The name play with the The Fast and Furious sequels is far more creative than the plot of the latest installment which has a line in it that indicates it may be the prequel to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Fast & Furious is the name this time. Skipped is the beginning "the" and an ampersand replaces "and." Neither title is as much fun or as inventive as 2 Fast 2 Furious which was light years faster and much more furious than this one.

More cop shop than chop shop, Fast & Furious brings Vin Diesel back into the franchise. He heads home to Los Angeles to avenge the death of girlfriend Michelle Rodriguez's Letty at the hands of a merciless drug dealer.

He reluctantly teams with ex-friend and FBI agent Brian O'Conner to get the job done.

The action sequences are mediocre. Cut to a headshot of Diesel or co-star Paul Walker's O'Conner. Flash to a quick shift at the gearshift knob. Next comes slamming down of -- select one: brake or gas pedal. That is followed by squealing, smoking-tires and six or eight quick edits of a car or cars careening down a street or highway, through the desert or in dirt-packed tunnels.

Fortunately there aren't many of these badly done chase scenes. Unfortunately, that's why you want to see this movie. Even more unfortunate: What passes for a plot is interspersed between them.

Are you catching my Tokyo drift?

Adventureland

Set in the 1980s, Advertureland casts Jesse Eisenberg as James Brennan who was supposed to get trip to Europe as a graduation present. Dad gets downsized and instead of the trip, he goes to work at Adventureland. There you meet the usual mix of young adults trying to fit into the world -- the geek, the intellectual, the goddess, party animals and the quiet, introspective, secretive love interest for the awkward geek.

A riveting performance in The Squid and the Whale demonstrated that Eisenberg is a very good actor and he's good here. But do all movies around this theme have to have the same character? He's interchangeable with every other angst-driven finding your way in the universe film kid. So are his co-stars except for Martin Starr whose deep intellectual provocations provide the only character in the film that is compelling.

Even more puzzling is Adventureland's target. Though it stars teen hottie Kristen Stewart (Twilight), it has no teen appeal and those who were teenagers in the 1980s will only enjoy chunks of the film.

Che: Part One

Carmike is presenting Che in two parts. Part one this week, part two will come next. In major markets Steven Soderbergh's Che was shown as a 41⁄2-hour whole with an intermission. From experience I can tell you that sitting through a film that long is painful.

Thus two parts. Che: Part One deals with the Cuban revolution. You meet Fidel Castro and his brother Raul but learn very little about them or the revolutionaries that helped them defeat the U.S. backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. What you get in both parts could have been done in two less hours.

Benicio Del Toro stars and is brilliant. Unfortunately, outside of just a few scenes that show Che's passion for truth, justice and the communist way -- translation: the execution and murder of hundreds of Cubans not marching to the right tune and more -- Soderberg gives you just one dimension. Che the great leader had flaws. Lots of them. They are hinted at but not shown.

Those interested in Guevara's life, socialism vs. capitalism or in Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution may be intrigued. You actually learned more about Guevara in 2004's The Motorcycle Diaries than you will here and you didn't learn much in that one.

Would I see this? Definitely. Warts and all, the project is an incredible piece of work.

Takva

Takva means understanding God.

A simple, honest, competent man of the Islamic faith is asked by the leaders of his Turkish mosque to assist in the management of its finances. Muharrem isn't the brightest light bulb in the chandelier. It is this simplicity that attracts him to his leaders. They know he can be trusted.

So Muharrem is given a car, nice suits, a cell phone and the power to collect rent and do other financial chores that make the mosque money.

Money corrupts. So does power. Soon everyone wants to know him, he's given preferences not afforded to others. It bothers him. His job and what the sect is doing conflicts with an understanding of the commandments of Allah.

The debate and lessons on hypocrisy fit not just Islam but other religions. An exploration of life outside of the boundary of what we consider moral is fascinating.

So simple is this story. Yet so complex.