Beneath the action blockbuster (cough “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”) that graced the screen recently hides this mispackaged gem. Every piece of advertising I have seen on “The Hurt Locker” has pushed it as a war packed shoot’em up but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This film isn’t about explosions or tactics, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

“The Hurt Locker” stars Jeremy Renner and focuses on a small Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD), whose job it is to diffuse bombs in Iraq. Yes, it does have its fair share of violence and explosions, but don’t be expecting a Schwarzenegger-style hero spouting off one-liners in between amazing feats of strength. Expect real people in real bad situations.

Renner plays William James, a staff sergeant who straps on his bomb suit at every opportunity. James is a bit unstable, but a good leader when he’s letting his adrenaline junkie side take the reins. His foil, and second-in-command, is the level headed Sergeant JT Sanborn played by Anthony Mackie. Sanborn certainly starts off as more of the hard-nosed solider type, but goes though some severe changes during the movie. That’s where this differs from other war movies. It doesn’t tell us that war changes people, but rather shows us.

It also shows that some men are just meant for war, and they take it differently. The richness and depth of these two characters is certainly the selling point of this film. You get dragged along their emotional gambit. You understand that Sanborn’s business-like approach is to shield himself and the others from the real horrors going on around them. You understand that James is an addict that has been changed into a walking casualty of war.

And while it is a war movie, it isn’t as preachy as one would expect. There is little to do with the traditional war themes, or even political themes. This film isn’t out to prove a point about the Iraq War, or any war for that matter. With just a little script editing, this film could easily be about the Gulf War or the Vietnam War. The setting is wonderful, and I commend them on actually going to the Jordon to get the true middle-east feel to it, but the story and characters are strong enough to survive on their own.

This movie is shot in a style very similar to a documentary, and it leads us to become more immersed in the world of this EOD team. With it’s over the shoulder shots and most of the focus being James, it almost feels as if this is being told in first person. By the time the bombs go off, the watcher is too far engrossed to be pulled away. The grit of the sand covers the actors, and the heat waves stand in the way of the camera lens. Never before have I seen a movie express heat so well, and it only furthers to pull you in.

There are bomb explosions and gunfire in the movie, but the scariest parts are when there isn’t an explosion on the screen. As James approaches each bomb, there is a feeling that this will be the last. Normally there is an unwritten rule that takes a lot of the tension out of movie: The main character can’t die until the end. This rule isn’t true here. There isn’t a safe moment. At no point did I feel as if any member of the EOD team was invulnerable. It leads to an incredible amount of stomach turning tension. When the realistic explosions finally do hit, that tension is released. You feel good that they succeeded or bad that failed.

This movie will undoubtedly be considered heavily for Oscar treatment, and it should. I tried to find faults to pick at, but those that were there were few and far between. It is a great action movie, yet still has both plot and heart. Director Kathryn Bigelow has made a magnificent must see film, and the best film about the Iraq War yet. Stylish, meaningful and gritty, this type of film that wins award, yet still has enough mainstream appeal to make its way out of the art houses and into the big screens nationwide.

In regards to Robert Kenner’s latest, “Food, Inc.,” I am not the average moviegoer. I spend my free time honing my culinary skills and reading through medical texts in addition to my addiction to pop culture. Needless to say, I feel that “Food, Inc.” was tailor made for me and my brethren. “Food, Inc.” deals with the industrialization of food production, the culling of small farms, and how they are trying to cover it up behind red tape. It mixes food, health and culture in one big vat, turns the heat up, and the watches it all boil over.

Its PG rating is a bit misleading. I’m sure it got bumped down some because of its documentary status, and I will never tell someone not to go see an educational film, but you might want to leave the kiddies home for this one. I recall being traumatized by Bambi’s mother dying, and I don’t want to be responsible for not warning parents about the hidden camera footage of so called “Kill Floors.” It’s probably a good rule of thumb to never involve you children in anything with a “Kill Floor.”

But these scenes, as graphic as they are, are needed to fully display what goes into our hamburgers and sausage every day. Without getting into debate over the moral aspects of eating meat, the real story here is about the condition of the meat after it’s off the bone, before it heads to the slaughterhouse. Killing the animals might be the least controversial aspect of this section of the movie.

The other aspect is the industrialization of food, specifically about farms. Many people know that the death of the traditional farm seems to inch closer every year. This movie tells you why. It also focuses on the impact of soy and corn on our society and how our little yellow kernelled friend might just be responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. Sounds extreme, and it’s meant too.

Now, as you can guess, subtlety is not this movies strong point. It has a very clear agenda: fear. You might learn a few things along the way, but the purpose of this movie is to be “Scared Straight: Fast Food Edition.” Fully knowing all the information in this movie, prior to seeing it, I still can’t help but look at that Burger Joint a little differently. In the end, it’s a good movie. The production is better than a documentary deserves, and the ideas are both informative and controversial. It does everything it wants too: Teaches, frightens and inspires.

However, this movie is going to miss its intended audience. Even large scale documentaries aren’t seen by the single mother, poor families and 20-something college kids that this movie is meant influence. Instead, it will more likely been seen by well-off people who go already buy organic, some granola hippies and probably the starving artists of the world.

Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” caused massive changes because it was read everywhere. It forced the issue of safety and standards in meat production in the early 1900′s and you can draw the obvious parallels between “Food, Inc.” and the classic book pretty easily.

However, “Food, Inc.” will not have the widespread appeal to get anything changed, and it’s message to change our current system might be lost in the the fear they used to sell the message.

“I guess it’s time for you to hate me again” echoes the chorus of a new Eminem track. He might be five years removed from the music scene but Eminem still knows how the world feels about him. Love or loathe him, he put on one hell of a show in his first five years as the media’s mercurial enemy. Five platinum albums in his first five years on the scene caused him to go from an underground anomaly to the next Elvis — if Elvis swore like a sailor and rapped. He was on top of the world, but the pressures of being king got to him, and he disappeared to some Detroit suburb for five years to deal with his problems. He lost partners, family and friends and it caused him to spiral into a drug problem. Painkillers and sleeping pills became more important than anything else, and the names Eminem, Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers have disappeared over the past couple years. Well, in his own words “Guess who’s back?”

As the “Relapse” title suggests, Shady is addicted again. The painkillers might still be gone, but he has had a full blown relapse with rap. Reunited with his mentor and producer, the legendary Dr. Dre, Eminem and all of his personalities and accents have made this 20 track comeback album. But how good is it? Last time around, “Encore” was technically proficient, but it lacked the raw emotions that made his other albums classic. His greatness lies in incorporating his harsh emotions, as well as being an overwhelming wordsmith, and “Encore” was great on paper, but something felt off. He didn’t seem devoted to it as he was in his other works.

Relapse kicks off with the skit “Dr. West” which sets the tone for the album and tells the world what Em was going through. His personal demons will be with him forever, he’s an addict and he’s finally able to admit it. But don’t get him wrong; getting clean doesn’t mean he will become clean. The album truly starts with “3am” a song about committing murders under the influence, then waking up to the aftermath. The album goes on with these familiar themes of murder, serial killers and drug abuse. They have become commonplace in his albums, and have lost a bit of their shock value. However, that doesn’t stop him from being as proficient as ever on the mic. His skills haven’t faded, but he did stay in his comfort zone with a lot of the subject matter.

Another classic topic of his “" celebrities “" pops its head up several times in each song. This album’s first single, “We Made You” is probably the weakest track. He spits out insults like venom, but he switches in and out too quickly, never driving home the offenses. It is five years of pop culture to be ragged on slammed into four minutes and it’s just too crowded. However, it is the perfect single because of the chorus. As a female belts out “You’re a rockstar/Everybody wants you/Playa, Who could really blame you?/ We’re the ones who made you” you can’t help but get the tune caught in your head. It might lack any real substance, but it’s certainly an earworm. For culture-based diss tracks, the Arabian themed “Bagpipes over Baghdad” and the offensive “Medicine Ball” do a much better job at conveying the sarcasm and anger that made him famous in the first place. “Medicine Ball” also puts in lyrics something that he has said in interviews many times: Christopher Reeves’ name just happens to rhyme with a lot of stuff, and Em is actually a fan. Add it to the list of unfortunate things for the late, great actor.

The album is filled with a bunch of gems, but does feel a bit disjointed. It starts off very dark, even compared to his old stuff, and then makes its way to some pop-fueled insult tracks. After those, he reunites with Dr. Dre and throws us a couple fun party songs with “Old Times’ Sake” and “Must be the Ganja.” They aren’t anything to write home about, but they are certainly reminiscent of his older, simpler albums. It sounded like they had fun recording these, and that’s something that “Encore” never had.

The record then takes a sharp left turn as Eminem fades away, leaving Marshall to tell his story of the past five years. No talk of serial killing celebrities or smoking with rap superstars in these songs. “Dƒ©jƒ  Vu” is about his troubles with drugs and hiding it from his family. Revealing his soul works, creating the best track on “Relapse.” It’s simple, showcasing his skill, while remaining very personal.

“Beautiful” the next track, is even further from his norms, presenting us with almost a hip hop version of the power ballad. Written in the middle of his drug habit, the song shows how he felt during his addiction. It comes off a bit defensive, and shares a few themes with some other works, but is very genuine. He sounds lost and sad. These aren’t things we normally hear from the crazed, comical man he normally is. It certainly is a sobering track, which reminds us that most clowns are closer to Pagliacci than Bozo.

The closing track, “Underground” certainly showcases the album’s wonderful production. The song is essentially just Em reminding us that he’s here to stay. However, the Gothic-style chorus, combined with the thunderous beats and accentuated with the sounds of actual thunder turn a fairly basic, forgettable song into an epic closing track.

It took a while, but this album surpassed expectations. More passionate than “Encore,” his talent shines through as well as his personal journey. This album marks his return, and word is that he is hitting the ground running. He will be performing at the MTV Movie Awards on May 31 and later this year “Relapse 2″ will be hitting the shelves. After that, there is a record lined up for 2010, and I’m sure he will have more than a few guest spots on Dr. Dre’s long-awaited “Detox” album.

