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On Demand picks

January 13, 2011

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BLADES OF GLORY Will Ferrell’s haphazard treat is a farce set in the world of competitive figure skating. Ferrell plays a womanizing skate star who teams up with his blonder, more fey rival (Jon Heder), to conquer pairs competition, after a fight gets them banned from male singles for life. The film is quick, painless, and more than a little brave: not since “Perfect’’ have so many actors worn so much Lycra for our amusement. (PG-13; runs through Jan. 24)

WESLEY MORRIS

CRASH “Million Dollar Baby’’ screenwriter Paul Haggis delivers for his first film as director one of those Terribly Important something-is-rotten-in-LA barn burners that grabs you by the lapels and tries to shake you up. The result has some fine individual scenes and a lot of forced irony; Haggis’s past as a TV writer shows. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Ludacris, and Thandie Newton stand out in the large, milling cast. (R; runs through Jan. 31) TY BURR

BLACK SHEEP (Comcast Movies: All Movies) Think of this one as “Tommy Boy II,’’ as it reunites loose cannon Chris Farley and his hapless baby sitter, David Spade, for some predictable antics. Farley almost wrecks his brother’s gubernatorial candidacy, then saves the day with his high-energy, soft-hearted clowning — but his engaging huffing and puffing carries it. (PG-13; runs through Jan. 24)

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