There are so many things that could have gone wrong with “The Blind Side.” What could have been a horribly cheesy, hard-to-swallow “Remember the Titans 2” turned out to be a viscerally engaging film about love, family and the importance of acceptance, and possibly the best film of Sandra Bullock’s career.

To put it plainly, this is the best film I’ve seen in a long time. There were points in this movie where the audience erupted into spontaneous applause. There were other times when I had to cover my face because I couldn’t stand to think of what might happen. And there were other triumphant moments when I gave a couple of hearty fist-pumps. I’m not saying I’m proud of it, I’m just saying it happened.

This incredible true story follows Michael Oher, or “Big Mike,” an intimidatingly large African-American teenager who has a rough past and very little to say about it. Through powerful flashbacks, we discover that Michael is on his own in this world and has been living a transient life, going from couch to couch in his friends’ homes.

He finds himself accepted into a prestigious private school in Memphis (the football coach made sure he got in) and is immediately ostracized because of his size and the color of his skin.

Leigh Ann Toughy (Sandra Bullock) picks Michael up off the street one night after school and without asking any questions, welcomes him into the Toughy home. Slowly, Michael becomes a part of the family and discovers what it means to be loved.

The Toughys are a ridiculously wealthy family whose two children attend Michael’s school, and they own “like, a million Taco Bells,” according to the precocious and adorable S.J. Toughy.

Quinton Aaron, who plays Michael, does a superb job. His character is misunderstood, yet lovable, and he plays stupid in a very smart way. We immediately want the best for Michael, even though he barely speaks a full sentence throughout the movie. His expressions, his tears and his laughter speak volumes about his past, his heart and his thoughts.

S.J. Toughy (Jae Head) is a brilliant young actor with an incredible sense for comedic timing. Reminiscent of a young Macaulay Culkin, S.J. is the first kid at school to accept Michael, telling him the girls at school wouldn’t be so scared of him if he would just smile a little bit.

It would seem that Michael becomes S.J,’s constant companion and protector when it’s really S.J. teaching Michael about friendship, laughter and, most importantly, football. There are several heartwarming sequences where S.J. trains Michael until he eventually conquers on the field.

The second most compelling relationship in the film is that between Leigh Ann and Michael. Bullock plays a strong-minded southern belle, a no-nonsense mother and Michael Oher’s biggest fan. Leigh Ann, who is as tough as nails, advocates for Michael in every area of his life. She takes the boy who had one set of clothes and no place to stay and gave him a home, a new wardrobe, a new truck, a career, and most importantly, a family. The audience questions its presuppositions about race and poverty as Toughy challenges her own.

Admittedly, I rolled my eyes when I saw that Tim McGraw was going to be in this film. However, despite a bad hairpiece, McGraw delivered with the best of them, particularly in a scene where he’s studying with Michael and recites a poem.

And just when you think the movie couldn’t get any better, halfway through we get to see Kathy Bates, Michael’s motivating tutor. Bates is compelling though her part is small.

So, in the end, you should just go see “The Blind Side.” You’ll be a better person for it.

A lot of things were going on yesterday. Oprah was announcing the end of her daytime talk show. Sarah Palin was touring the country, promoting her new book and jabbing at Obama’s policies at every turn. Surely, Taylor Swift was walking around somewhere telling someone that she wasn’t dating Taylor Lautner.

But ask most any girl under the age of 16 (and their moms, for that matter) what November 20 meant to them, and they’d tell you one thing: “New Moon.”

At midnight last night, girls were lining up at theaters all around the world to catch the first glimpse of the sequel. Would it include all the important parts from the book? they wondered. Will the special effects be cool? Will there be enough Edward?

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit I was asking myself the same things as I walked into the theater. And in the end, I was not disappointed.

Catherine Hardwicke’s “Twilight” was lacking in these ways: there was stilted dialogue, awkward special effects and some funny scenes that weren’t meant to be funny. Director Chris Weitz transitioned the cold, awkward world of “Twilight” into a warm, emotional and dynamic “New Moon.”

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg seems to have taken a little more time with this script, as the banter between the characters feels natural. She leaves the “lion and the lamb” quotes in the book where they belong.

The movie touches on almost every important scene in the book, which will please die-hard (or Twi-hard) fans. The movie moves quickly, giving about 15 minutes to process every intense emotion that Stephenie Meyer spent 100 pages talking about, so it can feel a bit rushed. But when you realize that the movie is over two hours long, you re-think that assessment.

The only part of the film that was seriously lacking was the wolf pack. Only two of the four have any serious build, and if you’re going to spend half the movie walking around shirtless, you need to at least get rid of the muffin top. Not to mention the fact that the wolf transformations are by turns incredibly realistic and incredibly…not. The wolves sometimes look fierce and other times, look like cartoons, which is a big disappointment if you’ve seen “The Golden Compass.” And there’s an unforgivable sequence where wolf pack leader Sam Uley jumps off of a cliff and you feel like you’re watching an animation from the “Tomb Raider” computer game you had as a kid.

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have incredible chemistry. Kristen plays the broken Bella very well, and Lautner exudes the warmth of his character. Plus, he’s not bad to look at either. In the end, your heart breaks when he begs her to stay, and the most loyal Edward fans wonder if maybe they wouldn’t choose Jacob instead.

But in the end, the movie brings you back to Edward and Bella, as it should. It ends on a well-deserved cliff-hanger, leaving the Twi-hards squealing until next June, when the third installment, “Eclipse,” is scheduled for release.

We are told at the beginning of “The Messenger” that Sergeant Will Montgomery is a hero. Wounded while earning medals for bravery, Montgomery is rotated back home and assigned to serve out the rest of his tour as part of the Army’s Casualty Notification Service. Will now has to break the bad news to the families of soldiers who died serving in combat.

Will is paired with Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a tough-talking and hard-partying veteran of the unit who quickly relays the basics of casualty notification. For instance: You never touch the NOK’s (next of kin), you never park to close (you don’t want the whole neighborhood knowing), and you always keep your beeper on and near you at all time (“The Army always has to be first. We don’t want them finding out watching CNN.”).

The scenes of Tony and Will notifying the families are beautifully done. Seeing the two try to follow such a sterile and robotic script in the face of such raw emotion is heartbreaking and involving. They are slapped, spit on and yelled at. The reactions are always different but their method is always the same. The film acknowledges how completely inadequate the whole process is, without suggesting how it could be improved. Is there any good way to notify family members? Maybe there just is not a better way.

“The Messenger” could have easily descended into a preachy and over-wrought mess, but the strength of the performances and the sensitivity of the writing keep the film grounded in real human emotion.

Ben Foster, who has recently been typecast in wild-eyed and unhinged villainous roles like in “3:10 to Yuma” does beautifully understated work here as Will. It would have been easy to play the part over the top, but Foster finds a nice balance. Will may be full of survivor’s guilt, but he isn’t consumed by it. When he finally tells his war story to Tony near the end of the film,

• 66 percent say the love story in “New Moon” is the biggest draw in their decision to buy a ticket.
• 57 percent claim Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) is the secondary character they’d most like to see in his or her own “Twilight” spin-off movie.
• 39 percent of moviegoers plan to take off time on Friday – from school or work – in order to see the movie.
• 27 percent of respondents surprisingly picked “Breaking Dawn” as their favorite book among Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” novels; 16 percent chose “Eclipse; 11 percent voted for the first “Twilight” and only 8 percent pegged “New Moon” as their favorite. (38 percent said they love all the “Twilight” books equally.)

“New Moon” hits theaters Friday.

According to Schiltz, however, when “Monsters” plays in “New Moon,” Twi-hards won’t be squealing for Hurricane Bells. Schiltz told Blast that the song he wrote will introduce everybody’s favorite vegetarian vampire, Edward Cullen.

“Bella gets a camera for her birthday,” Schiltz said excitedly, setting up the scene. “She takes it to school and…’Monsters’ is in that scene. It’s the first time you see Edward on camera. He pulls up in the school parking lot and…he walks out and he’s in slow motion. And then that’s when you hear the guitar riff.”

So if you think you can’t wait ’til Friday, do what I do: put “Monsters” on repeat, close your eyes and imagine Edward Cullen is coming to wish you a happy birthday.

Watch our full interview with Hurricane Bells below:

Tanya DeJesus and Melissa Unger contributed to this report.

Brooklynne Peters and Melissa Unger contributed to this story.

Fans got to submit their questions before the Q & A session and Lutz, who plays Emmett in “Twilight,” answered some randomly selected questions and made the fans swoon with his charm. Here are some of the questions he got to answer.

QUESTION: How do you feel about being part of one of the biggest movie franchises of all time?

KELLAN LUTZ: You know what? It’s a real, it’s an honor to be a part of something that fans are so loyal to and support. It’s a magic carpet ride. To all of us actors, I think we really are living in this “Twilight” zone and it really hasn’t sunk into how big of a phenomenon it is.

Q: What is you favorite part of playing the role of Emmett?

KL: I love how much fun he gets to pick at Bella, especially in “Eclipse.” Kristen Stewart is amazing. Just to make her laugh when we were shooting and have her crack up. She would be like “I’m sorry Kellan, I can’t take it!” It’s so funny. It’s fun.

Q: What is it like playing a tough big brother?

KL: I have a lot of experience playing a tough big brother. I have a large family and I got picked on growing up and I did some picking on the little ones. So it’s always fun playing the big brother role, especially trying to crack jokes on Rob when he doesn’t get it. Again, we have such a great cast and we’re all, without any of us it wouldn’t be the family that we’ve forged.

Q: What is your favorite non-Emmett scene in “New Moon?”

