While out promoting the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release of his Fubar II: Balls to the Wall, Killer Film caught up with the Canadian comedic director as he updates us on Goon.

“I f*cking loved it. Goon is a great film; I’m in post now,” he exclaims. The film stars Jay Baruchel (She’s Out of My League, How to Train Your Dragon), Seann William Scott (American Pie, Role Models), Eugene Levy (American Pie franchise), and Liev Schrieber (Scream, X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Written by Baruchel as well, Goon follows an outcast and a bouncer who overcome long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.

“Seann William Scott is amazing in it. Goon has a great cast; Jay Baruchel, Eugene Levy, Alison Pill, Leiv Schrieber, and it’s about something I love – hockey. It’s just a great film, and I cannot wait to show it. Seann William Scott is freaking amazing in it, really carries the film on his back. I couldn’t be more proud of it. I cannot wait to show it.”

Currently, there’s no timetable for the film.

Source: Killer Film

How does it feel to be involved with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice?

Jay Baruchel: It’s a great honor to be part of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but it’s also very stressful because Fantasia is cherished and beloved by so many people around the world. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence of Fantasia is one of the most iconic and important sequences in film history, so I didn’t want to screw this up. If you were going to create a retrospective of great film moments, I think the Fantasia sequence would be up there alongside Cary Grant being chased by the crop duster in North By Northwest. It has been exhilarating to get the chance to do something so important to so many people, but there’s a lot of weight on our shoulders and I didn’t want to get it wrong.

How do you deal with the stress of working on such an iconic project?

Jay Baruchel: There are two possible outcomes. You can either let the stress get the best of you and wilt in the face of adversity, or you can let the stress push you to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. The only other time in my career where I felt a similar weight on my shoulders was when I got to work for Clint Eastwood. It was tough. There’s a great sports analogy that comes to mind when I think about this. If you get drafted into the NHL and you get to play on the same line with the guys that made you want to start playing hockey in the first place, are you going to mess up under the pressure? Or are you going to show everyone the reason why you are standing there next to these amazing athletes? I had to bring my A-game to this project. I wanted to prove to everyone that they made the right decision in hiring me.

What was your highlight to the filming of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice?

Jay Baruchel: Shooting plasma bolts out of my hands has been a lifelong ambition of mine. Ever since I played Street Fighter II when I was a kid, I’ve been waiting to shoot energy out of my hands. For years, nothing happened. My hands finally get to work in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

What was it like to work with Nicolas Cage on the movie?

Jay Baruchel: Nicolas Cage is an amazing man and I have a great deal of affection for him. I love the man and I count him as a good friend of mine. He and I are cut from the same cloth. We’re kindred spirits who both march to the beat of our own drum. We’re both outsiders and we’re interested in the same things. We both love comic books, we like a lot of the same music, we like a lot of the same movies for the same reasons, and we’re both incredibly punctual. It was a real thrill for me to work with him because I can remember sneaking into Con Air when I was 15 years old.

What makes Nicolas Cage such an iconic actor?

Jay Baruchel: He has such a unique, distinct presence. To be on set and shooting scenes with him or even having conversations with the guy has been mind blowing for me. There would be moments throughout the six months of filming where I would almost step outside of my body and realize that I was talking to Nicolas Cage. That was really cool for me.

What was it like working with Teresa Palmer?

Jay Baruchel: Teresa is awesome. We have a very similar background and we have similar views on a lot of things. She’s kind, beautiful and easy to fall in love with on camera. I gained another best friend by working with her on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Did you want to wear Mickey Mouse’s wizard hat for the magical mop scenes?

Jay Baruchel: No, I was very thankful that I didn’t get to wear Mickey’s hat. Mickey can rock the hat. He looks neat wearing it, but it doesn’t look as cool on my head. It’s pretty hard to look cool with a pointy hat.

What’s your earliest memory of Fantasia?

Jay Baruchel: I was a little kid when I saw Fantasia for the first time and I’m pretty sure I had Fantasia sheets or a blanket on my bed back then. When I was a kid, everything I owned was either Winnie The Pooh or Fantasia. It was huge in my life.

Do you remember the first time you saw the movie?

