film. I’ve never seen him play a part like this. He was a man; he was a husband; he was a father,” People quoted her, as saying.

Aniston also spoke about Wilson’s personal struggles, which included hospitalized in 2007 for an apparent suicide attempt. “I feel like, how brave of him, to walk through the year that he walked through,” she said.  Aniston praises Wilson as an amazing costar, saying, “He has no temper, no ego, he’s collaborative and funny and sweet.”

Hollywood couple KATE HUDSON and OWEN WILSON have put an end to rumours of their engagement after ending their on-off relationship, according to reports.

Hudson, 29, blasted rumours she was to marry to the 39-year-old actor on Monday (12May08), after she was spotted wearing a diamond ring on her wedding finger.
And now sources claim the couple has split for good, two months after rekindling their 2007 romance.

Owen and Kate originally met while filming the comedy You, Me and Dupree and is thought to have dated him during her six-month separation from now ex-husband and Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson. Now seven months on from Owen’s reported suicide bid, the pair are back together and are set to wed next year.

Kate has been pictured wearing a huge diamond ring on her engagement finger, after Owen proposed to her in Miami. The 28-year-old is said to be “ecstatic” about the prospect of marrying Owen.