KL: I’ll have to say just watching the Volturi. I never got the chance to meet them. But Michael Sheen’s amazing. I finally got to meet them while shooting “Eclipse,” and they are a great group of actors.

Q: Do you have any secrets you can share with us about “Eclipse?”

KL: I’m topless throughout the whole movie, pretty much!

Q: What are your plans for after “The Twilight Saga” ends?

KL: I’m gonna cry and be depressed. I love being a part of this franchise. To have all you guys, fans, and to play Emmett…I wake up happy everyday and I’m not sad. But when it’s all said and done, I want to be the next action star. I want to play Jason Bourne.

Brooklynne Peters and Melissa Unger collaborated with Tanya DeJesus on this story

But don’t take our word for it. Just ask the teenage girls who waited for hours-upon-end this weekend just to get a glimpse of him as he passed through the Natick Collection on his “New Moon” mall tour. Even without the appeal of his co-star Ashley Greene (”She’s my best friend,” he said), who was supposed to join him (her appearance was cancelled), Lutz, with his blue eyes and movie star smile, had no trouble filling a mall with screeching “Twi-hards” a week before the release of “New Moon.”

But just a few hours before the Natick Collection madness began, Kellan, dressed in black from head to toe, capped off with brightly bleached hair (it’s jet black in “Twilight”) sat down with Blast and a few other reporters to talk about sudden fame, snowboarding and making fun of co-star Kristen Stewart.

Like many of the actors in “Twilight,” Lutz was just another struggling actor before his role in the vampire series thrust him into the spotlight. With a few parts here and there, he wasn’t unknown, but the “Twilight” phenomenon brought him and many of his cast mates unprecedented fame.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that Lutz plays a lovable, bulky vegetarian vampire in “Twilight” who likes to play off of his more serious, sparkly brother, Edward. Edward is caught in a tricky situation with a human girlfriend named Bella and his overwhelming desire to have her for lunch. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

Those who have seen the movie might not be able to picture Lutz in any other role, though he says it came very close to being that way. Initially, he was offered an audition for the part of Edward, the pensive, pining bloodthirsty lead.

“I had just gotten back from doing ‘Generation Kill,’” Lutz said, “which was seven months in Africa portraying Marines killing people. I did not want to play a depressed, complex character like Edward. And my agent’s like ‘It’s gonna be huge!’ and I’m like ‘Cool!’ *click* (simulates hanging up a phone).”

But thanks to that persistent agent and a change of perspective, Lutz found his way to playing Emmett Cullen, who he claims he is more suited for.

“He’s this happy-go-lucky guy with no fears,” Lutz said with a gleaming smile. “He’s indestructible. He’s this monster. And he just laughs, cause nothing can hurt him…and he just makes fun of Bella.”

Fans of the books know that Emmett Cullen spends most of his time finding ways to poke fun at the saga’s clumsy, red-faced heroine Bella Swan, played in the films by Kristen Stewart. Lutz brought that spirit to the set of “New Moon” and “Eclipse” by ribbing Stewart whenever he got the chance.

“I do!” Lutz said when asked if he liked making fun of people on set. “Especially Kristen…we had some great scenes in ‘Eclipse,’ and it’s fun just hanging out with her, ’cause she’s just such a free bird. Saying the funny lines that my character gets to say and having her laugh when she’s not supposed to…(she’d say) ‘You guys, we gotta go again!’ She’s adorable.”

Lutz shared about a specific scene in Eclipse where, though she tried, Stewart couldn’t keep a straight face due to Lutz’s humor.

“There’s a scene when Bella hurts her arm because she hits Jacob,” Lutz said, “and so Jasper and I walk in, and I say some really funny comments. She tried to go tit-for-tat with the humor, (but) she just kept on laughing.”

Lutz, Stewart and the rest of the ensemble cast for “Twilight” have been working together for two years, giving them time to develop a rapport. But critics wondered if that chemistry would be altered when the decision was made to find a new director for the second film, “New Moon.” Once the success of the franchise became apparent after the release of “Twilight” ( “It opened so high that they greenlit it the next day, which was amazing,” Lutz said) the sequels were put on the fast-track to release.

“Twilight” Director Catherine Hardwicke declined to direct “New Moon,” claiming she would need more time to prepare than the studio would allow. Director Chris Weitz (”About A Boy,” “American Pie”) was quickly brought in, and the Twilight world waited with baited breath to see if he could recreate the magic in “New Moon” that Hardwicke had brought to “Twilight.”

Lutz said that the two directors had very different styles, but each suited the story they told. “Twilight” had to make a vampire love story not only realistic, but compelling, and Lutz said Hardwicke succeeded in making that happen.

“‘Twilight’ is an artsy movie, and Catherine had just such a great independent style,” Lutz said. “She really captured the beauty of what ‘Twilight’ is.”

“New Moon,” which details the heartrending loss of first love, called for a melancholy tone, which Lutz said Weitz was perfect for. “(Weitz is) so chill. He’s so easygoing,” Lutz said. “It didn’t feel like work.”

In “New Moon,” much to the fans’ dismay, Lutz and the rest of the Cullens disappear for awhile, acting in Bella’s best interest.

“All us Cullens wish we could be in that movie so much more,” Lutz said. “But we can’t because we’re sticking really close to the book. And we’re in the movie for the really crucial scenes, but we disappear. We go away for Bella’s safety.”

Now, before the second movie has even been released, the third one is on its way — and yes, there’s yet another director. David Slade (”30 Days of Night”) is following Weitz’s tear-tinged “New Moon” with an edgier “Eclipse,” which just wrapped filming.

In “Eclipse,” the Cullens are back…along with some werewolves, some angry vampires and a very clumsy Bella. This makes for a lot of fight scenes, which are Lutz’s forte.

“In ‘Eclipse,’ I worked so much doing fight training,” Lutz said. “My character’s there for all the action.”

But Lutz wanted to make sure he got in on the real action on set.

“I nagged and nagged and nagged so I could do all my stunts,” he said. “And I was so annoying that finally -– I’ve been annoying for the past two years trying to do my stunts — they finally allowed me to do a lot of my own stunts, which is great. ‘Cause whenever I can do that, I put 150 percent into it, versus stunt guys who get paid, you know, to not get hurt. They don’t wanna get hurt, ’cause that’s their job, so they do it, like, 145 percent. I just enjoy doing them. They’re fun to me. I’m a thrill seeker. I like taking risks and getting hurt.”

There’s one film left to make in the series, but Lutz expressed concern that “Breaking Dawn” may never make it to the big screen. Contrary to the pacing of the first three films, Lutz said all of the actors are killing time while the studio has yet to release the names of potential directors, release dates or any other plans for the film.

“We aren’t filming it,” Lutz said. “There’s no word. It’s a real bummer because when we did ‘Twilight,’ we always hoped to continue on with the book series.”

With the success of the franchise came more big-name actors, like Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning. Lutz said he fears that if the studio doesn’t move fast, they’ll lose their cast to other projects, putting the “Twilight” saga on hold.

“Us actors are having offers for tons of stuff now,” Lutz said. “To get the…actors that are a part of this – the Volturi, the wolves, the Cullens, that’s a lot of actors to just say months before we shoot, ‘Hey, can you guys come do this movie?’ ‘Cause we don’t have contracts. Versus the first three films we were all under contract. So nothing’s telling us ‘hold these dates.’ There’s only a small time frame that we could shoot…because of weather. So I hope they make their mind (up) after ‘New Moon’ comes out.”

Lutz said the determination of the film’s future might be in the hands of “Twilight” fans.

“I think it really matters for the fans,” he said. “If they come out and support ‘New Moon’ like they did ‘Twilight,’ and then ‘Eclipse.’ Because we all want to finish this baby. It’s such a part of us and it would just seem empty not to finish the last chapter.”

Lutz also addressed the rumor that “Breaking Dawn,” the longest novel in the saga, might be filmed in two parts.

“I’d hope that they’d want to shoot it all,” he said, “cause it’s such a big book. If they were to split it…there’s not really a clear line. I feel like if you did three fourths of the book and then the last part or something…but I think they would have to shoot it all in one push. Five months worth. But if they don’t greenlight it…”

Portraying a playful vampire and joking around on set makes Lutz’s job sound pretty ideal. It becomes clear, though, that it’s not all fun and games as he described his taxing tour schedule.

“Definitely the hard part,” he said, “is just getting on the airplane and trying to find time to sleep.”

Hopping back and forth between the East and West Coasts and getting three to four hours of sleep on average, Lutz said he relies on the love and support of the fans to sustain him.

“Definitely meeting the fans and the energy that they bring really keeps you going,” he said.

Due to the series’ instant popularity, its stars, and by default, Lutz, instantly lost much of their privacy to the persistent clicks of paparazzi cameras following their every move. Lutz initially didn’t have it as bad as his co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, but it wasn’t long before a photo surfaced of him, shirtless, exercising in his own gym.

“Being a part of ‘Twilight,’” he said, “definitely opened my eyes to how nuts it is to be a named actor and have paparazzi follow you and crash their cars trying to get pictures of you. And all you can do is be like, ‘Ha ha. Karma.’”

But the sudden fame will have no lasting effect on his life, Lutz claims. He said he plans on using it to pursue his acting dreams, but nothing else.

“You know, I’m not here to become famous or to be a millionaire,” he said. “I’m just very passionate. You know, I might have to do my hair before I go out more,” Lutz said. “(But) I’m not gonna let anything change me. I think fame or whatever it is we have changes the people around you. And as long as you stay true to yourself, everyone else will get a wakeup call and you’ll find out who your real friends are and who’s in it to get something else out of you.”