Five years later, and the serial-killing Slim Shady, the fun-loving Eminem and the down-to-earth Marshall Mathers all return, better than when they left. “Relapse” isn’t as good as his first couple efforts, but it’s certainly a strong album. It’s a good mix of familiar themes and personal exposition. A couple people have harped on him for rapping about the same stuff, but I can’t fault him if he can still keep it interesting. I know he’s once again going to the well of his bad childhood, living as celebrity, popping pills and going insane, and brutal violence, but what else do you want him to sing about? He might have gotten older, cleaned up his life, moved out of the projects, but he’s still an angry man at heart. But go on and hate him. Call him washed up and say that he’s clinging to his older works. Say whatever you want. It’s just fuel to his fire, and if you’re lucky, there will be a song about you on his next album.

“Lost” has lived up to its name over the past five seasons by driving its viewers insane with curiousity over the twists and turns its plots make. Considering the show’s first episode was about a handful of plane crash survivors, and season five dealt primarily with time travel and getting back to the Island, the show has clearly taken some turns.

Starting off as a cross between Survivor and Stephen King’s “The Stand”, it has since lost its everyday feel, and embraced its full sci-fi nature. At the end of Season four, we found out that Locke had gone to the mainland, and that the Oceanic 6 and the others who escaped need to return to the island.

At the beginning of this season, the “Losties” were split into two groups. On the mainland, Jack and Ben were trying to gather the rest of the Oceanic 6 to go back to the Island to save the others they left behind and fix the mistake they made by leaving.

The enigmatic Sawyer took charge of those left behind back on the Island — Juliet, Bernard, Rose, Miles, Faraday and Charlotte — where the Island is out of sync with the world and is shuffling through time. They finally end up, after the death of Charlotte and separation of Rose and Bernard from the group, among the Dharma Initiative in 1974. More on that later.

Three years off-Island pass and, through many twists and turns, all the mainlanders end up on the an Ajira plane which they were told would return them to the Island by the enigmatic Eloise Hawking. While flying over the Island, Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid are pulled in by the time-skips and simply vanish from the plane, leaving Sun, Ben and the dead John Locke behind. The plane crashes on the Hydra, a Dharma station on the Islands smaller sister island, still in 2007.

Jack, Kate and Hurley are found by Jin — dressed in full Dharma garb — and we realize that at least three of the Oceanic 6 have made it to the rest of their group, who are stuck in what is now 1977. Things have certainly changed in the three years since Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Faraday came across the Dharma Initiative. They had been living a fake life with the initiative, even claiming spots of power. Sawyer in particular became the head of security for Dharma in his three years there.

To make a long season short: most of the Losties have been tossed back in time, and need to deal with the Island’s mysteries, the Dharma Initiative and trying to change the time loop they discover they are trapped in. To be sure, “Lost” has maintained its title of the best and most confusing show on television.

Now that a basic recap is out of the way (yes, I know, we haven’t talked about Richard, Widmore and Ellie in the 50s, Locke being resurrected, or Hurley rewriting “The Empire Strikes Back” to make George Lucas’ life easier), last week the season finale “The Incident” aired, and for the first time in “Lost”s long history, gave us a look firsthand into the mystical nature of the island.

The episode begins with two people sitting on a beach on the Island, with a fully constructed statue of Anubis (this has been seen in previous “Lost” episodes only as a foot and finally answers the season five question “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”), arguing to each other, and watching an old ship sail towards the island (yes, that was The Black Rock). One is revealed to be the mysterious Jacob, which the Others take orders from but who has never been shown in the show before, and the other is a man who professes to wanting to kill Jacob but needs a “loophole” in order to do so.

Throughout the episode, the show flashes back to important moments in the Losties lives — right after Jack’s surgery where he used “One…two…three…four…five” to contain his fear, when Locke was thrown out the window by his father, when a young Kate was caught trying to steal from a convenience store — to show that Jacob was there for all of them. He directly impacts some, while just merely being around others. The two biggest changes are making sure that the car that hits Sayid’s wife doesn’t claim his life as well, and bringing Locke back to life after his fall that claimed his legs. He also appears and talks directly to Hurley, confirming what many fans have thought for a while: Hurley isn’t crazy; he’s special. Needless to say, Jacob has been planning for these people to make a visit to his Island well before they got on the plane.

What is interesting is the time span of when the events happened. Jacob visited Kate, Locke, Sawyer and Jack before they travelled to the Island, but visited Hurley and Sayid after they had left as part of the Oceanic 6. Whether this is important or not has yet to be determined.

It is also interesting that Jacob gave them advice — like telling Kate not to steal anymore when she was young and telling Locke to move on with his life from his father — that those characters have all since broken. We have seen from Kate’s flashbacks that she has stolen numerous time, as we know from the other characters’ backstories that they have not followed Jacob’s advice. Did he know they wouldn’t all along? Or was being brought to the Island punishment for not listening to him? But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The main plot of the episode was that Jack had gotten his hands on the hydrogen bomb Jughead that was buried at the beginning of the season and plans on destroying the hatch before it is ever made, thereby changing time so Oceanic flight 815 never would crash on the Island Sawyer and a few of the others protest this, saying that if they can’t change the future, they will just end up destroying the Island and therefore themselves. Jack, ironically now the man of faith, refuses to hear it, and ends up in a long-awaited bloody fist fight with Sawyer.

Meanwhile in 2007, Locke convinces Ben why Ben should kill Jacob instead of Locke (Locke saying he was going to kill Jacob was the cliffhanger finale from the episode before). Richard, who is leading them to Jacob on Locke’s behest, brings them to the remains of the statue and Ben and Locke enter to find Jacob.

Outside, some of the survivors of the Ajira plane crash who the season revealed had some unknown motive for being on the Island, finally met up with the Other Others. Ilana, their leader, addresses Richard as “Ricardo” and asks him “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” He is the first to answer and responds in Latin “He who saves us all.” Ilana and company had been dragging around a giant metal crate and open it to reveal — dun dun dun! — the body of John Locke. They said they found him after the plane crash on the beach, which means the John Locke Ben and Sun have been following is not a resurrected Locke like we have all believed, but instead the man at the beginning of the episode who said he wanted to kill Jacob.

Back in 1977, Juliet realizes whether Sawyer loves her or not, he will always love Kate more, and decides to side with Jack. Radzinsky and Dr. Chen are fighting over whether they should keep digging to build the Swan and set off the “incident” that made it necessary for the hatch to be built or stop. While they are fighting, Jack and company bust on to the scene guns blazing and manage to throw the hydrogen bomb in. After a precious silent “goodbye” moment, everyone squeezes their eyes shut, waiting to wake up in 2003 in Los Angeles when… nothing happens. And then the “incident” occurs. Metal objects start being sucked down the drill shaft and a chain wraps around Juliet and drags her down. Sawyer is unable to save her and heartbrokenly is pulled back from the shaft by Jack and Kate.

Inside the statue, it is clear Jacob knows Locke is the other man and says, “It looks like you’ve found your loophole.” Ben, who professed earlier in the finale to having never met Jacob, lets his jealousy shine through at the thought Locke had already met Jacob and he hadn’t. Jacob asks Ben not to kill him to which Ben replies with a really long version of “What about me?” Jacob replying with “What about you?” probably wasn’t the best move as it instigates Ben to stab Jacob multiple times, whose dead body then rolls down into a pit of fire and burns to death.

Before he died, though, Jacob whispered, “They’re coming,” which leaves us with a whole slew of additional questions. Who is “They”? Perhaps the other Losties are coming back or maybe it’s a new group of people. Perhaps even someone else from the past. It’s certainly open-ended and can’t be good, leaving us with something more to muse over for the next eight months.

In the final moments of the season five finale, the camera travels down the shaft to find Juliet still alive at the bottom. She looks over and sees that Sayid’s “detonate-on-impact” plan didn’t work as the bomb is still whole. Turns out the hydrogren bomb hadn’t caused the incident like earlier in the episode had implied. She grabs a rock and starts smashing the bomb until it explodes and there is a flash of white light and then…..

“Lost.” End of finale.

What this white flash means is certainly a mystery everyone wants to know. The bomb went off, but the ramifications won’t be known to viewers until 2010. This only hint we have gotten. The clip shows an eye opening similarly to the way the first episode begins. The eye also appears to be Jack’s like in the first episode.

Frankly, we shouldn’t be surprised if we begin season six back at episode one, right after the crash, except knowing everything that happened. This theory could allow Jacob to still be alive, Locke not to be dead, and every awful thing that happened in the past five seasons to not have happened. I would be happy to have Charlie and Boone back. However, anything could have happened. If five seasons of this show have taught us anything, it’s that there is no boundary “Lost” can’t cross. From here on out, everything is fair game.

In season six we should find out why Jacob has chosen these people and what they are needed for. He is certainly going to be a big focus of the next season, and probably has the answers that Lost fans have been craving for several years.

Since there is in fact a sixth season the bomb can’t just have killed all of the characters, but we don’t know for sure if it altered history like Faraday believed it would. It will be interesting to see if the last season can live up to the hype. After a slow start, season five hit its stride and became both enjoyable and compelling. The concept of time travel is hard to pull off, but creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did it well, never making destiny solid. Everyone was always at risk, but at the same time, so was the future. The finale was the best episode of the season and left me wanting more but not feeling slighted.

At this point, everyone has different theories on what will happen in the last season. The original popular guess that the Island was Purgatory was shot down early, and since then hundreds of new ideas have popped up. A quick search on the internet will bring you thousands, but I guarantee not one of them will end up 100 percent right. Personally, I am sticking with an Egyptian motif after the appearance of the statue, and that Jacob is Osiris and the smoke monster (and the man on the beach) is Set. However, I’m sure that the writers will prove me wrong. Because of these theories and how long everyone involved has waited, season six is shaping up to be the best season yet.

But season six needs to answer a lot of questions in 17 episodes. Who are Jacob and the other man? What is the Black Rock ship doing in the middle of the Island? Why did this all happen? And most importantly: What is the Island? These are just a handful of the more important questions that the series has brought up, and I’m sure that hardcore “Lost” fans have a lot more they want answered. So if the reset button was in fact just pushed, hopefully the series will return to the feeling of the first season, when it was about not only the mystery, but the people involved. If they dredge up that first season feeling and those spectacular twist moments, then we are only just beginning, because never before has America loved being so lost.

Entertainment editor Terri Schwartz contributed to this article.

What did you think of the finale? What are the questions you think season six will answer? Let us know below!