Jay Baruchel: There are moments in your life when you remember seeing or hearing something for the first time. But when it comes to Fantasia, I don’t remember a life without it. It’s always been there for me. I can’t pinpoint my first viewing, but it’s been thrilling to pay homage to something that’s been in my life forever.

There is a scene in the movie where your character gets beaten up in a bathroom and he says, “Oh, God… This is just like high school all over again.” Did you have a tough childhood like your character in the movie?

Jay Baruchel: Yes and no. I think high school is a mix of the happiest memories of your life and the most miserable memories of your life. I had some real great times at school. House parties haven’t been as fun as they were when I was a teenager. That’s when a party at someone’s house is the most fun thing in the universe. However, that’s also the time of your life when you’re at your most awkward and you can’t stand the way you look. I went to a tough high school in Montreal and the cops were there every single week. Sure, I had my fights back then, but my parents eventually transferred me to a fine arts school. I went from the most dangerous high school to the artiest place ever. It was a strange transition, but it’s all been a great learning process for me.

Many people remember you for your role in Tropic Thunder. How much fun did you have shooting that movie?

Jay Baruchel: Tropic Thunder was sweet. It was real fun and an amazing experience. Between takes, Brandon Jackson and I would time ourselves and see how quickly we could unload and reload our guns with our eyes closed. I could do it in four and a half seconds. I had the record on set.

How did the Tropic Thunder set compare to other movies sets you worked on?

Jay Baruchel: It was very, very, different to my experience on Knocked Upwhere I was going to set every day with people that I had known for a long time. I lived with Seth Rogan for two years and I stayed with his parents in Vancouver, so he’s like blood to me. In that sense, filming Knocked Up was like a family reunion. I had an amazing mix of love, loyalty and impatience with the people on set there. Tropic Thunderwas very different because I went away to a far off place with Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Steve Coogan. I found myself shooting guns in the middle of the jungle with all these guys that became my friends, but they were untouchable icons that I didn’t know at the start of the film shoot. I knew Ben and Jack a little bit, but by spending six months in the jungle with them, I formed some real bonds.

Which film set do you prefer?

Jay Baruchel: I love both experiences equally and I would do either of them again in a heartbeat. Seth Rogan is one of my best friends in the whole world. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that kid, and I can call him kid because I am five days older than him. Tropic Thunder and Knocked Up both changed my life, so I have equal affection for them. However, I also have a huge affection for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice because it has become a project I’m extremely proud of.

What would you be doing if you weren’t an actor?

Jay Baruchel: My main ambition in life is to direct horror movies in Montreal. Long before I started acting, I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life, so if I wasn’t acting I would be making an effort to direct horror movies. If not, I would probably be working at a video store or a record store and talking a lot of rubbish because I know a little about a lot of things. I’m a nerd and I read a lot. I have a head full of useless knowledge.

Where does your passion for horror come from?

Jay Baruchel: I’ve always had a passion for horror, but I don’t know where it came from. The two movie genres that excite me the most are action movies and horror movies – and that’s what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. When I was seven years old, I wanted to be a writer. When I was nine years old, I decided that I wanted to make movies. My mother videotaped me when I was seven years old and there’s a tape of me saying I want to make stuff that scares Stephen King out of his underpants. That’s my next goal. Let’s see if I can make that dream come true.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is currently out now on Blu-ray and DVD, from Disney Home Entertainment.

The Flick:

Loosely based on Walt Disney’s Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a standard issue, lets please everyone weekend blockbuster. By standard issue I mean that it is mildly entertaining, at times funny, littered with cool visual effects, and almost instantly forgettable.

The plot is pretty simple. Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) is a sorcerer that trained under Merlin himself. All was right with the world except for an evil sorceress named Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige), who of course wants to take over the world or something equally as dubious. One of Balthazar’s allies, Horvath (Alfred Molina) betrays him, so Balthazar is forced to trap Horvath along with Morgana in a nesting doll for all eternity. Fast forward 1300 or so years and we meet a young Dave (Jake Cherry), who has a creepy encounter with Balthazar. Balthazar gives Dave a ring and tells him he is very special and then all hell breaks loose when Horvath breaks free from the doll. Fast forward 10 more years and we meet older Dave (Jay Baruchel), who once again has an encounter with Balthazar, which leads to him becoming the sorcerer’s apprentice. Together the two of them vow to fight the forces of evil (Horvath and Morgana).

