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The Troy Duffy story should be taught to film students.  The infamous bar-tender turned filmmaker made the trade papers in Hollywood and then crashed and burned through a series of mistakes centering on inexperience with dealing with the system.  But he was successful in producing a feature, 1999’s “Boondock Saints,” that rose quickly to cult status on DVD after an unsuccessful limited theatrical run.  Many Internet forums have been devoted to Duffy and the Boondock universe.

Disaster follows Roland Emmerich. And that’s been a good thing.

With the release of “2012,” event film director Emmerich is bound to continue his colorful reign as the disaster king. The German born director has found great success, at times, both commercially and critically, with largely end-of-the-world themes. EI’s Janos Gereben emailed me after seeing “2012” and called it “the mother of all disaster movies.” Whether or not that is a ringing endorsement will be resolved when Janos posts his full review.

Director Scott Teems emailed me about the theatrical release of his mighty fine film “That Evening Sun.” The movie opens tomorrow, Friday, November 6, 2009, in New York City at City Cinemas 123 on the Upper East Side.

So far this year I’ve been excited about two films: “That Evening Sun” and “The Hurt Locker.” While a best picture nomination for either is not really likely (although possible given the expansion of the nominations from 5 to 10), I think that Hal Holbrook is a lock for a best actor nomination for his astounding work in “That Evening Sun.” Ironically, on the other end of the age range, Jeremy Renner might find himself nominated for the same award for his role in “The Hurt Locker.” The two actors, at much different points in their careers, are separated by some 46 years in age. Holbrook would be the sentimental favorite in that contest.

Leading what could be a decent weekend at the box office is the sixth installment of the lucrative “Saw” series. Premiering at Sundance back in 2004, with a surprisingly talented cast, the original “Saw” started not only its own storied franchise but a host of imitators including last weekend’s critically maligned “Law Abiding Citizen.” Now on top of “Citizen” “Saw” number six hits theaters, and one wonders if audience tastes will continue to flock to the seventh film in the series already in pre-production.

Thumbing his nose at critics and doing his own thing has become director/writer/star Tyler Perry’s mantra. And for the most part it has paid off. But what if Tyler Perry made a movie that he didn’t have to hide from critics?

Horror fans have a choice this weekend: stand up to Michael Myers or face an unseen force in THE (yes, “The”) FINAL DESTINATION!

The normally unstoppable Michael Myers will likely take a back seat as a broader audience should pay to see what has been billed as the final installment in the successful FINAL DESTINATION series.  While neither film has screened in Atlanta for this critic, from the lengthy HALLOWEEN II trailer that was shown for us before INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, it appears that Michael Myers will be spending a lot of time slicing and dicing in what looks like a cruel and bloody motion picture.

Here’s something strange, Martin Scorsese’s next film, SHUTTER ISLAND, has possibly been removed from 2010 Academy Awards consideration. The reason is apparently economic.

The best facial animation on the big screen that I've ever seen was shown to audiences last night throughout the country. Twentieth Century Fox and Jim Cameron (yes, in an introduction, the famous “Titanic” director told us to call him “Jim”) shared several clips of “Avatar” in IMAX 3D. Having just suffered through “X Games 3D” this week, I was already weary of the new format. But with “Avatar” I suspect that our appreciation of 3D, IMAX, and animation will change.

“We’re gonna be doing one thing and one thing only, killing Nazis.” Lt. Aldo Raine proudly says as he stands before his recruits. Raine speaks in a deep Tennessee accent and has an impossibly square jaw (one that only actor Brad Pitt can effectively achieve without lapsing into outright parody).

Quentin Taratino’s seventh film, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS starring Pitt as Raine, is violent. It contains the most realistic, in-your-face violence of any Tarantino film since Michael Madsen’s Mr. Blonde tortured a police officer by playfully removing his ear in 1992’s RESERVOIR DOGS. Violence, both comic and realistic, plays an integral supporting role in all of Tarantino’s movies. But the dance that the master auteur often performs dangling on the edge of good taste is precarious.