Several people asked me over the past few weeks what “The Adjustment Bureau”, the Matt Damon vehicle directed by “Bourne Ultimatum” director George Nolfi, is supposed to be about. Sadly, the best way to describe it so everyone could understand was to tell them, “You know, it’s a little ‘Inception’-y.”

“The Adjustment Bureau”, with its morose grey tones, quick-paced chase scenes and pseudo-spiritual focus, is doomed to be compared with “Inception”, though the plot actually has little in common with last year’s Christopher Nolan extravaganza. Instead of pudgy, defeated Leo DiCaprio, we have Matt Damon as David, a chipper, up-and-coming politician, who stumbles onto the knowledge that his entire life has been engineered by a group of men who claim to work for someone called “The Chairman”. They alert him that his “Plan” entails that he not hook up with a feisty ballerina (the wonderful Emily Blunt) which would derail him from his career.

From the get-go, it’s made clear who/what The Chairman is, as well as his workers. These are bureaucrats from the Other Side, who fascinatingly seem to have the same type of business hierarchy as a large government office and are very fond of snappy fedora hats. It’s a strange, slightly silly conceit, but perhaps that’s what makes it brilliant. (It also gives an excuse to quote perhaps the most unintentionally hilarious line of the year: “The most important thing to remember is that everyone wearing a hat is a threat.”)

Nolfi is smart not pretending that his story isn’t a little silly, and a little on-the-nose. Rather he embraces it, so the chase scenes with Damon being followed by ten men in $600 suits and fedoras duels between being charming and actually a little frightening. Nolfi isn’t afraid of fun- something Christopher Nolan could maybe take a lesson from.

Damon and Blunt display some of the best chemistry on-screen that I have seen in a long time. Though their relationship is based on only three chance meetings, their slow-burning yet jovial banter makes it seems credible that they would be willing to take on God to keep it intact. John Slattery (who for the rest of my life I will always call Roger Sterling) is also terrific as a cosmic middle manager. And as David’s “case worker”, Anthony Mackie takes what could be a small, exposition-heavy character, and turns him into a melancholy, disillusioned soul with every turn of phrase.

Nolfi may not be afraid of fun, but he seems terrified of his audience not getting his concept. His script explains far too much. He doesn’t trust his cast members, many of whom are excellent non-verbal actors, to tell the story for him. More insultingly, he doesn’t trust his audience to “get” who The Chairman is, and why The Plan is so important. And worst of all, the focus group-approved ending kills the lovely spontaneous and slightly madcap quality of the rest of the movie. It’s only good sense, or sheer luck, that gave him a cast that work their butts off to elevate the average writing.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that “The Adjustment Bureau” has much more in common with the “Bourne” films than “Inception”. The movies are about Matt Damon being chased- The Chairman is just the guy who’s chasing him. It’s silly and over-the-top- and altogether not a bad way to spend the weekend.

Another baby girl was born into the family of Matt Damon!

Damon’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Allen, says Luciana Damon gave birth to Stella Zavala Damon on Wednesday in New York City.

She is the couple’s third daughter. She joins Gia, born in 2008, and Isabella, born in 2006. Luciana Damon also has a daughter, Alexa, from a previous marriage.

Damon met his wife in 2003 while she was working as a bartender in Florida and he was filming “Stuck on You.” They married in December 2005 in New York.

You know you are a big star when they ask you to present solo…case in point, Matt Damon presenting best documentary. “Food Inc.” may be the scariest looking movie of the year. I am afraid to watch it as I hear it immediately makes you want to become a vegetarian. And I love cheeseburgers. It was a strong year for documentaries, but “The Cove” was a front-runner since its release this summer. Wow, actor Fisher Stevens getting some Oscar love! Am I the only one that remembers “Early Edition” fondly?

And we have Tyler Perry presenting Editing. Loved the shot of Baldwin and Martin back stage chilling in Snuggies. And now it is 4-3 “The Hurt Locker” with Bob Murawski winning. Really expected “Avatar” to dominate these technical awards. I am switching my pick for best picture from “Avatar” to “Hurt Locker.”

Wow Keanu Reeves at the Oscars — never thought I would see that. Thought it is fitting that he would present “The Hurt Locker.” Kathryn Bigelow made him an action star in “Point Break.” Not sure if we should thank thank Bigelow for that or not.

And we have two masters out to present best foreign language film in Pedro Almodovar and Quentin Tarantino. Almodovar’s most recent — “Broken Embraces” was very strong and featured a great performance from Penelope Cruz. And in an upset “El Secreto de sus ojos” beats “A Prophet.” Great acceptance speech by writer/director Juan Jose Campanella featuring a nice dig at “Avatar.”

Really cool having Jeff Bridges present “A Serious Man.” Gotta say, it is appropriate to have “the Dude” present the Coen Brothers’ movie. New update for those who dont know — Jeff Bridges is starring in the brothers’ remake of “True Grit,” the movie that John Wayne won his Oscar for. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are costarring, so expect the upcoming western to be an awards contender in 2010.

Got to love how they pick these presenting duos. The only connection between Jake Gylenhaal and Rachel McAdams… they are both really hot.

Best Adapted Screenplay is another stacked category. Just another example of how strong a movie year 2009 was. Wow! First big upset. “Up in the Air” had been the heavy favorite for months. I wonder if the spat between writers Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner had anything to do with it. Reitman definitely took a big PR hit with how dickish he seemed to be at the Golden Globes. Honestly, if it wasn’t “Up in the Air” I would have preferred “An Education.” Nick Hornby’s script was gorgeous.

And what an awkward but heartfelt speech by Geoffrey Fletcher.

“I wrote that speech for him.” Steve Martin, you are comic gold. And Queen Latifah, looking beautiful in pink, presents another montage. This one for the Governor’s Award.

When Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994, he was confronted with what must have seemed like an impossible problem. How do you completely remake a country that has long been divided by Apartheid? As one news broadcaster puts it simply, "How can he balance white fears with black aspirations?"

The clear answer is, of course, by supporting the rugby team.

"Invictus," Clint Eastwood’s involving and moving historical epic, focuses on Mandela’s first year in office and his strong support of the South African rugby team (The Springboks) in the build-up to, and during the 1995 World Cup that was held in South Africa. While the film never suggests that the World Cup healed all the wounds the country suffered under Apartheid, it does point to it as the moment when black and white South Africa become one united nation.

Eastwood wisely does not try to show every injustice and harsh reality that apartheid created — he is counting on the audience to know many of the basics. Instead he works with broad strokes. From shots of black children playing soccer on a patch of dirt while across the street white kids play on a beautifully manicured pitch, to scenes of Mandela’s black and white bodyguards slowly learning to trust each other — it is simple but effective filmmaking.

For the most part "Invictus" keeps the focus on Mandela, and Morgan Freeman is excellent, easily embodying the kindness and grace. Walking slightly stooped over and with a hitch in his step, Freeman captures the physical toll of 27 years spent in prison doing hard labor during the day and sleeping on a pallet at night. Those physical signs make Mandela’s willingness to forgive those who put him in jail even more moving and yet Freeman never lets the role move towards sainthood. He gives Mandela just enough quirkiness and humor to keep him human and relatable.

Freeman in ably backed up by Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks. Damon, looking buff and speaking with an impeccable South African accent, keeps Pienaar’s nobility from slipping into earnestness and beautifully depicts the almost overwhelming admiration that Pienaar feels for Mandela.

Of course everything builds up to a big final match and it does not disappoint. Taking up nearly 15 minutes of the film’s running time, the match is beautifully done. Eastwood uses every trick in the book from hand-held cameras to put us in the mix with the players on the field and in the scrums to sweeping shots of cheering crowds. It is a stunning bit of movie making.

"Invictus" is a straightforward story told extremely well that practically demands that you become emotionally involved. At an extremely youthful 79, Clint Eastwood is proving to be one of the most sensitive directors working. His passion for his material is always evident and you cannot help but be involved by it. So much so, that you will probably forget that Eastwood never stopped to explain the rules of rugby.

Born in Framingham, Brian Mahoney wanted to be an actor since he was a kid, but his family couldn’t afford formal theater training. He joined the US Army, hoping to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC, but the army made him a Cobra pilot and sent him to Germany. It was there that he first saw “Top Gun.”

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.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society recently discovered that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are distantly related, the Boston Herald reported.

The acting and writing duo from Cambridge share a 10th grandfather on their fathers’ sides, William Knowlton of Ipswich, making them 10th cousins once removed.

“We suspected they might be related since both of them had ancestry going back to colonial New England” said geneologist Chris Child.

Rhonda McClure, another geneologist involved in the research, told the Herald she saw Affleck filming in Copley Square recently and just decided to look into it. McClure and Child also discovered that Affleck is related to Princess Diana and 16 U.S. presidents, including Obama. Similarly, Damon is related to “six or seven” presidents.

While interesting, this doesn’t really mean much. Anyone with colonial ancestry is likely to be distantly related to a lot people. Damon and Affleck’s friendship is certainly a lot stronger than their blood connection. Still, it’s rather nifty.

“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” tripled the second place finisher this weekend, raking in more than $30 million on its opening weekend.

Matt Damon’s performance in “The Informant!” placed second, with $10.5 million, while Tyler Perry remained strong with $10 million of its own.

Here are the top films for the past weekend:

1. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: $30,100,000
2. The Informant: $10,545,000
3. Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself: $10,060,000
4. Love Happens: $8,455,590
5. Jennifer’s Body: $6,800,000
6. 9: $5,547,959
7. Inglourious Basterds: $3,603,000
8. All About Steve: $3,400,000
9. Sorority Row: $2,489,000
10. Whiteout: $2,060,000
11. Julie & Julia: $1,900,000
12. District 9: $1,850,000

Source: Rentrak Corporation

Forget Football.

