Cinematical

What major movie production features an interracial friendship that defies all the expected stereotypes? Hint: it's not the one starring Sandra Bullock.

On its own merits, The Blind Side is a heartwarming story of the modern South, in which a rich white 40-something woman (Bullock) befriends a poor black teenager (Quenton Aaron). Their relationship develops to the point that the young man feels a part of her family. I agree with our reviewer, Jette Kernion, who described it as "a very good example of a sports-related family film, with quality performances and writing." She also notes the "seeming visual message that the African-American community can't or won't care for their own, and that the saviors here are rich white conservatives." The film is based on a non-fiction account, but it still makes me wonder why, exactly, we needed another film depicting that particular racial dynamic -- beyond providing a great starring role for Bullock and the aforementioned heartwarming elements.

As finely-edged as a new razor blade, Ninja Assassin establishes itself as a contender for "CGI Fu Movie of the Decade" in its very first sequence, gleefully slicing off body parts with the abandon of an extreme gore flick that would satisfy most horror hounds. It rocks back and forth between ponderous philosophical pontifications and riotously preposterous action scenes like a ticking time bomb, exploding in geysers of blood at regular intervals. Our reviewer William Goss was much less taken with the film than I am -- I think it's fair to say he hated it -- so bear in mind that your mileage may vary wildly. However, I feel confident in saying that Ninja Assassin presents a rarely seen relationship: a friendship between two people that makes no mention of their racial differences.

In a report that will shock anyone that doesn't go to the movies, an advocacy group claims that movie theater popcorn is not a very good nutritional snack. In a press release, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says they commissioned laboratory analyses indicating a medium-size popcorn and medium-size soda purchased at a Regal theater, the country's largest movie theater chain, contains the nutritional equivalent of three McDonald's Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter. "Sitting through a two-hour movie isn't exactly like climbing Mt. Everest," a senior nutritionist for the Center said. "Why do theaters think they need to feed us like it is?"

Ah, but that comment betrays an ignorance of the current cinema. When I caught 2012 on opening day, for example, I watched it with a tub of popcorn by my side, as our reviewer Peter Hall suggested ($7.50 for a large popcorn at AMC). It gave me something to do during the non-disaster scenes. On a more serious note, the Center points out the high amount of saturated fat results from movie theater chains Regal and AMC using coconut oil to pop their popcorn. The Cinemark chain uses canola oil, which results in much less "artery-clogging" saturated fat.

For their part, the chains aren't talking, reports The Los Angeles Times, though Regal falls back on the MPAA's statistic that says the average American only attends six movies a year and thus: "Theater popcorn and movie snacks are viewed as a treat and not intended to be part of a regular diet." I know our readers watch up to six movies in a single weekend, so I ask you: Do you skip popcorn entirely? Do you buy anything from movie concession stands? If theaters offered healthier fare, would you buy it?

Tethered to reality by only a slender thread, Pirate Radio quickly cuts loose and floats off into its own imaginary layer of the Earth's atmosphere, where only good-hearted, pleasant-thinking, die-hard romantics can survive. Welcome home, Richard Curtis, where have you been?

Writer/director Curtis rose to fame on the basis of his screenplay for Four Weddings and a Funeral, featuring an ensemble of quirky yet appealing men and women chasing love and happiness, followed, notably, by his script for Notting Hill, but he's been writing off-kilter comedy sketches and episodic television for many years. Pirate Radio proves that his gift for writing witty one-liners and creating funny situations remains intact. His skills as a film director and shaper of material are a little more fuzzy and undefined, however.

As with Love, Actually, his previous directorial effort, Pirate Radio (AKA The Boat That Rocked) is filled with episodes that feel randomly assembled, knit together by proximity and happenstance more than narrative necessity. For all the laughter and positive feelings that Pirate Radio generates, it's a lightweight treatment of a potentially heavyweight subject.

Indie Roundup is your guide to what's new and cool in the indie film world.