Green Day is dead.

Tre, Mike and Billie are still above ground and playing music, but Green Day died when the millennium came around. Everyone forgot about the punk kids who cared about little except being fast and funny. In late 2000, they put out “Warning,” an album full of regurgitated songs and ideas that rightfully was crushed under the heels of other artists doing new and different things. The boys were no longer angry. They were no longer snot-nosed punks. They were no longer Green Day.

Then in 2004, another Green Day album came out. “American Idiot” was an overblown, pretentious and self-important concept album about someone’s journey through love and life, with just a bit of government mockery tossed in on the side. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. And it did because it was genuine. No longer did they care about being Green Day. No longer were three chord songs and fart jokes more important then what they had to say. The album took off and let the world know that they aren’t the Green Day of old, but some new beast, arisen from the ashes of the 90′s, and were ready to adapt to life in the 21st century.

Five years later, they have responded to their magnum opus with “21st Century Breakdown.” Unfortunately for them, Green Day has once again gone stagnant. They went through big changes in-between “Warning” and “American Idiot” that redefined the band, but “Breakdown” sounds like “American Idiot 2: Electric Boogaloo.” It’s a concept album of loosely strung together songs with thematic components of an opera about a young couple coming to grips with life in the 21st century.

Thebetter parts of three years were spent on this album, but it just feels hollow. Billie Joe Armstrong has gone on record saying that making this album has drained him like no other album has, and I can’t help but think he was trying to pump out a creative force that just wasn’t in him this time around.

“American Idiot” worked because it seemed effortless. Undoubtedly it wasn’t, but it felt real despite being over the top. Here, they have raised the bar again, being 125 percent of “American Idiot.” It’s bigger, louder and has more going on in the music. But bigger isn’t always better, and it seems almost formulaic this time around.

Where “American Idiot” had “Jesus of Suburbia” setting the tone, this has title song “21st Century Breakdown” which sounds just like its predecessor, down to the tempo changes and its description of the main character.

“Know your Enemy,” the first big single, is a fast paced, catchy popish tune with not so subtle antiestablishment undertones. Sound familiar? It should be because it was the title track from “American Idiot.”

“‚¡Viva la Gloria!” sounds so similar to “Letterbomb” that it would border on infringement if it wasn’t the same band. I could go on and on, but 60 percent of this album looks like “American Idiot”s reflection in a funhouse mirror. Sure, it’s different on the surface, but once you twist out the bends, it’s a carbon copy.

What about the other 40 percent, you say? Well, just because it’s not copying older Green Day tunes doesn’t mean that it is drawing a bit too much inspiration from other sources. “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” sounds like The Strokes — who, in a case of going full circle, clearly took inspiration from old Green Day classics.

“21 Gun” sounds like Oasis and John Lennon got together for a jam session, except much less fun that that would.

“Before the Lobotomy” is a mixture of Queen and the Who, and that, as awesome as it seems like it should sound, doesn’t live up.

I can’t shake the feeling that almost everything on this album pales in comparison to its muse. Every time you make a copy, it get more and more faded and bland. Well, this is four copies in and faded almost grey; the band just covered in black paint and a red tie to draw in crowds.

However, there are some good tracks in between the bland and the pretenders. “Christian’s Inferno” is the closest Green Day came to their old punk roots, and it’s almost depressing to hear. They can still play those old simple three-chord wonders but have chosen to go for the arena rock angle.

“East Jesus Nowhere” has nonsensical lyrics, but borrows the right sounds from other bands. It fits in on the albums, stands on its own, and doesn’t instantly remind me of an old radio favorite.

“‚¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)” is the second part to the aforementioned “Letterbomb” copy, but the second half is much better. It starts off as a cabaret style tune, and then breaks into a more traditional chorus, but returns to the catchy melody.

“Peacemaker” is undoubtedly the best track on this album. It’s a mariachi-style track, with above average lyrics (for Green Day) and, most importantly, is fun. That’s something this album lost in its effort to be important. I found myself humming “Peacemaker” all day, and wishing that I had an album based off that song. If you aren’t going to get this album, I would advise getting your hands on at least “Peacemaker” and “‚¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)”. Four tracks don’t make an album but rather show us what could have been had this album not needed to be big and flashy.

The album, which is divided into three parts, clocks in at just under 70 minutes, and once they were up, I still don’t know what the band was trying to do or say. Even through several more listenings, I still can’t even begin to guess what the comment they meant to make was. I know they wanted to say something about America’s current condition, but I’ll be damned if I know what.

When all the pins drop, this will be a successful album. It probably will be the most successful of the year. In an age where people pick and choose songs on iTunes or illegally download albums, Green Day is still an anomaly, selling their CDs in bigger bulk than ever before. I loved their old stuff,and it’s loud careless attitude about how every teen to 20-something feels. I liked “American Idiot” as an album, with each track playing off each other: a point and counterpoint that isn’t seen in modern music.

But I can’t defend this. This album didn’t need to be made. It’s the music of “American Idiot” with the soul stripped away and a few good tunes that don’t mesh well with the rest of the album.

But it will still be the biggest album of the year. They will sell out in stores nationwide. They will sell out entire stadiums. They will probably sell out their whole damn tour. So I was wrong, Green Day isn’t dead. It looks like they just sold out.

Star Trek is a franchise many wrote off as dead years ago. The recent TV series have been lackluster and the movies even worse. But I am still a fan of the original series, “The Next Generation,” and about half of “Deep Space 9,” so when I heard that the original series was getting a reboot movie with Lost executive producer J.J. Abrams at its helm, my expectations rose higher then “Star Trek” has brought them in years.

The reboot doesn’t disappoint. You’ll want to go back and see it again.

As Abrams has showed us with “Alias,” “Lost” and “Fringe,” he has a talent for making what would normally seem boring or clichƒ© into something riveting. Not an exception, this film pulls no punches, and starts out lightning fast. It refuses to give up this pace even in its quieter scenes.

While other recent science fiction films suffer from a lack of tension in their expository scenes, “Star Trek” excels. Due to the speed and flow of the movie, I found myself wanting more when the lights turned on. I wanted to know where the Enterprise would go to next. I wanted to know how this collection of crewmates goes on with their lives. I wanted more and, before long, I realized that this was not just a good “Star Trek” movie, or a good science fiction movie, but a good movie.

Like “Iron Man” did last year, this film burst out of its genre while still defining it. It has time travel, phasers, space ships and aliens, but the movie isn’t about those things. Its genre is simply a setting to tell the stories of these people, not to characterize them. Kirk and the bunch would work as well as a group of cowboys, or a small town police force. They are good characters that just happen to exist in the time of space exploration.

The plot is a bit more complex than the normal sci-fi fare, but nothing too puzzling. To make a long story short, it’s a basic tale about how the crew of the Enterprise forms to save the Federation from an outside threat. It’s fairly basic, and a bit overdone, but it’s done very well here.

There is another aspect of the plot involving time travel (Losties will recognize this theme as a current Abrams favorite), that fuels the main one and also explains why this version is different the original series.

It’s very clear that Abrams is a fan of “The Wrath of Khan.” From the villain’s motives to the overall plot, to some of the references and subtitles, this movie clearly pays respect to the best “Star Trek” movie to proceed it.

The new cast gives a reboot to beloved original series characters, choosing to embrace some different aspects of the characters fans know and love. We are reminded that this isn’t going to be a homage to the original series when we see Kirk for the first time. Channeling more Cruise then Shatner, Chris Pine gives us more of the daredevil thrill junky aspect of James T. Kirk, than the slapstick playboy that Shatner was.

Zachary Quinto ended up bearing more than a physical resemblance to Spock as he filled out all aspects of a deceptively deep character. Rather than stay stoic like Leonard Nimoy, Quinto chose to visibly suppress emotion.

These two might take the top billing, but this is certainly an ensemble movie. Karl Urban doesn’t get the screen time he deserves but he nailed the role of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy,by bringing a legitimate aspect of friendship to Kirk. Simon Pegg interjects some comedy as Scotty while fleshing out the character’s background and mannerisms. Sulu and Chekov, portrayed by John Cho and Anton Yelchin respectively, had minor but very important roles. Both actors gave great performances and each had a signature scene that makes the character stand out.

Zoe Saldana portrayed Uhura, but didn’t bring as much to the role as other cast mates did to theirs. That being said — and once again referring back to the original series — Uhura got a lot more facetime than her earlier counterpart.

Outside of the Enterprise crew, Eric Bana plays the main villain, a romulan named Nero. Nero fills the role of a man scorned, using his strength and feral cunning to get his revenge. Much like Khan so many years ago, Nero owes a lot of his characterization to Captain Ahab from “Moby Dick.” I guess some classics never grow old, and that is a fact that this new “Star Trek” is relying on.

“Star Trek” has a built in audience and that is both a blessing and a curse. While it guarantees filled seats, they might not be filled with happy people. Abrams clearly knows this, and puts in enough original series shout-outs and references to tame even then most rage filled nerd. The movie has the Kobayashi Maru, a green-skinned companion, a Red Shirt and I think I even saw a Tribble in the background.

Sure, those things are put in there for old fans to reacquaint themselves into this new universe, but what’s better is they didn’t hurt the movie at all. From years of watching “Lost,” “Alias,” and now “Fringe,” I have learned that is Abrams can do one thing right, its attention to detail. When Kirk pulls up to the Starfleet recruiting station, his bike looks like nothing we have ever seen, yet is instantly recognizable as the evolution of the motorcycle. The rust on the side, and the chipped paint tell us that this isn’t the pinnacle of technology, even though its completely new to us. Without saying a word, the environment has told us about the world, technology and about Kirk’s personality. This is just one of hundreds of examples littered throughout the movie, making it more than just the standard space flick. The action is amazing and alone is worth the price of admission, but Abrams certainly separated “Star Trek” from just being an overly shiny popcorn flick, while still remaining accessible.

“Star Trek” has turned out to be not only a great addition to the “Star Trek” series, but a great movie for new comers as well. Abrams has a true understanding of this franchise, and I am already looking forward to 2011 for the next installment. The acting was top notch, the effects were astounding and the attention to detail was the highest I have seen in a while. Overall, I expect this to be the top grossing movie this year, and it deserves every penny.

