LAND OF NEW MOVIES

There's no doubt Morgan Spurlock is a brave man. In Super Size Me, the director subsisted on junk food for 30 days and suffered the consequences. In 2006, after finding out his wife, vegan chef Alexandra Jamieson (who features in his previous effort), is pregnant, Spurlock takes action--John McCain style--to secure a more peaceful planet for his unborn child. In Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, he gets his shots, works out, and takes a self-defense class in preparation for a jaunt through Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to track down the Al-Qaeda fugitive (his itinerary neglects Iran and Iraq). With a child on the way, the $25 million reward holds some attraction, but video-game graphics, terrorist trading cards, and action-movie music underline the quixotic nature of Spurlock's quest. Similarly, the movie itself is a mixed success. The humor that fueled his first film can fall flat when the stakes are higher. Pop-culture references and serious conversations with concerned citizens make for odd bedfellows. It isn’t that Spurlock disrespects his subjects, but that he tries harder to entertain than to elucidate, and his interviews merely reinforce the notion that people everywhere share similar concerns. Unfortunately, fellow Oscar nominated filmmakers, like Laura Poitras (My Country, My Country) and James Longley (Iraq in Fragments), already beat him to the punch. Spurlock has also released a book with the same name to expand on themes explored in this somewhat superfluous documentary. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

One Tree Hill: The Complete Fourth Season finds the dramatic final year of high school for the series' major characters full of grudges, pregnancies, partner-switching, big mistakes, and dashed hopes. But there are also renewals of friendship and new possibilities in love and independence. The season is overshadowed by the murder of Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer), uncle to brothers Lucas and Nathan Scott, neither of whom realizes that the killer was their own father, Dan (Paul Johansson), Keith's brother. While Dan is haunted by his conscience over his misdeed, Nathan himself feels Keith's ghostly presence during a season-opening crisis in which he dives into a lake to rescue Rachel (Danneel Harris) and Cooper (Michael Trucco). Nathan, struggling to understand the meaning of his experience, puts a strain on his new marriage to Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and becomes the target of Rachel's predatory sexual advances. Rachel's friend Brooke (Sophia Bush) breaks up with Lucas after the latter's close friend Peyton (Hilarie Burton) confesses she has feelings for him. (Brooke also turns her back on her old friendship with Peyton, making for several episodes of nasty, verbal volleys between the girls.) Lucas' sudden availability puts the possibility of romance with Peyton in play, but she's also busy dealing with the discovery of a brother she didn't know she had--a guy who isn't quite what he appears to be.

As if that's not enough, there are pregnancies and presumed pregnancies galore in season four: Haley and Nathan, for sure, plus Lucas' mom Karen (Moira Kelly), who is carrying Keith's child. Two other characters either believe or maintain they are pregnant. Meanwhile, Nathan's mom, Deb (Barbara Alyn Woods), develops a personality-altering drug addiction and carries around a loaded pistol; Lucas' pal Skills (Antwon Tanner) gets a shot at playing basketball for the Ravens; and Mouth (Lee Norris) gets drunk and complains that girls only want to be his friend. Everything heads, inexorably, toward graduation day, which finds several crises simultaneously overlapping with the joy of moving on. As with every One Tree Hill season, The Complete Season Four is easy to get hooked on, with a very good cast and audacious storylines.--Tom Keogh

Of course it would be good to have everything, but at what price? For Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle, Hollywoods life in fast lane can be an intoxicating ride. In Season Four, in fact, Eric and Vince have taken on new roles as producers. Does your film being hailed as a masterpiece criticism, or will end up in the trash heap of broken dreams Tinseltown?

Dark and sinister is the new sexy, thanks to Dexter, which in its second season has proven to be the most successful series Showtime has offered up yet. Remember how much you squirmed in your seat during the season one finale? Believe it or not, the premiere of season two felt like it could have been a season finale--because jaws were on the floor when the credits rolled. For being a supposed sociopath, Dex is pretty broken up about the gruesome events that concluded last season. The one and only person who could possibly understand him is six feet under, and it seems our unlikely hero is losing his homicidal grip. He’s even having a little trouble slicing up a few of his latest victims (from a murderous gang member to a chainsaw-wielding fiend from his past). Enter Lila (Jaime Murray, Hustle), a lady with a sweet British accent and a few dark secrets of her own. She seems to accept Dex for who he really is, and he finds himself feeling relaxed for the first time in his life. In contrast, his relationship with his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) has been stretched almost to a breaking point. The problem is, he should be anything but relaxed. Someone picked a poor place to go scuba diving off the Florida coast, and came across an underwater graveyard: Dex’s primo spot for dropping dismembered bodies wrapped in heavy-duty trash bags. Word about the "Bay Harbor Butcher" gets out quick, and the F.B.I. sends the best of the best, Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine, Deadwood) to work alongside the police to sniff out Miami’s latest serial killer. This guy is no schlub, and Dex may have met his match. And, yes, Dexter gets to work with Lundy on a daily basis, which provides some wonderfully awkward moments. It certainly doesn’t help that the intuitively paranoid Sergeant Doakes (Erik King, Oz) is hot on Dex’s trail.

Season two of Dexter is all about decisions. Lila or Rita? Old code or new code? Run or fight? Right or wrong? Well, one thing’s for sure: When it comes to writing, casting, acting, and production, the makers of this show made all the right decisions. Michael C. Hall is simply superb as the title character. You’ll never find yourself more willing to genuinely root for a serial killer. It’s bloody liberating. --Jordan Thompson
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