Chronicling the eponymous Navy flight squadron across a season of demonstrations, “The Blue Angels” easily ranks near the top of the many Hollywood films to be considered “military propaganda” for their glowing depiction of the activities of U.S. men and women in uniform.
Whether or not that’s a good thing may come down to one’s feelings about the U.S. military. But in selecting for its subject an organization that performs a service that is itself public relations — and notably involves no battlefield operations — Paul Crowder’s Imax documentary feels both more honest than most in its intentions and more effective in highlighting that organization’s excellence.
Framed by the sun-up-to-sundown schedule maintained by the pilots themselves, “The Blue Angels” examines the precision, resilience and especially teamwork that goes into performing a series of dizzying, extremely dangerous aerial maneuvers. Less a celebration of the U.S. Navy’s Mavericks than its Top Guns,...
Whether or not that’s a good thing may come down to one’s feelings about the U.S. military. But in selecting for its subject an organization that performs a service that is itself public relations — and notably involves no battlefield operations — Paul Crowder’s Imax documentary feels both more honest than most in its intentions and more effective in highlighting that organization’s excellence.
Framed by the sun-up-to-sundown schedule maintained by the pilots themselves, “The Blue Angels” examines the precision, resilience and especially teamwork that goes into performing a series of dizzying, extremely dangerous aerial maneuvers. Less a celebration of the U.S. Navy’s Mavericks than its Top Guns,...
- 5/17/2024
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Top Gun was a major banner film in 1986. It catapulted Tom Cruise into the stratosphere of film stardom. Tony Scott became the go-to director for a lot of action films. The film would also make a star out of Maverick’s rival-turned-wingman, Val Kilmer. Also Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson became a huge powerhouse producing team in Hollywood. Paramount had an enormous hit on their hands, but this property didn’t actually become a franchise until 2022, when after careful planning and a treatment of love, they finally gave audiences the follow-up Top Gun: Maverick, which became a massive hit at the box office.
The story of Top Gun dates back to a magazine article from May 1983 from California Magazine. The article was titled Top Guns (which sounds like the title of an upcoming sequel in the franchise), and it was written by the late author Ehud Yonay. Yonay’s family,...
The story of Top Gun dates back to a magazine article from May 1983 from California Magazine. The article was titled Top Guns (which sounds like the title of an upcoming sequel in the franchise), and it was written by the late author Ehud Yonay. Yonay’s family,...
- 4/9/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
A court has ruled that Paramount Studios didn’t infringe any copyright laws when it made Top Gun: Maverick.
For the past two years, Paramount Studios has been embroiled in a legal case over Top Gun: Maverick. In 2022, the family of late journalist Ehud Yonay filed a lawsuit against the studio, alleging that it had broken copyright laws when it made the highwire action sequel.
In 1983, Paramount bought the rights to Yonay’s article Top Guns, originally published in California magazine. That feature formed the basis for director Tony Scott’s Top Gun, which helped turn Tom Cruise into a superstar in 1986.
Decades later, Paramount finally embarked on a sequel, but didn’t re-acquire the rights to Yonay’s article. Yonay’s family, who owned the rights after the author passed away in 2012, filed their suit in May 2022 – a matter of weeks before Top Gun: Maverick appeared in cinemas.
California...
For the past two years, Paramount Studios has been embroiled in a legal case over Top Gun: Maverick. In 2022, the family of late journalist Ehud Yonay filed a lawsuit against the studio, alleging that it had broken copyright laws when it made the highwire action sequel.
In 1983, Paramount bought the rights to Yonay’s article Top Guns, originally published in California magazine. That feature formed the basis for director Tony Scott’s Top Gun, which helped turn Tom Cruise into a superstar in 1986.
Decades later, Paramount finally embarked on a sequel, but didn’t re-acquire the rights to Yonay’s article. Yonay’s family, who owned the rights after the author passed away in 2012, filed their suit in May 2022 – a matter of weeks before Top Gun: Maverick appeared in cinemas.
California...
- 4/9/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Paramount has prevailed in the lower courts in a copyright infringement case over Top Gun: Maverick.
In a decision handed down last Friday, April 5, a district judge dismissed the case, brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist whose 1983 story for California magazine, “Top Guns,” inspired the original 1986 film. At the time, Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story and Yonay received a “based on” credit.
In 2018, six years after Yonay’s death, his family began trying to retrieve the copyright to the story. It reverted back...
In a decision handed down last Friday, April 5, a district judge dismissed the case, brought by the family of Ehud Yonay, a journalist whose 1983 story for California magazine, “Top Guns,” inspired the original 1986 film. At the time, Paramount secured the exclusive movie rights to the story and Yonay received a “based on” credit.
