It’s the weekend, and five students have weekend detention. There’s a jock, a princess, a misfit, a nerd, and a lout. Not much in common, except for having to give up their day, sit in the school library, and write an essay for the principal. Being from such widely different backgrounds and having such completely different personalities, it’s inevitable that some frictions and shenanigans develop. Especially when the principal leaves the room… Written by Murray Chapman {muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au}

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Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll’s epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim’s life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach (”Swifty”) who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin — all of these begin to encroach on young Jim’s dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother’s mounting concern for her son. He can’t go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim “picked up a game” now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity. Written by Mark Fleetwood {mfleetwo@mail.coin.missouri.edu}

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Newlyweds Nick (Ice Cube) and Suzanne (Long) decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids. But their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a contractor (McGinley) with a bizarre approach to business.

Homer adopts a pig who’s run away from Krusty Burger after Krusty tried to have him slaughtered, naming the pig “Spider Pig.” At the same time, the lake is protected after the audience sink the barge Green Day are on with garbage after they mention the environment. Meanwhile, Spider Pig’s waste has filled up a silo in just 2 days, apparently with Homer’s help. Homer can’t get to the dump quickly so dumps the silo in the lake, polluting it. Russ Cargill, the villainous boss of the EPA, gives Arnold Schwarzenegger 5 options, forcing him to choose 4 (which is, unfortunately, to destroy Springfield) and putting a dome over Springfield to prevent evacuation. Homer, however, has escaped, along with his family. Can he stop the evil Cargill from annihilating his home town, and his family, who have been forced to return to Springfield? Written by movieguy3

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Do not go into “Bad Santa” thinking you’re about to see the normal ‘Christmas is magical, everyone goes to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, and behind every Scrooge there’s a jolly old elf just waiting to emerge’ movie. First of all, Christmas is only magical for the first 15 minutes of shopping when the reality of overpriced presents and pushy crowds hasn’t yet sunk in. Secondly, I don’t know a single person who ever dreamed of sugarplums. And third, miraculous transformations are more in keeping with fairy tales than real life. Sometimes a Scrooge just is a Scrooge. “Bad Santa” takes those cynical thoughts to the extreme, gleefully lashing out at the holiday season and all those sticky sweet Hollywood movies with ho ho happy endings.

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“Minority Report” is a little romance and a little comedy mixed up with a whole lot of souped-up action and death-defying stunts. Did it work? I’m still thinking about it. I left the screening thinking I liked the film, and alternately convinced I didn’t. The strange thing is, I told a fellow journalist there’s no way the film would be a middle of the road-er; you’d either love it or hate it. And yet, I loved it - the incredibly stunning futuristic scenery, the action sequences that leap off the screen, and the shockingly brutal Spielbergian vision of the world in the not too distant future - and I disliked it (hate’s way too strong of a word) - the storylines that led to unbelievable conclusions and the fact that it’s supposedly set only 50 years in the future.

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