The origin of the latest Hollywood formula

If you’ve gone to the movies recently, you may have felt a strangely familiar feeling: You’ve seen this movie before. Not this exact movie, but some of these exact story beats: the hero dressed down by his mentor in the first 15 minutes (Star Trek Into Darkness, Battleship); the villain who gets caught on purpose (The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Skyfall, Star Trek Into Darkness); the moment of hopelessness and disarray a half-hour before the movie ends (Olympus Has Fallen, Oblivion, 21 Jump Street, Fast & Furious 6)

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A Standoff in Yemen: Can Saleh Negotiate His Departure?

Calm and composed in a sharp suit and dark sunglasses, Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh took to the podium on Friday and before a massive crowd announced that he was ready to transfer power — but only to the right people. And yet, while that may have sounded cynical to most of his opponents, Saleh also chose to address the heart of the popular movement against him, directly speaking to the young activists who had begun the calls for the collapse of his regime in January

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Buzz building for ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ game

Imagine taking the best characters and elements of your favorite fictional universe and weaving them into a new story that captures the imagination of fans. That’s what Emmy-winning TV writer Paul Dini did in creating “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” a video game coming out in late August

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