Lutz told us that though he enjoys his work, he’s eager to get home after the press tour to spend some time with none other than his mother for the holidays.

“My mom’s very traditional,” he said, “and puts up lights and cooks great meals with little cookies…it’s just great to be with family. I feel like a little kid when I go home. I have a little stocking full of, you know, candy. It’s great.”

He said he also looks forward to fitting in one of his favorite pastimes over the holiday season — snowboarding.

“I have my season pass in California,” Lutz said. “I bring my dog in my truck, and throw my boards in the back. It’s a piece of crap truck. But it’s my baby. I love it.”

Look for Kellan Lutz in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” which hits theaters this Friday.

The first three films have been made, but Lutz expressed the fear that if “New Moon” doesn’t get enough love from the fans, “Breaking Dawn” might never get made, leaving the saga permanently unfinished.

“We aren’t filming it,” Lutz said when asked about the progress on “Breaking Dawn.”

“It’s a real bummer,” he said, “because when we did ‘Twilight,’ we always hoped to continue on with the book series. Like you saw with ‘Aragon’ –- the fans didn’t support it enough, so they didn’t make the sequel, which would suck.”

Some may find it hard to believe the the cultural phenomenon that is “Twilight” wouldn’t have enough fan power to propel the series to completion. But with no word from the studio and no actors under contract, “Breaking Dawn” falling through could become a real possibility.

“There’s no word on ‘Breaking Dawn.’ They said goodbye to all the crew in Vancouver,” Lutz said. “Like, a real goodbye.”

The actors of “Twilight” were under contract for the first three films in the saga. But with “New Moon,” the cast expanded, enveloping several big-name actors, including Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning. Suddenly, due to the popularity of the series, the actors of “Twilight” have rapidly filling schedules and less time to wait on studio decisions.

“Between ‘New Moon’ and ‘Eclipse’ I did three films,” Lutz said. “Us actors are having offers for tons of stuff now. To get the…actors that are a part of this –- the Volturi, the wolves, the Cullens — that’s a lot of actors to just say, months before we shoot, ‘Hey, can you guys come do this movie?’ Because we don’t have contracts for it. So nothing’s telling us, you know, ‘Hold these dates.’ And there’s only a small time frame that we could shoot in…because of weather. So I hope they make their mind (up) after ‘New Moon’ comes out.”

In the end, Lutz said that it’s all up to the fans.

“We all fell in love with our characters,” he said, “all hoping that you know, we could continue on…it really matters for the fans, if they come out and support ‘New Moon.’ Because we all want to finish this baby. It’s such a part of us, and it would just seem empty not to finish the last chapter.”

I think it’s only fair that I preface this review by saying that I absolutely love disaster movies. Bruce Willis versus an asteroid the size of Texas in “Armageddon?” I’m there. Jake Gyllenhaal battling wolves in frozen New York in “The Day After Tomorrow?” Save me a ticket. Kurt Russell fighting to get out of an upside-down cruise ship in “Poseidon?” Oh hells yeah.

So I came into “2012” with rather high expectations, and for the most part, if you want a disaster movie, it delivers, cliches and all. At nearly 150 minutes, the movie is a bit overstuffed, but the pacing is solid throughout and never boring. And Emmerich lovingly covers every imaginable disaster movie cliché. From the cute and precocious kids to the dog with a better survival instinct than most humans, to the tearful goodbyes between survivors and their doomed family members- all the predictable beats are hit.

“2012″ is delightfully preposterous. A mash-up of pretty much every disaster movie ever made, the movie depicts worldwide destruction on an impressively massive scale. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and clouds of ash combine to not only destroy the world, but to kick it in the face while it’s down for good measure.

Roland Emmerich brings a destructive glee to the proceedings, depicting the end of the world with real élan. Emmerich, having already destroyed the world twice in “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow” knows how to handle his set pieces and puts his reported $200 million dollar budget to good use. He constructed scenes depicting entire cities crumbling in 10.5 earthquakes and being washed away by 100-foot tidal waves that are stunning in their scope. Unfortunately, a fairly cheesy script hampers the film and detracts from the visual delights.

When US Geologist Adrian Hemsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers there is something screwy going on with the Earth’s crust that is going to have cataclysmic consequences for the planet’s surface, the US President (Danny Glover) and the rest of the world’s leaders decide to keep Earth’s impending doom a secret from the majority of the planet. Instead they offer safety to the select few with a bank account big enough to bankroll hastily-built arks in China- even salvation is getting outsourced these days.

While the idea of a massive worldwide conspiracy to cover up the world’s end is intriguing, it is handled rather ham-fistedly. At one point, a possible whistleblower threatening to expose the conspiracy is killed in a car crash in the same tunnel where Princess Diana died. A detail meant to give the death gravitas and shock value, got a laugh instead at my screening.

Fortunately some inspired casting enables the movie to roll past most of its narrative rough spots.

The conspiracy storyline may be a dud, but Chiwetel Ejiofor is not. Ejiofor- in the year’s most earnest performance, and I mean that as a compliment- makes Hemsley’s decency feel like a genuine trait and not a result of simplistic screenwriting. Oliver Platt does just the right amount of scene chewing as presidential advisor Carl Anheuser, who battles Hemsley’s more noble instincts. You know Anheuser’s a jerk because he doesn’t let his ex-wife or his senile mother know the world is ending.

John Cusack puts in a solid everyman turn as Jackson Curtis. Curtis’ quest to prove himself to his children and ex-wife is the emotional core of the movie. Cusack brings a just the right amount of quirkiness to the part and emerges as a surprisingly adept action lead.

During the family’s mad drive through a Los Angeles that is slowly crumbling into the Pacific Ocean, Curtis proves himself to be the world’s greatest limo driver- dodging falling buildings, tumbling billboards and collapsing freeways. The scene is genuinely thrilling and the film’s most exciting.

“2012” is not high art, but it is a lot of fun. Emmerich’s genuine affection for the material, and solid acting by an interesting cast helps keep things moving and delivers some solid popcorn-ready entertainment.

“2012″ is now in theaters.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (Media credit: KCSPresse / Splash News Online)

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner arrived in Paris on Monday and checked into a luxurious hotel before going out for a late dinner where they met up with Fergie, People reported.

They did a press event on Tuesday and got ready to leave for the next stop on their European “New Moon” press tour.

But Robert and Kristen were among the last to leave.

“[Pattinson and Stewart] were the last ones to leave the terminal to board the plane,” one photographer on the scene told People. “Out on the tarmac, he took her hand, like young lovers. They stopped and looked at each other, their plane, the scene. They seemed very calm, in love. They continued holding hands boarding the plane.”

Let the comments begin.

Preliminary sketch of Plymouth Rock Studios front gate, which may never exist

The Boston Globe has reported that mere weeks before groundbreaking, the $550 million in funding for the construction of Hollywood East in Massachusetts has been pulled, leaving the future of Plymouth Rock Studios, the movie industry in Metro Boston, and countless jobs up in question.

A week ago, the Globe started investigating Prosperity International LLC, of Orlando, Fla., finding “its track record was thin, at best.” Today the studio said it was cutting ties with its would-be financier.

In January, we said Plymouth Rock Studios would be a marvel in green technology, being a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified structure with a 21st century earth-friendly setup. The studio, when finished, is supposed to have 14 sound stages and 10 acres of outdoor sets.

Now it’s just a question mark.

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” plays like a collection of scenes without a central thread uniting them. Perhaps worse than the film’s lack of cohesion is its smugness- the movie practically shouts at the audience, “Laugh already! This is really funny!” Unfortunately, more often that not, the movie simply doesn’t deliver.

The film tells the story of the Pentagon’s attempts during the Reagan administration to create an army of psychic soldiers. “The New Earth Army” is founded by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges, in full on “Dude” mode), an army officer who searches for alternative means to wage war after being wounded in Vietnam.

After years spent in the counter-culture scene, Django comes back with all kinds of new ways to fight America’s enemies (psychedelics are heavily involved) and with the help of the intensely zealous Brig. Gen. Dean Hopgood (Stephen Lang), gets funding for his unit of “American Jedis.”

Ewan McGregor gets his meatiest role in years as Bob Wilton, the journalist looking for a story about the New Earth Army. McGregor drives the film. Unfortunately the character feels completely misconceived. Instead of focusing on Wilton’s journalistic quest for a story, the script is more concerned with his desperate search for meaning in his life. This makes Wilton become an active participant in the craziness he is encounters instead of a lens through which the audience can enter such a bizarre and zany world.

Wilton turns to Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) — a former New Earth Army member who he encounters in Iraq — to act as his source and life coach. Clooney dives into the part with relish. With his mustache, sun-baked skin, and movie star good looks, Clooney resembles an enthusiastic and crazed Clark Gable. He clearly has a ball playing off-type. Clooney’s enthusiasm and pure star power almost make the whole thing work.

By having Wilton embrace Cassady’s crazy lifestyle, the audience is left without a levelheaded perspective with which to counter Cassady’s eccentric ways (The guy thinks he can cause clouds to disappear with his mind).

Maybe a stronger director could have wrangled all of this together and turned it into something that worked. Simply put, Grant Heslov seems completely overwhelmed here on his first feature. Heslov, Clooney’s producing partner, seems to have given the actors free reign to play their characters however they wanted- whether it serves the narrative or not. The comedic beats are poorly timed and Heslov does a tremendously awkward job of integrating the more dramatic scenes throughout the film. The worst thing a comedy can do is make you question whether or not you should be laughing.

Walking out of the theater I couldn’t help but think that “The Men Who Stare at Goats” comes off as a lazy and self-congratulatory film. While it’s clear the actors are having a lot of fun, there seems to be little attempt at engaging the audience. I’m glad they all enjoyed it, because I sure didn’t.

