Brad Balfour: Q&A: Harold Ramis Goes from Ghostbusting To Getting Primitive Directing Year One

Before a small group of comedy-infused journos, veteran funnyman, director/writer Harold Ramis spent over an hour not just talking about his latest comedy, Year One but outlining his career and the history of modern funnymen as well. And with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur hitting theaters this summer, it seems there's lots of funny in the Pleistocene and beyond. Year One follows a famous tradition of taking our mythology to task, peering way back to our caveman past and discovering that even then, geeks and nerds--ably played by Jack Black and Michael Cera --came under fire from the tribe, prompting derision and humor. Of course, Ramis, with comedic ambitions extending along the lines of Mel Brooks' History of The World, plumbs such sacred texts as the Bible for inspiration and source material. With the help of exec producer Judd Apatow, Ramis made a semi-gross out comedy that inveigles to explore a few serious ideas as well. It asks such questions like "who the hell came up ... (link)