Justin? Justin! JUS-TINNNN?! Oh, yeah, wait, Justin's not here this week because he's slinging his star-spangled shield against the enemies of freedom in...well, I've said too much. Anyway, he didn't need his sidekick for this one, so Videoport Bucky's on his own for now. The new releases this week at Videoport are as follows:

Ghost Town: "Like fellow Brit comedy icon Steve Coogan (with last week's 'Hamlet 2'), Ricky Gervais (of 'The Office' and 'Extras' fame) tries to make the jump to Hollywood stardom in this comedy about a misanthropic dentist (an oxymoron?) who starts getting haunted, and annoyed, by deceased New Yorkers. Especially cumbersome is dapper playboy ghost Greg Kinear who expects Gervais to break up his widow Tea Leoni's impending marriage. Does Gervais make the leap with his customary, if squirmy, aplomb? Yeah, actually he sort of does. It's a formula set-up of course, and not up to the standards of the things he's written for himself, but, like Coogan's, this star vehicle gives him ample room to strut his particular brand of grumpy comedy genius."

The Duchess: "Keira Knightley corsets up once again in yet another period piece, what with the frills, and the serfs, and the heaving bosoms and whatnot. In this one, she's playing the notoriously saucy 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, the titular Duchess of Devonshire who was apparently infamous for all manner of indiscretions, assignations and the occasional bout of rumpy-pumpy. Being ignorant of the illustrious history of the degenerate English upper crust, I know not who this Dame was, but Keira's got a serious case of the lovelies, and co-bodice-rippers Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling certainly know their way around a secret passageway or two. And you know how I mean that."

Battle for Haditha: "Notorious documentary muckraker Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney, Aileen Wouronos: The Selling of a Serial Killer) muddies the documentary waters with this searing speculative docudrama about the events that led up to a true and shameful incident in the history of the US military, the murder of 24 civilians (mostly women and children) at the titular Iraqi town. By turns furious, thoughtful, horrifying and humanistic, this film seeks to get inside the heads of the Iraqi people, the Marines who did the deed (purportedly in revenge for the earlier death of a soldier by booby trap), and the American policy makers who, Broomfield argues, set the scene for an inevitable tragedy through their blinkered policies. Who's up for some righteous indignation?"

Towelhead: "And now who's up for some upsetting, coming of age drama? Yup, the inevitable yammering of controversy (largely from 'activists' who didn't bother to see the film) broke out at the title of this one, (based on an acclaimed novel by the same name, but, hey, the terminally humorless don't read), and it is nice 'n' painful, but, show of hands, how many of you out there think the film is actually endorsing the racial slur of the title rather than using it to illustrate the film's theme of racial intolerance? Okay, you two- see me after class. The story of a young Arab-American girl's coming of age, made more painful by the taunting of her creepy, bigoted Army reservist neighbor (Aaron Eckhart), and the fact that said blossoming is taking place during the first Gulf War, this one did well at Sundance, and is well worth your time on any night you feel like feeling bad."

Baghead: "The second ____-head film of the week. Weird. This one's a neat little 'mumblecore' indie with some fun, unexpected surprises that I'm not going to ruin for you here. Suffice it to say that it's a satire of super-low budget indie filmmaking, a Rohmer-esque relationship comedy, and...surprise...even something of a horror movie. I liked it, and recommend it for any night you're feeling a little weird."

Eagle Eye: "Shaia LaBeouf? Seriously? Well, you guys and gals seem to be accepting this peach-fuzzed little fella as a legitimate action hero/tough guy, so who am I to argue. (I will say that his wee mustache in this one is just adorable!) In the ludicrous idiot plot of the year, both li'l Shaia and the actual grown up Michelle Monaghan get sucked into some sort of criminal conspiracy that they could foil at about 47 separate occasions if the script didn't require them to act like utter nitwits. The lovely Rosario Dawson's in there somewhere, too."

An American Carol: "Hollywood's most impressive right-wing celebrities (Robert Davi, Dennis Hopper, Kelsey Grammer, Chris Farley's little brother) try to prove that mean-spirited, exclusionary, sexist, racist, homophobic, imperialism can be a hoot by bashing liberals, activists, people who care about anyone with non-white skin, that sort of thing. The once-funny David Zucker has decided that he's had enough of art being monopolized by humanists and the talented and created a "Christmas Carol' spoof which would piss me off to no end, if the results weren't so completely lame. Fascist art! It's what's for dinner."

Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog: "Anybody who knows Justin, or me, or his/her butt from the proverbial hole in the mud knows our shared love of the works of Joss Whedon, creator of 'Buffy', 'Angel', 'Firefly', Serenity, and this minimusical he whipped up for the intranets during the writers' strike, and now available on the DVD. Neil Patrick Harris plays the titular would-be super-villain who wants to rule the world almost as much as he pines for the love of Penny, the sweet, naive activist he does laundry with. Stifled by his own shyness and the brawny machinations of arch-rival the superhero Captain Hammer, Dr. H lets loose his feelings both in his podcast and in witty, moving song. Now, I hate musicals, but one of the only ones I can stand is Whedon's brilliant 'Buffy' episode 'Once More With Feeling', and this 42 minute mini-masterpiece is the other. Harris becomes even more beloved, and has Broadway-quality pipes, Felicia Day breaks your heart as the ever-optimistic Penny, and 'Firefly''s Nathan Fillion is bloody hilarious as the dumb-jock, right-wing 'hero' standing in the way. Great songs, hilarious, tragic, and moving."

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