From now on, whenever I eat nachos, I'll think of Jack Black in tights. And that's really disturbing.

Perhaps that was part of the strategy for making the new comedy Nacho Libre an enduring phenomenon. Hey, it worked for director Jared Hess before. Who eats tater tots anymore without quoting Napoleon Dynamite?

In Nacho Libre, Jack Black plays Nacho, a young man raised in a Mexican monastery in Oaxaca, who moves on from his job as a cook to try and save the monastery from financial disaster. His method for raising the funds? He'll compete in the local Lucha Libre tournament, wrestling for prize money. Along the way, he'll try to help the beautiful nun who wins his heart (Ana de la Reguera), and the orphans living at the monastery.

Everyone's asking: Has Hess recaptured the quirkiness and fun that made Napoleon Dynamite such a hit?

According to Christian film critics: Close, but not quite.

"Did you like Napoleon Dynamite? Do you typically like Jack Black?"

Todd Hertz (Christianity Today Movies) begins his Nacho Libre review with those two questions, saying that if you answer "no" to either, well, the movie isn't for you. "But if you appreciate the random quirkiness of Napoleon and the zany, melodramatic and overacted comedy of Black," he says, "welcome to a comedic goldmine. … [T]his goofy comedy is much more like that Idaho-based surprise hit in tone and feel than the commercials let on. And while the irreverent wrestling comedy is laugh-out-loud funny and humorously surprising several times, it could have used more of Napoleon's simple likeability and School of Rock's heart."

Christa Banister (Crosswalk) admits that she was skeptical, but she comes out of the movie cheering. "Nacho Libre is surprisingly clean family entertainment that both kids and adults will enjoy. While the humor is certainly more juvenile than sophisticated in nature, viewers of any age can't help but root for this unlikely hero, stretchy pants and all."

Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) calls it an "infantile and dull comedy" that is "utterly lacking in charm, wit or taste. Beyond the pervasive crude humor, the puppy-love relationship of its protagonists, both in religious orders—regardless of whether they've taken 'final vows'—precludes recommendation."

Tom Neven (Plugged In) says the it's "wildly uneven, not sure what kind of movie it wants to be." Comparing it to Napoleon Dynamite, Neven says that with Nacho, moviegoers "won't get a goofy but mostly harmless nerd; they'll get extreme, imitative violence that's all the more problematic because the wrestling moves, performed here by professional stuntmen, give no indication of how truly dangerous they are. Throw in Johnny Knoxville-style stupidity, some gratuitous gross-out gags and gentle but still icky sexual tension between a friar and a nun, and it becomes painfully obvious that this Nacho is no tater tot."

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Mainstream critics are not so nuts about Nacho.

The Lake House Lacks Lustre

The last time Keanu Reeves played a time traveler, it was 1989, his name was Bill, and his partner in trouble-making was a dude named Ted. The last time he got romantic with Sandra Bullock, he was a cop on a bomb-rigged bus.

Now, Reeves is time-traveling and courting Bullock in The Lake House, a remake of a Korean film called Siworae (also known as Il Mare).

The film, directed by Alejandro Agresti, isn't quite up to code, according to Christian press film critics. John Cusack, who was reportedly invited to star in the film, turned it down, and it sounds like that might have been a wise move. The film features supporting work by Christopher Plummer (The New World) and Shoreh Aghdashloo (who will play Elizabeth in The Nativity Story).

Peter T. Chattaway (Christianity Today Movies) notes "some interesting ideas and some nice mood moments," but finds the film flawed, "partly because the filmmakers don't seem to know quite how to flesh these characters out." As for the time-travel element: "Don't get me wrong, I like time-travel stories and all the paradoxes thereof, but keeping track of these characters, it is a tad difficult to get lost in the moment the way you should during a romance."

Christa Banister (Crosswalk) acknowledges its "intriguing premise, a talented cast" and "picturesque scenery." But then she notes that "the story plods along at a painfully slow pace without even a hint of that romantic spark we're supposed to be all excited about between the lead characters. And if that wasn't bad enough, there's not much of a central plot either as the story segues from a love story to a family melodrama to a cliché d commentary on how too much emphasis on one's career leads to a lonely existence where you're forced to play chess with your dog on your day off like Kate does."

Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) calls it "an intriguing if slow-moving time-warp love affair that is, at the very least, quite unusual in its concept. … In its theme of love transcending time, the film resembles such cinematic fantasies as A Portrait of Jennie, Somewhere in Time and Kate and Leopold." He points out that there are "plenty of head-scratching loopholes so you need to apply a major suspension of disbelief."

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Bob Smithouser (Plugged In) says it's "a sweet time-warp story that, despite asking audiences to suspend a certain amount of disbelief, adheres pretty well to its own internal logic. I could've done without the profanity, but Argentinean director Alejandro Agresti does a marvelous job of avoiding other offensive content that a dyed-in-the-wool Hollywood insider might've thrown in just to get a PG-13. Agresti's visual style is equally impressive. … More than anything, it's wonderful to watch as the main characters grow to love each other based on friendly conversation, not physical attraction or some personal agenda."

The film's found a few fans among mainstream critics … but only a few.

The Forgettable and the Frivolous

The press notes for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift say that over 100 cars were destroyed or wrecked during the making of this movie. I wonder what they'd find if they counted how many brain cells are demolished while watching the film.

Justin Lin's three-quel in this high-octane, low-intellect franchise should have racing fans cheering. But according to critics, there's not much here besides shiny, stylized race cars; shiny, stylized tough guys; and shiny, stylized women standing around to provide eye candy.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) calls it "a strong contender for most irresponsible movie of the year … little more than a glossy 98-minute commercial for reckless driving. The loud and the ludicrous is more like it."

Adam R. Holz (Plugged In) says, "From start to finish, the movie exalts highly skilled drivers who shred any pretence of concern for the law—and completely get away with it. However, I didn't expect to hear characters delivering philosophically pretentious sound bites justifying their behavior. … These characters' recklessness, then, is about more than just racing. It's a way of life. It's carpe diem run amok. And the result is that none of them know how to live for anything other than the next addictive rush."

More than one mainstream critic found it worthwhile, but most dismissed it.

Garfield sequel gets critics' dander up

Jim Davis's comic strip Garfield is read by 260 million comic fans in 2,600 newspapers around the world, according to the promotional notes for the movie Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.

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And most of those newspapers are less than enthusiastic about this movie.

In this, the second Garfield film to feature Bill Murray as the voice of the cynical cat, Garfield travels with his owner to London, where he ends up in a case of mistaken identity, and ends up enjoying "the royal treatment" in a castle. But Christian movie reviewers are treating it like the common, unremarkable film that it is.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says it's "unobjectionable yet uninspired, visually competent yet narratively anemic. … [T]he bland script once again relies heavily on the kind of screwball sight gags and slapstick that the kiddies may find amusing, but—even at a mere 75 minutes—may induce accompanying adults to take a catnap."

Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says, "[C]omic-strip cat-lovers will likely be no more impressed or disappointed than they were with Garfield: The Movie. Bill Murray is once again spot-on in capturing the sass and Napoleonic ego of Garfield. Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt make a cute head-over-heels couple. And, um, the landscaping of the Carlisle estate is impeccable. How's that for cooking up some kind words for this otherwise unmemorable film?"

Most mainstream critics find the film about as fun as cleaning a litter box.

More reviews of recent releases

A Prairie Home Companion: Brett McCracken (Relevant) writes, "From the outset we know this film is about endings, and how central to life that theme is—both in an awareness of mortality but also just of the passing of time. Relationships change, culture transforms, priorities shift, life goes on. … Altman's camera passes like a ghostly observer through the halls, back-stages and dressing rooms of the theater, peeping in on various intimate conversations where we only glimpse what must be an incredibly complex web of relationships and history between these people. All of the characters are interesting, though some more than others."

The Omen: An uncredited reviewer (Relevant) writes, "The story is scattered, treating whichever character can induce the most fear for the moment as the protagonist. This leads to little and mechanical development on the part of the story's true protagonist, the diplomat/boy's father. When his moment to become the hero arrives, it's empty and stiff. And don't forget the massive plot holes in terms of location and events."

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