For a long time, two things felt as if they would always exist among Arizona Cardinals’ fans:

If you liked "The Hangover" but felt like it needed more projectile vomit, stampeding buffaloes and naughty sorority pledges being spanked, then "21 & Over" is the feel-good, feel-bad movie for you.

My interface with Hollywood chiefly consists of driving each weekday underneath the Interstate 10 sign downtown saying “Los Angeles” near my exit, thinking that I should just keep going west, to take a long-delayed shot at pitching my screenplay.

The genders have been reversed but the supernatural, star-crossed teen angst remains firmly intact in "Beautiful Creatures," which clearly aims to pick up where the "Twilight" franchise left off.

After “A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook,” “The Last Song,” “The Lucky One,” and “Dear John,” Nicholas Sparks is obviously running a campaign to become president of sappiness. His novels have inspired a number of hokey adaptations chock-full of one-dimensional archetypes and scenes ripped off from other romances. This guy loves seeing people get caught in the rain more than Michael Bay marvels at the sight of explosions. The latest picture from the novelist turned producer, “Safe Haven,” is every bit as cheesy and mushy as one would expect. It’s about as original as a Lifetime movie designed to brazenly manipulate our emotions. Maybe I’m becoming easier to manipulate, but this melodramatic cornball kept me completely invested from beginning to end.

“Beautiful Creatures” is yet another addition to the unendurable genre of “Twilight” wannabes. The fact that “Twilight” could inspire so many shameless copycats in both the mediums of film and literature is a true testament to the moribund state of originality. Compared to the effortless “I Am Number Four” and the inexplicably laughable “Red Riding Hood,” “Beautiful Creatures” may not be the worst of the “Twilight” rip-offs. Heck, it’s actually a major step up from any of the five “Twilight” movies. But not even the occasional impressive set piece or clever twist can save “Beautiful Creatures” from its perceptible longing to be the next fantasy romance phenomenon.

Since 1986, the Scripps Celebrity Super Bowl Poll has been asking big names in entertainment, news, sports and pop culture to predict the outcome of the big game. This year, more than 115 celebrities picked between the San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and the Baltimore Ravens, featuring linebacker Ray Lewis.

"Warm Bodies," the latest permutation of the zombie screen phenomenon, places heart over horror and romantic teen angst over sharp social commentary.

Zombies are terrible characters. That’s not to say there haven’t been plenty of good movies featuring zombies like “28 Days Later,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Zombieland,” and the George A. Romero classics.

While most men pushing 70 are spending their twilight years on the golf course, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are still packing heat. Many modern actors have attempted to rein supreme as the definitive action star of this generation, such as Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, and The Rock. Yet, none have come close to headlining a franchise on par with “The Terminator” or “Rambo.” Although Arnold and Sylvester may not be the most phenomenal talents ever to grace the big screen, it’s difficult not to be won over by their charisma and unrelenting bloodlust. Even in an era of so much fresh blood, they’re still easily the kings of action…with exception to maybe Bruce Willis.

He might as well have said, “Ahead, warp factor one, Mister Sulu,” so familiar was the voice at the other end of the line. Instead, it was, “Hello, this is Bill Shatner,” a friendly greeting from “Star Trek’s” once and always Capt. James T. Kirk.

In what’s been an otherwise tremendous year for movies, 2012 still brought us quite a few stinkers nevertheless.

As drummer in a forgotten New Jersey band in the 1960s, David Chase never got close — never even got close to close — to making it in music. Yet from a sound check of his rock-infused HBO series "The Sopranos," it's clear the music never faded away.

Whether you like it or not, awards season has been thrust upon us. Oscar nominations will be announced bright and early on Jan. 10., with the Golden Globes ceremony only a few days later on the 13th (hosted by no less than the incomparable Tina Fey and Amy Poehler).

The party is at your house this year.

We race into the 2012 homestretch following a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend, where blockbuster franchises like “Twilight” and James Bond weren’t the only ones to do gangbuster business. Oscar-heavyweights “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi” both exceeded expectations in wide release, while independent fare “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Hitchcock” saw decent numbers in far fewer theaters.

It's a simple matter of math: there are 24 Days of Christmas and there are hundreds of Christmas movies.

‘Silver Linings Playbook’

December will soon be descending upon us. For a lot of people this month will entail building snowmen, sledding down hills of snow, making snow angles and getting tongues stuck to icy poles. Of course those stuck in Ahwatukee won’t be able to appreciate any of these traditional winter activities. But who needs snow when you can spend your Christmas break in a cozy movie theater. Here are several films to look out for this holiday season.

Year after year, I find myself complaining about the state of love stories in the movies. From those damn “Twilight” pictures to the countless vehicles starring the showboating Katherine Heigl, inspired romance has become difficult to come by in this day and age. 2012 however, has exhibited an unexpected change of pace in the romance department. With “Safety Not Guaranteed,” “Rudy Sparks,” “The Sessions,” “Hope Springs” and “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” this has proven to be a reassuring year for movies about unlikely people coming together and having a meaningful connection. Even several major action blockbusters, such as “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Looper” and “The Amazing Spider-Man,” have managed to incorporate smart, believable relationships that do not just feel tacked on.

The heralded holiday movie season is marked by big-budget extravaganzas, Oscar hopefuls and family films suitable for post-Thanksgiving or early Christmas viewing and for filling that luxuriously open week (for some lucky workers and students) before New Year’s Day.

This is it people, the long awaited day that Stephanie Meyer’s asinine chronicle of lame vampires, talking CGI werewolves, and the single worst female protagonist in all of fiction comes to a close. While the fandom may live on for decades, at least we’ll never have to suffer through one of these movies again. Of course Meyer’s could always write another novel and cash in. But maybe I’m speaking too soon. Perhaps “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2” will be the rare sequel that finally delivers on all the hype, at the very least working as a light guilty pleasure along the lines of “True Blood.”

Finally — finally! — the “Twilight” franchise embraces its own innate absurdity with the gleefully over-the-top conclusion, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.”

This is it people, the long awaited day that Stephanie Meyer’s asinine chronicle of lame vampires, talking CGI werewolves, and the single worst female protagonist in all of fiction comes to a close. While the fandom may live on for decades, at least we’ll never have to suffer through one of these movies again.