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is now in theaters.

The style that was so fresh, funny and enjoyable in 2004’s “Napoleon Dynamite” has become stale, predictable and merely amusing in this year’s “Gentlemen Broncos.” Writers Jared and Jerusha Hess returned to their home of Utah for the setting of their third film, recycling their kitschy, eccentric characters and awkward, squeaky-clean comedy in hopes of recreating their first film’s magic. While the plot is somewhat compelling and the characters are loveable, the film devotes too much time to the “Yeast Lords” side-story and not enough time the main character, Benjamin Purvis.

Benjamin Purvis (Michael Angarano) is a gullible, homeschooled 16-year-old introvert who has a passion for writing sci-fi. Benjamin appears to be the only sane, reasonable person in a cast of badly dressed misfits.

His loopy mother (Jennifer Coolidge, “Best In Show”) owns a company called “Decent Beginnings” that sells hideous nightgowns for $100 a pop. Gown names include “Reachable Dream,” “Front Pew” and “Righteous Do.” This type of role is Coolidge’s bread and butter. She plays the role of clueless-but-concerned mom to a tee, at one point shoving a popcorn car through prison bars to her son on his birthday.

Benjamin is a reluctant friend with the immensely annoying Tabitha (Halley Feiffer) and Lonnie (Hector Jimenez), two other homeschoolers who run a small amateur adult film company. They eventually dupe Benjamin into giving them his original manuscript, “Yeast Lords,” to make into a movie. The Hess’s went a little overboard with these guys, their unforgivable weirdness making each scene with them in it seem endless and inescapable instead of funny. Tabitha’s oddness would be more acceptable if she showed some redeeming quality like humor or integrity. Lonnie is just flat-out irritating.

But Tabitha and Lonnie aren’t the only ones who swindle Benjamin. His literary idol, Dr. Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement, “Flight of the Conchords”) swipes his manuscript from a contest and pawns it off as his own. Clement does a remarkable job in hilariously depicting the arrogant British author. He provides most of the comic relief in Benjamin’s sad story, delivering lines like, “Do you think they’ll remember us for our writing? No! They’ll remember us for our wealth!”

Angarano’s Benjamin is delightfully awkward, from his cracking pubescent voice to his feet curled insecurely beneath his desk. The audience feels for him as he gets walked all over and roots for him when he finally stands up for himself. The only downside is that by the time he does so, the film is over.

There are few people who could have wanted to like this movie more than myself. Alas, I won’t be quoting it for years to come as I’d hoped. It’s worth seeing for its individual comedic performances, but bring something to do when Clement, Coolidge and Angarano aren’t on the screen.

First we had Napoleon, the nunchuck-wielding, moon-boot wearing dancing fiend. Then there was Nacho, the cook-turned-wrestler in “Nacho Libre.” In “Gentlemen Broncos,” we meet Benjamin Purvis, the quiet science-fiction lover whose mom sells nightgowns and popcorn balls for a living.

In “Broncos,” Hess takes us into Benjamin’s world of cowboy heroes, battle stags, pooping snakes and transvestites. Benjamin finds himself in uneasy situations involving blow-darts, hand massages, guardian angels and shootouts.

So color me surprised when I sit down to talk with Hess and find that, besides his freakish height (6’5”), he looks pretty normal, even average. In comfortable jeans, black-rimmed glasses and a black flannel shirt, he doesn’t even vaguely resemble the outrageous characters he creates. But as we begin to discuss the process of what it was like bringing “Broncos” to life, Hess reveals his fascinating and hilariously weird brain, showing that he might be more like his characters than he seems.

Blast: You say that a lot of your stories are autobiographical.

Jared Hess: Yeah. When my family first moved to Idaho, before school started, there was a trip to a Shakespearean festival in southern Utah. I didn’t have any friends yet, and my mom’s like, “You’d better go on this thing, it’ll be awesome, you’ll meet a lot of new friends.” So this girl and this guy who were very similar to Loni and Tabitha made friends with me and were like “Come sit by us! It’d be awesome!” I was sitting just like Benjamin was and they busted out the lotion and he started giving her a hand massage and blowing in her ear, and all the kids on the bus were like, “Gosh that kid’s an idiot. He’s hanging out with those guys!” So it was really uncomfortable. It was all the gross crap that happens in the back of a van bus.

My wife Jerusha…has a 15-year-old cousin who lives up in Alaska, and he’s been writing really messed-up science fiction stories that make his mom cry. We read some of them and the content is quite disturbing. His were a little medieval. I tried to block it out of my mind. It was a lot of…slapping.

Blast: In what ways do you see yourself in Benjamin Purvis?

Jared Hess: I think I identify with him, in him being kind of an outsider a little bit, but someone who’s creatively engaged, although he’s misunderstood in the things he’s trying to create. I channel that for sure. Especially as a kid I was trying to make my own videos even though people may have gone “Oh well, what are you doing?” You know? It was important to me.

The mother character in this film is based on my mom. She worked for a modest nightgown company and sold popcorn balls that me and my five younger brothers would have to go peddle around…so many things that happened to Benjamin in the film have happened to me.

Blast: One thing that’s a little different about Benjamin is that, you know, with Napoleon, he’s very outlandish. Benjamin is very relatable. He’s a normal kid. And besides the fact that he’s wicked into sci-fi, you really kind of think he’s not a nerd.

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah. He’s the most normal character in the film. He’s surrounded by a lot of eccentric personalities. You kind of learn about his weird side through his work. But definitely, yeah, he just seems like a normal kid.

Blast: Is Ronald Chevalier based on anyone?

Jared Hess: One time I was a camera assistant during college, and I was working on a really low-budget independent film about Mormon pioneers coming to Utah. The screenwriter visited the set one day, and he was rocking the same clothes as Ronald Chevalier’s the first time you see him. The same Bluetooth earpiece that he never uses. He just looked awesome.

Blast: Tell us about putting the look for the film together.

Jared Hess: To me it’s really important. There’s such a hand-made quality, I think about all of it. It’s all from our style and It’s fun that people can recognize your work based on looking at it. It’s important to get the right kind of tone out there. We shot the film entirely on location in Utah. But the science fiction aspects of it, you know i borrowed a lot of things from my favorite science-fiction films. You don’t really see the big budget glossy expensive CG stuff. You know, like, the battle stags and crap, that stuff was in my trapper keeper when I was like, 12. Stuff that I’d drawn. A lot of the ideas that are in (Benjamin’s) story are, you know, really lame ideas that I had as a kid.

Blast: You’ve got some pretty fierce animal action going on in this film.

Jared Hess: We do!

Blast: You’ve got like a wolf, a bobcat, a snake, like all this stuff. Did Mike White actually have the live snake on him?

Jared Hess: He did. That was a real snake. His name was Peaches. And (Mike) got to be very good friends with Peaches. When we were shooting the snake would…he couldn’t control it very well and it was always gravitating toward Jennifer Coolidge’s chest (laughs) and she would would go “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” But it was very tame. It’s an albino boa. Weird, huh?

Blast: And it knows how to poop on cue?

Jared Hess: Yeah pretty much (laughs). We had a little hose hooked up to an air compressor full of beef stew (laughs). It was some gross mixture, I think it had apple sauce in it and mustard.

Blast: Not much worse than the real thing?

Jared Hess: I know, totally. Yeah, they were like, “This smells worse than crap!”

Blast: That was definitely a shocked laugh for me.

Jared Hess: I know, it’s funny because people either laugh at that or they think that it wasn’t meant to happen! People have asked me, “Was that real snake-poo? Did that happen and you just happened to be rolling?”

Blast: Well, you’re still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that he’s wearing a snake, and then all of the sudden…

Jared Hess: (laughs) Yeah, the bobcat actually had a bigger role but…wild animals aren’t really meant to be controlled. But we got it to eat cat food.

Blast: And a gonad?

Jared Hess: Yeah totally. That was like a ball of cat food.

Blast: Where does the name “Gentlemen Broncos” come from?

Jared Hess: My mom had a parenting book written in the ‘50s called “So You Want to Raise A Boy?” There was a chapter in there where the author referred to the 16-year-old stage in a young man’s life. He called it the “Gentlemen Bronco” phase of life where young men like to take their shirts off and mow the lawn. It didn’t make much sense, but I really liked the title.

Blast: This is a pretty different role for Jennifer Coolidge.

Jared Hess: We knew that we wanted Jennifer to play the mom. You can see her real, kind of tender sweet side. She’s really not that glammed up in this at all. She’s kind of a little more “Middle America.”

Blast: Kind of drab almost.

Jared Hess: Yeah yeah. I felt bad that we put her in such bad clothes. She kept teasing me. But she had so much fun. And you know, she’s so great at improv. It’s funny, cause at the cast and crew screening, everyone had their favorite improvised moment that she did. Not all of them made it into the film, but some of them are on the DVD. When the scene ended, we’d kind of let her say whatever she wanted for at least a take or two and then everybody was in stitches. It’s not really about one-liners and a punch-line of a joke in this film. But you kind of get to choose what’s funny to you.

Blast: All of your characters in your movies are pretty quirky, but in this one, even down to the extras, like the ones in the choir scene – where do you find these weird looking people?

Jared Hess: (Laughs) It’s funny because the choir scene was mostly made up of my family (laughs).

Blast: Well now I’ve really offended you! Great!

