"School for Scoundrels" opens this weekend starring Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder. Therefore I had my doubts since even though I like the kind of comedy Napoleon Dynamite performed, I didn't like the movie at all. Luckily, the execution in Scoundrels is better in my opinion. Billy Bob Thornton runs a school to make losers into winners and the first half is filled with hilarious physical gags and some nice wordplay. The second half is a bit of a letdown but all in all, it's a very entertaining film.

Also opening is "The Guardian" representing Ashton Kutcher's foray into the action/drama genre. Kutcher is the hotshot at a school training coast guard rescuers with Kevin Costner as the head instructor. Costner is great but Kutcher is hit and miss. He's very good at the goofy and arrogant parts of his role but the heavily dramatic scenes are really bad. The best part of the film is the amount of respect given to the Coast Guard, the part of the military usually overlooked, and the authenticity of the related scenes.

In Netflix world, Lucky Number Slevin and United 93 gets a thumbs up, Friends with Money and Poseidon get a mixed review, and Scary Movie 4 is so bad, I had to fast forward the last half of the film.

Happy Birthday to Jennifer and Steve, both celebrating birthdays Thursday, and Nancy's is next Wednesday. I know I'm missing one, but my list has also gone missing.