I have to give it to director Jon Turteltaub for making a quick moving and entertaining flick, but I also have to say that as for as movies go it was nothing more than average. It almost seemed like this film could have bypassed the theatrical route and made its debut on the Disney Channel instead, but alas of course that wouldn’t have been as profitable a route for the studios to take. I’m constantly surprised by how much we the movie going public are willing to call entertainment. We are so used to the watered down, standard issue movies that the Hollywood system throws out at us that we tolerate it, resulting in more watered down movies.

If you have children and are looking for a flick the’ll find entertaining, then the Sorcerer’s Apprentice definitely fits the bill, but it wasn’t quite a killer film.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: The audio on this disc is simply amazing. It created a wall of sound that completely engulfs the viewer during the visual effects scenes. It made my small home theatre system sound way better than it is. The video is beautiful as well. Creating a lush and crisp landscape of color that assaults the senses.

Special Features (all in HD)

The Science of Sorcery: A cool feature that illustrates how the film took a somewhat scientific approach to explaining some of the magical elements in the story.

Fantasia: Reinventing a Classic: This is a solid feature that shows how the broom scene was done. Totally worth checking out.

Magic in the City: A look at shooting on location in New York, this feature focuses on the locations and set design that went into creating the awesome battles that took place in the city.

The Fashionable Drake Stone: Actor Toby Kebbell gives some insight into his character, fashion aficionado, Drake Stone.

The Grimhold: An Evil Work of Art: A look at the nesting doll that held the evil sorcerers captive.

The Encantus: This very short feature (not quite 3 minutes) takes a look at the creation of the sorcerers book of spells.

The World’s Coolest Car: Short look at the car used in the flick. A car that Nicolas Cage actually owns.

There are a host of other features on this packed disc, such as deleted scenes, outtakes, and the DVD and Digital Copy version of the film.

The Flick: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
The Blu-ray: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Blu-ray has the list of special features included:

* Magic In The City

o The Science Of Sorcery

o Making Magic Real

o Fantasia: Reinventing A Classic

o The Fashionable Drake Stone

o The Grimhold: An Evil Work Of Art

o The Encantus

o Wolves & Puppies

o The World’s Coolest Car

* Deleted scenes

* Outtakes

* Easter eggs:

o Three visual effects demos

No cover art has been revealed at this time.

The plot is pretty simple. Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) is a sorcerer that trained under Merlin himself. All was right with the world except for an evil sorceress named Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige), who of course wants to take over the world or something equally as dubious. One of Balthazar’s allies, Horvath (Alfred Molina) betrays him, so Balthazar is forced to trap Horvath along with Morgana in a nesting doll for all eternity. Fast forward 1300 or so years and we meet a young Dave (Jake Cherry), who has a creepy encounter with Balthazar. Balthazar gives Dave a ring and tells him he is very special and then all hell breaks loose when Horvath breaks free from the doll. Fast forward 10 more years and we meet older Dave (Jay Baruchel), who once again has an encounter with Balthazar, which leads to him becoming the sorcerer’s apprentice. Together the two of them vow to fight the forces of evil (Horvath and Morgana).

I have to give it to director Jon Turteltaub for making a quick moving and entertaining flick, but I also have to say that as for as movies go it was nothing more than average. It almost seemed like the this film could have bypassed the theatrical route and made it’s debut on the Disney Channel instead, but of course that wouldn’t have been as profitable a route for the studios to take. I’m constantly surprised by what we the movie going public are willing to call entertainment. We are so used to the watered down, standard issue movies that the Hollywood system throws out at us, and we tolerate it, resulting in more watered down movies.

If you have children and are looking to kill some time at the movies, then this flick could be an option if you’ve seen all the other teeny flicks gracing the screen. Otherwise I’d wait for it to hit DVD or Blu-ray, because The Sorcerer’s Apprentice wasn’t quite a killer film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

So they made a movie about men and their 10 scale. She’s Out of My League feels like something my friends and I would have been talking about, if we were single (sike! We still 10 scale girls!). We used to 10 scale girls all the time, an assessment that seems misogynistic yet it was entirely harmless, just used as a way to size up girls who walked passed us. Granted, each guy’s 10 scale will be different than some other, but once you establish the rules of why or how you came up with a grade for a girl, then you and your friend were on the same page, making it easier to talk about girls.