Jared Hess: No, no. It’s funny because actually, like…my wife’s handicapped aunt was in that scene. (Also) one of her cousins who has Down’s Syndrome. Both of which we’re very, very close to, obviously. The extras in the film – we like to populate it with authentic people. We’re not going to a fancy Hollywood extras casting agency. We’re getting people that we interact with, you know, daily. That you see at the grocery store. A couple of my little brothers were actually Cyclops guys. They were like, (Napoleon voice) “Jared, I can’t see a dang thing in these!”

Blast: Even when Chevalier is doing the Q&A session and there are all of those sci-fi fans. I mean they’re just interesting to look at. They’re just funny people.

Jared Hess: For some of those things, we really try to get science fiction fans. So it was fun.

Blast: Sam Rockwell plays two roles in this movie. What was it like working with him?

Jared Hess: We knew that we wanted to party with Sam Rockwell. I’m a big fan of Sammy. Even though he plays two pretty funny roles in this film, when he comes out of the trailer, out of wardrobe and makeup, he’s in complete character. You know, he’s like, goin’ for it. I’ll say, “Sam, I wanna tell you something.” And he’ll say “Hey, hey, hey. What? I’m Bronco. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He’s pretty die-hard. Like, he’d be watching episodes of Lonesome Dove in his trailer. He was really channeling some cowboy thunder for Bronco, which I loved.

Blast: What was it like working with Michael Angarano?

Jared Hess: It was awesome. A real pleasure. I mean, he’s so talented and he’s really effortless when he’s acting and bringing to life a character, and that was really important. You know we spent a lot of time trying to find the right person to play him and he ended up being just perfect for it.

He and Napoleon are very very different. And I think a lot of people, with Napoleon, were like, “Gosh! This kid!” you know either they really actually knew somebody like that or they were like “This guy’s obnoxious and I don’t like to have to do anything with people like that.” But with Benjamin, he’s more accessible on an emotional level.

Blast: The everyman.

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah.

Blast: So we have to talk about Jemaine Clement. I’m a huge “Flight of the Conchords” fan. As soon as I saw he was in this, I was like, “I gotta go see this!” What was it like to work with him?

Jared Hess: Yeah yeah! He is one of the most humble, sweet down to earth guys I’ve ever met in my life. Like, his success has not changed him at all. He’s still hangin’ with the same pals that he’s always had.

Blast: Like Bret?

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah totally (laughs). He’s so funny. He would have ideas on the set of something funny to do or try, and he’s just brilliant. The guy’s so funny. His timing and everything. He was a dream to work with.

Blast: This is a completely different character from the one we all know him for. In “Flight of the Conchords,” he’s so self-depricating and a putz. But in this, he’s arrogant!

Jared Hess: He’s a totally different character. I remember when our sound designers were working on the film, they were like, “Where’d you find that British actor that plays Chevalier?” And I was like, “Oh, that’s Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords.” They were like “What? That’s him? Really?” They didn’t believe me. They didn’t put it together.

Blast: He really pulls off that accent.

Jared Hess: Yeah, it’s great. And I love when you watch an actor, and you don’t go “Oh, that’s Jemaine, from Flight of the Conchords.” That’s always a testimony, I think, to them, that they’re really becoming the character.

Blast: How did you place him in that role?

Jared Hess: We sent him a script, and he called back and he was like (impersonating New Zealand accent) “Yeah man, I really want to do this. I’ll do anything you want. Do you have anybody playing Bronco?” And I was like, “Yeah, we got Sam Rockwell.” And he said, “Oh, yeah, he’ll do great, man.” And then I said, “You know, we were thinking Chevalier for you.” And he’s like “Oh yeah, he’s great.” Jemaine wanted to play the guy as an American, but I told him to watch “Logan’s Run” and try and do Michael York. Then he called me back and was like (impersonating Chevalier) “Hello, Dr. Ronald Chevalier.” And I said, that’s what we’ll do!

Blast: What are your comedic influences?

Jared Hess: I guess it’s life. Letting those awkward beats play out. That happens in life all the time. For me they’re fun and very uncomfortable. A lot of people that watch our films, because of that uneasiness, are not sure if, gosh, something really disturbing is gonna happen. And then when they’re relieved to know that it didn’t go to the dark place they thought it might go to, then the second time around they’re like, “Ahhh.” They’re enjoying it cause they know it’s not gonna go there.

Blast: It’s okay to laugh. I know what you’re talking about cause I could feel that tension building. You’re thinking, “Benjamin has just got to explode sometime soon, and I’m gonna be really unhappy if that doesn’t happen.” And so when he just goes crazy on everybody, it was so fulfilling.

Jared Hess: Yeah, gratifying.

Blast: And you’re like, “Yes! Okay. Good.”

Jared Hess: Yeah, it’s good. Cause he gets walked on the whole movie. He’s a polite, good kid.

Blast: Something that sets your comedy apart, too, from the rest of the stuff that’s out there right now is… lots of stuff out there is very profane. In your films people say “gosh” and “darn” a lot, and Chevalier says…

Jared Hess: Dagnammit! (laughs) That word was improvised. My dad always used to be like, “Dagnabbit!” Then I told Jemaine to say it, and he was like (imitating New Zealand accent), “Ok, yeah, yeah, I’ve never heard that word before, but I’ll try it.” And so we’re shooting (and he says), “Isn’t that why we do what we do, dagnammit?!” And I was like, “Dagnammit? You just made a new word!”

Blast: Do you intentionally keep out the curse words? Is it for comedy or is it for other reasons?

Jared Hess: You know, it’s funny, because it’s such a part of how I talk. I came from a big Mormon family and we were all taught not to swear. So I don’t feel comfortable swearing. You know what I mean? I think it’s just our sense of humor.

Blast: Yeah.

Jared Hess: You know, it’s just not my personality. So that just kind of naturally works its way into our dialogue. So we have a lot of swear word replacements like “flippin’” and “friggen.”

Blast: Your wife, with whom you co-write everything, has just written a romantic comedy.

Jarod Hess: She did, yeah.

Blast: Are you going to be directing that?

Jarod Hess: I don’t know if she’ll let me. I think I’ll ruin it. She’s super-talented. I mean, she may direct it. She’s not decided yet.

Blast: Will it be similar to your previous movies?

Jared Hess: No, it’s something totally different. She’s like, “I get to make a girl movie now.”

“Gentlemen Broncos” is now in theaters.

Cult films are a dangerous thing. Sometimes great, sometimes not, they create a fervor and devotion usually saved for fringe religious groups and third party candidates. And the films make their way into the canon of filmic classics, whether or not they deserve to be there.

There is only one thing more dangerous than a cult film. A cult sequel.

I was once an acolyte who worshiped at the altar of “The Boondock Saints,” the 1999 comedic thriller about two Irish brothers in Boston who decide to become vigilantes. I saw the film when I was 16, right before I was about to move to Boston. Perhaps it was the gritty Southie cache that resonated with me, or the idea of two good-looking Irish boys saving Boston from danger, but I was in love. I’d lost touch with the movie until last week, when I saw the sequel.

It didn’t matter that I hadn’t seen it in a couple years. It was the exact same movie.

The plot’s a bit different: our anti-heroes Connor and Murphy (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, respectively) are on the lam in Ireland by their father (Billy Connolly) after killing numerous mobsters in Boston. After a mysterious villain starts mimicking the Saints reverent killing style, they return to Beantown to take up their savage quest. They’re pursued by another FBI agent, this time a woman- Julie Benz, who does a truly spectacular job stepping into Willem Dafoe’s airy shoes, even with half of her scenes being slow camera shots up her gamine profile. We also get a protracted back story about the boys’ father, a righteous murderer in his own right.

But the cult sequel is a very big problem because it’s made for the fans, and the fans alone. Outsiders are not just ignored, they are actively discouraged. This would not be so terrible, if not for the fact that Troy Duffy, the mastermind behind the “Saints,” decided that the only way to appease his fans would be to simply make the movie again. So we have the two boys who plot to kill bad guys based around action flicks they’ve seen. We have the hilarious, vaguely ethnic sidekick (the last one got offed in the first film). We have the religious imagery, the filthy dialogue, the stylized shoot-outs and a wily Southern FBI agent with a feminine drawl. There’s even a reference to rope- one of the first film’s best gags.

All-in-all, it’s less a movie and more of an inside joke. And as we all know, boys and girls, inside jokes are only funny to the ones who know what you’re talking about. For those who are fans of the first film, this will be a welcome diversion. Duffy is a truly wonderful screenwriter, and his dialogue clips along at a good pace. Reedus and Flanery are excellent; it’s as if they’d just stepped off the set of the first film last week. And I really did enjoy watching Benz take a luscious bite out of the scenery around her. There are surprises too- and if I spoiled any of them I’m sure I would have gold coins on my eyes by the end of the week, so let’s move on.

But if you don’t know what I mean when I talk about gold coins, or rope or that wicked funny scene with the cat, then chances are “Saints II” will only leave you slightly dizzy, and more than slightly confused. As for me, a die-hard fan of yore, I suddenly realized that somewhere between 16 years old and today, this movie had lost its cult status in my heart. It was still a good movie, sure. So is the sequel. But in terms of my devotion, I guess I’ve been deprogrammed.

It’s like Blast’s reverse PMS.

This time we’re giving yous guys 50 — FIFTY — passes to “The Men Who Stare At Goats” staring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey.

And there’s more. Each of the FIFTY passes we’re giving away admit you and a guest. That’s 100 people in Boston who are going to see a movie exclusively because you read Blast.

You know the drill by now. Register an account or log-in and post a comment saying you want tix.

The screening is November 5 at 7 p.m. at the Boston Common AMC theater.

Just a few days before his untimely death, Michael Jackson was gearing up to set out on a sold-out 50-concert comeback in London. Following ten years of silence from the misunderstood artist, this final performance was going to be unlike any that the King of Pop had ever done before. But little did he know that his true final performance would come in the behind-the-scenes documentary of the show’s final rehearsals.

“This Is It” is pervaded by an eerie sense of foreboding. When watching the (still, at 50) incredibly nimble Jackson fly across the stage, it’s hard not to think of the autopsy photographs of his ruined body that would surface soon after. Jackson says, on several occasions during rehearsal, that he is saving his voice for the real thing, and it’s sad to think of the performance he might have given had he known it would be his last. And on several occasions, the extremely meticulous Jackson would stop mid-performance, fix whatever issue he had with the band, and say, “This is why we have rehearsal,” with a laugh.

Fans who go to “This Is It,” hoping to hear Jackson’s last words to his fans will come away disappointed. Though the film is a documentary, there are very few interviews with the crew, and there are none with Jackson. The film begins by talking to Jackson’s principal dancers, who are so choked up that it’s hard to believe the footage was shot before Jackson’s death.

The rest of the film is straight rehearsal footage, sometimes shot with poor-quality cameras, which reminds the audience that this was never intended to be released in theaters. Despite the fact that this footage only gives a brief glimpse into what the real performance was going to be like, it’s incredible to watch such a talented performer who still, after all these years, hits his mark every single time, both dancing and singing.

This film won’t win any awards based on its cinematography (the opening and closing credits looked like they were made on iMovie) but the packaging doesn’t matter a whole lot when the content is Michael Jackson. Viewers will take away the message of the film, which Jackson repeated to his crew several times — “It’s all about love.”

Enjoy.

In this preview, we’re shown a bulked up Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the lead, and the movie’s supporting cast, including a former Bond girl. Nice!

Additionally, Jerry Bruckheimer, the man famous for making sh*t blow up and look cool doing so, is signed on to produce, so we at least know some talent is hard at work on the project.

We never want to say “this will be the first good video game movie” because really, that’s a horrid jinx to put on anything. But, it does look pretty compelling, at least from this early preview.

Check out the preview trailer below. Sorry for the advertisement, IGN says so.

“(Untitled),” a wicked new satire of the New York City art scene, focuses on two brothers, Josh and Adrian Jacobs.

Josh (Eion Bailey) has found incredible financial success selling his pleasant-but-unexceptional paintings for $10,000 a piece to doctor’s offices, law firms and hotel chains. Checking out his latest work in a busy hotel lobby, Josh assures Adrian that this is a worthy place for his work to be shown- “More people are going to see my work here than if it were hanging at MOMA.”

Adrian (Adam Goldberg) is an unsuccessful composer. Having decided that harmony is a “capitalist plot,” he composes music that strains against most peoples conceptions of what music is. His pieces are hilarious in their detail. There is purposeful misplaying of instruments, not to mention sudden unexplainable wails, and a big finale, which includes dropping a chain into a bucket and then kicking the bucket repeatedly. These elements combine to produce pieces that are delightfully wretched.

In their search for artistic fulfillment, the brothers navigate a New York full of fascinating and hilarious characters. Director and co-writer Jonathan Parker has created a world that is both outlandish and completely believable.

Adrian and Josh get tangled up with snooty gallery owner Madeleine Gray, who is Josh’s broker. Madeleine is obsessed with having a hand in discovering the next Van Gogh. Because many great artists have been traditionally under appreciated in their own time, Madeleine is attracted to those who seem to lack any discernable talent.

That quality draws her to Adrian and pushes her way from Josh, whose financially viable works bankroll her search for the worst artist in New York, but don’t appeal to her need to discover the next great artist.

Every detail of Madeleine’s world feels spot-on- from the artist Ray Barko (Vinnie Jones) who lets others created his art for him (“he wants to prove the process can be administrative”) to the wealthy buyer who wants to diversify his portfolio by buying art he doesn’t understand.

The performances are excellent across the board. Marley Shelton is sexy and delightfully pretentious as Madeleine and she is well matched by Adam Goldberg’s brooding and oh-so-tortured turn. Eion Bailey’s work as Josh is pitch perfect. Bailey is able to capture Josh’s incredulity and disenchantment with the art scene while at the same time suggesting how desperately he desires to be accepted by it.

Josh’s obsessive need for critical feedback and Adrian’s intense desire to create something wholly original grounds the satire in real and true human emotion.

“(Untitled)” is a hilarious and pointed satire, but one that suggests an uncertain future for art and artists. The film is certainly over the top. But when I think of some of the truly outlandish art being created at the moment, I find myself wondering along with Josh, when he asks Madeleine near the end of the film, “When did beauty become so fucking ugly?” That’s a good question and one “(Untitled)” does not have an answer for.

Between Universe and the recent news about Jason Momoa, you’d think we’d have covered it all by now, right?

Wrong.

“Stargate Atlantis” alumnus David Hewlett, who’s appearing in the forthcoming straight-to-video movies that will wrap up the “Atlantis” story, was recently cast in an indie film called “The Whistleblower,” GateWorld reported.

The movie films in Romania and is about the true story of a Nebraskan police officer who outs the United Nations for covering up sex trafficking.

Hewlett plays an American U.N. peacekeeper who’s suspected of being involved in the elicit sex trade. It’s a far ways away from his nerdy scientist character in Stargate.

“The Whistleblower” also stars Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn and Monica Bellucci, so it’s the real deal.

GateWorld also said that MGM gave Hewlett a green light on a script he’s working on. No details about that just yet.

Not to mention the fact that we’ve seen many of Bella’s dream sequences in stills from the movie. But nevertheless, the clips just keep on coming. Here are two more that were recently released that further detail the wolf pack’s transformations as well as a full 45 second fight scene with the Volturi. *Sigh*

Nighy comes off as anything but an egotistical rock star. During our talk, he was soft-spoken and intelligent, and, despite a little jet-lag from a transcontinental flight the night before, mentally sharp and eager to answer questions about his new film “Astro Boy.” He spoke with Blast about how far animated films have come, what it’s like to play a short fat man and about finally getting the chance to play a wizard in the next “Harry Potter” film.

Nighy’s enthusiasm for “Astro Boy” was palpable. He said he had always been intrigued by the “phenomenon” of the character (who, according to Nighy, is the Japanese Mickey Mouse) but was attracted to the film based on its smart script.

“I liked everything about the script,” Nighy said. “It’s a proper grown-up story. (It has) universal themes and stuff we all deal with, like family and belonging.”

When I asked him about his character Dr. Elefun, a scientist and supporter of Astro, Nighy said the character’s overall goodness struck him.

“He is the representative of human decency in the film,” Nighy said. “His instincts are pure and he is able to distinguish between what is benign and what isn’t.”

Nighy chuckled when I asked whether or not it was challenging to voice a character so physically opposite from himself. While Nighy is tall, spindly and angular, Dr. Elefun is short, dumpy and has a cucumber-shaped nose. Nighy said he pretty much played it straight.

“I did try to do a couple of things that I thought would accommodate that genre of creature,” Nighy said. “But in fact they really wanted it just like me, so it’s pretty much just Bill Nighy.”

The chance to work with director David Bowers again, who he had previously worked with on “Flushed Away,” was exciting as well.

“David is a really cool guy,” Nighy said. “He is devout when it comes to animation and he writes scripts that are worthy of any genre.”

Nighy said “Astro Boy” is an example of a larger overall trend. There has been a tremendous shift, he said, in quality of animated films. They have become more than just movies for children. In his opinion, they are approaching the quality and emotional depth of live-action films.

“The scripts are of the same level, the performances hopefully are on-par, and the degree of craft and technical achievement is very close,” Nighy said. “There really are some masterpieces being made, and modern animation has transcended any sort of subgenre. They are absolutely mainstream and serious movies.”

When the conversation turned to his upcoming role as Rufus Scrimgeour in the final two Harry Potter films, Nighy expressed clear excitement at having finally earned his wand.

“I’m a wizard, finally,” Nighy said. “I thought I was going to be the only English actor of a certain age who wasn’t in Harry Potter, but it turned out not to be the case.”

Nighy said it was great to work with all of the older actors, many of whom he grew up with in the industry. Nighy added that working with the younger actors, particularly Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, was a pleasure.

Even more gratifying for Nighy was that he got to play a wizard with David Yates as his director. Nighy has worked with Yates three times previously, most notably in the BBC miniseries “State of Play”

“David is one of the finest directors currently working, and he is a believer,” Nighy said. “It was a pleasure to be back working with him on something as luscious as Harry Potter.”

“Astro Boy” hits theaters today and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” will be released November 2010.

Amelia Earhart took major risks. She flew solo across two oceans and died trying to be the first pilot to fly around the globe. Unfortunately “Amelia,” the new film about Earhart’s life, is never able to escape the basic biopic structure. It is ironic that a film about a woman who strained against the boundaries of society never takes any chances of its own.

The safe nature that permeates the entire production is unfortunate, as the pieces are there to make a captivating film. Mira Nair, probably best known for “Monsoon Wedding,” has crafted a lovely film. The shots of Amelia flying over Africa are gorgeous and all the period details feel spot-on, but the characters feel sterile and lethargic.

Richard Gere does nice work as George Putnam, Amelia’s husband and chief promoter who came up with ways finance her flying. Gere’s performance captures Putnam’s awe and love for a woman he knows he can never completely have. It is a shame that Hilary Swank is unable to match him.

Swank is perhaps the most baffling actress working today. She’s won two Oscars for electric and emotionally honest performances, and yet her range seems surprisingly limited here. While it’s nice to see Swank deliver such an uncharacteristically smiley performance, it feels hollow. Swank looks the part, but is sadly incapable of capturing the adventurous spirit that Earhart embodied.

