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In this bleak comedy, Martin Lawrence is Miles Logan, a burglar who bumbles a diamond heist, spends two years in prison because of it, and then, when released, goes back to reclaim the $17 million diamond he hid in a building’s air duct. Beyond his stupidity, the problem is that the building in question has since become a police precinct, which immediately puts “Blue Streak” on a red-hot course of predictability: Naturally, Martin will pose as a police detective to get the diamond back. Shenanigans ensue. As thin as the film’s premise is, what throws it into the drink is the decision to pair Martin opposite Luke Wilson, whose lackluster performance joins the movie in being one many about it that plenty will want to forget. Rated PG-13. Grade: D

The title hails from the stretch of highway that divides the racially mixed inner-city of Detroit from its predominantly white, middle-class suburbs. On a map, it’s an area about the size of a postage stamp, but economically, it might as well be a continent away. On the surface, "8 Mile" seems to promise a story that will transcend that gap, but it doesn’t, at least not completely. Set in 1995, the film stars Eminem as a scrappy twentysomething nicknamed Bunny Rabbit who aspires to get away from his boozy mother (Kim Basinger) and become a rap star. Considering he’s white, that’ll be difficult to pull off in this town, but with the help of his best friend, Future (Mekhi Phifer), and his new girlfriend, Alex (Brittany Murphy), he nevertheless has the support he needs even if he doesn’t have the self-confidence to immediately succeed. Like so many scenes in this unusually timid movie, the rap contest that closes the film is engaging but not electrifying. As an actor, Eminem has presence to spare, but the film doesn’t allow him to fully capture the rage that defines so much of his work. Instead, it homogenizes him. Try to imagine Madonna’s “Sex” book without the sex, and you’ll have an idea of the disappointment that’s at hand here. Rated R. Grade: C

Hardly for the feminist--the lot of it is pure male fantasy--though when it comes to kitsch, it's tough to beat this ‘60s throwback, especially now that the entire series is available in funky packaging (a cardboard version of Jeannie’s bottle). Forget Christina Aguilera. The only genie who ever will be worth her salt in a bottle is Barbara Eden, even if the censors did make her cover her navel. What the series had in spades was the increasingly combative chemistry between Eden and Larry Hagman’s Capt. Tony Nelson, the astronaut who found her while washed up on a beach in Cocoa Beach, Fla., only to take her home because, hey, she was hot in those pink pantaloons. After years of bickering, it wasn’t until the final season that Jeannie finally married her master. Just typing the words “finally married her master” feels otherworldly, but there you have it--those were the times in which the show existed. This was, after all, the '60s, free love was brewing along the horizon, and this show was running toward it, happily skewering elements of the past while kicking most of them to the moon. Grade: A-

A violent, diverting stunt headlined by an A-list cast. The film is little more than style over substance. But what style--and what a lack of substance. Here is a movie in which the wallpaper should have received a credit. Every room and every hallway in "Slevin" is papered with such intricate patterns, you don't have to be the freshest flower in the arrangement to get the director's drift. The movie features patterns increasingly folding in on themselves, with the double-talking characters blending inward until there ceases to be a meaningful center. It's due to the strength of the acting, which is excellent, and the peculiar situations that the movie is as entertaining as it is. Stars Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, Danny Aiello and the indefatigable Lucy Liu, who is terrific. Rated R. Grade: B
Follows its 2005 predecessor in that it's not really about pants at all. They're just a hook for something deeper amid a story that, this time out, feels as familiar as a favorite pair of jeans. Structurally, little has changed. The series remains a coming-of-age story about four young women going through their share of growing pains, with the pants in question, a worn pair of Levis, serving as a catalyst that connects their adventures over the course of an eventful summer, which they spend apart. The major difference here is that each now is in college and they have a whole host of other issues to deal with, not the least of which is boys. And sex. America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn all reprise their roles in a movie stuffed with so many life lessons and tears, you expect it to come apart at the seams. But it doesn't. The film mines all of the ensuing potholes and pitfalls with a quick pace and without a trace of cynicism. In the end, it comes down to this: That a movie about pants features a story that works hard to skirt formula is an irony worth savoring. Rated PG-13. Grade: B
It never gets old. That’s the thing about the original episodes of “Star Trek,” which Paramount has just released in a fully remastered third and final season, the likes of which are so bright and clear, Trekkies might faint at the quality of the crisp print. Also enhanced are the special effects, which have been updated, though not at the cost of the show’s tongue-in-cheek charm. The 1968-69 season was memorable, featuring such episodes as “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which is best known for featuring television’s first interracial kiss, as well as “Spock’s Brain” and “And the Children Shall Lead” to “The Lights of Zetar” and “All Our Yesterdays.” Set your phasers to stun, because that’s pretty much the effect these remastered episodes will have on fans. Grade: A
Delivers what its title promises and then it goes a step farther--it improves upon the very good season that came before it. Jared Padalacki and Jensen Ackles return as Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers working through a traumatic past--their mother was viciously killed by a monster, grisly depicted in the first season. Now, the family business is in hunting down ghosts, particularly the elusive one who killed their mother. What ensues is supernatural at every turn, with this season focused on the ramifications of what it meant for Dean to sell his soul to the devil at the end of the previous season in an effort to save Sam’s life. The consequences prove dire, with hell initially held at bay until--that’s right--all hell naturally breaks loose. Grade: B
Michael Douglas and Karl Malden work through their own brand of detective work in the far grittier and solid 1970s television show “The Streets of San Francisco,” the second season and second volume of which is just out. Also worth considering is the Blu-ray release of “Chuck: The Complete First Season,” with Zachary Levi starring in a swift, quirky espionage series just tipsy enough to be unique.
Fairing better are “Futurama: Bender’s Game” (DVD, Blu-ray), which successfully skewers the current energy crisis by taking it into outer space, and Paramount’s surprisingly good “Shrek the Halls” (DVD), which finds Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey and Puss In Boots mixing it up over the holidays.
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