But I am just a reviewer and I merely critique films, not determine their popular standing. To let the fans speak for themselves, I waited until after the theater lights had turned out, until the sound of hundreds of Star Trek fans — some even in costume — clapping and cheering, subsided, to listen in on the conversations they were having.

Not one of them said a negative word about what was done to their favorite characters. Not one of them complained that the film had disgraced the old series. Not one of them said they were bored. Not one of them wanted anything any different. Not one of them disappointed.

I couldn’t write a better review than that.

Our favorite sardonic and geeky alt rocker is back, but this time he’s bringing friends.

In a move fitting of only Ben Folds, he is putting out his first official “greatest hits” album, but instead of him performing them, he has gotten some of the best a cappella from universities and high schools around to help him out with “Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!” For those unfamiliar with a cappella bands, the concept is to perform full songs, without any instruments other than your own body. Everything you hear is snaps, claps, stomps, whistles and of course vocals.

The album contains 16 of Folds’ tracks, re-imagined by some of the best minds colleges have to offer. Overall the album isn’t subtle or soft. The idea of a cappella leads to a very full sound, even if the original might have just been Ben and a piano.

As for track selection, most everything a Folds fan would be looking for is there. Notable omissions however are “Annie Waits”, “Rockin’ the Suburbs” and “Smoke”. Folds even gets in on some of the fun, performing on new versions of “Boxing” and “Effington”, two songs from different times in his career. While “Effington” shines, “Boxing” falls flat. Maybe it’s just too old for Foldsto redo, but it’s one of the worst tracks on the album.

Standout tracks include a fantastic job on “Selfless, Cold, and Composed” by the Sacramento State Jazz Singers. They handled the instrumental ending in a way that rivals the haunting original even though they managed to put some different varieties on the vocal music, by incorporating a lot of choral style hymns and even some scat singing. The other big surprise was “Evaporated,” which strays farthest from the original, but because of that fact, it isn’t bound by one’s own preconceptions. As expected, “Army” might be the best overall track on the album. It’s upbeat humor matches perfectly with the very idea of college-style a cappella. The translation is flawless, and this version might even surpass the original. The end cap on this album is a simple but great take on “The Luckiest,” which wraps up the whole album excellently.

Unfortunately, while these songs are all done pretty well, they do lose something in translation. Part of the reason the Ben Folds has been successful is that half his songs are fun, ironic and playful while the others are truly sad and sometimes even a bit disturbing. No song suffers more from this then “Fred Jones Part 2″ which is a song that invokes true hate towards the frantic pace of life and one man’s struggle with being replaced. However, this version almost seems happy and doesn’t inspire the same feelings that the original did. Technically, it’s fine and one of the better arrangements, but it lost its meaning and soul once you removed Folds’ shaking voice and timid piano. While it is not the fault of anyone involved, it’s hard to portray the weariness that the originals had using this format. Additionally, each individual song is certainly listenable, but as a whole, it is a lot for people who aren’t normally fans of a cappella.

It is still a “must buy” for fans of Folds’ music and fans of a cappella. Any big Ben Folds fan would be wrong to look over the album simply because it’s a “greatest hits” style compilation. Any a cappella fan should also look into this, because it’s a great selection of different styles and takes on one artist. However, if you’re just a casual fan, or someone looking to jump on the Ben Folds bandwagon, I’d suggest going to the classics like “Rockin’ the Suburbs” or “Whatever and Ever Amen” or even his newest work “Way to Normal”. It’s not perfect but Ben Folds has never been about being perfect. He’s about being creative and going outside the normal. This is just a different way of doing that.

After four successful DC Universe releases, the fifth is coming down the pipeline, and coming fast. “Green Lantern: First Flight” has now had its street date listed as July 28th 2009, almost exactly 50 years since DC Comics Showcase #22, which is the first appearance of both Hal Jordon and the Green Lantern Corps. After the success of “Wonder Woman”, the last DC Universe animated release, expect some more fanfare for this one.

It tells the story of test flight pilot Hal Jordon, through fate becoming a Green Lantern, one of many owners of magical rings who function as police for the universe. Voicing Hal is a familiar voice in Christopher Meloni of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” fame. Joining him are Michael Madsen, Victor Garber, Kurtwood Smith and John Larroquette making this one of the biggest ventures put out by DC Universe so far.

Returning from “Wonder Woman”, are director Laura Montgomery, and producer Bruce Timm. Both are DC mainstays and certainly bring credibility to anything they do. So look for “Green Lantern: First Flight” this summer. It will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray for $24.98 and $29.99 and a single disc DVD for $19.98.

Susan Boyle was an instant internet success the second she shared her dulcet tones with Simon Cowell and the rest of “Britain’s Got Talent,” so it’s only fair that she’s earned a parody video.

Eric Schwartz (aka Smooth-e) has been doing his thing across the pond for a while now, and is starting to get noticed over here in the States. For those unfamiliar, Schwartz seems to have a comedic split personality. First is Eric Schwartz, a geeky stand-up comedian with jokes about Lord of the Rings, celebrities, and pop culture.

Then out comes Smooth-e, the Jewish parody rapper. As Smooth-e, he spouts out parodies of popular rap acts like Lil Wayne, Soldier Boy and Eminem. Over the past couple years, he’s become a viral superstar, making it big on Youtube. Recently he’s put up another gem on his website, http://smoothetv.ning.com/, of Susan Boyle from “Britain’s Got Talent.”

He’s been on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and BET’s “Comic View” but now he’s spreading his rhymes through a new CD, collecting some of his more popular parodies, and putting some new ones out to his fans. It’s called “Parodies Nuts!” and since its release, he’s become a regular of the Youtube front page, and is gathering up support not usual for parody acts. Along with the CD is a DVD containing 25 different videos, including those that made him famous.

Now Schwartz has a long hard road ahead. As a parody artist, only Weird Al Yankovic has garnered continued success, but now the internet is the name of the game, and it’s a different world now. Anyone can get their ideas onto Youtube and strike it big. So for better or worse, it’s an unusual road that Schwartz is going down. He’s got the chops and the fans, so things look good for his continued success.

For those unfamiliar with Susan Boyle, you can check her out here:

“Crank 2: High Voltage” is what you watch when you wish Rambo was more badass. It’s what you watch when you have a craving for action that even Arnold can’t fill. It’s for when you need a bit of the old ultra-violence to go with your spot of tea. To put it simply, watching this movie is like watching the end of Rome: its decadence and hedonism are so extreme, that it manages parody itself as it’s happening. It’s self-indulgence for self-indulgence’s sake, and I loved it.

It sounds clichĩ and let me assure you it is. In the first film, Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is a hitman, who is poisoned so that he needs adrenaline to keep him going. He ends up falling out of a helicopter, and doing his best bouncy ball impression when he hits the ground. Apparently, he survives. His body is stolen by a gang and is being harvested for organs when he breaks loose, with a shiny new plastic heart instead of his beating red one. To stay alive, he needs to constantly hit himself with electrical jolts or other convenient deus ex machinas to keep himself going. Like I said clichĩ.

Now I’m not going to ignore this films obvious lack of almost everything normally valuable in movies, like acting or plot. From a traditional standpoint, this might be the worst movie ever made. But who cares about those trivial things, when you can instead just have three times the sex and action instead. This film knows what it’s trying to do, and it does it well. The acting might not be top notch, but the characters certainly have personality. Chev is what James Bond would be like if he was balding, and replaced wit and subtly with the ability to kick ass even after major heart surgery. Doesn’t seem like a fair trade until you realize that most problems can be solved with a little elbow grease and a flurry of kicks.

Returning back from the first film is Chev’s best friend and personal doctor, aptly known only as Doc Miles. Doc is a cross between Dr. West from the Re-Animator and a pimp and plays the role of “Q” for Chev. Other various characters include a psychopathic villain who spends most of the movie laughing like a hyena; his sidekick who has tourette syndrome; his girlfriend has become an exhibitionist; and an Asian whore who loves Chev and can’t speak English.

The humor is crude and prevalent, ranging from its 70s style explanatory titles to shotgun sodomy. The sex scene about half way through the movie might outright be the funniest thing I have seen in several years. It’s in your face and it wouldn’t have it any other way. As you may have guessed, subtlety isn’t something this movie even attempts. To go with the crude humor is explosive action. That isn’t a buzzword; a lot of the action in this movie is literally explosive. In one of the most creative scenes in the movie, an entire fight is done in costumes and set up like an old Godzilla film, complete with a destructible foam set.

Despite its gruff and extreme exterior, there are some things that aren’t about vengeance and ass-kickery. There is a lot of allusion to video games and in fact both this and the first movie have more in common with video games than actual movies. Watching Chev steal a car, beat up cops and require power ups to get things done seems more like “Grand Theft Auto 4″ rather than “Saving Private Ryan.” He falls out of a helicopter in the first one, only to come back at full health and continue his mission. If that isn’t the concept of “respawning” put into a movie, then I don’t know what is. In a hallucination, and possible flashback, Chev sees himself as a kid, on a “Maury” like talk show, discussing how he spends all his days playing video games and committing crimes. It might actually show them in a negative light, but it’s nice to see video games influencing the big screen rather than just being poor translations and quick brand cash grabs.

Call it shallow. Call it pointless. Call it mindless. But also call it inventive and fun. Most movies never dare tread where on ground that “Crank 2″ plows through. The presentation is amazing, with its desaturated colors and fast-paced cuts that are still watchable. As a last note, the soundtrack for this is as unique as the movie. It’s made by musical chameleon and rock star Mike Patton, and fits the movie perfectly. So don’t go see “Crank 2: High Voltage” if you are a stick in the mud; under 18; a fan of quiet foreign films about love; or wish that Commando had a more cohesive plot. Otherwise, enjoy your 96 minutes of pure action and extravagance, try not to take it too seriously and wait patiently for “Crank 3″ like I am.

You’ve met him before. That fast food manager who is content to spend his days bossing around 16 year olds, or maybe that store clerk who gave up a long time ago and is coasting along with no pay and no future. That’s who this movie is about. It’s not a comedy in the traditional sense as much as a surreal tragedy that uses laughter as the only way of establishing a connection between the audience and the characters, all of which are otherwise unrelatable. For those instant comparisons to “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” let me assure you, this movie has more in common with black comedies like “Dr. Strangelove,” “Fargo” and “Death to Smoochy” than “Blart,” which was another “fatty fall down” flick 10 years and one star behind it’s time.

