Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- ``Zack and Miri Make a Porno,'' writer-director Kevin Smith's new film starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, is a raunchy and often funny send-up of the dirty-movie business.

The setup is simple. Zack and Miri -- lifelong best friends and long-time roommates -- aren't just tight on cash, they're broke. Zack works as a barista at the local coffee shop, and it's his turn to pay the rent.

Zack and Miri attend their 10-year high school reunion, where they meet some mysterious guys who've found success in Los Angeles. Impressed, Zack asks questions, finding they've made it in the gay-porn industry.

Zack and Miri head for home to find that they've got no light and no water. Lamenting life's injustices, they head to a bar. And that's when they have the epiphany.

They decide to make, and act in, their own porno, assembling a group of nitwits to carry out the project, including Zack's co-worker as the producer and some real porn stars. Jason Mewes, a consistent fixture in Smith's films, plays Lester, one of the male leads in their movie.

What proceeds is a silly circus of casting calls and long scenes where Zack and Miri tweak mainstream movie titles into lewd puns.

Rogen and Banks share a definite, if unlikely, on-screen chemistry. Though Miri goes along with the porno -- with no moral qualms -- she's spared any real taint of indignity. Rogen, for whom Smith wrote the part, plays the same endearing loser- type he portrayed so well in ``Knocked Up,'' ``Superbad'' and ``The 40-Year-Old Virgin.''

At a time when the Apatows, Rudds, Ferrells and Rogens of the industry are trying to push the smut envelope in the comedy genre, ``Zack and Miri'' crosses some questionable lines. At one point, human excrement flies in the face of a character. Does anyone really need to see that?

``Zack and Miri Make a Porno,'' from the Weinstein Company, opens today across the U.S. Rating: (**1/2).

`Dear Zachary'

In 2001, filmmaker Kurt Kuenne found that one of his oldest friends, Andrew Bagby, had been murdered by his ex-girlfriend. Kuenne set out to make a movie about his friend's life. Midway through the process, however, the already-tragic story became twisted beyond belief.

The resulting documentary, ``Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father,'' is a fantastic movie about horrifying events -- with an unseemly ending. It's also an upsetting look at the U.S. judicial system.

Bagby was found shot five times in a parking lot in Pennsylvania. His ex-girlfriend, Shirley Turner, was the only suspect from the get-go.

Turner, who fled to Canada, was lured back to the U.S. by police investigators, who arrested her and charged her with murder. She was released on bail that same day.

Turner returned to Canada, where she promptly announced that she was pregnant with Bagby's baby. She later gave birth to a son, Zachary.

The style of ``Dear Zachary'' takes some getting used to. It's shot like a ``60 Minutes'' special, spliced with on-the- road visuals, archival footage, childhood home videos and docudrama touches to dizzying effect. Soon you realize, though, that the frenetic energy and disorderly construction bring you as close as can be to the filmmaker's personal journey.

``Dear Zachary,'' from Oscilloscope Laboratories, opens today in New York. Rating (***1/2).

`Splinter'

``Splinter'' features an inexplicable creature terrorizing a gas station in a tiny Oklahoma town. While the special effects are kitschy enough for the genre, horror lovers should look elsewhere for thrills this Halloween.

A generic beauty-and-the-geek couple (Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo) goes camping in the woods for their one-year anniversary. After bungling the tent setup, the boyfriend -- conveniently, a biologist -- convinces his girlfriend to abandon their outdoor plans for free cable in a cheap motel.

They never make it. Once on the road, they encounter a convict (Shea Whigham) and his girlfriend (Rachel Krebs) who hijack the couple's car and take them hostage. They hit a bump in the road, which turns out to be some sort of rabid animal with large quills that infect its victims, who convulse, lose their limbs, sprout quills and infect yet more victims.

Creature flicks are almost by definition campy. This first feature-length project for director Toby Wilkins is just too corny and not scary enough to qualify as a good ``B'' movie.

``Splinter,'' from Magnolia Pictures, opens today across the U.S. Rating: (1/2*) What the Stars Mean:

**** Excellent *** Good ** Average * Poor (No stars) Worthless

(Morgan Grice is a reporter for Bloomberg News in New York. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Morgan Grice in New York at mgrice@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 31, 2008 00:01 EDT