At last we saw “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the best marketed movie of 2013. No kidding. “A2” and Will Ferrell have a sizeable tie-in to Dodge, the result being a ton of trucks sold this fall thanks to the relentless pitches on TV. There’s also a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a Scotch (from a real Scottish distiller) tied to the movie.

You’d think from all the huckstering that “A2” would be sort of not too good. And yet, it’s absolutely hilarious. It’s stupid, goofy fun, and much needed as the year draws to a close and the ‘Oscar movies’ crowd theaters and columns. “Anchorman 2” is a much needed relief.

Last night’s premiere from Paramount Pictures was one of the most innovative of the season. Instead of going to the Ziegfeld, Paramount chose the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. No less than journalist Bill Kurtis of Chicago and CBS, with his booming voice, not only introduced the movie but also narrated it. Clever. Will Ferrell and most of the cast sat through the screening, which included friends, family, some press, and contest winners. Ferrell and director Andy McKay must have known they had a hit. They were confident enough to stick it out.

The cast includes Steve Carell, Christina Applegate Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Meagan Good, Fred Willard, James Marsden and David Koechner. In the audience: all of the above, plus producer Judd Apatow, Hoda Kotb, Rosanna Scotto, Steve Doocy from Fox News, actor Matthew Rhys, and soap opera producer Bradley Bell with Democratic fundraiser wife Colleen Bell. The Bells and the Ferrells are good friends.

Then on to the Cipriani 42nd St party, where a dee jay spun records suspended from the ceiling on a platform. That was a first. “What if he has to go to the bathroom?” asked one observer. We never got the answer. The room was beautifully redecorated for the occasion into conversation pits instead of tables. Actor Edward Norton got into such a serious chat with Kristen Wiig we were afraid she’d never come out of it. So we slyly interrupted.

Around the room, each and every cast member was holding forth. Will Ferrell somehow let himself be overtaken by lines of strangers waiting to say hi and take pictures. He complied with every one of them. Steve Carell told me he was glad Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” had been postponed. “Can you imagine doing the publicity for both of the movies at the same time?” he asled. In “Foxcatcher” he plays a murderous wrestling coach. In “Anchorman” he’s the goofy weatherman who gets lots of laughs. These two things do not go together.

“Anchorman 2” gets its laughs from the characters, who are even better drawn here than in the first movie. And while it spins out of control into lunacy with dozens of “surprise” cameos (Kanye West, Sacha Baron Cohen, Tina Fey are among those all in one scene), the movie has a quasi serious side as it questions what is news anymore.

The movie sends up Fox News and Roger Ailes’s earlier America’s Talking channel via CNBC. For anyone who’s worked at Fox or watched it, the message is clear as Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy becomes a flag waving patriotic sensationalist with tons of graphics on screen and empty stories about heroes, pets, and other inane subjects. I’m not sure if News Corp understood this as there is a big paid plug for the New York Post, Fox News’s cousin, in the middle of the movie.

All that aside, “Anchorman 2” should be a big hit. It’s rude, a little raunchy, loud, and non-stop funny. I left wanting to see it again. That’s a good sign.

Sylvester Stallone says when he was approached to make “Grudge Match,” a boxing movie with Robert DeNiro, he thought “it was absurd.” At a press conference this week in the snazzy Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York, Stallone–who made “Cop Land” with De Niro in 1997–said: “Nobody wants to see another boxing film, especially when you’re approaching 160 years old.”

(“Grudge Match” opens Christmas Day from Warner Bros.)

Stallone was joined at the press conference by DeNiro, along with co-stars Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin and Kim Basinger. Director Pete Segal and producers Billy Gerber and Michael Ewing also took part.

De Niro and Stallone play two retired boxers, local Pittsburgh fighters whose heyday was in the early 80’s; they were once fierce opponents with neither box having that last decisive win. De Niro’s character is a sleaze, but a fairly successful businessman (De Niro). Stallone plays a decent but dour guy, who is now a steel worker and low on funds. A fast-talking, unscrupulous boxing promoter (Kevin Hart) coaxes them out of retirement for one last fight.

After he thought about the question of being in the movie, Stallone said DeNiro called him at home. “We talked a lot about it with the studio heads and they convinced me that I was completely wrong.”

For his part, De Niro said, “I liked the idea of us doing it. And so that was it.”

The movie has a lot of poignant things to say about aging and last chances. Was that the draw in making the film?

“Well I’ll start off and you just jump in whenever you want Bob,” Stallone said. “You know what I mean?”

“Okay,” De Niro replied dryly.

Stallone said, “I thought, oh here we get to prove that you don’t have to be crawling around at a certain age, that you’re obliged to start winding down. It’s kind of like going against trend. Plus, if you still have something to prove, and I think a lot of people as they reach 60 and above, they go, you know what? I have some unfinished business but unfortunately life does not afford you the opportunity to go back and kind of like right the wrong. This is the beauty of fantasy and imagination.”

These characters, Stallone said, have a chance to “correct a moment in their life that will make their life somewhat feel fulfilled. So that’s the fantasy and that’s why I thing the empathy comes in with the audience, and if you can follow that and also look good.”

“And actually, just in the training aspect, Bob, he trained a lot. It was hard,” Stallone said. “Why don’t you tell them about it.”

