Ever wonder what the Batman franchise might look like if Neil LaBute wrote and directed it? Comedy Central’s Matt Tobey did too.

Stories about young men unable to get over the girl who left them are as old as movies themselves. What sets Forgetting Sarah Marshall apart from the pack are the flesh and blood characters. For a first time screenwriter, Jason Segel aptly demonstrates a deep understanding of a cardinal rule in writing that everybody is flawed – capturing this in both his script, and in his performance as the severely heartbroken Peter. The movie expertly plays with stereotypes about aw-shucks good guys, horny superstars, and seemingly perfect new lovers, but it also pushes deeper into where those clichés come from. A savvy observer of human behavior, Segel treats his characters with empathy and compassion. He distills why specific romantic relationships happen, why they go on too long, and why they sometimes don’t happen when they should. Had he wanted to dig a few layers deeper, Segel could have crafted a serious story about the inability of twentysomethings to commit – the evidence suggests if he wants to try he might have a great drama in him. Thankfully, he has just as much skill as a gag writer, allowing him to wring more laughs than tears out of the pain.

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The duo at the center of Baby Mama - Tina Fey, as a corporate climber with a loudly ticking biological clock, and Amy Poehler, as the uneducated slob hired to be her surrogate mom — are to comedy what Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were to dancing. They trust each other, and they know each other’s rhythms so well they can trade off who gets to be the straight man and who gets to deliver the laugh lines. If the film were just the two of them, it would be worth recommending, but writer/director Michael McCullers likes to share the comedic wealth - he knows that giving the supporting characters good lines pays great rewards.

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The Rolling Stones are no strangers to celluloid. Their celebrated, occasionally infamous career has been saved for posterity every step of the way by some of the most formidable filmmakers of all time. Jean-Luc Godard, Hal Ashby, and the Maysals all offered up their take on the danger, the swagger, the damage, and the glory of the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. While each of those filmmakers did something unique and memorable, it took Martin Scorsese to figure out how to make a film about the aspect of band that matters most – that they are men who love to play music. By filling the oversized IMAX screen with the weathered, leathered faces of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ron Wood, Scorsese never lets his audience forget that these men have lived the kind of lives that give these powerful songs their visceral kick. They have earned the right to play these songs not because they wrote them, but because they feel them as strongly as ever. An old chestnut like As Tears Go By means so much more coming from a sixty-something Jagger than from the twenty something who wrote it, primarily because he seems to care about the song now even more than he did then.

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Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Frank Thomas.

If none of their individual names ring a bell, trust me that you are more than likely exceedingly familiar with their contributions to not just movies, but to a vast swath of American popular culture. These artists comprised the group known as Walt’s Nine Old Men, the group of animators who worked closely with Walt Disney for decades and were responsible for the legendary output from the studio. Ollie Johnston, the last surviving member of Walt’s Nine Old Men, passed away this week at the age of 96.

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Kimberly Peirce’s follow-up to her award-winning debut Boys Don’t Cry, shows that many of her interests have remained even though the director might have taken nearly a decade to serve up a sophomore effort. Like her first film, Stop-Loss works best when dealing with the heightened emotions experienced by inarticulate blue-collar Americans. Ryan Phillippe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt both shine when the screenplay gives them things to do, but not to say. They have both been emotionally wounded by their experiences in the Iraq War, and now that they are home they are unable to find a healthy release for their pent-up stress. When a third friend and fellow veteran sees his new marriage fall apart, the trio sit around with some fellow Texas good ol’ boys, and use the wedding gifts for target practice. It’s an image that seems full of meaning, but this sequence is presented without any edge. Peirce seems unsure what she feels about these guys, even though she never questions their bravery or loyalty.

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A 2 Disc Collector’s Edition of Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliant There Will Be Blood hits stores April 8, making it the first of last year’s Best Picture nominees to receive the multiple DVD treatment. The transfer is superb, which should come as no surprise to those aware of Anderson’s admiration for DVD. Although some may quibble with there being only eight chapter stops for a 160 minute film, the truth is that each of the eight has been perfectly chosen and titled so any viewer can easily find what they need. The most interesting of the extras on the bonus disc is The Story of Petroleum, a silent movie from the 1920s made to educate the public about various aspects of the oil industry. Jonny Greenwood, whose musical compositions contributed greatly to the overall effect of Anderson’s film, created a wholly new soundtrack for this nearly one-hundred year old short.

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To commemorate this weekend’s opening of the Martin Scorsese directed Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light, the following is my totally personal list of the ten best musical moments in his work. The only rule imposed in order to narrow the field was that the music could not have been written specifically for the film. So Peter Gabriel’s score for Last Temptation of Christ, Liza Minnelli’s performance of “New York, New York”, and Bernard Herrmann’s haunting jazz inflected saxophone from Taxi Driver were not considered.

10. The Color of Money — “Werewolves of London”, performed by Warren Zevon

No matter how long Tom Cruise’s career lasts, there will be many who remember him best dancing in his underwear to Bob Seger in Risky Business. I’ll forever think of him at his most extrovertedly narcissistic as he preens/shoots nine-ball to Warren Zevon’s brilliant song. Cruise’s hair has never been more perfect.

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