Armed only with his mysterious mental connection to the feral minds of studio executives, the Movie Guru reveals just how good or bad this week's new releases will be:

The Fog of War (PG-13)
Errol Morris’ 2003 documentary on former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara serves as a history lesson and striking statement on the current state of the world, particularly U.S. actions in Iraq and the war on terror.
Prediction: Critics are ranking this work among Morris’ best, and as a must-see to gain perspective on military actions of the past 50 years.

The Passion of the Christ (R)
Devout Catholic Mel Gibson produced and directed this already controversial drama chronicling the final 12 hours of Christ’s life. Jim Caviziel, who plays Jesus, got struck by lightning and dislocated his shoulder during filming. Dialogue is in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew.
Prediction: The graphic violence and emotional intensity have driven some viewers of early proofs to tears. Some critics are claiming the film is anti-Semitic. Find out what the fuss is about, and form your own opinion.

Twisted (R)
Detective Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) tracks a serial killer that murders the men she dates. But when she blacks out before each murder, her partner (Andy Garcia) and the police commissioner (Samuel L. Jackson) target her as the prime suspect.
Prediction: Judd found a niche in portraying the strong but vulnerable female lead in formulaic suspense-thriller movies. Twisted looks to be more of the same.

Broken Lizard’s Club Dread (R)
A serial killer is on the loose at a hedonistic resort in Costa Rica, and it’s up to the staff to put an end to the killing spree.
Prediction: More mindless fodder from the gang that produced Super Troopers.

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (PG-13)
Set in Havana in 1958, well-to-do18-year-old Katey Miller befriends a poor waiter who is also a great dancer and convinces him to compete in a dance competition.
Prediction: Alternate title: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Havana Nights. Aren’t movies like this typically released straight to video?

The Truth According to Michael Moore

There are a handful of things you can count on during a presidential election year. Leap year kids finally get a birthday. Commander-in-chief wannabes lie through their teeth. And, if history repeats itself, as is so often the case, filmmaker Michael Moore will be causing problems for powerful people somewhere.

So far in 2004 Moore has helped reignite “deserter” cries over President Bush’s National Guard records. And with a documentary entitled Fahrenheit 9/11 set to drop later this year (probably conveniently timed to inflict massive amounts of Bush administration collateral damage), you can be certain Flint’s native son will be making headlines and causing headaches a lot during the coming months.

Which brings us to The Awful Truth (The Complete First Season). Following the demise of his short-lived television series TV Nation, Moore concocted The Awful Truth for Bravo. Far more outrageous and confrontational than its evolutionary predecessor, Truth did what Moore does best: got in the face of politicians and big business, and refused to back down.

At the show’s best, Truth combined scathing satire, pissed-off populism, and a bleeding liberal conscience into hilarious guerilla-style television. Behind Moore’s beefy Midwestern grin, there’s an obnoxious high school journalist out not so much to scoop the town daily, but to embarrass a few corporate Goliaths into doing the right thing.

Who could forget, for instance, Moore handing out funeral invitations to the employees of an HMO refusing to fund a pancreas transplant for a diabetic policyholder? (When that didn’t shame the public relations department into a feigned sense of morality, Moore and crew held a mock funeral outside the company’s headquarters.) Or what about bringing a “voice box” choir of throat cancer survivors to sing Christmas carols outside the home of Philip Morris CEO Michael Szymanczyk?

It’s when Moore tries to simply be funny that he falls flat on his face.

—Lloyd Babbit

February 26, 2004 * Vol. 14, No. 9
© 2003 Metro Pulse