Swank is a good physical match for the character, but she never seems to connect with Earhart as a person, and the script’s dialogue isn’t doing her any favors. She has to deliver lines like “flying lets me move in three dimensions.” While lines like that may have looked brilliant and deep on the page, they fall very flat when actually spoken on screen.

The one moment were Swank sparkles is during a nighttime flight when Earhart flies Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones) over Washington D.C. The scenes of these two women who played by their own rules are truly magical. Roosevelt’s joy when Earhart gives her the wheel is the film’s best moment of excitement and wonder.

The other supporting performances are all solid. Ewan McGregor is charismatic, if underused, as Gene Vidal, the other love of Earhart’s life. The movie tiptoes around her affair with Vidal, which limits the audience’s connection to Earhart herself. If we are not allowed to see how Vidal, or George Putnam, for that matter, stirred her passion, how are we supposed to understand her as a character?

Nair does her best work with the depiction of Earhart’s doomed last leg of her attempted flight around the world. She is able to build tension despite the fact that we already know how the story ends. Swank’s work in the final scenes is understated and powerful. Christopher Eccleston ably backs her up as her navigator, Fred Noonan.

“Amelia” simply never takes off. The film isn’t able to break out of its rigid and formulaic structure. While it does an admirable job of depicting Earhart’s accomplishments, it doesn’t show us who she was outside of the cockpit. We get to know Earhart the pilot, but not Amelia.

“Amelia” is in theaters now.

Information provided by the studio.

Apparition and Stage 6 Films
present
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
Screenplay by and Directed by Troy Duffy

Main Cast

Sean Patrick Flanery: Connor MacManus

Norman Reedus: Murphy MacManus

Billy Connolly: Poppa M

Clifton Collins, Jr.: Romeo

Julie Benz: Special Agent Eunice Bloom

Peter Fonda: The Roman

Judd Nelson: Concezio Yakavetta

David Della Rocco: Rocco

Bob Marley: Detective Greenly

Brian Mahoney: Detective Duffy

David Ferry: Detective Dolly

Official Synopsis

“Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is the much-anticipated action sequel from Apparition and Stage 6 Films that picks up ten years after writer/director Troy Duffy’s THE BOONDOCK SAINTS, the tough, stylized, vigilante-justice saga that captured a massive cult following.

“Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.” opens with fraternal twins Connor and Murphy MacManus deep in hiding in Ireland with their father, the enigmatic and notorious Il Duce from the first film (now known as “Poppa M”). The MacManus family has been living on an isolated sheep farm, as fugitives due to the slayings they religiously and notoriously perpetrated on Boston’s criminal underworld a decade before, including the very public execution of the city’s biggest crime lord. But the brothers have never forgotten the city they left behind, and when word that a beloved Boston priest has been slain and the killing made to look as though the Saints are responsible, Connor and Murphy cut their hair, dig up their rosaries and guns, suit up in their signature pea-coats armed with their .9MM and bid goodbye to their ailing father and smuggle themselves back to Boston to hunt down the real killers. Once again, they mount a violent and bloody crusade to bring justice to those responsible. This time they are aided by a Latino named Romeo, whose connections with the powerful “underground” Hispanic mob will help the brothers wreak revenge on the real killers.

The screen is filled with kick-ass gunplay and stunts throughout as the brothers take us on a roller coaster ride through the streets of Boston. Working the case are Boston detectives Greenly, Duffy and Dolly from the first film, who are sympathetic to the Saints (and complicit). They are joined in the investigation by the street smart and sexy FBI Special Agent Eunice Bloom, a protégé of FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker from the first movie.

As the central action unfolds, the film reveals a deeper mystery that gives insight into the MacManus family’s legacy of violence, with twists, turns and flashbacks to characters from the first film that help deepen the audience’s understanding of the complexities behind the vigilantes’ motives.

The film has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America and has a runtime of 117 minutes. The film will be released in select theaters on October 30.

“If I were making a film of myself, I would definitely start with my childhood” said Director Roman Polanski in a 1987 interview with Diane Sawyer. Director and star of “Polanski Unauthorized” Damian Chapa does exactly this in his timely new biopic of the infamous Polish director.

Chapa starts the film in 1939, where we meet the young and happy boy version of Polanski and his loving parents. In a rather cliché move, each time the film flashes back to this period, it’s shot in black and white.

The film jumps between periods in his life in absolutely no chronological order.

The film begins in 1939 then jumps between the years 1968, 1977 and 1966 with no specific pattern. Chapa doesn’t spend much time in each year, which might confuse some viewers at first, as the storyline seems disjointed. However, what we are getting from Chapa with this style of story-telling, are bits and pieces of Polanski’s life, which is all the public has anyway.

What ultimately holds this film back is the excessive use of symbolism. Showing Polanski’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland is enough for people to grasp that he knew the horrors of war growing up and was most likely haunted by them. There really isn’t a need to include the Devil as a central character, constantly on Polanski’s back and having conversations with him.

Polanski is such a divisive figure in the mind of the American public and that is what this film successfully delivers. We see Polanski the Holocaust survivor, the director, the visionary, the womanizer, the criminal, the fugitive, the husband, the father and the haunted man. And while Chapa may not look very much like Polanski, he has the speaking cadences and mannerisms down precisely to deliver a convincing performance.

“Polanski Unauthorized” is now available on DVD

There will be some spoilers in the podcast. Click at your own risk.

Now that the movie has been shown to fans, we can finally sit down and talk about it.

I saw “Boondock Saints II” last week. I liked it.

I didn’t like it in the way that I’m a news editor and occasional film critic. I didn’t love it in the way that I’m an artist and I can appreciate a classic piece of film.

Let’s face it, there’s two kinds of people in the world: The ones that love “The Boondock Saints” and the ones who hate “The Boondock Saints.”

And I love “The Boondock Saints.”

Shit, I put it on the cover. But I’m not a damn fanboy. I’m not a fanboy about anything. In fact, the more I like something, the harder I tend to be on the people in charge. You can ask the people at Sony when PlayStation 3 first came out, and you can ask Boondock writer/director Troy Duffy, because I changed the pace on Monday and asked him some pointed questions.

What you’re going to hear in the podcast on the top of this article is my session on one of a series of roundtable interviews that Duffy and actors Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and Billy Connolly put on at The Black Rose bar in downtown Boston. We had a good time and we laughed throughout most of the 20-minute session, but I was on a mission to bring home some data for this piece of our month-long coverage on the sequel, “All Saints Day.” But, besides that, the podcast is mostly hilariousness and gay jokes.

“It was just like riding a bicycle,” Duffy said about his return to directing.

“He sucked equally on this one as he did in the first one,” Flanery added after a pause, laughing.

But return it is. Duffy made Boondock in 1999 and hasn’t made a film since. He was a young director coming out to Hollywood, and he made some mistakes — and I’m probably being nice here. But he still managed to make a good movie amidst it all.

“They talk about Troy as a new director, but from day one it looks as if he was doing it his whole life,” Connolly said.

Just as people either love or hate Boondock, they either love or hate Duffy. (The Documentary “Overnight” really hurt him too)

The people in the original movie seem to be loyalists. Nearly everybody — including someone you don’t expect (it’s in the podcast) — is back for the sequel.

“Everything just happened,” Connolly said. “Everybody seemed to be there for the love of the piece, not just to be in a movie or earn some money.”

It showed. When you listen to the podcast and check out our other interviews, you’ll hear how good of a time they all had making both movies.

Boondock is an organic cult success, and the cast and crew know it.

“Half of Boondock was one guy sitting another guy down going ‘you’re watching this movie,’” Duffy said.

Will there be a third movie?

“Lets just ride this one into the shore and see what happens,” Duffy said. “I got some ideas.”

It’s also up to the studio and the fans. If the sequel makes money in theaters, I say bet on a trilogy.

At the end, I asked Duffy what we could expect from him going forward.

“During that 10-year period, I have written a bunch of scripts,” he said, “and I intend to knock them down like dominoes one by one. They’re in ascending budgets, all different stories. One is a period piece, a buddy comedy, a black comedy, one is about serial killers, one is called “The Peregrines” which would take me an hour to describe what the’s about, one is about a historical figure, which will take a lot of money to do that last one.”

The four guys also toured Boston College and Emerson College before premiering the movie for fans on Monday night. Here’s a vid from their day:

“Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is in theaters October 30.

Now here’s how to win: register on our site for free and comment with your favorite scary movie (and why it’s your favorite) OR tell us about the worst nightmare you ever had. The scariest posts will win! We’ll pick one winner from each category.

The contest ends next Friday, on Halloween, so get crackin’!

“Astro Boy,” an animated film based on a 1960’s Japanese cartoon, is a surprisingly deep and emotionally mature superhero tale. Despite a fairly pedestrian and action-heavy third act, I found myself thoroughly invested in Astro’s search for a home and sense of belonging.

Astro (Freddie Highmore) is created by the brilliant Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) to replace Toby, his son who died in a tragic lab accident. Tenma desperately clings to Astro at first, but callously discards him when he realizes that despite the physical resemblance and the fact that he has given Astro his son’s memories, Toby is truly gone.

The scenes between Astro and Tenma are handled with real intelligence and emotional depth. Tenma’s reactions to Astro feel motivated by a father’s grief at the loss of his son and not due to the necessity of the plot. And Astro’s realization of an identity separate from Toby’s is simple but effective.

It is when Astro goes in search of a new home that the film is at its best visually. The setting of the film changes from the surprisingly visually dull Metro City, a floating metropolis, to the Earth’s surface, long-abandoned by humanity due to pollution and a huge buildup of garbage.