On-Demand / Online Viewing. Love him or find him irritating, he's practically a category unto himself now. Joe Swanberg continues to explore the endlessly fascinating topic of twenty-something romantic relationships in Young American Bodies, a web series now on IFC.com. Season 4 debuted on Monday at IFC.com, and future episodes of the five-part series will premiere on a weekly basis. If you're a Swanberg fan, you'll want to check it out: it expands on his vision of sex and everything that leads up to it and follows afterward: elusive, kinda real, kinda fake, pretty messy.

In honor of Veterans Day, SnagFilms presents a selection of films appropriate for the occasion, covering a national shrine in Arlington: Field of Honor, dangerous missions in Baghdad Bound: Devil Dog Diaries, remembering the Battle for Midway, and so one. Truly, there's something for everyone to discover among the documentaries showcases. Similarly, Hulu has two films of interest: Jerabek, the tragic story of U.S. Marine Ryan Jerabek, and When I Came Home, which covers the troubling issue of homelessness among veterans.

Also newly available online: the enchanting "banjo player goes to Africa" doc Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart (on iTunes) and a close-up (sorry) view of artist Chuck Close (also on iTunes).

Deals. As always, our friends at indieWIRE has been tracking recent acquisitions. The latest: romance My Year Without Sex (Strand Releasing, due spring 2010); drama The Good Heart, with Brian Cox and Paul Dano, directed by the very talented Dagur Kari (Magnolia Pictures, due next year); and social satire The Joneses, with David Duchovny and Demi Moore (Roadside Attractions, due spring 2010).

After the jump: more than Precious at the box office.

Would you want your children to know you were the real-life inspiration for a famous tale of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? Fast Times at Ridgemont High holds up as a heady brew of authentic teen life in the late 70s / early 80s, mixed with a fine sense of the absurd and served up by an amazing cast. It's definitely a teen sex comedy that DOESN'T suck. The movie's 25th anniversary two years ago inspired plenty of "Where Are They Now" recollections; our own Erik Davis offered his observations on an eye-opening gallery of "then and now" images for the cast.

Before the movie, however, there was the book, and before the book, there were the real-life students of Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. Cameron Crowe, then 22, went undercover at the school in 1979 to research a book on teen life. He'd graduated from another area school in 1972 -- at the age of 15! -- and was busy writing for Rolling Stone (as documented in Almost Famous), so he took a refresher course by soaking in the atmosphere at the school. Recently the class held its 30-year reunion and it turns out that some of those students have become very protective parents, according to a report in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

One graduate won't let his 15-year-old son watch the movie: "We are not going to show it to him until he's in college." The former class president says she finally allowed her daughter, a senior at the school, to read Crowe's book but isn't ready yet to allow her to see the flick, though she admits that it accurately portrayed the sex and drug activity among teens at the time.

They're hit and miss, but I always try and catch any new digital short from Saturday Night Live. * Pop / country singer Taylor Swift hosted last night's show, and the 19-year-old star really surprised me, and I'm sure a lot of other people who don't necessarily follow young pop / country singers. Her song during the opening monologue (pictured) got in digs at her ex-boyfriend, made clear her feelings on Kanye West and his MTV Video Music Awards disruption, and commented amusingly on her supposed romance with Taylor Lautner, one of the stars of the upcoming The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

That was followed up by Firelight, the SNL parody of the first Twilight flick, with Swift taking on Kristen Stewart's role of Bella Swan, complete with hair fixing, downward-cast eyes, and lip-biting. The new boy who catches her eye at school is not, however, pasty-skinned Edward Cullen but green-skinned Phillip Frank of the Frank clan. The short captures the key moments from the first film, provides a different excuse for the "good / bad boy" not to kiss the "good / good" girl, and includes a cameo from a very concerned mummy. All in all, a solid little short.

I thought Swift was pretty hilarious throughout the show. I'm not sure if that's because of lowered expectations on my part or because of better than average writing from the staff, but, in any event, Swift displayed a flair for comedy. Check out the video to get a taste.

Watch 'Firelight' after the jump!