Can you smell that, America? I'm not talking about the Oscars buzz; I think there might be a gas leak in my office. But do gas leaks usually smell like strawberries? Exactly. I think this may be some kind of fruit-hallucinating gas. The most deadly kind of them all. Because few people investigate a hallucinated fruit smell before it's too late. I'll leave you to the movie reviews, loyal readers, I'm off to buy a canary.

In Theaters Now:

The Alligator
Finally Martin Scorsese has stopped playing it safe with this bold tale of the visionary genius who made all those polo shirts with the little alligator on the breast, but then went too far and tried to make a gigantic wooden alligator to scare the queen. We all knew there was a movie in there somewhere, and Scorsese found it by throwing out most of the facts and molding the rest out of an unrelated movie he was already working on. The cast really responds, and Leonardo DiCaprio was clearly paid for this participation this time around. Will it all be enough to finally bring Scorsese his coveted Best Costumes Oscar? Only time will tell.

Fat Albert
They had to make a deal with Bill Cosby to do it, but the Hollywood cartel has finally created the most insulting Albert Einstein biopic ever made. Hollywood's blinding hatred of Einstein has a long and storied history, dating back to the German scientist refusing to sell Hollywood the movie rights to his special theory of relativity, and punctuated by a long string of bitter Einstein-bashing biopic films released by Hollywood over the years, including Young Einstein, Hair and Weird Science. But Hollywood's latest handiwork tops them all, pulling out the big guns by accusing Einstein of being everything from overweight to a bad actor. I for one was surprised Hollywood decided to tempt the fates one more time, I sure wouldn't want some genius ghost sitting around in the afterlife, dreaming up ways to give me the bad hair day from hell.

Million Dollar Baby
No doubt you're already smelling the Oscar buzz surrounding this one, since the Academy loves babies. Unless you're smelling an actual baby. In that case, ew. The Academy also loves Clint Eastwood, because he's a mean, flinty-eyed motherfucker who often pays back disloyalty with a random gutshot, so it's love him or probably die. But Eastwood doesn't know Roland McShyster from a Polish Mount Shasta, so I'm free to point out that two old farts boxing over a precocious talking baby that got rich on Linux stock sounds like two shitty movie ideas sharing time in a sock. Do I feel lucky, punk? Hell no, I just had to sit through your whole movie, how lucky can I be?

Meet the Froggers
Video games are the new candy crack in Hollywood this year, and movie studio executives are falling over each other to make the next… the next… uh, the first decent video game movie ever. Most will no doubt turn out like Meet the Froggers, a movie that gives a bad name to surreal, misguided entertainment. The film follows a day in the life of a family that built their house by the side of a bridgeless, alligator-infested river full of pissed-off ducks, which to even get to you have to run across a freeway so busy it has an entire lane just for hauling-ass bulldozers. Granted, after all the bad movies they've made, it is entertaining to watch DeNiro, Hoffman, Stiller and especially Barbara Streisand get lane-changed like a Jackson Pollack painting, but the thrill wears off quickly when the actors keep returning after they've been killed. The director hasn't been born yet who can make a thrilling movie out of a one-level Atari game, but given the dangerously low number of nostalgic TV shows Hollywood has left to make into shitty movies, he'd better get his ass in gear.

Glad you enjoyed the views and reviews, America. But here's one more before you go: watch out for hawks. Did you know those things eat canaries? That's right. So even though you can tie a string around a canary's neck and have him fly home behind you like a kite, all things considered it's probably best to take the pet store guy up on his cage recommendation. Live and learn, America. See you next time.

January 17, 2005
It's a new year, readers, and a new chance to decimate our low standards until they've reached rock bottom—then again, our nation has made Adam Sandler and Ashley Judd both millionaires. Is there much further left to go? Bah, humbug. On with... (1/17/05)

January 10, 2005
Look out below, America, Roland McShyster just honked and as usual, it looks like gravity will have its way. We're sicker than a Nine Inch Nails video here at Entertainment Police, and all bets are off within a fifty foot radius of yours truly.... (1/10/05)

December 20, 2004
If anyone out there is thinking of getting me a gift, please be very careful. Don't get me a movie. Not a day goes by where someone doesn't say, "Gee, Orson, you must really like movies to do them for a living." Yes, like Madam Curie loved radiation... (12/20/04)

December 13, 2004
Greetings, America! I hope you enjoyed the trip and didn't encounter any disturbing horse porn on your way over. We're here, as we always are, time without end, to lend a judging hand as Hollywood turns its head and coughs up another week's worth of... (12/13/04)

December 6, 2004
Welcome back to the first Orson Welch column of the holiday season, my friends. It should come as no shock that I reject all holidays as artifices of organized religion, and Thanksgiving is nothing more than an attempt gloat stolen land over the... (12/6/04)