Seth Rogan takes time off from playing himself in four films a year to play Ronnie Barnhardt, a mall security guard. Sorry, head of mall security. He takes the title and the job with the utmost seriousness. He might live with his mom, but he is king of the mall. He’s generally a jerk and doesn’t care about anyone else. His falsified ego seems to get in the way of his day to day duties and social interactions.

Surrounding him is is makeshift squad of guards, all of whom seem pretty content to spend their days pushing around what little influence they have.

The story gets kicked into motion by a flasher, who is making the mall his new stomping grounds. Ronnie, in an attempt to impress Brandi (Anna Faris), a makeup saleswoman, devotes his whole life to finding and stopping this flasher.

At least that’s how the movie starts. Somewhere in the middle it intentionally ignores Ronnie’s quest to focus on a series of robberies, and Ronnie realizes he has been lying to himself about his own importance. Pushing his weight around for free coffee from the disabled girl in the food court doesn’t seem as appealing, and Ronnie tries to become an actual cop. Inspired by the work of his rival, Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), Ronnie pushes himself to prove that he’s more than just a mall cop.

Up until this point, it all seems possible. Sure, it’s full of gags, jokes and comedic situations, but it’s something resembling a real life. I am going to skip the meat of the film and jump straight to the end so as not to give away the whole thing, so a big spoiler alert from here on out. If you don’t want to know what happens, skip to the last 2 paragraphs. They will be spoiler free.

At this point, the movie becomes the classic antihero story from “Taxi Driver.” Though not shot for shot, it possesses a lot of the same plot, almost all of the same themes and an ending that is so off and absurd that you begin to question whether it happened.

Two scenes in particular show just how far this movie is from a traditional comedy. Ronnie pummels, berates and threatens a food court manager after his handicapped employee breaks down after spending the movie being verbally abused. Pressing the manager’s face up against an oven, you begin to wonder if Ronnie is sane or not. Your laughing at how absurd it is, but the movie takes this scene very seriously. Nothing is actually funny, and it’s actually pretty frightening if not taken in context of the movie.

Later, after being fired from mall security, Ronnie refuses to leave and badly injuries many cops with his flashlight, before losing in a fistfight with Harrison. Again, the scene is funny, but the brutality shines through a lot more. How does a man, even one shown to be great at the physical aspects of law enforcement take down 10 cops? It was as though the realism in the film was intentionally removed.

At the end of the movie, Ronnie returns to the mall to find the disabled coffee shop employee’s leg has healed, her hair done nice and now wants to be with Ronnie for what he did for her. While there, the flasher reappears and a chase ensues. It ends when Ronnie zips into a side door while the flasher reaches Brandi, and then against all common sense and expectations, reappears and shoots the flasher in the chest.

Yes, shoots him in the chest.

Apparently it is only a minor chest wound because Ronnie still finds the time to call Brandi a whore who broke his heart, receive keys to the mall golf cart from his manager and drop the badly injured flasher at the doorstep of the police station in front of Detective Harrison. He is commended for his work, goes back to working at the mall and stays with the coffee shop girl.

If this sounds a bit impossible, I assure you, it is. Everything about it is wrong, and rather how Ronnie’s egomaniacal self would see them if they every even happened. This is the ending that parallels “Taxi Driver,” in that the “hero” of the story somehow gets away with everything. Whether it happened or not is up for interpretation. Is it just the bi-polar Ronnie, finally snapping and subduing to dementia? Perhaps he died fighting those cops, or at another point in the movie, and this is his last thoughts? Maybe, he is just the luckiest man on earth, and it is exactly how it happened? Much like “Taxi Driver,” there won’t be a true answer to any of these questions.

Ok, from now on, this review is spoiler free.

No, “Observe and Report” is not “Knocked up,” “Superbad” or “Pineapple Express.” It’s also not “Apocalypse Now” or some snuff film like other reports make it out to be. It’s something in-between. It’s a black comedy. You laugh because you can’t relate and can see the absurdity from the outside, not because you want to be like them. No one is a role model in this movie. It certainly lives up to it’s R rating. The black comedy never hits big in theatres, yet always becomes a cult classic. This one looks destined to be the same.

The secret of “Knowing” is that it’s three movies woven together. The first is about an hour long, and is a creepy, moody, dreary movie about determinism and free will. The second is 30 minutes of disaster movie, with stunning effects happening at breakneck speed.

The remaining half hour is a Sci-Fi Channel Original movie, with choppy editing, bad acting and no idea on what it wants to be. Despite the first two aspects, the third aspect rears its head at in appropriate times and basically ruins the movie.

The story is simple: Man finds a note that says the world is going to end, and then man tries to stop the world from ending. Can’t get anymore generic and action movie-esque than that, but “Knowing” takes this straightforward idea and spins it in the right ways.

You have the hero (Nicholas Cage) who has a piece of paper showing every major tragedy, but the last three dates on the list haven’t happened yet. The kicker is that the last one is the end of the world. Now he spends the rest of the film trying to figure out what could possibly cause the end of the world, and even if he figures it out, will it matter?

There’s where the first aspect of the movie come in. Determinism is the idea that everything that happens is predetermined, and that even your act to deny determinism is merely just an act of determinism. That’s pretty deep territory for a Nicholas Cage movie, but it’s tackled very well. The question of “Are we able to influence anything, or is it all going by some cosmic or religious script?” is brought up constantly, and illustrated deeply in the movie. So now we have a man trying to save himself and his family from certain disaster, knowing that he can’t change the outcome. The numbers are written down and thus far have been flawless. Why should he be able to change the future? Even if he tries to save people, was that calculated in by the mystical numbers or did he deny fate? These deep philosophical questions are not things I was expecting out of this movie.

The second aspect is the most familiar to Hollywood: Action. There are four major action sequences in this movie. Transportation takes a bad rap here, as the incidents involve a car, a train, and a plane. The fourth is the end of the movie, which I won’t spoil, but does actually involve some form of transportation too. The big special effects scene in the film is the plane scene in which (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS) a plane crashes into a traffic jam. It’s a single shot, which follows Cage, running from his truck over to the remains, trying to save people. It’s truly a miraculous shot and one of the best I’ve ever seen. I won’t spoil the end but the scene looks a bit cheesy, but it’s hard to pull someone off on that scale attempted.

Now after all that praise, here comes the part that destroys an otherwise good movie. We’re not talking 30 straight minutes of bad. If that was the case, I could just go get some popcorn, take a trip to the bathroom and chat up the girl at the front counter while waiting for the pain to be over. It’s not that easy. Five minute bursts here and there of poorly done filmmaking ruin the tension, the atmosphere and sometimes the story.

“Knowing” also contains two of my big hates in movies. First is the Shyamalan ending, in which they throw around red herrings all movie, then tack on a twist ending. The shock value wears off quick, and you feel confused on why they didn’t go with the hundreds of better ends they hinted at. The second big peeve of mine is a man losing all his faith over the death of a loved one. Its clichƒ© and insulting, with religious believers being shown to have weak convictions and atheists always being portrayed as scornful. It’s just overdone and bad story telling.

Overall, the movie had a decent shot, but it fell far short. It feels like “Signs 2: This time with Nic Cage”. The ideas and atmosphere are all there, but it tried to cram too much in. It danced around, unable to decide whether it was a movie about aliens, religion, philosophy or just an action movie. It never knew what it was. The ending was wrong, and directors need to stop looking for “Raising Arizona” Cage, because he’s not ever coming back.

Not everything was bad and there was a lot to build on. You’ll never hear me say this again, but I want a remake of a movie. Twenty years down the road, I want them remaking this and learning from its flaws, because the story is strong but the overall product is weak. They would be better off knowing not to cast aging stars and not to jam every possible theme in. And Knowing is half the battle.

For many years now, Dean Koontz has been a mainstay on shelves and bestseller lists. His books traditionally are classified as “thrillers,” an amalgam of horror and mystery. Unlike the books of his supernatural based rival and friend Stephen King, Koontz’s stories feel like they could happen to you or your friends, despite their extreme nature.

So when I say that “Nevermore” has time travelers, alternate universes, and a legion of evil baddies out to destroy everything, the story rings far more of King then Koontz. Looks like King is rubbing off on him in another big way. Since the success of big name writers like King, Brad Meltzer and Orson Scott Card have had with the comic book industry, a lot of people are jumping on ship.

And that is what we have here: Koontz’s second collaboration with Dabel Brothers Publishing, this time with an original story. The first time around, they worked on Dean Koontz’s “Frankenstein,” but now put out a new story, different from Dean’s familiar ground. But did Dean step out too far from his comfort zone for “Nevermore?”

We will never know. And that is the biggest problem with the preview I received. While the cover has Koontz’s name in a font almost as big as the title, and Koontz’s name being listed with the other creative crew on the bottom of the cover, the first page reveals that Koontz is only listed under “creator” but isn’t on the writing team at all. I know a lot of big authors do this for comic books, but normally their name is attached to it because it is an adaptation or continuation of a previous work. I understand Koontz’s name is put in billboard sized letters to try and sell the book, but when he has so little to do with the overall product, it puts me off.

As I feared, his name is the fancy garnish put to cover a chewy steak. To my understanding, the plot revolves around a group of people following a billionaire around different alternate realities, as he tries to find a version of his wife who wasn’t struck down by cancer. Then he accidentally leads a group of inter dimensional destroyers to our universe. Seems a bit too Sliders for me, but the plot seems solid enough. However, the dialogue is horrid. It is stiff and cheesy. This feels more like a bad science fiction movie from the 80s put onto paper, rather than a Koontz book. I would have really liked to see Koontz get his hands deep into this, and actually work on some of these lines. Perhaps he would have breathed some life into this farce of his name.

The one aspect I was looking forward to was Andy Smith’s art. However, like Koontz’s misleading name, Andy’s art seems like a bastardized version of his normal work. I don’t know if he phoned it in for a paycheck or it was destroyed by the inker or colorist. Either way, it lacked any soul and the details were overpowered by thick lines. The backgrounds look plain and boring and the characters look like they were drawn by a John Cassaday wannabee, which Andy Smith isn’t. Somewhere along the line, there was a misstep and it cost this book greatly.