Hey, don’t blame this reviewer, it’s primordial.

It’s certainly a good hook for a standard issue sex comedy, and that’s all She’s Out of My League is. That doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable, because it is, and it is funny. Judd Apatow as of late, and his disciples have owned this genre for the last few years, but even they didn’t do anything to new or exciting with the genre, they were just funny. Sometimes, that’s all you need your comedy to be. Jay Baruchel is the typical goofy nerd that gets picked on by his brother, is unlucky in his source of income, and even unluckier with women. Oddly, and cosmically weird, is that one day the “hard 10″ Molly (Alice Eve) catches his eye, or is that the other way around? Like the tagline says, how does a 5 get a 10?

The film wants to be super gross out like a 40 Year Old Virgin, or more appropriately perhaps, a Superbad, and while it is as funny as those, especially thanks to T.J. Miller (Extract), it’s a little too predictable. While some of the secondary characters like Kirk’s family, offer padding to the laughs – at that – the heart comes through at times, aiming for a good center to the simple 10 scale hook of the film. She’s Out of My League offers nothing new and is predictable, yet as a sex comedy, it gives us the one thing we really want: a laugh or seven. The film is a “hard 6″, “6.5″ for sure.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Paramount offers up a solid, if at times soft HD transfer. Details are really good, colors are HD average, and blacks are almost deep as we like them to be. Again, it’s an okay HD picture, sometimes soft when it should be crisp. The DTS is a confidingly average track, but that’s what one would expect for a comedy. No one should complain or be fully wowed.

Commentary: Director Jim Field Smith gives a rather standard, but ho-hum chat. He’s fine and offers up some typical commentary track tidbits, but without the actors or himself joking around, it’s a little boring.

Devon’s Dating Show: Devon (Nate Torrence) and Kirk’s doofus brother Dylan (Kyle Bornheimer) hand out dating tips. For characters I didn’t care for too much, this is pretty good. In HD.

Bloopers and some decent Deleted Scenes finish out the extras.

Conclusion: Little bit more than a passable sex comedy, the film is funnier and shorter than most recent Apatow films.

The Film: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Jon Turteltaub film centers on Master sorcerer Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) who recruits a seemingly everyday guy (Jay Baruchel) in his mission to defend New York City from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). The rest of the cast includes Teresa Palmer, Monica Bellucci and Gregory Woo.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice pops into theaters everywhere on July 14th from Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Walt Disney Pictures. Also, be sure to check out all of the brand new individual character posters that came out for this film down below.:

Balthazar Blake (Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Molina).  Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé.  The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness.  It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes the sorcerer’s apprentice.

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice magically appears in theaters on July 14th.:

Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl (Teresa Palmer) as he becomes The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice magically appears in theaters everywhere on July 16th from Walt Disney Pictures, and yes that is Depeche Mode playing in the background at the end of the clip.:

“2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. “3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing ‘Shrek Forever After,’ the final chapter in our beloved ‘Shrek’ series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.”

How to Train Your Dragon, directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, is still out in theaters and in 3D for all to see. Check your local theater show times if you want to catch another peek of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and the gang on the big screen while you still can.

The story, written by Carlo Bernard, Matt Lopez and Doug Miro, centers on Balthazar Blake (Cage), a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Molina).  Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé.  The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness.  It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice pops up into theaters on July 16th. Look at the pretty mystical-like poster below from Coming Soon.:

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice comes out on July 16th from Walt Disney Pictures.:

The feature stars Jay Baruchel as Kirk, a man who’s stuck in a seemingly dead-end job as an airport security agent, against all odds, Molly (Alice Eve), a successful and outrageously gorgeous babe, falls for him. Kirk is stunned. So are his friends, his family and even his ex-girlfriend. Now he has to figure out how to make the relationship work, even though he’d be the first to admit she’s totally out of his league.

Also including the talents of T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence, Krysten Ritter, Geoff Stults and Lindsay Sloane, this picture comes out in theaters on March 12. Check out the red band trailer that came from the folks at DreakWorks SKG and Coming Soon.: