SCARY MOVIE 4

A half-dozen recent films and pop-culture events, such as Tom Cruise's romantic meltdowns, are skewered in the latest Scary Movie outing, this one directed by parody vet David Zucker (Airplane). This comedic mish-mash pairs the girl from The Grudge and the dad from War of the Worlds, with a detour into The Village and a startling conclusion from Saw's puppet. Expect plenty of barely serviceable gags involving flatulence and getting hit in the head. But scattered amidst the failed-joke debris are a few golden nuggets: Old pro Leslie Neilsen walks away with best laughs with his riff on the clueless George W. Bush, and a few high-profile cameos garner an extra chuckle. Somewhere in all the frantic silliness there's a joke just for you: For me, it was an inspired bit of nonsense with an iPod, while my date was floored by a duck-fart joke. (AH)