Michael Cera

7 tonight FX Two high-school nerds (Jonah Hill and (right) Michael Cera) decide that it's time to lose their virginity. Tomfoolery and ineptness ensue. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is hilarious as the buddy known as McLovin.

Directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody, distributed by Fox Searchlight. With Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney and Olivia Thirlby.

"THE BOOK of Eli" was a borderline early 2010 hit for Warner Bros., featuring Denzel Washington in action mode as a violent pilgrim in an apocalyptic wasteland. Though it seems strange to say, violent pilgrim in an apocalyptic wasteland is a pretty crowded genre, and "Eli" suffered a bit from being familiar - if you've seen one leather biker gang of cannibal rapists, you've seen 'em all. And "Eli" came on the heels of "The Road," which had scarier cannibals. Still, "Eli" was a capable actioner, with a grandstanding Gary Oldman as the bad guy and sturdy direction from the long-absent Hughes brothers.

I was distracted during "I Love You Beth Cooper" by the mystery of why Paul Rust was in it. Not Paul Rudd. Paul Rust. Who is Paul Rust? That's what I wanted to know. Turns out he's a comedian (you can see his work on Adam Mc-Kay's site funnyordie.com), though you'd never know it by "Beth Cooper," an almost diabolically unfunny comedy about a nerd valedictorian (Rust) who declares his love for the school bombshell (Hayden Panettiere) during his commencement address.

THE UPROARIOUS comedy "Superbad" has a character with a name so indelible it's likely to be linked to the actor forever. Newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays a teen who comes to be known as "McLovin," the name that appears on his ridiculous fake I.D. "Right now, I'm really excited about it," said Mintz-Plasse, who recently stopped in Philly with co-stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill to promote the comedy. "I don't know what I'm going to think later, but I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Prior to the Friday-night club crawl that is Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist , Our Hero gets jilted and Our Heroine humiliated by Tris, a popular girl with a mean streak as wide as her smile. Neither knows this when social misfit Norah asks Nick, a high-school senior and straight guitarist in a queercore band, to pose as her boyfriend so that Tris will ease up on her. Nor do they know, although we do, that a common frenemy could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Some movies skate by fast on slick action.

You could think of Paper Heart as sort of a benevolent version of the Sacha Baron Cohen model, with its mixture of documentary and fiction. Only instead of providing raunchy satire or exposing people's prejudices, it seems all Charlyne Yi wants to do is sweetly entertain. The writer, actress and standup comic travels the country interviewing regular people about being in love, a phenomenon that has eluded her in her early 20s. She goes to a biker bar in Oklahoma City, a playground in Atlanta, and everywhere in between.

Certain Neanderthal movie critics - me, for instance - have been after Michael Cera to cut loose for some time now. Ditch the hoodie, get some barbells, date Tila Tequila. Maybe play a drug addict on "Law and Order. " He's got a good thing going with his irresistible nerd persona, but that only works until people resist, as perhaps they started to do in "Year One. " Well, Cera goes us one better in "Youth In Revolt," playing both himself and an amusing inversion of himself - it's "Fight Club" crossed with puberty.

The crockumentary crashes and burns in "Paper Heart," built around comedian Charlyne Yi's purported search for true love. Yi is the offbeat L.A. stand-up who appeared in "Knocked Up" as the socially awkward girl in Seth Rogen's circle of stoner friends, a performance with more than a hint of her stage persona. In "Paper Heart," she's a single gal who claims she doesn't believe in true love, and so goes on the road with a camera crew to interview people on the subject. At least, that's what we're promised.

How far can you stretch a joke? In today's film comedies, from here to eternity. Or in the case of Year One , backwards, from here to the dawn of man. The premise for this dopey but resourceful yukfest is simple: Take primitive Mesolithic tribesmen and load them up with modern vernacular and a standup's fast-twitch delivery. So you have guys in loincloths talking about "downtime" and "pooching the dog. " The fall guys in this slapstick saga are Zed (Jack Black)

Lately Jonah Hill, the potty-mouthed teddy bear of Superbad , resembles a stuffed animal that's lost its stuffing and gained muscle tone. Did Hill shed those pounds by running the bases on the set of Moneyball ? In the movie that opened Friday he is Peter Brand, statistics wonk, a composite of all the real-life wonks who helped Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) spot baseball players with high on-base percentages and low salaries. Baseball, however, is not responsible for Hill's newly slim silhouette.

