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:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (PG-13)
Anime filmmaker Mamoru Oshii’s follow-up to his 1995 cult hit Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is the story of the cyborg detective Bateau and how he attempts to crack the case of a rash of female “servant” robots that end up malfunctioning and killing their owners. See this week’s movie review for more details.
Now Showing: Downtown West

The Motorcycle Diaries (R)
In this road movie with historic implications, a 23-year-old medical student named Ernesto “Che” Guevara (played by Gael GarcÍa Bernal, Y Tu Mama Tambien) sets off across the South American backcountry with his pal Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De La Serna) on the back of a rusty motorbike. Based on the revolutionary’s journals and letters home, reviews acknowledge the film’s sentimentality but praise its actors and cinematic grandeur.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Rockets Redglare! (NR)
Some of Hollywood’s weirdest and coolest actors—Jim Jarmusch, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon—tell the life story of their pal and cohort Rockets Redglare, an actor, comedian, model, bodyguard, drug dealer who died after a life of drug abuse and eating disorders. Produced by Steve Buscemi and directed by Luis Fernandez de la Reguera.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Shall We Dance? (PG-13)
An unhappy, workaholic husband and father (Richard Gere) finds happiness for both himself and his wife (Susan Sarandon) when he begins taking sultry dance lessons from an instructor (Jennifer Lopez) he spies from a passing train commute home.
Now Showing: Farragut Towne Square, Knoxville Center, Tinseltown USA, Foothills 12, Wynnsong 16

Team America: World Police (R)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creative masterminds behind South Park, trade animation for puppets in this politically charged tale of a team of specially gifted American soldiers dedicated to fighting evil around the globe.
Now Showing: Farragut Towne Square, West Town Mall, Tinseltown USA, Halls Cinema 7, Foothills 12, Carmike 10

What the Bleep Do We Know? (NR)
Is sci-fi really sci-fi, or the science of the future? This surreal film follows Amanda (Marlee Matlin), a divorced photographer, on a trippy journey as she explores her life on its basest of levels. As the reality she’s always known unravels into mysticism, paranormal events, and unexplainable phenomena, she begins to grasp a new understanding of the so-called reality we blindly accept.
Now Showing: Downtown West

Down with G-O-D?

High school is difficult enough without the whispers and critiques of tiny disciples of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost echoing through the corridors. In the teen comedy Saved!, the filmmakers take a blistering look at teen pregnancy and its impact on a clique of students in the microcosm of a religious academy.

The virginal Mary (Jena Malone) is the epitome of a good Christian girl: a member of a gospel pop group with the seemingly perfect boyfriend, Dean. However, when she discovers that Dean thinks he’s gay, she embarks on a crusade to save him. Her efforts, including sex in the Lord’s name, prove unsuccessful, and Dean is shipped to Mercy House, a religious asylum, for “de-gayification.”

In the interim, Mary learns she’s pregnant and tries to conceal it from her mother (Mary-Louise Parker) and best friend, the school’s reigning queen, Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore).

But during her ordeal she becomes friends with the school outcasts: Cassandra (Eva Amurri), the only Jewish girl; Roland, Hilary Faye’s “differently-abled,” wheelchair-bound brother (Macaulay Culkin); and Patrick (Patrick Fugit), son of the principal, Pastor Skip (Martin Donovan). Skip spouts ridiculous aphorisms to connect with students (“Let’s get our Christ on, let’s kick it Jesus-style!”). While Mary finds comfort and understanding in the misfits, Hilary Faye begins a mission to expel her from the school.

The most devout characters are portrayed as inhuman and hypocritical, and anyone with an inkling to question the Faith is shunned by the student body and its faculty.

The movie tackles acceptance within religion with heart, questioning the black-and-white stance of the Bible with honest examples, but is preachy in its own right. The humor generally hits its target, and carefully toes the line of good taste. While Saved! is likely to offend hard-core fundamentalists, its ambitious point bellows when Mary asks, “Why would God make us so different if he wanted us to be the same?”

—Clint Casey

October 14, 2004 * Vol. 14, No. 42
© 2003 Metro Pulse