Once there, Astro makes friends with a group of children who have been living on the surface. Cora (Kristen Bell), the spunky leader of the group, is the standout. She spends clear nights trying to contact her parents in Metro City using old cell phones she finds in the massive junk piles that cover much of the Earth’s surface. The shots of Cora sitting on the hood of an old car and staring up at Metro City, framed by the moon and the city floating above her, are the films loveliest.

While the action-heavy third act is nothing particularly special, I was involved enough in Astro’s journey that it did not bother me all that much. The fight scenes are exciting but unoriginal.

The fact that Metro City is poorly rendered does not help the film. Metro City is never portrayed as a bustling metropolis. It seems the animators spent most of their time working on the much more colorful and visually interesting surface of Earth, which robs Astro’s desperate fight to save the city of much of its emotional weight. Why should I care about a city that doesn’t feel real?

The voice acting is solid, with Freddie Highmore being the real standout. Highmore invests Astro with the same intelligent sensitivity that has marked all of his live-action performances.

The film falls into the trap of casting actors with name value instead of finding voices that match the characters. The best example of this is Bill Nighy, who voiced a character that does not suit him physically. Nighy does very nice work. I just didn’t buy his voice coming from the diminutive and fat Dr. Elefun.

“Astro Boy” is far from perfect, but it hooked me anyway. By the end I genuinely cared what happened to Astro. Was the ending all that surprising? No not at all, but it was fun watching Astro get there.

“Astro Boy” is in theaters this Friday.

Without giving away too much, we can say that good ole George gets the crap embarrassed out of him by the brothers in the flick.

We saw the movie, but it doesn’t officially realize until October 30, so take some time to get to know Rubin.

BLAST: So Bob, tell us a little about yourself. I see a mix of film, tv, writing and comedy in your background.

BOB RUBIN: Everyone knows that as a baby, I was abandoned in the woods and raised at the end of a stick by a pack of wild corndogs. After years of
battling condiment addiction, I pulled myself together, started stand up and in only 26 years I made it to an obscure, cult hit status.

That’s 26 years of maximun R&B (rambles and babbles). The rest of the story is at Rubetime.com.

BLAST: What is your role in “Boondock Saints II?”

BR: I play Gorgeous George, a pivitol character in the storyline of “BDSll,” and another awsomely memorable character created by Troy Duffy.

BLAST: Tell us about “Gorgeous George” — what went into that character?

BR: To prepare for the role, I spent a week watching “The Sound of Music” over and over. When that didn’t work, I conjured up the spirit of Otto Preminger who told me to fatten up on Chubby Chug Bacon Beer.

BLAST: How did you get involved in Boondock Saints II?

BR: I was walking down the midway at a carnival when Troy hit me in the head with a sledge hammer on his backswing during a try at the
strength skill game, ring the bell. I was in a coma for a week. When I came to I was okay, except I lost all my 4’s, which screwed up a lot of my phone numbers and some uncashed checks I had. Anyhow, Troy felt so bad he put me in his movie.

BLAST: Any plans to come to Boston?

BR: Oh hell yes. I love Boston. Great town and it’s been way too long since I’ve been there. Don’t know when, but I’ll see ya there soon.

Enjoy the movie, it kicks ass.

Catch Bob Rubin in “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” in theaters October 30.

1. Where The Wild Things Are-$32,470,000
2. Law Abiding Citizen-$21,250,000
3. Paranormal Activity-$20,163,000
4. Couples Retreat-$17,948,685
5. The Stepfather-$12,300,000
6. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs -$8,100,000
7. Zombieland-$7,800,000
8. Toy Story / Toy Story 2-$3,011,000
9. Surrogates-$1,922,000
10. The Invention Of Lying-$1,905,000
11. Whip It-$1,525,000
12. Capitalism: A Love Story-$1,433,000

Credit: Rentrak Corporation

Be sure to check back here on Tuesday to listen to Blast’s exclusive interview with Bill Nighy, and on Friday to catch our review of the film!

Ryan plays Louise, a high-powered Manhattan lawyer who, one weekend, stumbles into a romantic getaway that her husband Ian (Timothy Hutton) had planned…for his much younger girlfriend (Kristen Bell). He tells Louise that he wants a divorce, and she reacts bizarrely by holding him captive until he agrees to work on their relationship.

When Ian’s mistress shows up, and a sticky-fingered gardener (Justin Long) gets in the way, things start to get seriously complicated.

Watch the first trailer below and tell us what you think in the comments section – does Ryan still have the charm and charisma to win over her husband – and America?

Mahoney was Detective Duffy in “The Boondock Saints,” playing one of a trio of bumbling Boston police officers.

Mahoney admits he started out late in the game, but he’s catching up. He told us that he’s appearing in a scene with Matt Damon in “The Adjustment Bureau,” which is filming right now.

Mahoney sat down with Blast recently to talk about the career and his role in the sequel, “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.”

BLAST: What can we expect from Detective Duffy this time around?

BRIAN MAHONEY: I get to move around a lot more this time around. There’s more action with me involved.

BLAST: What’s it like re-uniting with the cast 10 years later?

BM: It was great. Sean (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Norm (Norman Reedus) are the coolest guys. It was especially special getting back with Bob Marley, and I think that translates onscreen.

Cliff Collins, who is an Oscar winner, is so good! I was so excited to work with him. I even prepared by taking some Irish dancing lessons for a scene to prepare. I never needed to actually dance, but I was ready!

BLAST: Coming from a military background to a film career is an interesting career change. You are going tell us about the transition in the book that you’re writing, “A Cobra Pilot in Hollywood.” What can you tell us here?

BM: Well, in the army it’s a whole “think, don’t feel” concept, and this was embedded in me for ten whole years. So when I made that transition into acting, it was instantly “feel, don’t think.” It was “you need to FEEL this scene.” This was so new to me, and a total challenge. So I’ll be touching on that a lot.

BLAST: You’re from Framingham originally — do you come back often?

BM: Oh yes, we do quite a bit. My wife is also from Gardner so we enjoy coming back to Massachusetts.

BLAST: For the October 30 release, what would you like to tell fans?

BM: Thank you. Thank you for all the replies all over the world we’ve received. So much has happened and we need to set some things straight, so I’m looking forward to that. Troy deserves this he really does. There was a documentary called “Overnight” that really hit Troy hard. It was hurtful, and stabbed him in the back. He deserves this comeback.

Brian Clough was an arrogant and outspoken soccer manager so famous for his willingness to give the press an uncensored comment on any subject that Muhammad Ali once asked, “Who does this Clough guy thinks he is?”

“The Damned United,” the new film about Clough’s disastrous 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United, does a great job at depicting Clough’s arrogance, but falters when trying to show what made him brilliant.

Clough’s tenure with Leeds is a fiasco from the start. His first day on the job he gives an interview where he calls out Don Revie, the legendary coach he is replacing, and the Leeds players for dirty tactics- never mind the fact the team has been the best in England for almost a decade. Clough confidently tells his interviewer “If the players were having fun they wouldn’t have played that way.”

Michael Sheen does tremendous work here. Sheen plays Clough as bundle of ego, passion and self-destructiveness. The film wants you to believe that Clough was driven to the peak of his profession after feeling insulted by Don Revie for not shaking his hand after a match. In the hands another actor, that scene might not have played, but if any man would be insulted and obsessed with a personal slight so tiny, it would be Sheen’s Brian Clough.

It is when trying to show us Clough’s talents where the film stumbles. The film suggests that Clough relied on his loyal assistant Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), to find him talented players and much of his failure in Leeds can be tied to Taylor’s absence. There is never any talk about tactics or training methods that would separate Clough from any other coach. While the film suggests Taylor was key to Clough’s success, there is not enough time given to the relationship to show us that.

Peter Morgan, the film’s screenwriter, has proven adept at putting a historical event into context by focusing on a relationship between two people with films like “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon.” But here he seems to focus on the wrong relationship.

The confrontation between Clough and Revie on a local sports show after Clough is fired by Leeds is electric. Sheen in particular does stellar work in the scene. His depiction of Clough’s crushing realization that he can only blame himself for his failure is powerfully portrayed. Sheen is able to undo all the bluster and bravado of his character with a few reaction shots.

The movie builds to that confrontation between Clough and Revie. It is when the focus turns to Clough’s relationship with Peter Taylor that it seems to loose focus. Up until that point the story had been about one disastrous period in Brian Clough’s life. The final scenes of the movie try to turn the story into one that encompasses his entire career, and in doing so loses much of the power found in his failure.

“The Damned United” is in theaters now.

1 Couples Retreat- $35,340,000
2 Zombieland- $15,000,000
3 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs- $12,000,000
4 Toy Story / Toy Story 2- $7,674,000
5 Paranormal Activity- $7,066,000
6 Surrogates- $4,115,000
7 The Invention Of Lying- $3,370,000
8 Whip It- $2,800,000
9 Capitalism: A Love Story- $2,700,000
10 Fame- $2,556,000
11 The Informant- $2,210,000
12 Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself- $1,540,000

Credit: Rentrak Corporation

Blue Blockbuster Express kiosks will be open in more than 100 Tedeschi Food Shops by the end of the month, with kiosks planned in all 188 stores in New England by the end of the year.

It’s amazing that these little kiosks do so well. Redbox kiosks, a common sight at Stop & Shop stores, combined with the mega-popular Netflix service are literally erasing video rental stores from existence. That’s to say nothing for iTunes, illegal downloading, On Demand television and DVR service.

The kiosks will hold a whopping 900 DVDs, ranging from classics to brand new titles. All you do is swipe a credit card. Just like Redbox, it’s a dollar a night.