Okay, it’s Sunday, and you feel like the only person in Boston who isn’t glued to the TV watching the Patriots game. So not true! It might seem like Tom Brady casts a spell that brings the whole city to a halt, but there are a million other things to do instead this Sunday. With everything from street fairs to poetry readings, here are a few ideas to get you started.

Matinee Madness

If you really want to escape, head to the movie theater to find an alternate reality where Megan Fox is possessed by a demon and Matt Damon is fat. Jennifer’s Body, a quirky horror flick from Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno, opens this weekend. It stars Megan Fox as a bloodthirsty cheerleader who starts killing off her male classmates. Another new flick worth seeing is The Informant, which stars Matt Damon as a bumbling exec who starts spying on his company for the FBI.

Hit the Streets

To load up on live music and lots of your favorite street food, head over to the Allston Village Street Fair. From noon to 6 p.m., Harvard Avenue from Brighton Avenue to Cambridge Street will be jam-packed with art exhibits, food vendors and street performers. There will also be three stages of live entertainment featuring local bands like Bird Mancini and Three Day Threshold, as well as Irish step dancing and a troupe of belly dancers.

Be A-maize-d

Get in touch with your inner child and take advantage of the great fall weather by exploring one of the area’s corn mazes. For under $10 per person, you can put your sense of direction to the test and see if you can find your way out of an elaborate maze built right into a cornfield. North of the city, try Marini Farm in Ipswich. South of the city, Sauchuk Farm in Plympton has a maze dedicated to 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent — from above, it looks like a penny!

Culture on the Cheap

It’s time to channel your artistic side because Sunday is the perfect day to visit the Museum of Fine Art. From 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., admission to the museum is totally free. So for less than you spend on your morning coffee, you can enjoy exhibits such as Vida y Drama: Modern Mexican Prints and Seeing Songs, a collection of works inspired by music. ReadBoston will also be there holding a book drive, so you can top it all off by doing a good dead and bringing a children’s book to donate.

Poetry in Motion

For something more unusual, stop by the Forsyth Chapel in Forest Hills Cemetery at 2 pm for a reading by The Carpenter Poets of Jamaica Plain. The group of local craftsman discovered a shared love of poetry more than a decade ago and have been meeting for poetry readings ever since. For $5, you can join them to hear their latest works and enjoy the architectural beauty of the 19th century chapel.

Retail Therapy

If shopping is more your type of sport than football, you should check out the Sowa Open Market. Located at 540 Harrison Ave. and open from 10 am to 5 pm this weekend, the market features 120 different vendors. Browsing through the booths, you can find everything from handmade pottery, one-of-a-kind jewelry and the latest creations from local indie fashion designers to fresh flowers, tasty baked goods and produce from area farmers. With free admission and free parking, too, you can’t lose.

Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” is sold as a comedy. It’s billed as a comedy. Critics are calling it a comedy. It’s even funny, like a comedy.

But there’s more to “The Informant!,” which even has some dark turns. When you realize that the movie is a true story, you’ll still laugh, but you’ll be a little afraid of that laughter afterward.

All the movie elements are there, perfectly arranged. This all happened in the 90s, and the scenery is perfect. The film doesn’t sell the 1990s, but it sells the remnant 1980s influence on the early 90s, even down to the lamps in offices and ties around the necks of all the corrupt execs.

The film is based on the book by former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald, which chronicles several years in the long-ago 1990s in the life of corporate whistle-blower Mark Whitacre, who exposes a price-fixing scheme at his firm. So the FBI has Whitacre — played award-worthily by Matt Damon — wear a wire and report back to them. But things go haywire when Whitacre is revealed as a thief and embezzler. The plot is entirely wrapped around the disconnect between Whitacre and his FBI handlers (including an amazing Scott Bakula). The feds think Whitacre is the perfect mole — an honest family man who just wanted to do the right thing. But from the beginning we see that there’s much less to Whitacre than meets the eye, as explained through a series of Whitacre’s voice-over internal monologues.

As Whitacre’s mind wanders, the government thinks it has an air-tight case against his corporate employer, and Whitacre is apparently either blissfully unaware of what’s going on around him or painfully unable to ever admit the truth, even to himself it seems. Whitacre even asks the Department of Justice is he’ll be ok to return to work at his company after all but bringing it down.

He gets lost in ADHD-like racing thoughts like “Polar bears cover their noses when waiting for seals to surface. How do they know their noses are black? That seems like a lot of thinking for bears,” when he’s supposed to be paying attention to orders from his federal handlers.

Whitacre is a bi-polar, pathologically lying egomaniac, and not only does Damon play the role perfectly, he does it in such a way that we can’t help but compare this wanton disregard for anything but one’s own self, and corporate standing, and new cars with what happened more recently with Bernie Madoff and AIG and countless other organizations.

“The Informant!” is a comedy, but if you stop laughing long enough, you might realize that it’s not funny at all.