In 2018, six years after Yonay’s death, his family began trying to retrieve the copyright to the story. It reverted back...
- 4/8/2024
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
A judge has ruled that “Top Gun: Maverick” did not infringe on an article about Navy fighter pilots that inspired the original 1986 film.
Paramount bought the rights to the article, “Top Guns,” from author Ehud Yonay in May 1983. But the studio did not re-acquire the rights, which had reverted to Yonay’s widow and son, before releasing the sequel in 2022. “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.5 billion at the box office.
The heirs sued, alleging that the sequel infringed on the copyright in Yonay’s original work. But in a ruling on Friday, Judge Percy Anderson found that any similarities are not protected creative expression under copyright law.
“To the extent Plaintiffs contend that the Works are similar because they depict or describe fighter pilots landing on an aircraft carrier, being shot down while flying, and carousing at a bar, those are unprotected facts, familiar stock scenes, or scènes à faire,” the judge wrote.
Paramount bought the rights to the article, “Top Guns,” from author Ehud Yonay in May 1983. But the studio did not re-acquire the rights, which had reverted to Yonay’s widow and son, before releasing the sequel in 2022. “Top Gun: Maverick” grossed $1.5 billion at the box office.
The heirs sued, alleging that the sequel infringed on the copyright in Yonay’s original work. But in a ruling on Friday, Judge Percy Anderson found that any similarities are not protected creative expression under copyright law.
“To the extent Plaintiffs contend that the Works are similar because they depict or describe fighter pilots landing on an aircraft carrier, being shot down while flying, and carousing at a bar, those are unprotected facts, familiar stock scenes, or scènes à faire,” the judge wrote.
- 4/8/2024
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The nearly two-year old dogfight between Paramount and the family of the writer of the 1983 article that inspired the franchise is over, at least for now.
In an order released late on April 5, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson grounded the copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief action by the Israeli-based widow and son of Ehud Yonay
“Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay’s claims for breach of contract, declaratory relief, and copyright infringement,” he wrote in a the one-page judgment in favor of Paramount Pictures (read it here). “Plaintiffs shall take nothing and Defendant shall have its costs of suit.”
“Plaintiffs contend that the Article and Sequel are substantially similar because they have similar plots, sequences of events, pacing, themes, moods, dialogue, characters, and settings,” the judge said in a separate 14-page minutes in chambers...
In an order released late on April 5, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson grounded the copyright infringement, breach of contract, and declaratory relief action by the Israeli-based widow and son of Ehud Yonay
“Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay’s claims for breach of contract, declaratory relief, and copyright infringement,” he wrote in a the one-page judgment in favor of Paramount Pictures (read it here). “Plaintiffs shall take nothing and Defendant shall have its costs of suit.”
“Plaintiffs contend that the Article and Sequel are substantially similar because they have similar plots, sequences of events, pacing, themes, moods, dialogue, characters, and settings,” the judge said in a separate 14-page minutes in chambers...
- 4/8/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Paramount and the heirs to the author of a 1983 magazine story that the original Top Gun was based on are each moving for a federal judge to declare victory in their favor in a copyright lawsuit revolving around the blockbuster sequel.
In a summary judgment motion filed on Monday, the two sides trade arguments over the copyrightability of certain aspects of Ehud Yonay’s article and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski’s inspirations for some parts of the movie alleged to infringe on the writer’s intellectual property.
As evidence that filmmakers copied parts of his article, Yonay’s heirs, Shosh and Yuval, point to scenes and plot devices in the sequel that were detailed in the story but did not appear in the original. At the top list is a scene at a Navy base bar in which Tom Cruise’s Maverick has to buy a round of...
In a summary judgment motion filed on Monday, the two sides trade arguments over the copyrightability of certain aspects of Ehud Yonay’s article and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski’s inspirations for some parts of the movie alleged to infringe on the writer’s intellectual property.
As evidence that filmmakers copied parts of his article, Yonay’s heirs, Shosh and Yuval, point to scenes and plot devices in the sequel that were detailed in the story but did not appear in the original. At the top list is a scene at a Navy base bar in which Tom Cruise’s Maverick has to buy a round of...
- 11/7/2023
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Over 600 people have competed on Survivor since the first season aired in 2000. Some have been more memorable than others, and there’s no doubt that one of the CBS reality show’s first stars was Colby Donaldson. But even though Colby helped Survivor reel in plenty of viewers with his good looks and Southern charm, the contestant also cost the show $100,000.
Colby Donaldson | Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images Colby Donaldson is a fan-favorite ‘Survivor’ contestant
Survivor fans first met Colby Donaldson as a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback, the show’s second season. It premiered on Jan. 28, 2001, following the Super Bowl, and fans were immediately drawn to Colby. He was his tribe’s leader and a good ole Southern boy (even his luxury item was the Texas flag).