I know it was just a 10 page preview, but previews are meant to drum up talk and to give the readers a reason to go by the book. This did the opposite. They gave nothing for the reader to be excited about, leaving the protagonists trapped by guys dressed up like techno-crawfish. That is not what gets people to go out and spend money on your book.

To Mr. Koontz: get involved in writing or editing, or else your name is merely a brand. As of right now, this is simply a skeleton of what might have been. I salute you, for bringing your stories to a new medium, but you should really bring them there yourself.

To the reader: flip through the book at your local comic book store, and if looks like something you like, pick it up. I will never disparage smaller companies from putting out books and treading new ground, but this just looks like a quick cash grab, and is dragging Dean Koontz’s name through the mud to do it. “Nevermore” won’t get my money, and hopefully Dabel Brothers raise standards in the future.

Watchmen is the latest in a line of big budget comic book-to-movie adaptations. Zack Snyder took the task of filming a book, which has been called unfilmable by everyone from casual fans down to the author, Alan Moore, and against all odds, made a very good movie.

Speaking of Alan Moore, with most of his defining works poorly translated to the screen, it’s understandable that Moore pulled his name from this movie, and everything to do with it. His classics “From Hell,” “V for Vendetta” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” have made their way to the big screen, and have ranged from poorly adapted to downright horrible.

Nowadays Mr. Moore comes off as a cynical old curmudgeon but he’s certainly earned it. Unfortunately, he should see “Watchmen,” a movie that finally does justice to its source material. Perhaps he would have left his name on it, but that won’t ever be known.

What we do know is the influence by “Watchmen’s” other creator, the artist David Gibbons, greatly impacted the final film product. Gibbons did a lot of conceptual work for the movie and it shows. As a fan of the graphic novel, I felt like I was watching the panels moving in front of me. The bright colors popping off the dark backgrounds were taken directly from the book, and surprisingly still work. The oranges and purples, used to accent shadows and skylines is another great touch from the book that made its way to the silver screen. But even without the book to stand on, the movie brings a lot to the table. For lack of better words, the movie is visually stunning. From the sheer spectacle that is Manhattan’s clockwork castle, to the grimy alleyways that Rorschach combs over, to the Egyptian style on Ozymandias’ Antarctic watchtower, everything looks wonderful and well designed. But in today’s movies, it helps to look breathtaking, but you also need to give a story to match.

Without giving too much away, Watchmen, at its heart, is still a superhero story, despite its adult themes. We follow a handful of current and former masked vigilantes, as they put the costumes on to try and save the world from something much bigger than the thugs they dealt with in their heyday.

Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is an objectivist detective, with ideas verging on paranoia, who keeps record of the whole event in his journal.

Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) is the alter ego of the nerdish Daniel Dreiberg, who has lived his life in the shadows, whether they are of the original Nite Owl, or of his own life in costume. He is the closest thing to a hero, in the traditional sense of the word.

Laurie Juspeczyk (Malin Akerman) was the Silk Spectre, a second generation hero who has trouble dealing with her family and her past, and has never gotten to make her own choices in life.

Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) publicly revealed his identity, sharing that he is Ozymandias, an Egyptian-themed hero with a love for the kings of old and a wish to use his title of “Smartest man in the World” to save the world from itself.

The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was the moniker applied to Edward Blake, a man who epitomizes the word “soldier.” Between government work, his life as a vigilante, and his time spent at war, he developed a cruel twisted view of the world, and acted as a mirror, reflecting it’s horrors for all to see.

Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) is the exception to the rule. Among the crime fighters, he is a marvel of science. Caught in the middle of an experiment gone astray, he is destroyed and then rebuilt, as a blue being of pure energy — a real life superhuman (who is American) — who can change matter with just a thought. But even he is not immune from the flawed nature of mankind, as he is slowly losing his grip on humanity and forgetting what it was once like to be a man named Jon Osterman.

The important point of each character is that none of them are perfect. They are not superheroes who live there nights as costumed vigilantes and their days as mild mannered civilians. They are both at the same time. They have to carry the things they have done or seen, whether they have a mask on or not. They are flawed, they are broken, and as a whole, they seem fairly unstable. Veidt appears to have a god complex; Rorschach is paranoid and sees the world as a vile pit nearing the point of no return; Dan is uncomfortable outside of his suit, and can barley function without it on his mind; Laurie is juggling failed relationships with her family and Doctor Manhattan; The Comedian seems to only feel anything through violence, and has taken a nihilistic view of the world; and the good Doctor Manhattan is losing any attachment to Earth. These are not the people I want saving the world, yet these are the people trying.

The portrayal of these characters is certainly the hardest part of putting together this movie, and that was its biggest strength. Haley took the role of Rorschach and made it his own. From his bursts of anger, to his monotone gravelly voice, the character was nailed. The surprise star of the film was Patrick Wilson, who was able to play both the roll of the geeky Dan, and the heroic Nite Owl, who while the same flesh, are fundamentally two different people. Without the mask, he is meek and quiet and unable to work up any courage. With the Mask on, he was your classic vision of a hero, righting wrongs and injustices. The dichotomy was brought to the forefront and Wilson handled it perfectly. In truth, all the characters were handled very well. Each actor brings their nuances to the roles and it helps in bringing these people off the page.

The biggest shock was the use of music in the movie. While most music sits in the back of a movie, setting a tone, Watchmen used it in front of the characters. The title montage, set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin” was one of the best uses of music in a movie I have ever seen. Gripping an audience, and pulling them right into the story without ever saying a word is a nearly impossible feat, and like everyone else in the theater, the movie sucks you in from the start.

During one scene, set in the Vietnam War, Doctor Manhattan arises over the horizon, to the classic “Ride of the Valkyries” evoking the similar scene in the classic “Apocalypse Now” and showing how the world changed because these people were around. Because of Manhattans’ interference, the war ended in less than a week, and the use of music dredges up the feelings of what was just avoided. The only folly was a horrible cover of “Desolation Row” played over the beginning of the end credits, but I can forgive it because it was clearly shoehorned by the bigwigs, and not by those making the movie.

While I certainly enjoyed the movie, it isn’t without its flaws. The main one being pacing. It is known that a lot more was shot, and was left on the cutting room floor to make it fit in the three hour range. It felt like it. A lot of little details and plot lines were left out, and will hopefully make their way back in the Director’s Cut, which is already rumored to be nearing the five hour mark. But it wasn’t just the missing information that was the problem with the cuts, but rather the flow of the story. The first three fourths of the movie were spot on. It felt right, even though it had some missing details, but the last quarter really felt rushed. Hopefully that when this hits DVD a lot of the pacing will be fixed with the extra footage. The movie and the story both echo the theme of “never compromise” and I feel that perhaps a little to much compromise has made its way to the theatrical cut.

“Watchmen” was both fun and stimulating and an astonishing success conceding the complexity of the literary source. The actions scenes were done right, and showed why these people survived so long. Each character felt different while fighting, which is something rare in action flicks. Rorschach moved in quick sudden bursts, striking wildly and brutally, while Nite Owl threw punches that could have taken down any boxer. Fanboys might get up in arms over some changes, but there was also a lot of stuff left in there just for them. The overall story felt a bit disjointed, but was enjoyable and understandable. Despite having to fit such a large story into three hours, the point does come across:

Simply, there are no heroes. There are only humans, and thus are as flawed as you and me. Between them, there are murderers, adulterers, racists, and sexists. They aren’t people who you should look up to, much less emulate. Yet, they are characters, who while all approaching it differently, all want a better world. So go to the theatre looking for people, not for heroes. Go looking for stories, not for heroics. Go looking with an open mind, and see that it’s more than a popcorn superhero flick, and it deserves more than being known as such.

NEW YORK — From commercial cover artist to rogue to video game director, Jim Lee’s signature is synonymous with modern comics’ culture.

Lee is the executive creative director for Sony’s upcoming DC Universe Online, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. In an interview with Blast, Lee said he hopes to bring his art and the stories of the DC universe into houses that would never have heard them.

With a hat shielding his face from the bright florescent lights lining the room, it was almost hard to see the bags under his eyes. Clearly tired, he still managed to put on his game face. Over this long New York Comic Con weekend, he had done a couple panels, several interviews, and now, a party for a game he is a very big part of.

DC Universe online brought out a completely new challenge for Lee.

Talking about his role in DC Universe Online, Lee laughs as he remembers his official title of “Executive Creative Director.” Sounds a bit on the bland side, but he explains that his job is to effectively make the skeleton in which this game will rest upon.

“I’m involved with a lot of the concept art, and it’s my job to report back to DC if the game looks right or not,” said Lee describing the multiple facets of his new job.

Lee did most of the conceptual artwork for not only the heroes and villains, but also the cityscape and landmarks throughout the game. Sony explained that more than 300 city blocks were designed just for a game demo and that’s only a very small fraction of the game. “Metropolis is huge,” Lee said, “There is just so much going on there that it really takes a while to grasp it all. You have S.T.A.R. Labs, Centennial Park with the big Superman statue and of course the Daily Planet.”

Lee said he was very excited about the game and the concept of it being a MMORPG. He says he’s a gamer, and it’s clear he means it, making mention of macros and zones, both familiar aspects to those who have played games of this genre, to pad his cred. “I’ve been playing MMO’s for a while now: EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Warcraft. But I like shooters too”

DC Universe online brought out a completely new challenge for Lee. He had to do something that had never been done before: design all of Gotham City and Metropolis. In all the years of Batman and Superman comics, no one has ever had to make a layout of their iconic cities. Sure, comic fans know what landmarks are in each city but not how they are placed on the map. Lee explained that comic tradition is to use the location to aid the story, rather than the story to be defined by the location.

“If in one book, the Daily Planet was 50 stories tall and next time it was 75, no one blinked an eye, because it was for the story to progress.” Now suddenly, Lee needed to define everything, and that was a problem. It was a new issue to someone who had spent 20 years drawing books, and that isn’t something you see every day in the world of comics.

Getting things like arms and shoulders to render just right took patience

To compound the problem, he needed to add in landmarks to make every area unique so that players can tell the difference and assign meeting places. “I needed to go through and add in all these little nooks and landmarks. Everyone knows the Daily Planet and Centennial Park, but we didn’t want everyone gathering at only those places,” Lee said.

Things that were just background in the past, suddenly needed to be the focus.

