Breaking news from The House Next Door: Newsweek has just bought out 111 of its staff, including David Ansen.

Ansen is just the latest high-profile film critic to take a buyout package — or be dismissed without ceremony — this year. Other major names include Nathan Lee at the Village Voice, Terry Lawson at the Detroit Free Press, and Gene Seymour and Jan Stuart at Newsday.

You know, when NOW offered me the film-writer position, it felt a little weird; having been a freelancer for twenty years, it was kind of strange getting used to the idea of a salary and benefits and stuff.

Today, I just feel incredibly lucky. And I still get to work from home.

My latest Sympatico/MSN movies column is up, using the release of “Stop-Loss” as a springboard to discuss the way impassioned cinema can comment on pertinent social and political issues … and, sometimes, even does it well.

I did not write the headline.

AMC has opened a new megaplex at Yonge and Dundas — a gargantuan thing, with two dozen digital screens and state-of-the-art sound and shiny floors and many convenient refreshment stations.

They gave me a tour. I wrote about it on the NOW blog. Perhaps you would be interested in reading it.

… away from supporting turns in lame movies, and towards stardom that beckons to you.

Moran is the secret weapon of the otherwise disappointing “Run Fatboy Run” — every one of his scenes with Simon Pegg sparks the movie to vivid life. The rest of the film is a fairly dull sitcom, an awkward fusion of Pegg’s and director David Schwimmer’s comic sensibilities. But whenever Moran turns up, your heart leaps with joy. So there’s that.

Also opening this week:

“Stop-Loss”: Kimberley Peirce finally delivers her follow-up to “Boys Don’t Cry”, about American soldiers dealing with the unsettling policy of forced contract extensions. Adam finds elements both good and bad; Susan is a little more enthusiastic.

“21“: Kevin Spacey overgloating! Laurence Fishburne overglowering! And they have fifteen seconds of screen time together! Why do we need to follow the hot, bland kids through the typical Vegas fantasy of card-counting and corruption, when we could be having a Verbal Kint and Morpheus face-off? Shit, just give them a Scrabble board and roll tape!

“The Year My Parents Went on Vacation”: I’ve managed to miss every opportunity to see Cao Hamburger’s internationally acclaimed drama — not out of disrespect or anything, I’ve just always had something scheduled against it. Rick and Dierdre like it a lot, while Adam has some reservations.

Oh, and “Superhero Movie” was hustled into release without a press screening. I can’t imagine why.

Every spring, Toronto is beset with little film festivals. They start in late March — right about now, as it happens — and roll straight through into May.

Tomorrow night, the eleventh edition of Cinefranco takes over the Royal Cinema for ten days, and it’s the subject of my feature in today’s NOW.

There’s a lot of good stuff there, though a lot of the best movies seem to revolve around people with serious psychological problems. (“Anna M.“, I’m looking at you.) Still, one person’s misery is another person’s entertainment.

For the complete schedule and a full list of titles, check out the festival’s website here.

The Onion AV Club has just posted an interview with the director of “Run Fatboy Run”, which opens in North America on Friday.

I love it when they let their subjects go on at length about integrity and creativity and resourcefulness, especially when they’re discussing the staggering cinematic accomplishment that is “Run Fatboy Run”.

Actual quote:

“There’s a scene in the movie at the boat pond; Thandie and Simon are sitting on a park bench. The beginning of that day was beautiful, and by the time we get to the scene where they’re on the bench, it’s actually raining behind them. But we built a little canopy over the actors, and he lit it in such a way and we cut it in such a way that you hopefully can’t tell. If you look really closely and froze in on it in slow motion or whatever, you’ll see that it’s raining behind them.”

Or, you know, if you see it projected in 35mm on a big screen.

Did you know? Movies are magic!

If it’s Easter Sunday, it must be time for a Sympatico/MSN movies column about religious movies …

… and yes, “The Rapture” and “The Prophecy” totally count. I was this close to putting “Constantine” in, but ultimately it doesn’t quite fit the criteria.

And no crabbing. You get your own gig, you can make your own lists …

Yes, yes, I know I link to something on the Onion AV Club at least once a week. That’s because it’s awesome.

This week, they’ve run the second of their “Song and Vision” columns, which are devoted to thoughtful explorations of the perfect synergy that can occur between a movie and a pop song on the soundtrack.

It’s about the perfect union forged between Robert Zemeckis’ “Back to the Future” and its opening number, “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News.

It’s a marvelous read, particularly if you — like me — regard the film as one of the finest American commercial pictures of its decade. (Well, it is.) And, as is often the case with the AV Club, the comments that follow the piece are at least as relevant and interesting.

Also, yes, I’ll own up to it: In the summer of 1985 — I think it was August — I saw Huey Lewis and the News when they played Toronto. They pretty much rocked, and this was before I knew they were the backing band on Elvis Costello’s first album.

Opening act? Wang Chung.

Yes, I am old.