The production notes say, and the director repeated, that De Niro worked out relentlessly and lost 35 pounds.

De Niro said briefly that he worked out with the same trainer as Stallone has had for the past 10 years, who also happens to be a fighter.

A journalist asked Stallone and De Niro the crazy question of whether they’d trade in their Academy Awards for a legitimate boxing championship.

“It’s a tough sport, tough professionally, and actually being in the ring with a couple professionals I made the right choice,” Stallone said. “No, there’s not a chance because it’s great to be able to interpret it and try to get the feelings. For example, when you meet a Mike Tyson or any of these fellows there’s so much drama going and to be able to play that but then get rid of it and not live with it the whole time because it’s a very heavy, heavy traumatic psyche these guys live,” Stallone said.

“Even though I did say to Bobby, once you’re in the ring, your Oscar is not going to help you in here.”

De Niro laughed, quietly, “I have great respect for fighters because it is what it is. It’s a tough sport and you pay a price. And if you really want to do it you do it. I’m an actor. I’m not a fighter.”

Journalists wanted to know more about their training.

“I couldn’t wait to fight him,” Stallone said, “I’ve been dying since ‘Raging Bull.’ He’s crossed the line. This was extraordinary and he’ll tell you about his aspect of it – in of course in a shorter amount of time.”

Stallone added, “We had to train. This is like if you were casting the lead in ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ or ‘Swan’ ballet and you don’t get to see your lead dancer until the curtain goes up. She was training in Idaho on her own. So what happens? He had to work on the East Coast; I had to work on the West coast. We couldn’t get together. So by the time we got in the ring together I’m going, ‘Oh god, I hope he looks good. I hope he can punch.’ Because we didn’t know, so this was really difficult, usually with Rockies it’s five-six months preparation with the guy. Every day you’re working. We didn’t have that opportunity. That’s why this is pretty extraordinary enough to give him a little credit for his professionalism.”

De Niro’s version: “We had this trainer, as I said, the one Sylvester’s worked with for a long time, and I didn’t lose 35 lbs. I lost maybe 20 or something like that. We worked for a couple of days, and we worked it out. He made it all happen.”

Hart complained, “I was pissed off because I actually worked out and I never got to take my shirt off.”

“That’s true, he was working out every day,” Stallone said.

“That took me for a loop,” Hart whined. “He promised me a semi-nude scene and it didn’t happen at all so I was basically wasting my time with my trainer in North Dakota.”

Alan Arkin, who gets sprung from a nursing home in the film, spends most of his time in a motorized chair. Did that require any training?

“Did I need a trainer?” Arkin asked, incredulous. “I worked with a trainer for months!”

A few beats later, “No, I got in there and I turned the thing on and it went,” Arkin said.

“Really? It was that simple?” Stallone asked Arkin.

“It was that simple.”

Peter O’Toole, one of the greatest actors of our time, is dead at 81. The legendary star of “Lawrence of Arabia” had retired recently. A friend told me this morning: “He went home to die. He just closed up. He was a very private man.”

O’Toole famously also starred in “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” “The Lion in Winter,” 2008’s “Venus,” “The Ruling Class,” “The Last Emperor,” “The Stunt Man.” and of course, my favorite, “My Favorite Year.” All are must see’s if you don’t know them. He was nominated 8 times for the Academy Award, and won a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2003. He also won an Emmy award and back to back Golden Globes in 1969 and 1970.

In addition to his movie work, O’Toole had an exhaustive theater resume, mostly in the West End, at the Old Vic in Bristol, England, and in Dublin. He never appeared on Broadway. But when he was in New York, O’Toole was a denizen of the legendary Chelsea Hotel.

The second Hobbit movie, “Desolation of Smaug,” didn’t have a great box office weekend. Its total was $73 million, about $10 million less than the opening weekend of the original, “Unexpected Journey.”

Snow wasn’t the only issue. Bad weather certainly played a part in keeping people away from movie theatres last night. But there was also apathy to another “Hobbit” movie. There was little buzz about it.

“Smaug” had zero press from New York, for example. There was a last minute screening in New York for some cast and miscellaneous people on Wednesday. But it was at the Time Warner screening room and not even in a regular theater. That sent a signal to New York media that something was up.

Of course, “Smaug” will wear well through the holiday. It will do fine on DVD and in ultimate “Hobbit” packages. Even if it’s the weak link in the trilogy financially, Warner Bros. can just amortize it into the whole package.

Things don’t look so good for “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.” Maybe no one knows what the title means. Anyway, smaug won’t be the weather problem affecting this movie. Snow is going to hurt its box office tonight.And that’s not good since last night “Desolation” opened to a healthy but disappointing $31 million. That’s around $6 million less than “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” or Part 1. I think the Tolkein effect is starting to wear off.

Reviews were better for Part 2 than Part 1. But that doesn’t seem to matter. Frankly, after getting seasick in Part 1 with the special way it was filmed, and the 3D, I’m done anyway. “Desolation” will finish the weekend lagging behind “Journey” but by the time Part 3 comes out, and the whole thing has been milked on DVD packages etc, Peter Jackson will be able to build extra New Zealands all over the world.

A tip of the hat to the Weinsteins, who had the original “Lord of the Rings” rights, and Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye who made the original movies at New Line.