“Sure, it was challenging, but I think we got it right,” Lee said. “Sometimes stuff just falls right into place.”

The whole basis of the game is that you get to design and in essence, be your own superhero in the DC universe. Jim talked for a bit about the challenges of making interchangeable designs, to allow for maximum uniqueness, and then explained another overlooked part of the design process: character silhouette.

“We spent a lot of time creating iconic silhouettes,” Lee said, noting that it was one of the most important aspects to him. “It’s important that from far away, you could see someone like Superman, and still knows its Superman because his shape is unique. Not many characters in the DC Universe have weird or awkward shapes, so we made a few standard bodies to pick from.”

His eyes perk up when talking about the transition from being a comic artist to a concept designer. He explained that his biggest personal problem. “I need to clean up my lines,” Lee said. He was referring to the anatomy of the characters he draws day in and day out.

“When I draw for comics, things are more stylized. I tend to draw females with longer legs and guys with sloped shoulders,” Lee said. Those may look right in place in the 2D world, but when put in the third dimension, they make them look awkward and sometimes “downright monstrous”, as he put it.

“Functionally, my biggest problem was the shoulders. They didn’t articulate well,” Lee said.

NEW YORK — Of the previews and screening at NY Comic-con, one film stood apart and out of place from the rest. Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker,” is about an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) that is stationed in Iraq during the current war.

Comic-con has grown from a convention featuring solely comic books to include video games, movies and television shows, but all have a similar nerdy trend that ties them together.

“The Hurt Locker,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow (“Point Break,” “The Weight of Water”) and starring Jeremy Renner, is a serious, weighty film that already has earned critical acclaim at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.

At Comic-con, Blast had an opportunity to sit down with Renner and talk about the long and difficult filming process the film required, which took place over three months in Jordon.

For the film, Renner spent weeks training with an actual EOD team, and found out they weren’t like he was expecting.

“First I was in shock at how, for lack of other words, nerdy they are,” said Renner when describing them and how they operate.

They weren’t the stereotypical meatheads he expected, but rather interesting people with stories and lives like everyone else.

In the movie, Renner plays Staff Sergeant William James, a hot shot bomb diffuser. Renner said that it took a while for him to fully develop the character. Despite jut being a “cowboy” on the surface, as the movie goes on, James becomes more of a person, and that took some work to develop.

Much like the actual EOD team that they shadowed and trained with, these characters aren’t what they appear on the outside. They are people, with the war as a backdrop, not the same soldiers with different names.

Renner made it clear that this was a war movie, not a critique on a war many have come to despise. It’s about the people in these poor situations, not about any of the politics of war.

That fact might save this movie from damning reviews that other movies set in the Iraq war have received. It isn’t political; it isn’t about why the war happened, but rather about three people getting through their time in the sun soaked desert.

Renner discussed how his roles in “The Hurt Locker” and “SWAT” familiarized him with military knowledge, specifically with gun use.

He seemed a bit tense when this subject came up saying only “Do I love guns? I think they are interesting” and explaining a respect for the tool.

The mood got a lot lighter when the discussion of the movie’s signature bomb suit came up. For everyone who hasn’t seen an EOD bomb suit, picture a cross between the first Russian cosmonaut suits and the old deep sea diver suits. The suit weighs over 100 pounds, and is meant to absorb the impact of a bomb detonated mere feet away.

Renner said the suit was so heavy his “whole body and spirit were crushed under it’s weight.”

Eventually, he said, the suit became an escape for him. Inside its giant bell of a helmet, he watched the world go by while listening to Beethoven. Explaining that the suit was 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the already scorching Jordon, made him feel unbreakable. When he finally would take the suit off, it was felt like taking a dip into a pool, he said.

Renner said the crew behind “The Hurt Locker” was one of the best crews be has ever worked with and they ended up becoming close because they were filming so far away from home.

When questioned about director Bigelow, he said she was the toughest person out there. When the reporters started to laugh at his comment he stopped them, saying that it wasn’t a joke, and he had no idea how she put up with everything, all while under the rays of the hot sun.

Renner said he surprised that Jordon, the United States biggest ally in the Middle East, wasn’t all wind and sand but was actually incredibly westernized. It didn’t have all the amenities the United States is known for, but he was surprised to see that the world was not as far behind as he thought.

Renner is staying in New York after New York Comic-con for some reshoots on “The Unusuals,” a new ABC dramady that follows police detectives who have to solve the unusual cases, hence the name.

He said he also has expressed a lot of interest in the not-yet cast “The Losers,” a film based off the comic of the same name.

Keep an eye on Renner as press for “The Hurt Locker” continues, because he’s going to be huge after it hits theaters and gets the Oscar cred it duly deserves.

NEW YORK — After many years as one of Japans hidden gems, “Yatterman” finally finds it’s way onto US soil. “Yatterman” has been a long-time anime favorite in Japan, spawning two successful series and now a live action movie.

Brought to the screen by esteemed Japanese director Takashi Miike, “Yatterman” is the story of two heroes, Yatterman 1 and Yatterman 2, who use their specially designed toy weapons to stop the forces of evil lead by the mysterious God of Thieves. While the plot seems fairly standard fair, that characters are nothing but.

Takashi Miike said that if nothing else, he wants to portray the characters as real and authentic. Sure, they are dressed up in pink and white jumpsuits, but that’s merely the outside. He expressed his deep interest in showing that these characters mean things to Japan, and he hopes that they will soon mean things to some of us over in the US.

Also appearing at the panel was Yatterman’s star, Sho Sakurai. In his native land, Sakurai is about as big a celebrity as they come. He’s a pop star, an action hero, a news reporter, and a stage performer. He is the Japanese Swiss army knife of acting.

Sakurai showed he was a decent person in addition to a giant celebrity by taking the time to address everyone in English (his first language is Japanese), and thank them for showing up and trying to give this movie an American following.

Miike isn’t from this land, but he’s not foreign to having a cult classic. His movies, “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition” have become underground hits over here. Yatterman proves to be a departure from the suspense and blood, in favor of bright lights and giant robots, Miike assured everyone that it wasn’t going to just be a kid’s movie. He says he wanted to bring depth to everything.

When asked how they feel about the current American movie trend of making live-action movies out of successful animes, both said they couldn’t be prouder.

Sakuarai, who was in New York to write about differences in Japanese manga and American comic books, said that he is happy to see the things he grew up on entertaining a new audience.

Miike said it was an honor for Japan to have their work taken seriously by the biggest of American movies companies, but also subtly said that he thinks the Japanese can still do it better and that’s why he has chosen to bring “Yatterman” to the screen.

“For the times they are a-changin” has never rung more true for the entertainment industry. With the internet coming into the fold, and the economy pinching big budget productions, Bob Dylan hit it on the head so many years ago.

The internet is just starting to get used to introduce new entertainment. With last year’s success of “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog”, it looks like Crackle.com has taken a page from Joss Whedon’s book. First, they go and hire Ed Brubaker as the writer. Brubaker has written a bit for movies and TV, but is mostly know for his outstanding work in the comic books “Daredevil” and “Captain America.” Next in line is to cast some cult stars and new faces. Filling that role comes Lucy Lawless, Vail Bloom, Doug Jones, some cast members from sitcoms and crime dramas, and stars former stunt woman, Zoƒ« Bell.

“Angel of Death” is the about a mob assassin that has a moral crisis, caused by a head injury, and realizes that she should instead go after the people who hired her to cut off crime from the top. While sounding clichƒ©, Brubaker is a talented writer, and I hope that his script doesn’t come off as simple as it seems. The online mini-series is set to release 10 episodes, each around 10 minutes in length. They will kick things off on March 2nd with 3 episodes right off the bat. Then when they have all aired, a DVD will be released.

Zoƒ« Bell got her big break last year, starting in “Grindhouse: Death Proof”, and is reuniting with some people from her past. Bell was the main stunt woman for Lucy Lawless in “Xena: Warrior Princess” and now they reunite, this time on the screen together. Cult Movie actor Ted Raimi also makes an appearance, bringing in a third person from the “Xena” group.

Also coming out from behind the scenes is Doug Jones. Jones is mostly known for his acting in prosthetics in Movies like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the “Hellboy”series. Whether or not he dons the make-up again is unknown, but he is certainly a diamond in the rough in this series.

This could be a big break if it ends up being successful. You have people like Jones and Bell who despite being on film, have spent most of the time with their faces hidden. Then Lawless and Raimi have had some decent TV careers, but still haven’t done a lot of meaningful stuff recently. And they you have Vail Bloom, who is new to the acting scene, and could use a jumpstart before she gets stuck in the soaps forever. Everyone has something to prove, and that might help push this mini-series past what it could normally be.

That said, I don’t have very high hopes for this, but would like to be wrong. Brubaker is a great writer, but the premise seems a bit boring. I like Doug Jones, but he normally ends up playing second fiddle, and I’m not sure if he can save a movie by himself. My biggest worry is the “Xena” cast. Sure they had their fans, but the series was never known for its acting, and casting a stuntwoman with little face time as your protagonist scares me. Everything is set up for a flop, but If the acting and script pull together, they certainly have an ace up their sleeve for any action or physical scene.

LOWELL, Mass. — Clint Eastwood has yet again shown that he can be more than just Dirty Harry.

He can be a wonderful producer, an amazing director, and still show shades of Dirty Harry on the screen. “Gran Torino” is Eastwood’s latest attempt to cement himself as a big name director and producer — this time with himself in almost every shot. Clearly, Clint might not have many years left in him, but he’s determined to fill them with quality films and continue breaking taboos in show business.

“Gran Torino” is essentially two coming of age stories colliding. Eastwood plays Walter Kowalski, an aging war veteran who spent most of his life on the assembly line at the Ford factory in Detroit. His neighborhood has slowly been filled with Hmong immigrants, and his old ways show when dealing with them. Through a turn of events his life becomes entwined with his neighbor, a teenager named Thao (Bee Vang).

Thao is a good child, but doesn’t stand up for himself. So we have a character who is full of grit and rage but needs to accept everyone, and someone who needs to learn self-confidence but also needs saving from his own life. We all know how this story goes, but that’s not the important part. It’s not so much what happens, but how it happens. Even without big named actors, the relationship between Walt and Thao’s family feels genuine.