Colby’s dominance in the physical challenges secured his safety throughout The Australian Outback, especially when he...
Colby Donaldson | Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images Colby Donaldson is a fan-favorite ‘Survivor’ contestant
Survivor fans first met Colby Donaldson as a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback, the show’s second season. It premiered on Jan. 28, 2001, following the Super Bowl, and fans were immediately drawn to Colby. He was his tribe’s leader and a good ole Southern boy (even his luxury item was the Texas flag).
Colby’s dominance in the physical challenges secured his safety throughout The Australian Outback, especially when he...
- 4/16/2023
- by Sarah Little
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Click here to read the full article.
Decades before Tom Cruise took to the skies as Maverick in 1986 hit Top Gun, real pilots were learning air combat tactics at the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School just outside of San Diego. In 1996, the Topgun program became part of the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center and found a new home in the Nevada desert at Nas Fallon.
Paramount’s lawyers are using that history as firepower in defense of a copyright suit over Top Gun: Maverick.
In June, Paramount was sued by the heirs to Ehud Yonay, the author of a 1983 California Magazine story entitled “Top Guns.” Shosh and Yuval Yonay claim the original movie was based on the article, and they’ve reclaimed the rights in the work under advantage of a provision in U.S. copyright law that allows authors to terminate licenses after waiting a period of time,...
Decades before Tom Cruise took to the skies as Maverick in 1986 hit Top Gun, real pilots were learning air combat tactics at the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School just outside of San Diego. In 1996, the Topgun program became part of the Naval Strike Air Warfare Center and found a new home in the Nevada desert at Nas Fallon.
Paramount’s lawyers are using that history as firepower in defense of a copyright suit over Top Gun: Maverick.
In June, Paramount was sued by the heirs to Ehud Yonay, the author of a 1983 California Magazine story entitled “Top Guns.” Shosh and Yuval Yonay claim the original movie was based on the article, and they’ve reclaimed the rights in the work under advantage of a provision in U.S. copyright law that allows authors to terminate licenses after waiting a period of time,...
- 8/29/2022
- by Ashley Cullins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot,” they say in the Tom Cruise-starring blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, and that’s kind of what Paramount thinks about a copyright lawsuit they’ve been slapped with over the fighter jet film.
“When the Court reviews the article and Maverick, as opposed to Plaintiffs’ irrelevant and misleading purported comparison of the works, it is clear as a matter of law that Maverick does not borrow any of the article’s protected expression,” says Paramount in a motion to dismiss response filed Friday in federal court in California.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about Top Gun.”
The dispute is between Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of a 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed earlier this summer in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified...
“When the Court reviews the article and Maverick, as opposed to Plaintiffs’ irrelevant and misleading purported comparison of the works, it is clear as a matter of law that Maverick does not borrow any of the article’s protected expression,” says Paramount in a motion to dismiss response filed Friday in federal court in California.
“Plaintiffs do not have a monopoly over works about Top Gun.”
The dispute is between Paramount Pictures and the Israeli-based widow and son of the author of a 1983 article that inspired the original 1986 movie.
In a copyright suit filed earlier this summer in California federal court, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay want unspecified...
- 8/27/2022
- by Dominic Patten and Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Survivor is a festival of hotness and exhaustion, much like many of my favorite Herb Ritts music videos. That means it's also inherently gay, and that means we have a job to do before the premiere of Survivor: Philippines this Wednesday: rank the nine finest hotties in the show's history. I tried to assemble a varied platter here of winners and also-rans, so forgive me if I slighted your fave. I'm sure it wasn't personal.
9. Yul Kwon from Cook Islands
Oh yes. Love this man, love that he won during a particularly racially charged season of Survivor, and I especially love his honest smile and threatening bod. He's so charismatic, he was given a PBS show called America Revealed. If this means a spinoff called Yul Kwon Revealed is forthcoming, I'm in full support.
8. Jud/"Fabio" from Nicaragua
A word about Nicaragua: I went off the rails and started rooting for NaOnka that season.
9. Yul Kwon from Cook Islands
Oh yes. Love this man, love that he won during a particularly racially charged season of Survivor, and I especially love his honest smile and threatening bod. He's so charismatic, he was given a PBS show called America Revealed. If this means a spinoff called Yul Kwon Revealed is forthcoming, I'm in full support.
8. Jud/"Fabio" from Nicaragua
A word about Nicaragua: I went off the rails and started rooting for NaOnka that season.
- 9/17/2012
- by virtel
- The Backlot
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