FOR A MOVIE that's so hip in terms of its visual style, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" has been in the works for a long time. The process started in 2004 when director Edgar Wright first got Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel shortly after publication. Just off "Shaun of the Dead," which features its own unique mix of styles, Wright was instantly drawn to "Pilgrim's" hyperkinetic mash-up of comic book, video game and manga. "This is your next movie," he thought. But it wasn't.

Scotty Pilgrim has come unstuck in space. Scott, 22, bass guitarist of Sex Bob-omb, a Toronto garage band, is a human who jumps from encounter to objective like one playing a video game, endeavoring to get from Level 1 to Level 7 without getting zapped. Scott is played by Michael Cera, the Generation Y love puppy who in repose resembles a stick figure and in action a human joystick. Both of which make him the right dude for the job. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a ridiculously entertaining romp based on the graphic novels of Bryan Lee O'Malley and directed, with mash-up mastery, by Edgar Wright ( Shaun of the Dead )

"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" might be the most awful thing to happen to cinema, outside of 3D conversion or Paulie Shore, if it weren't also vibrantly funny. Because in a couple of ways, it represents the fulfillment of Hollywood's most self-destructive desires - for years now, the industry's Unholy Grail has been to make movies more like graphic novels and video games. (These being the "upstart" commodities that have invaded the youth demo Hollywood wants to dominate.) Hollywood has had mixed results with comics, and miserable results with video games ("Doom" and "Super Mario Bros")

The top cheesesteak comes from a shop in Atlantic City. This just gets worse. Mike Hauke of Tony Boloney's, who won a cheesesteak battle overseen by Food Network chef Guy Fieri at the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival on Friday, has no Philly roots or training. He grew up in Freehold, N.J., and has been selling sandwiches in A.C.'s Inlet for only 13 months. He was a Manhattan businessman before he career-changed. Hauke tried to sound humble after vanquishing Philly rivals Chink's Steaks and Rick's Steaks, as well as fellow Jersey Shore shop Sack O' Subs.

"THE BOOK of Eli" was a borderline early 2010 hit for Warner Bros., featuring Denzel Washington in action mode as a violent pilgrim in an apocalyptic wasteland. Though it seems strange to say, violent pilgrim in an apocalyptic wasteland is a pretty crowded genre, and "Eli" suffered a bit from being familiar - if you've seen one leather biker gang of cannibal rapists, you've seen 'em all. And "Eli" came on the heels of "The Road," which had scarier cannibals. Still, "Eli" was a capable actioner, with a grandstanding Gary Oldman as the bad guy and sturdy direction from the long-absent Hughes brothers.

7 tonight FX Two high-school nerds (Jonah Hill and (right) Michael Cera) decide that it's time to lose their virginity. Tomfoolery and ineptness ensue. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is hilarious as the buddy known as McLovin.

Certain Neanderthal movie critics - me, for instance - have been after Michael Cera to cut loose for some time now. Ditch the hoodie, get some barbells, date Tila Tequila. Maybe play a drug addict on "Law and Order. " He's got a good thing going with his irresistible nerd persona, but that only works until people resist, as perhaps they started to do in "Year One. " Well, Cera goes us one better in "Youth In Revolt," playing both himself and an amusing inversion of himself - it's "Fight Club" crossed with puberty.

You could think of Paper Heart as sort of a benevolent version of the Sacha Baron Cohen model, with its mixture of documentary and fiction. Only instead of providing raunchy satire or exposing people's prejudices, it seems all Charlyne Yi wants to do is sweetly entertain. The writer, actress and standup comic travels the country interviewing regular people about being in love, a phenomenon that has eluded her in her early 20s. She goes to a biker bar in Oklahoma City, a playground in Atlanta, and everywhere in between.

The crockumentary crashes and burns in "Paper Heart," built around comedian Charlyne Yi's purported search for true love. Yi is the offbeat L.A. stand-up who appeared in "Knocked Up" as the socially awkward girl in Seth Rogen's circle of stoner friends, a performance with more than a hint of her stage persona. In "Paper Heart," she's a single gal who claims she doesn't believe in true love, and so goes on the road with a camera crew to interview people on the subject. At least, that's what we're promised.