First off, we must make mention of the title character, Walt’s 1972 Gran Torino, which has been kept in perfect condition. This car is what makes the whole movie happen, and is the motivation for a lot of the characters. Some try to steal it, while others try and protect it, while others envy it. Most importantly is Walt, who holds it close to him. To him it’s the only thing that remains unchanged. Same as the day he bought it, the car shows the simplicity of what Walt wants from life.

Everyone knows that one old man, whether it be a friend of the family, your grandparents, or your parents who aren’t bad people, but still refuse to accept change. Eastwood takes that to the next level in this movie. In between slurs and insults, some true wisdom shows through Walt, but is quickly masked again by his rough attitude and his growling.

Eastwood bring a lot of himself into the role, and it shows, but I have a feeling that he might have taken the growling a bit too far. It’s a minor complaint for what otherwise is a wonderful performance that reminds us that independence isn’t measured in age, but in maturity.

The movie has received a lot of praise for casting a mostly Hmong cast, something that has never been done before. It trades star power for authenticity, and you can see that in the detail. When inside the Hmong household, it feels like they just took a camera into someone’s actual house.

As actor’s, the whole group could use a few other movies, but considering they were picked from open casting calls, it is a fine performance. I would not be surprised if Bee Vang could turn this into a career.

Only a couple of non- Hmong actors play a role in the movie, and they all play their parts perfectly. A couple of Walt’s old friends show up in the film, most notably John Carroll Lynch playing his barber. For a small part, Lynch brings a lot to the movie and the character makes a big impact on the plot. Christopher Carley plays a young Reverend, and does a great job, considering the weight of playing a 30-year-old man of the cloth.

Overall, the film is definitely worth seeing. It’s a limited release, but don’t skip out on it because of that. Make your way to the theater and keep Eastwood directing. He told a simple story about change and acceptance, and kept be interested without resorting to cheap thrills and clichƒ©s, and that I hope doesn’t change anytime soon.

Nerds can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Warner Bros’ soon-to-be blockbuster “Watchmen” looks like it will be coming out on its intended release date of March 6. A recent ruling deemed that Fox was the owner of the rights to the film, even though Warner Bros is finishing production on their own movie now.

Neither studio was willing to risk walking away empty handed, so a settlement has been made between Warner Bros and Fox, allowing both film studios to profit. Fox claims to have owned the rights to the film, and that Warner Bros did not have them transferred. Warner Brothers claimed that they were made the same offer, and Fox has been sitting on the rights with no intention of using them.

Both sides have their points, but when Judge Gary Feess ruled in favor of Fox, it put both sides into a standstill. With Warner Bros unable to release the movie, and Fox wanting to profit, they approached the judge and announced a settlement.

The terms were not disclosed, but Warner looks to be paying Fox outright, as well as giving them a percentage of the box office take. No word on whether this will also influence DVD sales.

The both companies released a statement saying “Warner Bros. and Fox, like all ‘Watchmen’ fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theaters”.

It looks like in Hollywood, there is no problem that a little cash and profit sharing can’t fix.

The Watchmen will be simultaneously released in both standard format and in IMAX, and is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of the year.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Professional wrestling is an exceptionally mysterious beast, and that’s saying something.

Despite constantly being broadcast into people’s homes, so much of what happens isn’t in front of the cameras. There are people back behind those curtains. They are athletes, stuntmen, and actors. They are professional wrestlers. They can get thousands of people worked up into frenzy, and still manage to perform precision moves and fly like trapeze artists. I will always have a great deal of respect for these people, who live on the road, and hurt themselves every night so others can be in high spirits. Then there is another layer beneath the shine of Titantrons that people see on TV, and that is the independent wrestling scene. The polish is rubbed off, but the wrestlers don’t change. This is where most of “The Wrestler” takes place.

Between this grime and the ring is where we find the protagonist, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke).

I don’t want to tell too much of the plot, but it’s pretty simple. We follow Randy, a former wrestling superstar who has fallen on hard times, as he tries to continue living his dream of wrestling, while paying the rent, finding love, and rebuilding bridges he burnt down over his 20 years of living life in the fast lane. That’s essentially the whole movie, and there is nothing wrong with that. This movie doesn’t try and do more than it needs to, but for such a simple premise, the movie carries a lot of weight. The heavy themes of this movie don’t drag it down, but rather raise it higher than any movie about a Wrestler and a Stripper should go.

Don’t let the idea of this movie fool you, it isn’t about some meathead clichƒ© and his comeback. It’s about a real person, like you would find walking down the street. He’s a wrestler, but has to do double time working at a supermarket to make ends meet. He’s a local hero to all the neighborhood kids. He’s not a dumb man either, just burnt out. In the end, the parallels to Mickey Rourke are fairly obvious, and it might be one of the reasons that this is Rourke’s best role of all time.

About 5 minutes into this movie, I forgot that Randy wasn’t a real person. I actually forgot that it wasn’t a documentary. Rourke dives into this part head first and embraces it. From being slammed on the mat, to showing up outsides his daughters house, begging for a second chance, Rourke fills every aspect of the character and then adds more. His pitted face and sunken eyes are things that you can’t act.

Marisa Tomei plays the aging stripper, Cassidy, and is the mirror to Randy. She does a great job, but is overshadowed by Mickey in this. It’s not a knock on her, but rather a statement about just how good Rourke is in this.

The acting and the script were both phenomenal, and the rest of the movie matches up. The wrestling matches have a purpose and interject action into a redemption story. The sets are amazing, and are actually accurate. I know it’s not hard to make someplace look like the back of a deli counter or an Elks Club, but it is difficult to avoid making them into movie sets. There are no bright lights, or well lit corners. You see the shadows, and you see the cracks. You see how something so normal, and so basic, could be someone’s Valhalla, and that is just what the ring was to Randy.

Ironically, one of my least favorite musical genres, “Hair Metal,” provides an amazing soundtrack for this. The whole movie kicks off with “Metal Health” by Quiet Riot and it sets the pace for what you’re about to see. There is even a scene, in which Randy says that he hates the 90′s because it killed his beloved hair metal. He relates to just always wanting to have fun, and eventually getting tossed to the side, despite never changing what you did. It’s just another layer on this movie, and it works.

When all the smoke settles, this is without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. It is also one of the most authentic. It looks real, feels real, and as far as I am concerned, might as well be real. So I hope for Mickey Rourke to get every award he is nominated for, and the same for this whole movie. And more importantly, I hope you gather yourself up, find the nearest place this movie is playing, and go see it. You won’t regret it.

Don’t miss “The Top 5 Un-Scripted Pro-Wrestling Moments” on Blast’s This is God Given blog

LOWELL, Mass. — “The Spirit” is a horrible movie. Now go out and watch it. Sounds like a joke, right? Well, it is a joke and one that the movie is in on.

“The Spirit” is a mock-noir film about a domino masked, fedora wearing hero who has a great mystery in his life. If you think that sounds like every hardboiled film ever, you would be right. The movie doesn’t win points for an original script impart to it originally being a comic book that helped define the pulp-noir thing to being with.

Before I get into the review, for all you neckbearded Spirit fans that can’t stand the thought of such a comic classic ending up on the screen stop reading after this paragraph. I’ve talked to many people who were insulting the film based solely on the trailer, and there self-righteous attitude wouldn’t let them accept even that it might be good. This is Frank Miller’s “The Spirit,” not Will Eisner’s “The Spirit.” I loved the books as much as any nerd does, but you need to understand that the slow moving plots, and joke cracking hero would translate very poorly to the screen, so you’re going to get Miller’s “Booze, Broads, and Bullets” approach to storytelling. In the end, it’s not a perfect translation, but rather a reimagining of the character and story. Ok, now that I have made sure to get a lot of death threats, let’s talk about the movie, shall we?

The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is the hero of the story, and I don’t use the word hero lightly. Think of someone who stops bank robberies, defeats mad scientists, and saves your neighbor’s cat from a tree all in the same day, and you get the type of guy the Spirit is. The main plot of the movie involves him fighting his arch-nemesis, the Octopus (Sam Jackson), over a couple of priceless artifacts. It’s simple, flawed and frankly pretty uninteresting.

The acting is almost as bad as the script. Every character is either over the top, or might as well be played by a stand in. Big names like Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson are there just as eye candy and to put their names on the posters. Our virtually unknown protagonist, Gabriel Macht, might go back to being unknown if this is the top of his acting ceiling. Sam Jackson is actually very memorable in this. We all know he is a huge comic book fan, and clearly wanted this part. He’s still just an over the top version of himself, but it feels like he wants to be there.

However, I might be looking too deeply into this. If this film is supposed to invoke the feeling of a 50′s gangster movie, then maybe they got the last laugh. The Hero is damn near perfect, the Villain is a mad scientist trying to conquer the world, The Femme Fatale is sexy and otherwise useless and everyone else is just a clichƒ© of various archetypes. It seems so perfectly bad that it was made to be bad.

There is no way anyone could miss on literally every single aspect of characterization. It appears the wool might have been pulled over my eyes.

Then why am I telling you to go see it? Well, not to sugar coat it, it’s very pretty. Once you understand that the script is a mess of clichƒ©s, one liners and deus ex machinas then you realize that it’s still fun because of the wonderful settings and visuals. In a style similar to Frank Miller’s other movie, “Sin City,” it is very desaturated, almost to the point of grayscale, then covered in these wondrous bright colors that remind you of what it must have felt like when man first saw fire.

The movie also uses very stark black and white contrasts that look fantastic, especially with the constant crimson red of the Spirit’s tie flying throughout the scenes.

There are a couple of standout scenes. Visually, anything with the Spirit running over the rooftops, or any fight scene is worth the price of admission. There is another scene that I didn’t think anyone would ever make. Picture Sam Jackson talking about death. Now picture it on a stage surrounded by Nazi paraphernalia and Jackson is himself dressed in a SS uniform. Needless to say, there were a couple gasps from the audience from this scene. The whole thing is done in a tongue and cheek manner, but I think “The Spirit might have just tried to make Nazis funny. You can’t fault this movie for not trying new things.

In the end, the Spirit will remain a popcorn flick. It has moments that make you both laugh and groan out loud. Its paper thin plot is covered up by its amazing visuals. So go grab someone, drag them to a matinee showing, clear your mind, and be prepared to see something that they don’t make often, an enjoyable bad movie.